Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta Delivers Remarks Launching Comprehensive Environmental Justice Strategy | OPA

Remarks as Shipped

Thanks, Administrator Regan. We are grateful that you are capable to be here now.

The burdens of environmental air pollution have prolonged been borne disproportionately by customers of minority, Tribal and low-profits communities. No American must have to reside, do the job or send out their youngsters to school in a community that carries a disproportionate share of environmental hazards.

The Justice Office is fully commited to accomplishing everything we can to address these disparities. That is why, as the Legal professional Normal stated, we are issuing a comprehensive technique on environmental justice to tutorial the get the job done of all department components. This new technique will be certain that the department is making use of every out there resource to safe environmental justice for everyone.

This means prioritizing enforcement of environmental regulations as perfectly as civil legal rights statutes, these kinds of as Title VI of the Civil Legal rights Act of 1964, which prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the foundation of race, shade or nationwide origin.

The approach directs department factors to prioritize conditions that minimize environmental harms on overburdened and underserved communities, including communities of color, Tribal populations and very low-money rural and city communities.

To that end, department parts, with the guidance from the new Business of Environmental Justice, will be tasked with acquiring protocols to evaluate the environmental justice impacts of their investigations.

We also know that securing environmental justice requires the meaningful involvement of influenced communities in the choices that effects them.

So, the tactic directs the new Business office of Environmental Justice to do the job to create further connections with communities that are influenced by violations of environmental legislation.

And it necessitates all 93 U.S. Lawyers across the country to designate an environmental justice coordinator to help identify locations of issue in their communities, and to establish methods for members of the general public to report these concerns.

To maintain our dedication to environmental justice, the section wants a workforce that is informed about environmental justice problems and fears. The system consequently needs the progress of environmental justice instruction programs and schooling opportunities for division staff.

This in depth tactic underscores the department’s commitment to making sure that all Americans have access to clean up drinking water to drink, thoroughly clean air to breathe and healthy, flourishing communities wherever they can stay, get the job done and increase their households. That is the heart of environmental justice.

Thank you.