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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Justice Basic Information Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental and commercial operations or policies. Meaningful involvement means that: (1) people have an opportunity to participate in decisions about activities that may affect their environment and /or health; (2) the public's contribution can influence the regulatory agency's decision; (3) their concerns will be considered in the decision making process; and (4) the decision makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected. How Did the Environmental Justice Movement Arise? The environmental justice movement was started by individuals, primarily people of color, who sought to address the inequity of environmental protection in their communities. Grounded in the struggles of the 1960's Civil Rights Movement, this movement sounded the alarm about the public health dangers for their families, their communities and themselves. Early in 1990, the Congressional Black Caucus, a bipartisan coalition of academic, social scientists and political activists met with EPA officials to discuss their findings that environmental risk was higher for minority and low- income populations. They alleged that EPA's inspections were not addressing their communities' needs. In response, the EPA Administrator created the Environmental Equity Workgroup in July 1990 to address the allegation that "racial minority and low- income populations bear a higher environmental risk burden than the general population." The Workgroup produced a report, "Reducing Risk in All Communities ", in June 1992 that supported the allegation and made ten recommendations for addressing the problem. One of the recommendations was to create an office to address these inequities. Thus, the Office of Environmental Equity was established November 1992. The name was changed to Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) in 1994. On Feb 11, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low - Income Populations'; to focus federal attention on the environmental and human health conditions of minority and low- income populations with the goal of achieving environmental protection for all communities. The Order directed federal agencies to develop environmental justice strategies to help federal agencies address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs on minority and low- income populations. The order is also intended to promote nondiscrimination in federal programs that affect human health and the environment. It aims to provide minority and low- income http: / /www.epa.gov /environmentaljustice /basics /ejbackground.html