Like the movement that inspired it, the Clinton administration's executive order casts the broadest possible net, essentially instructing the executive branch to look hard for ways to identify and respond to any minority concerns and interests that are arguably environment-related. Such concerns and interests extend far beyond the allegations of siting inequity that were crucial to getting White House and media attention. Two years after the order's promulgation, the basic outline of the government's implementation effort has emerged. A broad combination of outreach to, participation by, and information for communities of color forms the core of federal environmental justice empowerment efforts today. In theory at least, every department and large agency offers advisory panels and rulemaking or allocative processes that might be made more permeable to the voices and interests of disadvantaged minorities.
Defense has advisory boards to expand community involvement in cleanup decisions at military bases.
Health and Human Services offers funding for environmental risk communication and education in minority communities. There is also now tough talk from EPA about making enforcement more equitable. Current Supreme Court equal protection doctrine holds that plaintiff's must prove intentional discrimination, but intent is often impossible to demonstrate successfully. Disparate impact has been enough. Pollution prevention is perhaps where environmental justice advocates find the easiest common ground with traditional environmentalists.