Council on Environmental Quality Seeks Feedback on Government Environmental Justice Scorecard

On November 20, 2023, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a request for information to solicit feedback on Phase One of the Environmental Justice Scorecard. This feedback will inform future versions of the Environmental Justice Scorecard.

On April 21, 2023, the Biden Administration launched the Environmental Justice Scorecard, to assess the federal government's progress on advancing environmental justice, to provide transparency for the public, and to increase accountability for federal agencies. This first scorecard, or "Phase One Scorecard," was intended to present a baseline assessment of environmental justice actions taken by 24 federal agencies in 2021 and 2022 to help achieve the Administration's environmental justice goals. The "Phase One Scorecard" documented the progress of federal agencies in the following areas:

• Advancing President Biden's Justice40 Initiative
• Implementing and enforcing environmental and civil rights laws
• Embedding environmental justice throughout the federal government

The Environmental Justice Scorecard was launched alongside Executive Order 14898, which created new processes and obligations for Federal agencies to consider environmental justice concerns in agency actions.

Alongside other comments on the Phase One Scorecard, CEQ specifically seeks feedback on three questions: 

1. How can the Environmental Justice Scorecard improve the way it organizes, displays, or presents data to be more accessible, understandable, and useful for the public, including for communities with environmental justice concerns? 
2. What additional metric or metrics of Federal agency action or progress in advancing environmental justice might be relevant and helpful to consider including in future versions of the Environmental Justice Scorecard, such as any metric that may help further reflect the needs and priorities of communities with environmental justice concerns or show how certain Federal investments are benefiting disadvantaged communities, including benefits from Justice40 covered programs? 
3. What kind of qualitative information (such as updates on Federal agency work or milestones that may not be possible to summarize with numbers or data alone) does the public consider most valuable to include or add to a future Scorecard, in addition to quantitative metrics or data?

CEQ is accepting comments and information until January 19, 2024.