Article
Source: The Federal Lawyer
Article
11.01.22
The term “environmental justice”—a means to address and correct racial discrimination by environmental action—dates back to a 1994 Executive Order from President Clinton that directed federal agencies to identify and address, as appropriate, “the disproportionately high and adverse human health and environment effects of its many programs, policies, and procedures on minority populations and low-income populations.”
Now, almost two decades later, two Executive Orders issued by President Biden have reinvigorated the federal government's environmental justice efforts. But the absence of a statutory or formal regulatory definition remains problematic and the imposition of related conditions on federal and state permitting and cleanup actions could make the regulatory processes even more complex.
In the cover story for the September/ October 2o22 issue of The Federal Lawyer, Pillsbury Environmental partner Anne Austin and senior counsel Anthony Cavender explore the past and present of environmental justice in the United States and what recent developments might mean for its future.