The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s newly created Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights will work to solve environmental challenges in underserved communities.
The new office will have more than “200 EPA staff in EPA headquarters and across 10 regions,” a Sept. 24 EPA news release said. The new office merges three existing programs: the Office of Environmental Justice, Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center and External Civil Rights Compliance Office.
“From day one, President Biden and EPA have been committed to delivering progress on environmental justice and civil rights and ensuring that underserved and overburdened communities are at the forefront of our work,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in the release. “With the launch of a new national program office, we are embedding environmental justice and civil rights into the DNA of EPA and ensuring that people who’ve struggled to have their concerns addressed see action to solve the problems they’ve been facing for generations.”
A U.S. Senate-confirmed assistant administrator, to be determined, will lead the office, according to the release. Among several duties, the office will ensure EPA funding recipients comply with civil rights laws and work to discover the needs of communities with environmental justice concerns.
“The establishment of a new office dedicated to advancing environmental justice and civil rights at EPA will ensure the lived experiences of underserved communities are central to our decision-making while supporting community-driven solutions,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in the release.
