Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; findings
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This Act may be cited as the . Environmental Justice For All Act The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; findings. Sec. 2. Statement of policy. Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. Prohibited discrimination. Sec. 5. Right of action. Sec. 6. Rights of recovery. Sec. 7. Consideration of cumulative impacts and persistent violations in certain permitting decisions. Sec. 8. Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice Compliance and Enforcement.
Sec. 9. Federal agency actions and responsibilities. Sec. 10. Ombudsman. Sec. 11. Access to parks, outdoor spaces, and public recreation opportunities. Sec. 12. Transit to Trails Grant Program. Sec. 13. Every Kid Outdoors. Sec. 14. Protections for environmental justice communities against harmful Federal actions. Sec. 15. Training of employees of Federal agencies. Sec. 16. Environmental justice grant programs. Sec. 17. Environmental justice basic training program. Sec. 18. National Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
Sec. 19. Environmental Justice Clearinghouse. Sec. 20. Public meetings. Sec. 21. Environmental projects for environmental justice communities. Sec. 22. Grants to further achievement of Tribal coastal zone objectives. Sec. 23. Cosmetic labeling. Sec. 24. Safer cosmetic alternatives for disproportionately impacted communities. Sec. 25. Safer child care centers, schools, and homes for disproportionately impacted communities. Sec. 26. Certain menstrual products misbranded if labeling does not include ingredients.
Sec. 27. Support by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for research on health disparities impacting communities of color. Sec. 28. Revenues for just transition assistance. Sec. 29. Economic revitalization for fossil fuel dependent communities. Sec. 30. Evaluation by Comptroller General of the United States. Congress finds the following: Communities of color, low-income communities, Tribal and indigenous communities, fossil fuel-dependent communities, and other vulnerable populations, such as persons with disabilities, children, and the elderly, are disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards that include exposure to polluted air, waterways, and landscapes.
Environmental justice disparities are also exhibited through a lack of equitable access to green spaces, public recreation opportunities, and information and data on potential exposure to environmental hazards. Communities experiencing environmental injustice have been subjected to systemic racial, social, and economic injustices and face a disproportionate burden of adverse human health or environmental effects, a higher risk of intentional, unconscious, and structural discrimination, and disproportionate energy burdens.
Environmental justice communities have been made more vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to a combination of factors, particularly the legacy of segregation and historically racist zoning codes, and often have the least resources to respond, making it a necessity for environmental justice communities to be meaningfully engaged as partners and stakeholders in government decision making as our nation builds its climate resilience. Potential environmental and climate threats to environmental justice communities merit a higher level of engagement, review, and consent to ensure that communities are not forced to bear disproportionate environmental and health impacts.
The burden of proof that a proposed action will not harm communities, including through cumulative exposure effects, should fall on polluting industries and on the Federal Government in its regulatory role, not the communities themselves. Executive Order 12898 (59 Fed. Reg. 32, relating to Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations) directs Federal agencies to address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, but Federal agencies have been inconsistent in updating their strategic plans for environmental justice and reporting on their progress in enacting these plans.
Government action to correct environmental injustices is a moral imperative. Federal policy can and should improve public health and improve the overall well-being of all communities. All people have the right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, live free of dangerous levels of toxic pollution, and share the benefits of a prosperous and vibrant pollution-free economy. A fair and just transition to a pollution-free economy is necessary to ensure that workers and communities in deindustrialized areas have access to the resources and benefits of a sustainable future.
This transition must also address the economic disparities experienced by residents living in areas contaminated by pollution or environmental degradation, including access to jobs, and members of those communities must be fully and meaningfully involved in transition planning processes. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to seek to achieve environmental justice, health equity, and climate justice for all communities.
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