Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Michael Regan, recently announced new policy changes and efforts to help communities historically and disproportionately affected by pollution.
He announced the changes Jan. 26 after returning from a five-day "Journey to Justice" tour across the country, according to an EPA press release.
“In every community I visited during the ‘Journey to Justice’ tour, the message was clear - residents have suffered far too long and local, state, and federal agencies have to do better,” Regan said in a statement. “The pollution concerns have been impacting these communities for decades. Our actions will begin to help not only the communities I visited on this tour, but others across the country who have suffered from environmental injustices.”
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas are some of the states the EPA will focus its renewed protective efforts on, Regan said.
The agency will conduct unannounced inspections of facilities that could be non-compliant with EPA regulations, he said. The agency will also press state and local elected officials to improve protection of "overburdened" communities.
The agency will also launch a new program to expand its capacity to monitor air, including additional inspectors and mobile air-monitoring vehicles, according to the release.
“Administrator Regan’s leadership on addressing environmental justice issues that have plagued communities in the deep south for far too long gives us hope that change will come,” NAACP President and CEO, Derrick Johnson, said in a statement. “During his visit to Jackson (Mississippi), he was able to see firsthand the water infrastructure challenges we’re experiencing in the city, and today he’s following through on his commitment to fight for vulnerable communities to receive the funding they need from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
