Addressing Environmental Justice through EPA’s Enforcement Tools

The Biden Administration has made environmental justice and equity a key pillar of its environmental policy, directing EPA to incorporate this concept at all levels of its decision-making process. EPA's Administrator Michael Regan announced on April 7, 2021 that “[t]oo many communities whose residents are predominantly of color, Indigenous, or low-income continue to suffer from disproportionately high pollution levels and the resulting adverse health and environmental impacts. As a result, Administrator Regan directed his staff to take “immediate and affirmative steps” to engage with communities overburdened by pollution and underserved in resources, including a command to “strengthen enforcement of violations of cornerstone environmental statutes” in those communities. To that end, on April 30, 2021, Lawrence Starfield, Acting Assistant Administrator, issued a Memorandum – Strengthening Enforcement in Communities with Environmental Justice Concerns (epa.gov) (“EJ Memo”) identifying a number of measures that may be implemented to advance protection of these communities.