What should environmental justice advocacy look like?
Environmental justice was first introduced as a federal government mandate by an executive order signed by President Bill Clinton in 1994. It was designed to allocate resources to environmentally overburdened communities. There is a long litany of these throughout history, for example, the US EPA has documented that between 1944 to 1986, approximately 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from the Navajo Nation with many Navajo people being exposed to hazardous materials that are known to cause a variety of cancers. Unfortunately, that is just one of many examples of environmental injustice which span across a broad range of racial groups, from white Appalachians being impacted from mountain top removal mining that tends to clog streams and pollute waterways, to Black and Brown urbanites being impacted living/working/playing on and near hazardous waste sites. And while these issues impact all people, they prove especially harmful to vulnerable and marginalized groups and communities.
The political winds have been turning in favor of environmental justice advocacy. The Biden-Harris administration recently launched a Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, which expands upon the existing US EPA Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool. Additionally, the US EPA has announced grant funding for the establishment of Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTAC) to establish between 5 – 10 technical assistance centers throughout the country with an approximately $2 million budget for each center running for a period of five years. That is a massive investment, and it has the potential to make a significant impact in the lives of many individuals. Those grants will be exclusively provided to universities, colleges, philanthropic organizations, and Indian tribal governments.
I believe environmental justice starts locally and that by empowering people with knowledge you can help hold industry in their communities accountable. The state and local governments are often under resourced and need community members to alert them to potential bad actors that may be harming their neighborhoods. Many industrial operators are subject to environmental laws like the Clean Air Act, Clear Water Act, and others, that set parameters around their conduct, and facilities; therefore, can be made to fix their behavior if they are in violation of applicable permits. The difficulty with environmental misconduct is that its effects aren’t immediately felt. Because of many environmental and public information laws, a lot of information about inspections, permits, and violations is readily available; however, if you are not in environmental industry, it is unlikely that you may be aware of how to access it. Even being in the environmental industry it is often challenging to find information and one must often result to freedom on information act (FOAI) requests in order to gain access to vital information. My hope is that the investment and focus on environmental justice issues will result in more transparent information related to the frequency of inspections and violations at environmental sensitive facilities in vulnerable communities. That information is often available on US EPA’s Environment and Compliance History Online database, but can be challenging to navigate.
This is a very challenging issue and I believe it starts with community involvement. Everyone should be aware of the local regulatory environmental agency in their jurisdiction and how to identify an issue and report a complaint. If you live in the South Florida tri-county area (Broward/Palm Beach/Miami Dade) and there is a company or industrial operator in your area that you believe may be a bad actor or want further information, please send me an email at pceres29@lionpointeng.com.
