A New Day for Environmental Justice at the U.S. EPA

Authors

Clifford Villa, University of New MexicoFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

September 24, 2022, was a big day in the history of the EPA. On this day, EPA Administrator Michael Regan signed an order creating a new Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (“OEJECR”) within the EPA. We’re very excited about our new office of environmental justice at the EPA. However, the EPA takes environmental justice seriously across all the offices, including my own Office of Land and Emergency Management (“OLEM”).

In this lecture, we will begin with some early history of environmental justice, how we realized the existence of environmental injustice in the first place. Then we’ll talk about some key definitions, acknowledging that communities may conceive of environmental justice in many ways and recognizing that conceptions of environmental justice may have changed over time. Third, we will look at some specific policies directed towards achieving environmental justice: things that we could do as an agency within our existing authority to promote environmental justice. Fourth, we’ll talk about new sources of funding. We’ll discuss the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, which are both making significant resources available to communities right now, but also creating the challenge of making sure that resources go to the communities who really need it. Fifth, and finally, we’ll talk about environmental justice and you. How do you get involved? There is a place for you, and I really want to make sure that you see that opportunity as well.

Publication Title

The University of Memphis Law Review

Volume

54

First Page

867

Last Page

888

Keywords

Environmental justice, Environmental Protection Agency

Recommended Citation

Clifford Villa, A New Day for Environmental Justice at the U.S. EPA, 54 The University of Memphis Law Review 867 (2024).
Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/955