Race continues to be a significant independent predictor of commercial
hazardous waste facility locations when socioeconomic and other non-racial
factors are taken into account.
Recent Attempts to Dismantle Environmental Justice
The 1987 UCC report provided the impetus for the EPA creating its Office
on Environmental Equity in the early 1991 and its 1992 Environmental
Equity report, and the 1994 presidential EJ
Executive Order 12898 that mandated federal agencies to incorporate
environmental justice into all of their work and programs.
Many environmental justice initiatives implemented in the 1990s stalled
beginning in 2000 under the George W. Bush administration. A March 2004
EPA Inspector General report concluded that the agency "has not developed
a clear vision or a comprehensive strategic plan, and has not established
values, goals, expectations, and performance measurements" for integrating
environmental justice into its day-to-day operations.
In July 2005, the U.S.
Government Accountability Office criticized EPA for its handling of
environmental justice issues when drafting clean air rules. That same month,
the EPA met a firestorm of public resistance when it proposed dropping
race from its draft Environmental Justice Strategic Plan.
The agency then attacked community right-to-know by announcing plans to
modify the Toxic
Release Inventory (TRI) program—widely credited with reducing toxic
chemical releases by 65 percent. In July 2006, EPA's
Science Advisory Board Committee opposed these changes in a harsh letter
to EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson. In December 2006, the EPA announced
final rules that undermine this critical program by eliminating detailed
reports from more than 5,000 facilities that release up to 2,000 pounds
of chemicals every year; and eliminating detailed reports from nearly 2,000
facilities that manage up to 500 pounds of chemicals known to pose some
of the worst threats to human health, including lead and mercury.
In September 2006, EPA's
Inspector General issued another report chastising the agency for falling
to "conduct environmental justice reviews of its programs, policies,
and activities." A month later, EPA's Region 10 in Seattle announced
the elimination of its environmental justice office.
The Bush Administration FY08 budget recommends a 28.4 percent cut to the
budget of EPA's Office of Environmental Justice (proposing $4.58 million,
down from $6.34 million). Critics claim EPA
budget reductions could expose more minorities and the poor to pollution.
The steep
budget cuts will result in fewer EPA grants for communities and will
no doubt hinder environmental justice implementation.
Reversing the Tide
Amid these attacks, the authors of Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty and a
chorus of environmental justice activists and civil rights leaders are calling
for steps to reverse the dismantling of federal environmental justice initiatives.
In addition to calling for reinstating the TRI report requirements, EJ leaders
are pushing for Congressional oversight along with a clear legislative mandate
for the EPA. Related measures include:
Hold Congressional Oversight Hearings on EPA's dismantling of environmental
justice policies and programs and its willful neglect of Executive Order
12898 and its own Inspector General's reports.
Implement EPA Office of Inspector General's Recommendations to develop
a clear vision and a comprehensive strategic plan to establish goals and
performance measures for integrating environmental justice into the agency's
day-to-day operations as required under Executive Order 12898.
Enact New Legislation Codifying the EJ Executive Order to strengthen
compliance and enforcement of environmental justice objectives at the federal
level, ensure discriminatory agency decisions and actions are addressed,
provide leadership to the states, and establish an unequivocal legal mandate
requiring federal responsibility to advance equal protection under law in
minority and low-income communities.
2007
Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty Executive Summary
2007 Toxic Wastes and Race at
Twenty (Printer Friendly Version, 1MB)
