IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 362 
Affirming the need to achieve environmental justice, commending the work 
of environmental justice advocates, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2017 
Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Ms. BARRAGA´N) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Affirming the need to achieve environmental justice, com-
mending the work of environmental justice advocates, 
and for other purposes. 
Whereas environmental injustice exists whenever govern-
mental action or inaction causes environmental risks or 
harms to fall unfairly and disproportionately upon a par-
ticular group or community; 
Whereas racial minority, low-income, rural, indigenous, and 
other often-marginalized communities are especially likely 
to face environmental injustice; 
Whereas limited resources and lack of political power ensure 
that marginalized communities host pollution-producing 
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or potentially toxic facilities, including power plants, pipe-
lines, industrial sites, garbage transfer stations, inciner-
ators, landfills, and sewage treatment plants, at dis-
proportionate rates; 
Whereas marginalized communities suffer from systemic gov-
ernmental failures to adequately invest in the kind of in-
frastructure and services that reduce the risk of environ-
mental accidents or disasters, and that facilitate swift, ef-
fective responses to such occurrences; 
Whereas the presence of pollution-producing sites can com-
promise public health, safety, property values, and quality 
of life even if no accident or disaster occurs; 
Whereas air and water quality are often especially poor in 
marginalized communities, and governmental permitting 
and investment decisions directly contribute to this in-
equity; 
Whereas scientific evidence increasingly links poor environ-
mental quality with disabilities and chronic illnesses, in-
cluding cancer, asthma, neurobehavioral disorders, learn-
ing disabilities, and abnormal hormone functioning; 
Whereas environmental justice exists when public policies 
successfully prevent or correct unfair disparities in envi-
ronmental quality, and resultant disparities in public 
health and quality of life; 
Whereas environmental justice is possible only if vulnerable 
groups and marginalized communities can express their 
needs and concerns, and only then if policymakers listen; 
Whereas the environmental justice movement seeks to ad-
dress 
the 
unjust 
social, 
economic, 
and 
political 
marginalization of minority, low-income, rural, and indig-
enous communities; 
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Whereas environmental justice advocates seek healthy home, 
work, and recreational environments for all human 
beings, and healthy habitats for non-human life; 
Whereas community health depends in part upon factors like 
adequate transit options, walkable neighborhoods, and 
other public goods that marginalized communities are 
often denied; 
Whereas environmental justice requires responsible and bal-
anced use of land and resources, in a way that does not 
unfairly burden marginalized communities; 
Whereas environmental justice can only be achieved and sus-
tained in the context of a greener economy; 
Whereas ‘‘greening’’ the economy requires concrete govern-
mental actions, including investments in clean tech-
nologies; in sustainable, low-carbon transportation and 
energy production systems; and in workforce training ini-
tiatives that prepare citizens for well-paying jobs in new 
or evolving industries; 
Whereas environmental justice requires fair processes and a 
good-faith approach to public policy, including regulatory 
decision making; 
Whereas in the 1990s, in response to the environmental jus-
tice movement, Federal agencies were directed to incor-
porate environmental justice goals into their programs 
and activities; 
Whereas vulnerable populations and marginalized commu-
nities continue urgently to need fairer environmental poli-
cies, and more inclusive and equitable processes; and 
Whereas all Americans would be better served by a policy-
making process that did not unfairly prioritize the com-
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fort and health of some groups or communities at the ex-
pense of others: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reaffirms the vital importance of clean air, 
clean water, resource conservation, and other policy 
goals that spurred lawmakers to enact existing envi-
ronmental and public health protections; 
(2) affirms that the need for adequate environ-
mental and public health protections is inextricably 
linked with the need for a more sustainable economy 
and greener, more livable communities; 
(3) affirms that environmental and public 
health policies should adequately and equally protect 
all Americans, and that equal protection is possible 
only in a context of environmental justice; 
(4) commends environmental justice advocates 
for their continuing struggle to achieve fairer, 
healthier, more sustainable policies and outcomes; 
(5) acknowledges the prevalence of environ-
mental injustices that directly affect the health and 
well-being of individuals and communities across the 
country, especially racial minority, rural, indigenous, 
and low-income communities; and 
(6) affirms its commitment to ameliorating ex-
isting environmental injustices, and to preventing fu-
ture injustices, by supporting greater objectivity, 
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transparency, and outreach in policymaking at all 
levels of government; by supporting improved two- 
way communication between policymakers and those 
affected by their decisions; and by supporting proc-
esses that ensure policymakers give due consider-
ation not just to the effects of their decisions, but 
to how those effects are distributed and by whom 
they are borne. 
Æ 
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