The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of the General Counsel released an addendum of the agency’s legal authorities to identify and address cumulative impacts of pollution on underserved communities.
The Cumulative Impacts Addendum to EPA Legal Tools to Advance Environmental Justice, builds on earlier environmental justice legal tools the Office of the General Counsel released in May 2022, a Jan. 11 news release said.
“At EPA, we’re committed to protecting the health and environment of all communities, including those historically marginalized, overburdened, underserved and living with the legacy of structural racism,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in the release. “EJ Legal Tools, and now the Cumulative Impacts Addendum, will help support EPA’s mission to advance environmental justice and deliver equitable health and environmental protections for all.”
The addendum identifies “authorities that can be deployed to address the cumulative impacts of pollutants in the environment and other factors affecting human health and well-being,” particularly in “communities with environmental justice concerns,” the release reported
New Jersey Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn LaTourette said New Jersey looks forward to working with Regan and the EPA “to develop additional cumulative impacts tools that will help enrich all communities, sow equity and do justice," according to the release.
“EPA's publication of EJ Legal Tools to Advance Environmental Justice, and the Cumulative Impacts Addendum released today, will further empower government entities and the communities we serve in the work to improve public health and the environment we share,” LaTourette said in the release.
