Executive Order Expands on Environmental Justice Considerations by Federal Agencies

On April 21, 2023, President Biden issued Executive Order 14096, Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All. The new order significantly broadens the scope of Executive Order 12898, the existing executive order addressing Federal policy on environmental justice, and creates new processes and obligations for Federal agencies to consider environmental justice concerns in agency actions. This executive order coincided with the Biden Administration's launch of the Environmental Justice Scorecard, a tool to assess the federal government's progress on advancing environmental justice, to provide transparency for the public, and to increase accountability for federal agencies. 

E.O. 12898, which was issued in 1994 by the Clinton Administration, has informed processes for agency consideration of environmental justice issues. E.O. 12898 directs federal agencies to (1) identify and address the disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their actions on minority and low-income populations, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, (2) develop a strategy for implementing environmental justice, and (3) promote nondiscrimination in federal programs that affect human health and the environment, as well as provide minority and low-income communities access to public information and public participation.

The new order, E.O. 14096, (1) expands the scope of E.O. 12898 to cover all executive agencies, (2) directs Federal agencies to "seek[] out and encourag[e] the involvement of persons and communities potentially affected by Federal activities," (3) requires agencies to integrate environmental justice analyses into their reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and (4) creates a process to coordinate research, data collection, and analysis to advance environmental justice in Federal governance, among other changes,

Under E.O. 14096, the Biden Administration has also established the first government-wide definition of "environmental justice." Under EO 14096: 

"'Environmental justice' means the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment so that people: (i) are fully protected from disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects (including risks) and hazards, including those related to climate change, the cumulative impacts of environmental and other burdens, and the legacy of racism or other structural or systemic barriers; and (ii) have equitable access to a healthy, sustainable, and resilient environment in which to live, play, work, learn, grow, worship, and engage in cultural and subsistence practices."