I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2431 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

award grants to entities to enable such entities to participate in decisions 

impacting the health and safety of their communities in connection with 

the release of certain hazardous air pollutants and the permitting of 

solid waste disposal facilities and hazardous waste facilities, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 8, 2021 

Mr. RUIZ (for himself, Mr. TONKO, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, and Ms. DEGETTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to award grants to entities to enable such 

entities to participate in decisions impacting the health 

and safety of their communities in connection with the 

release of certain hazardous air pollutants and the permitting of solid waste disposal facilities and hazardous 

waste facilities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voices for Environ3 mental Justice Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY TECH5 NICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS. 

6 Title III of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7601 et 

7 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

8 section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 330. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY TECH10 NICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may award 

12 grants to eligible entities to enable such entities to partici13 pate in decisions impacting the health and safety of their 

14 communities in connection with an actual or potential re15 lease of a covered hazardous air pollutant. 

16 ‘‘(b) TIMING.— 

17 ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 12 months 

18 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad19 ministrator shall publish guidance describing the 

20 process for eligible entities to apply for a grant 

21 under this section, including the required content 

22 and form of applications, the manner in which appli23 cations must be submitted, and any applicable dead24 lines. 

25 ‘‘(2) FIRST GRANT.—Not later than 180 days 

26 after the issuance of guidance under paragraph (1), 


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1 the Administrator shall award the first grant under 

2 this section. 

3 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

4 under this section, an applicant shall be a group of individ5 uals who reside in a community that— 

6 ‘‘(1) is a population of color, a community of 

7 color, an indigenous community, or a low-income 

8 community; and 

9 ‘‘(2) is in close proximity to the site of an ac10 tual or potential release of a covered hazardous air 

11 pollutant. 

12 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

13 grant under this section shall use the grant to participate 

14 in decisions impacting the health and safety of the commu15 nity involved in connection with an actual or potential re16 lease of a covered hazardous air pollutant, including— 

17 ‘‘(1) interpreting information with regard to the 

18 nature of the hazard, cumulative impacts studies, 

19 health impacts studies, remedial investigation and 

20 feasibility studies, agency decisions, remedial design, 

21 and operation and maintenance of necessary mon22 itors; and 

23 ‘‘(2) performing additional air pollution moni24 toring. 

25 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT; RENEWAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a 

3 grant under this section (excluding any renew4 als of the grant) may not exceed $50,000 for 

5 any grant recipient. 

6 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator 

7 may waive the limitation in subparagraph (A) 

8 with respect to an applicant in any case where 

9 the Administrator determines that such waiver 

10 is necessary for the community involved to ob11 tain the necessary technical assistance. 

12 ‘‘(2) RENEWAL.—Grants may be renewed for 

13 each step in the regulatory, removal, or remediation 

14 process in connection with a facility with the poten15 tial to release a covered hazardous air pollutant. 

16 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) The term ‘community of color’ means any 

18 geographically distinct area the population of color 

19 of which is higher than the average population of 

20 color of the State in which the community is located. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered hazardous air pollutant’ 

22 means a hazardous air pollutant (as defined in sec23 tion 112 of the Clean Air Act) that— 

24 ‘‘(A) is listed on the toxics release inven25 tory under section 313(c) of the Emergency 


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1 Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act 

2 of 1986; or 

3 ‘‘(B) is identified as carcinogenic by an as4 sessment under the Integrated Risk Informa5 tion System (IRIS) of the Environmental Pro6 tection Agency. 

7 ‘‘(3) The term ‘indigenous community’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) a federally recognized Indian Tribe; 

9 ‘‘(B) a State-recognized Indian Tribe; 

10 ‘‘(C) an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 

11 community or organization; and 

12 ‘‘(D) any other community of indigenous 

13 people, including communities in other coun14 tries. 

15 ‘‘(4) The term ‘low income’ means an annual 

16 household income equal to, or less than, the greater 

17 of— 

18 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 

19 median income of the area in which the house20 hold is located, as reported by the Department 

21 of Housing and Urban Development; and 

22 ‘‘(B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

23 line. 

