The Biden Plan To Secure Environmental Justice And Equitable Economic Opportunity

Joe Biden is running for President to ensure that every American has a fair chance to succeed. This means addressing the systemic racism embedded in our laws, policies, and institutions. Biden believes that energy and environmental policies should not only improve public health and economic opportunities for everyone but also tackle the unequal harm that communities of color and low-income areas have faced for years due to climate change and pollution. These communities have suffered from higher levels of environmental damage, leading to increased rates of illness, hospitalization, and death — especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden is committed to ensuring that policymakers are accountable to the people they serve rather than to corporations or polluters.

Environmental and climate justice is a key part of Biden’s climate plan. His approach includes:

• Using an inclusive, All-of-Government strategy
• Making decisions based on data and science
• Targeting resources to prioritize environmental and climate justice
• Evaluating and addressing risks posed by future public health emergencies.

Adopt An Inclusive And Empowering, All-Of-Government Strategy

The current environmental justice policy in the U.S. was established over 20 years ago and no longer addresses the challenges of today or the future. To clean up polluted communities and create new opportunities for those most affected by pollution and inequality, Joe Biden will update and strengthen the 1994 Executive Order 12898 on Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority and Low-Income Populations. Specifically, Biden will:

• Establish an Environmental and Climate Justice Division within the U.S. Department of Justice. Under the Trump administration, the EPA referred the lowest number of anti-pollution cases to the DOJ in 30 years. Allowing corporations to pollute without consequences harms workers and communities. Biden will direct the EPA and DOJ to vigorously pursue these cases and work on new legislation to hold corporate executives accountable, including jail time if necessary.

  The Biden administration will create a new Environmental and Climate Justice Division within the DOJ to work alongside the Environment and Natural Resources Division. This division will focus on (i) implementing the Environmental Justice Act of 2019 where possible through executive action; (ii) boosting enforcement in line with Biden's clean energy goals; (iii) supporting climate-related lawsuits led by plaintiffs against polluters; (iv) tackling legacy pollution with practical solutions to create healthier communities; and (v) collaborating with the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights to ensure accountability.

• The Biden Administration Will Strengthen Environmental Justice Within The Federal Government And Update The All-Of-Government Approach. Currently, the government has two main environmental justice groups. Biden will elevate and reorganize these into the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council, both reporting directly to the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), who in turn reports to the President. To support this effort, Biden’s CEQ will include senior staff dedicated to environmental justice.

  These councils will collaborate with local environmental justice leaders to revise Executive Order 12898 to address both present and past environmental injustices. They will also establish clear performance metrics to ensure accountability in implementing the Executive Order. Once the updated EO is in place, the councils will publish an annual public performance scorecard to monitor progress.

• Revamp the EPA's External Civil Rights Compliance Office. For years, the EPA’s External Civil Rights Compliance Office has failed to meet its responsibilities under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This will change under the Biden Administration. Biden will reform this office to ensure it delivers justice to frontline communities most affected by climate change and to fenceline communities near pollution sources. Key actions will include: (i) revisiting and overturning the EPA’s decision in Select Steel and its Angelita C. settlement, which allowed state agencies to issue harmful permits and operate in ways that negatively impacted communities; (ii) initiating rulemaking and launching a public comment period to gather input from Americans on how the agency should handle Title VI Administrative complaints; and (iii) collaborating with Congress to give communities the ability to pursue these cases on their own by reinstating a private right of action to sue under Title VI, a right that was removed in the 2001 Supreme Court decision in Alexander v. Sandoval.

Make Data-Driven, Science-Based Decisions

President Trump has frequently disregarded science and sidelined experts within the federal government. In contrast, Biden will prioritize science, ensuring that decisions — especially those related to environmental justice — are based on reliable data.

Building on the EPA’s EJSCREEN tool, developed during the Obama-Biden administration, and using lessons learned from state-level initiatives, Biden will task the newly enhanced White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council, in close collaboration with the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, to create a data-driven Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. This tool will identify communities at risk from the combined effects of climate change, economic and racial inequality, and pollution from multiple sources. To make this information accessible, the Screening Tool will release annual maps in multiple languages, highlighting disadvantaged communities, including tribal areas, that face disproportionate burdens. Furthermore, acknowledging that low-income and communities of color often lack air quality monitoring, Biden will work to ensure these communities are better informed about dangerous pollution levels affecting their health.

• Introduce new monitoring systems in at-risk communities. Biden will ensure the federal government mandates that every state properly track environmental pollution, including emissions, pollutants, and toxins, especially in vulnerable and high-risk areas. This will involve installing new monitoring systems where they are currently absent and making real-time data publicly available. In addition, Biden will establish a new environmental public health corps to help communities effectively use this data.
• Require community notifications. Following Congresswoman Blunt Rochester’s ALERT Act, Biden will direct the EPA to implement a community notification program. This program will require industries dealing with hazardous and toxic chemicals to directly inform nearby communities when toxic releases occur, ensuring residents are immediately aware and involved in the cleanup process.
• Form interagency teams to address key challenges and partner with communities. Biden will establish an Interagency Climate Equity Task Force to tackle the most critical climate-related inequalities in vulnerable communities and tribal nations. This includes addressing the lack of access to credit and capital for local governments and small businesses in environmental justice areas. Biden will collaborate with community leaders to identify their priorities and needs. The administration will focus on strengthening local self-determination by supporting community leadership, utilizing federal resources to back local organizations, and providing direct funding for capacity-building — from essential tools to talent — to empower local leaders and assist in rebuilding stronger communities.

