Sec. 8. White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council
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The President shall maintain within the Executive Office of the President a White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council. The purposes of the White House interagency council are— to improve coordination and collaboration among Federal agencies and to help advise and assist Federal agencies in identifying and addressing, as appropriate, the disproportionate human health and environmental effects of Federal programs, policies, practices, and activities on communities of color, low-income communities, and Tribal and Indigenous communities; to promote meaningful involvement and due process in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws; to coordinate with, and provide direct guidance and technical assistance to, environmental justice communities, with a focus on increasing community understanding of the science, regulations, and policy related to Federal agency actions on environmental justice issues; to address environmental health, pollution, and public health burdens in environmental justice communities, and build healthy, sustainable, and resilient communities; and to develop and update a strategy to address current and historical environmental injustice, in consultation with the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and local environmental justice leaders, that includes— clear performance metrics to ensure accountability; and an annually published public performance scorecard on the implementation of the White House interagency council.
The White House interagency council shall be composed of members as follows (or their designee): The Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of Education. The Secretary of Energy. The Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Secretary of Homeland Security. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The Secretary of the Interior. The Attorney General. The Secretary of Labor. The Secretary of Transportation. The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget. The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The Deputy Assistant to the President for Environmental Policy. The Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. The Director of the National Economic Council. The Chairperson of the Council on Environmental Quality. The Chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers. The Director of the National Institutes of Health. The Director of the Office of Environmental Justice.
The Chairperson of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Chairperson of the Chemical Safety Board. The Director of the National Park Service. The Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Chairperson of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. The head of any other agency that the President may designate. The Chairperson of the Council on Environmental Quality shall serve as Chairperson of the White House interagency council. The White House interagency council shall report to the President through the Chairperson of the Council on Environmental Quality.
To ensure that there is a common level of understanding of terminology used in dealing with environmental justice issues, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, after coordinating with and conducting outreach to environmental justice communities, State governments, Tribal Governments, and local governments, the White House interagency council shall develop and publish in the Federal Register a guidance document to assist Federal agencies in defining and applying the following terms:
Health disparities. Environmental exposure disparities. Demographic characteristics, including age, sex, and race or ethnicity. Social stressors, including poverty, housing quality, access to health care, education, immigration status, linguistic isolation, historical trauma, and lack of community resources. Cumulative impacts or risks. Community vulnerability or susceptibility to adverse human health and environmental effects (including climate change). Barriers to meaningful involvement in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws.
Community capacity to address environmental concerns, including the capacity to obtain equitable access to environmental amenities. For a period of not less than 30 days, the White House interagency council shall seek public comment on the guidance document developed under paragraph (1). Not later than 90 days after the date of publication of the guidance document under paragraph (1), the head of each Federal agency participating in the White House interagency council shall document the ways in which the Federal agency will incorporate guidance from the document into the environmental justice strategy of the Federal agency developed and finalized under section 9(b).
Not less frequently than once every 3 years, after notice and opportunity for public comment, the White House interagency council shall update a coordinated interagency Federal environmental justice strategy to address current and historical environmental injustice. In carrying out paragraph (1), the White House interagency council shall— consider the most recent environmental justice strategy of each Federal agency that participates in the White House interagency council that is developed and finalized under section 9(b); consult with the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and local environmental justice leaders; and include in the interagency Federal environmental justice strategy clear performance metrics to ensure accountability.
The White House interagency council shall annually publish a public performance scorecard on the implementation of the interagency Federal environmental justice strategy. Not later than 180 days after updating the interagency Federal environmental justice strategy under subsection (g)(1), the White House interagency council shall submit to the President a report that contains— a description of the implementation of the interagency Federal environmental justice strategy; and a copy of the finalized environmental justice strategy of each Federal agency that participates in the White House interagency council that is developed and finalized under section 9(b).
The head of each Federal agency that participates in the White House interagency council shall make the report described in paragraph
(1)available to the public (including by posting a copy of the report on the website of each Federal agency). The Office of Administration within the Executive Office of the President shall provide funding and administrative support for the White House interagency council, to the extent permitted by law and within existing appropriations. To the extent permitted by law, including section 1535 of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as the Economy Act ), and subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall provide administrative support for the White House interagency council, as necessary. The Chairperson of the Council on Environmental Quality shall— convene regular meetings of the White House interagency council; determine the agenda of the White House interagency council in accordance with this section; and direct the work of the White House interagency council. The Chairperson of the Council on Environmental Quality shall designate an Executive Director of the White House interagency council, who shall coordinate the work of, and head any staff assigned to, the White House interagency council. To facilitate the work of the White House interagency council, the head of each agency described in subsection
(c)shall assign a designated official within the agency to be an Environmental Justice Officer, with the authority— to represent the agency on the White House interagency council; and to perform such other duties relating to the implementation of this section within the agency as the head of the agency determines to be appropriate. At the direction of the Chairperson of the Council on Environmental Quality, the White House interagency council may establish 1 or more subgroups consisting exclusively of White House interagency council members or their designees under this section, as appropriate.