# National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) http://epa.gov/environmentaljustice/nejac/ 

# 2011 Work Plan (draft) Victoria Robinson, NEJAC DFO EPA Office of Environmental Justice

# Recent NEJAC Recommendations

• Comments to EPA Plan EJ 2014 ▫ Add Science as a cross-Agency focus in which ORD produces by 2014 some robust results that will drive policy and implementation. ▫ Coordinate enforcement and compliance activities with each other and other efforts to reduce disproportionate impacts in individual communities selected for agency attention through the use of EJSEAT and other tools. 

## ▫ Develop consistent State guidance on incorporating environmental justice principals in permit actions. ▫ Target specific compliance strategies and enforcement actions to address problems that affect overburdened communities. EPA needs to evaluate how "specific compliance strategies" differ from what is required under current regulations/statute. 

## ▫ Provide support for community-based organizations to participate in community or government convened collaborative processes. ▫ All federal investments that affect communities suffering from disproportionate impacts should go through an appropriate process to identify and, if necessary, eliminate or mitigate environmental 

## justice considerations.

# Recent NEJAC Recommendations

• Recommendations for Permitting

▫ Follow the consensus recommendations of prior relevant NEJAC reports (i.e. 1996 and 2000) ▫ EPA and the states/tribes should be more active and ‘vocal’ in publicizing and enticing multiple stakeholder/public participation with State performance partnership agreements. ▫ EPA should include appropriate EJ-oriented language in its MOUs with states/tribes, and other federal agencies. ▫ EPA should maintain an easily accessible ‘living’ document of all permit-related factors that contribute to EJ concerns 

## ▫ Encourage greater use of Supplemental Environmental Projects ▫ Allocate more time and attention to the many facets surrounding EJ and cumulative impacts in relation to permitting, regardless of which governmental entity has primacy.

# 2011 Work Plan

• Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force Charge (draft) ▫ How best to engage communities for input into decisions about Gulf Coast restoration plans, including potential permits 

# • Permitting Charge (draft) ▫ How can EPA reach out effectively to state, local and tribal entities, industry interests, community groups, environmental 

## groups and other federal agencies, to gather their comments and ideas and, ideally, enlist their support? ▫ How can EPA more effectively promote community involvement before, during, and after permit issuance? ▫ How can EPA engage effectively with other permitting or 

## licensing agencies to help them account for environmental justice considerations when making permitting or licensing decisions? 

# • Environmental Justice in Rulemaking (late 2011) ▫ Provide input into technical guidance under development in 2011

# List of NEJAC Advice and Recommendations

• Request to Provide Input to EPA’s Draft Stragic Plan 2011 - 2015 (PDF) - August 2010 Nationally Consistent Environmental Justice Screening Approaches (PDF) - May 2010 Recommendations for EPA's Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Program (PDF) - April 2010 Strategies to Enhance School Air Toxics Monitoring in Environmental Justice Communities (PDF) - April 2010 Reducing Air Emissions Associated With Goods Movement: Working Towards Environmental Justice (PDF) - November 2009 • Strengthening the Participation of Business and Industry in Environmental Justice, Green Business, and Sustainability (PDF) - September 2008 Recommendations for EPA's State Environmental Justice Cooperative Agreement Initiative (PDF) - October 2008 NEJAC Initial Letter Regarding the Environmental Justice Strategic Enforcement Assessment Tool (PDF) - December 2007 • Future Mechanisms to Enhance Stakeholder Involvement and Engagement to Address Environmental Justice (PDF) - August 2006 • The 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes and Vulnerable Populations: Recommendations for Future Disaster Preparedness/Response (PDF) - August 2006 • Unintended Impacts of Redevelopment and Revitalization Efforts in Five Environmental Justice Communities (PDF) - August 2006 • Ensuring Risk Reduction in Communities with Multiple Stressors: Environmental Justice and Cumulative Risks/Impacts (PDF) - December 2004• Environmental Justice and Federal Facilities: Recommendations for Improving

Stakeholder Relations Between Federal Facilities and Environmental Justice Communities (PDF) - November 2004 • Meaningful Involvement and Fair Treatment by Tribal Environmental Regulatory Programs (PDF) - October 2004 • Advancing Environmental Justice Through Pollution Prevention (PDF) - June 2003 • Fish Consumption and Environmental Justice (PDF) - November 2002 • Integration of Environmental Justice in Federal Programs (PDF) - May 2002 • Guide on Consultation and Collaboration with Indian Tribal Governments and the Public Participation of Indigenous Groups and Tribal Members in the Environmental Decision Making (PDF) - November 2000 • Environmental Justice and Community-Based Health Model Discussion - May 2002 • Environmental Justice in the Permitting Process: A Report from the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (PDF) - July 2000 • A Regulatory Strategy for Siting and Operating Waste Transfer Stations (PDF) - March 2000 • Model Plan for Participation (PDF) - February 2000 • Public Dialogues on Urban Revitalization and Brownfields : Envisioning Healthy and Sustainable Communities (PDF) - December 1996 Draft Memorandum on Integrating Environmental Justice into EPA Permitting Authority (PDF) - July 1996