24 ‘‘(5) The term ‘population of color’ means a 

25 population of individuals who identify as— 


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1 ‘‘(A) Black; 

2 ‘‘(B) African American; 

3 ‘‘(C) Asian; 

4 ‘‘(D) Pacific Islander; 

5 ‘‘(E) another non-White race; 

6 ‘‘(F) Hispanic; 

7 ‘‘(G) Latino; or 

8 ‘‘(H) linguistically isolated.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY SOLID 

10 WASTE DISPOSAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

11 GRANTS. 

12 (a) GRANTS.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal 

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 4011. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY TECH16 NICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may award 

18 grants to eligible entities to enable such entities to partici19 pate in decisions impacting the health and safety of their 

20 communities relating to the permitting or permit renewal 

21 of a solid waste disposal facility or hazardous waste facil22 ity. 

23 ‘‘(b) TIMING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 12 months 

25 after the date of enactment of this section, the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2431.IH H2431

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1 ministrator shall publish guidance describing the 

2 process for eligible entities to apply for a grant 

3 under this section, including the required content 

4 and form of applications, the manner in which appli5 cations must be submitted, and any applicable dead6 lines. 

7 ‘‘(2) FIRST GRANT.—Not later than 180 days 

8 after the issuance of guidance under paragraph (1), 

9 the Administrator shall award the first grant under 

10 this section. 

11 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

12 under this section, an applicant shall be a group of individ13 uals who reside in a community that— 

14 ‘‘(1) is a population of color, a community of 

15 color, an indigenous community, or a low-income 

16 community; and 

17 ‘‘(2) is in close proximity to a facility described 

18 in subsection (a) for which a decision relating to a 

19 permit or permit renewal for such facility is re20 quired. 

21 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

22 grant under this section shall use the grant to participate 

23 in decisions impacting the health and safety of the commu24 nity involved that are related to the permitting or permit 


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1 renewal of a solid waste disposal facility or hazardous 

2 waste facility, including— 

3 ‘‘(1) interpreting information with regard to— 

4 ‘‘(A) cumulative impacts studies; 

5 ‘‘(B) health impacts studies; 

6 ‘‘(C) relevant agency decisions; and 

7 ‘‘(D) operation and maintenance of nec8 essary monitors; and 

9 ‘‘(2) performing environmental monitoring. 

10 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT; RENEWAL.— 

11 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a 

13 grant under this section (excluding any renew14 als of the grant) may not exceed $50,000 for 

15 any grant recipient. 

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator 

17 may waive the limitation in subparagraph (A) 

18 with respect to an applicant in any case where 

19 the Administrator determines that such waiver 

20 is necessary for the community involved to ob21 tain the necessary technical assistance. 

22 ‘‘(2) RENEWAL.—Grants may be renewed for 

23 each step in the process for the permitting or permit 

24 renewal of a solid waste disposal facility or haz25 ardous waste facility. 


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1 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘community of color’ means any 

3 geographically distinct area the population of color 

4 of which is higher than the average population of 

5 color of the State in which the community is located. 

6 ‘‘(2) The term ‘indigenous community’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) a federally recognized Indian Tribe; 

8 ‘‘(B) a State-recognized Indian Tribe; 

9 ‘‘(C) an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 

10 community or organization; and 

11 ‘‘(D) any other community of indigenous 

12 people, including communities in other coun13 tries. 

14 ‘‘(3) The term ‘low income’ means an annual 

15 household income equal to, or less than, the greater 

16 of— 

17 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 

18 median income of the area in which the house19 hold is located, as reported by the Department 

20 of Housing and Urban Development; and 

21 ‘‘(B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

22 line. 

23 ‘‘(4) The term ‘population of color’ means a 

24 population of individuals who identify as— 

25 ‘‘(A) Black; 


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1 ‘‘(B) African American; 

2 ‘‘(C) Asian; 

3 ‘‘(D) Pacific Islander; 

4 ‘‘(E) another non-White race; 

5 ‘‘(F) Hispanic; 

6 ‘‘(G) Latino; or 

7 ‘‘(H) linguistically isolated.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

9 for the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended by adding 

10 after the item relating to section 4010 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 4011. Environmental justice community technical assistance grants.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

13 section 330 of the Clean Air Act (as added by section 2 

14 of this Act) and section 4011 of the Solid Waste Disposal 

15 Act (as added by section 3 of this Act) $5,000,000 for 

16 each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

Æ 


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