Clean Water Current

EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced Sept. 24 that EPA plans to combine the Agency’s existing environmental justice (EJ) and civil rights offices into a single new national program office headed by a Senate-confirmed assistant administrator. 

Following up on the Agency’s request in its FY22 budget justification, the new office, which would be on par with other program offices such as the Office of Water, would be tasked with coordinating and maximizing the benefits of EPA’s programs and activities for underserved communities and ensuring that equity is considered in both national and regional EPA decision making.   

Currently, EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) is housed within the agency’s Policy Office, while civil rights considerations are handled by both the External Civil Rights Compliance Office (ECRCO) in EPA’s Office of the General Counsel, and the Office of Civil Rights, which is also part of EPA’s Policy Office.  

According to EPA, while the agency intends to work with Congress to effectuate the reorganization, EPA also believes it has the authority to act on its own to establish the new program office under the Executive Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970.

NACWA will be discussing its own future EJ efforts as well as actions taken by the administration at the upcoming NACWA Environmental Justice Committee Virtual Meeting this Thursday, September 29^th from 11 – 12 pm (Eastern). NACWA also plans to reach out to EPA about the creation of this new office and will share the Association’s Statement of Principles and Recommended Actions on Environmental Justice as a resource.

Please contact NACWA General Counsel Amanda Aspatore with questions concerning the potential new EPA EJ office or to obtain information on how to access the Sept. 29^th NACWA EJ Committee meeting, which is open to all NACWA members.