II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 642 

To codify Executive Order 12898, relating to environmental justice, to require 

the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to fully implement the recommendations of the Inspector General of the Agency and 

the Comptroller General of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2007 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. KERRY, and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To codify Executive Order 12898, relating to environmental 

justice, to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to fully implement the recommendations of the Inspector General of the Agency 

and the Comptroller General of the United States, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Environmental Justice 

5 Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CODIFICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 12898. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President of the United 

3 States is authorized and directed to execute, administer 

4 and enforce as a matter of Federal law the provisions of 

5 Executive Order 12898, dated February 11, 1994, (‘‘Fed6 eral Actions To Address Environmental Justice In Minor7 ity Populations and Low-Income Populations’’) with such 

8 modifications as are provided in this section. 

9 (b) DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.—For 

10 purposes of carrying out the provisions of Executive Order 

11 12898, the following definitions shall apply: 

12 (1) The term ‘‘environmental justice’’ means 

13 the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all 

14 people regardless of race, color, national origin, edu15 cational level, or income with respect to the develop16 ment, implementation, and enforcement of environ17 mental laws and regulations in order to ensure 

18 that— 

19 (A) minority and low-income communities 

20 have access to public information relating to 

21 human health and environmental planning, reg22 ulations and enforcement; and 

23 (B) no minority or low-income population 

24 is forced to shoulder a disproportionate burden 

25 of the negative human health and environVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:41 Feb 21, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S642.IS S642

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1 mental impacts of pollution or other environ2 mental hazard. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘fair treatment’’ means policies 

4 and practices that ensure that no group of people, 

5 including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups 

6 bear disproportionately high and adverse human 

7 health or environmental effects resulting from Fed8 eral agency programs, policies, and activities. 

9 (c) JUDICIAL REVIEW AND RIGHTS OF ACTION.— 

10 The provisions of section 6–609 of Executive Order 12898 

11 shall not apply for purposes of this Act. 

12 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS BY EN13 VIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. 

14 (a) INSPECTOR GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

15 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

16 shall, as promptly as practicable, carry out each of the 

17 following recommendations of the Inspector General of the 

18 agency as set forth in report # 2006–P–00034 entitled 

19 ‘‘EPA needs to conduct environmental justice reviews of 

20 its programs, policies and activities’’: 

21 (1) The recommendation that the agency’s pro22 gram and regional offices identify which programs, 

23 policies, and activities need environmental justice re24 views and require these offices to establish a plan to 

25 complete the necessary reviews. 


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1 (2) The recommendation that the Administrator 

2 of the agency ensure that these reviews determine 

3 whether the programs, policies, and activities may 

4 have a disproportionately high and adverse health or 

5 environmental impact on minority and low-income 

6 populations. 

7 (3) The recommendation that each program 

8 and regional office develop specific environmental 

9 justice review guidance for conducting environmental 

10 justice reviews. 

11 (4) The recommendation that the Administrator 

12 designate a responsible office to compile results of 

13 environmental justice reviews and recommend appro14 priate actions. 

15 (b) GAO RECOMMENDATIONS.—In developing rules 

16 under laws administered by the Environmental Protection 

17 Agency, the Administrator of the Agency shall, as prompt18 ly as practicable, carry out each of the following rec19 ommendations of the Comptroller General of the United 

20 States as set forth in GAO Report numbered GAO–05– 

21 289 entitled ‘‘EPA Should Devote More Attention to En22 vironmental Justice when Developing Clean Air Rules’’: 

23 (1) The recommendation that the Administrator 

24 ensure that workgroups involved in developing a rule 


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1 devote attention to environmental justice while draft2 ing and finalizing the rule. 

3 (2) The recommendation that the Administrator 

4 enhance the ability of such workgroups to identify 

5 potential environmental justice issues through such 

6 steps as providing workgroup members with guid7 ance and training to helping them identify potential 

8 environmental justice problems and involving envi9 ronmental justice coordinators in the workgroups 

10 when appropriate. 

11 (3) The recommendation that the Administrator 

12 improve assessments of potential environmental jus13 tice impacts in economic reviews by identifying the 

14 data and developing the modeling techniques needed 

15 to assess such impacts. 

16 (4) The recommendation that the Administrator 

17 direct appropriate agency officers and employees to 

18 respond fully when feasible to public comments on 

19 environmental justice, including improving the agen20 cy’s explanation of the basis for its conclusions, to21 gether with supporting data. 

22 (c) 2004 INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT.—The Ad23 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall, 

24 as promptly as practicable, carry out each of the following 

25 recommendations of the Inspector General of the agency 


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1 as set forth in the report entitled ‘‘EPA Needs to Consist2 ently Implement the Intent of the Executive Order on En3 vironmental Justice’’ (Report No. 2004–P–00007): 

4 (1) The recommendation that the agency clearly 

5 define the mission of the Office of Environmental 

6 Justice (OEJ) and provide agency staff with an un7 derstanding of the roles and responsibilities of the 

8 office. 

9 (2) The recommendation that the agency estab10 lish (through issuing guidance or a policy statement 

11 from the Administrator) specific time frames for the 

12 development of definitions, goals, and measurements 

13 regarding environmental justice and provide the re14 gions and program offices a standard and consistent 

15 definition for a minority and low-income community, 

16 with instructions on how the agency will implement 

17 and operationalize environmental justice into the 

18 agency’s daily activities. 

19 (3) The recommendation that the agency ensure 

20 the comprehensive training program currently under 

21 development includes standard and consistent defini22 tions of the key environmental justice concepts (such 

23 as ‘‘low-income’’, ‘‘minority’’, and ‘‘disproportion24 ately impacted’’) and instructions for implementa25 tion of those concepts. 


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1 (d) REPORT.—The Administrator shall submit an ini2 tial report to Congress within 6 months after the enact3 ment of this Act regarding the Administrator’s strategy 

4 for implementing the recommendations referred to in sub5 sections (a), (b), and (c). Thereafter, the Administrator 

6 shall provide semi-annual reports to Congress regarding 

7 his progress in implementing such recommendations as 

8 well as his progress on modifying the Administrator’s 

9 emergency management procedures to incorporate envi10 ronmental justice in the agency’s Incident Command 

11 Structure (in accordance with the December 18, 2006, let12 ter from the Deputy Administrator to the Acting Inspector 

13 General of the agency). 

Æ 


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