I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2696 
To establish the Office of Environmental Justice in the Executive Office 
of the President, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2017 
Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Mr. MCEACHIN, and Ms. BARRAGA´N) introduced 
the following bill; 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 com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish the Office of Environmental Justice in the 
Executive Office of the President, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Office of 
Environmental Justice Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE; DUTIES.—There is 
established in the Executive Office of the President an Of-
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fice of Environmental Justice, which shall have the fol-
lowing duties: 
(1) Liaise with the Administrator of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency. 
(2) Complete an environmental justice assess-
ment of each Executive order, to be made public on 
the White House website. 
(3) Discuss an assessment with the President 
before an Executive order is signed. Any such as-
sessment shall be made available to the public not 
later than 15 days after the Executive order is 
signed. 
(4) Attend the Interagency Working Group 
meetings established under Executive Order 12898 
(50 Fed. Reg. 7629; relating to Federal actions to 
address environmental justice in minority popu-
lations and low-income populations) and meet, not 
less frequently than annually, with the members of 
the Interagency Working Group described in section 
1–102 of such Executive order to review progress 
being made on implementing the environmental jus-
tice goals of the Interagency Working Group within 
the applicable agency or office. 
(5) Coordinate roundtables with stakeholders 
and hold public meetings. 
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(6) Ensure that the goals of Executive Order 
12898 (59 Fed. Reg. 7629; relating to Federal ac-
tions to address environmental justice in minority 
populations and low-income populations) are being 
actively implemented through science-based regula-
tions in the White House and the Environmental 
Protection Agency. 
(7) Represent the executive branch in the com-
munity and regularly engage in frontline commu-
nities, including communities of color, low income 
communities, people with limited English pro-
ficiency, indigenous peoples, and people living with 
disabilities. 
(8) Serve as a member on the Domestic Policy 
Council, established by Executive Order 12859 (58 
Fed. Reg. 44101; relating to establishment of the 
Domestic Policy Council). 
(b) DIRECTOR.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be a Direc-
tor of the Office of Environmental Justice who shall 
head the Office. 
(2) APPOINTMENT.—The Director shall be ap-
pointed by the President, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate. The first such appointment 
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shall not be later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(3) DUTIES.—The Director shall serve as the li-
aison with the Office of Environmental Justice of 
the Environmental Protection Agency. 
(4) PAY.—The annual rate of basic pay for the 
Director shall be the rate payable under level III of 
the Executive Schedule (section 5314 of title 5, 
United States Code). 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5314 of 
such title is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to ‘‘Director of the Office of Emergency Planning’’ the 
following new item: 
‘‘Director of the Office of Environmental Justice.’’. 
Æ 
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