Biden will also:

• Address water pollution with a science-based approach. Biden will focus on improving water quality in a thorough and effective way. For example, up to 110 million Americans could be exposed to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in their drinking water, chemicals linked to health issues like cancer, especially in states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, and New Hampshire. Instead of making empty promises, Biden will take action by classifying PFAS as a hazardous substance, enforcing limits in the Safe Drinking Water Act, promoting alternative solutions, and accelerating toxicity research. Biden will also prioritize testing and cleaning up lead in drinking water and homes, collaborating with the CDC, labor unions, and state, local, and tribal governments. Additionally, Biden will work to protect rural communities from both water and air pollution, ensuring that low-income families, rural residents, and tribes have access to affordable water through targeted funding via state revolving funds and Rural Utility Service support for underserved areas.
• Biden will prioritize strategies and technologies that reduce traditional air pollution in underserved communities. He will direct his Cabinet to focus on climate strategies and technologies that provide the most significant public health benefits. Biden will also ask the Office of Science and Technology Policy to release a report within 100 days that identifies the most effective climate strategies and technologies to improve air and water quality. The report will update current tools to better evaluate health risks and benefits. Finally, Biden will urge each state to focus on reducing emissions in disadvantaged communities, as identified by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, within their state air quality plans.

Allocate Resources In Line With The Importance Of Environmental And Climate Justice

The Biden plan already ensures that low-income and communities of color are given priority in competitive grant programs. Now, Biden is taking it a step further by dedicating 40% of his significant clean energy investment to disadvantaged communities. Building on New York State's progressive climate law, Biden will:

• Direct investments to guarantee that 40% of the benefits reach disadvantaged communities, including funding for clean energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, affordable housing, workforce development, pollution cleanup, and clean water infrastructure.
• Use the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool to identify these communities, which face overlapping challenges from climate change, economic and racial inequality, and environmental pollution.

Biden will also direct historic investments across federal agencies to tackle legacy pollution, especially in communities of color, rural and urban low-income areas, and Indigenous communities. He will address common challenges in these areas, such as funding for replacing and cleaning lead service lines and lead paint in homes, daycares, and schools, to ensure everyone has access to safe drinking water and wastewater systems. These investments will create good-paying union jobs and build infrastructure that can withstand the impacts of climate change, with a focus on frontline and fenceline communities.

Evaluate And Address Risks To Communities From Future Public Health Crisis

Our country must strengthen its preparedness and response to public health emergencies, particularly in communities already facing environmental stressors. The link between climate change and public health risks is undeniable — climate change presents an escalating threat to all Americans, especially to low-income and communities of color. We must take lessons from the current pandemic to ensure all communities are prepared for future challenges. Building on The Biden Plan to Combat COVID-19 and Prepare for Future Global Health Threats, Biden will implement the following measures to address the unavoidable effects of climate change:

• Create a National Climate Crisis Response Strategy focusing on fair disaster risk reduction and recovery. The failure of the Trump administration to effectively address the COVID-19 pandemic shows the urgent need for a science-driven national climate crisis strategy. This strategy will provide support to states, tribes, and territories, ensuring resources for disaster risk reduction are allocated fairly and efficiently. After climate-related disasters, the goal will be to rebuild better. Building on Senator Markey’s Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act, Biden will use a whole-of-government approach to address the various climate-related disasters outlined in the National Climate Assessment (such as heat waves, rising sea levels, wildfires, air pollution, infectious diseases, hurricanes, and floods). Following the recommendations of the American Lung Association, Biden will direct the CDC to provide additional grants to states and territories to work with local health departments on climate disaster mitigation plans.
• Create a Task Force to Address Climate Change Risks for Vulnerable Populations. The Department of Health and Human Services, under Biden’s leadership, will establish this Task Force to focus on reducing climate risks for children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups, including those identified by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. The Task Force will identify the climate change-related health impacts that pose the greatest risks to these communities and collaborate with other agencies to address these threats using a whole-of-government approach. This will also involve tackling existing health disparities. Furthermore, the Task Force will design a recovery strategy to ensure housing for those displaced by climate disasters.
• Create an Office of Climate Change and Health Equity at HHS and Launch an Infectious Disease Defense Initiative. To effectively prepare for and address the unavoidable effects of climate change, Biden will establish an Office of Climate Change and Health Equity within the HHS Secretary’s office, inspired by the Office of AIDS Research created in 1983. This new office will invest in surveillance, early-warning systems, and research aimed at reducing the health risks associated with climate change and health equity. In collaboration with the CDC, this office will work alongside the Department of Defense to identify infectious diseases most likely to be worsened by climate change, assess the risks to populations, and work with other federal agencies to speed up the development of vaccines and mitigation strategies to protect Americans.
• Strengthen the Resilience of the U.S. Health Care System and Workforce in Response to Natural Disasters. Building on guidelines from the Obama-Biden Administration, Biden will create a biennial Health Care System Readiness Task Force. This public-private initiative will evaluate the resilience of the nation’s healthcare system in the face of natural disasters and propose strategies and investments to improve it. The task force will include participation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The evaluation will look at both the infrastructure of healthcare facilities and the preparedness of the frontline healthcare workforce, including opportunities for workforce development in underserved communities. Starting in 2021, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, in collaboration with the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Security Council, will publish an annual, declassified report identifying the types, probabilities, locations, and potential impacts of natural disasters across the U.S.