[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1602 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1602

  To ensure environmental justice in the areas affected by Hurricanes 
                           Katrina and Rita.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 20, 2007

Mr. Jefferson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To ensure environmental justice in the areas affected by Hurricanes 
                           Katrina and Rita.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hurricanes Katrina and Rita 
Environmental Justice Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In June 2005, the Administration announced that it was 
        removing race and class from special consideration in its 
        definition of environmental justice, departing from President 
        Clinton's 1994 Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice 
        which mandated that all Federal agencies generate agency-
        specific strategies to address the disproportionate pollution 
        experienced by minority communities.
            (2) Years before Hurricane Katrina, environmental justice 
        activists were anticipating the racially disproportionate 
        effects of climate change, in terms of coastal flooding and the 
        health effects of heat waves, through the Environmental Justice 
        and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC). As their 2002 fact sheet 
        stated: ``People of color are concentrated in urban centers in 
        the South, coastal regions, and areas with substandard air 
        quality. New Orleans, which is 62 percent African-American and 
        2 feet below sea level, exemplifies the severe and 
        disproportionate impacts of climate change in the United 
        States.
            (3) Numerous studies have concluded that many diseases, 
        including cancer, heart disease, asthma, birth defects, 
        behavioral disorders, infertility, and obesity, are caused or 
        exacerbated by environmental hazards.
            (4) Of the chemicals produced in the United States annually 
        in quantities greater than 10,000 pounds, only 43 percent of 
        such chemicals have been tested for their potential human 
        toxicity and only 7 percent have been studied to assess effects 
        on human development.
            (5) Approximately 126,000,000 people in the United States 
        live in areas of non-attainment for pollutants that have 
        health-based standards.
            (6) In the United States, air pollution is estimated to be 
        associated with 50,000 premature deaths and with 
        $50,000,000,000 in health-related costs annually.
            (7) In children, environmental toxins are estimated to 
        cause up to 35 percent of asthma cases, up to 10 percent of 
        cancer cases, and up to 20 percent of neurobehavioral 
        disorders.
            (8) People of color are almost three times more likely than 
        Caucasians to be hospitalized or die from asthma and other 
        respiratory illnesses linked to air pollution. Asthma accounts 
        for 10 million lost school days, 1.2 million emergency room 
        visits, 15 million outpatient visits, and over 500,000 
        hospitalizations each year in the United States.
            (9) Consequently, the people who live in these communities 
        are inundated with significant environmental and health hazards 
        related to toxic waste sites, mining operations, incinerators, 
        oil exploration, and other harmful developments. In the United 
        States, approximately 60 percent of African Americans live in 
        communities with uncontrolled toxic waste sites. Three out of 
        five of the largest hazardous waste landfills in the United 
        States are located in predominantly African American or Latino 
        communities.
            (10) Hurricane Katrina struck a region that is 
        disproportionately African American and poor. African Americans 
        make up twelve percent of the United States population. Nearly 
        68 percent of the population of New Orleans is African 
        American. The African American population in the Coastal 
        Mississippi counties where Hurricane Katrina struck ranged from 
        25 percent to 87 percent. Twenty-eight percent of New Orleans 
        residents live below the poverty level and more than 80 percent 
        of those are African American. Fifty percent of all New Orleans 
        children live in poverty. The poverty rate was 17.7 percent in 
        Gulfport, Mississippi and 21.2 percent in Mobile, Alabama in 
        2000. Nationally, in 2000, 11.3 percent of people in the United 
        States and 22.1 percent of African Americans were living below 
        the poverty line.
            (11) New Orleans is prototypical of environmental justice 
        issues in the Gulf Coast region. Before Hurricane Katrina, the 
        City of New Orleans was struggling with a wide range of 
        environmental justice issues and concerns. Its location along 
        the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor increased its 
        vulnerability to environmental threats. The City of New Orleans 
        had an extremely high childhood environmental lead poisoning 
        problem. There were ongoing air quality impacts and resulting 
        high asthma and respiratory disease rates and frequent visits 
        to emergency rooms for treatment by both children and adults. 
        Environmental health problems and issues related to 
        environmental exposure was a grave issue of concern for New 
        Orleans residents.
            (12) New Orleans and outlying areas suffered severe 
        environmental damage during Hurricane Katrina, the extent to 
        which has yet to be determined. The post-Hurricane Katrina New 
        Orleans has been described as a ``cesspool'' of toxic 
        chemicals, human waste, decomposing flesh, and surprises that 
        remain to be uncovered in the sediments. Massive amounts of 
        toxic chemicals were used and stored along the Gulf Coast 
        before the storm. Literally thousands of sites in the storm's 
        path used or stored hazardous chemicals, from the local dry 
        cleaner and auto repair shops to Superfund sites and oil 
        refineries in Chalmette and Meraux, Louisiana, where there are 
        enormous stores of ultra-hazardous hydrofluoric acid. In the 
        aftermath of the storm some sites were damaged and leaked. 
        Residents across the Gulf Coast and the media reported oil 
        spills, obvious leaks from plants, storage tankards turned on 
        end, and massive fumes.
            (13) Short-term rebuilding objectives must not outweigh 
        long-term public health protection for all people in the United 
        States and the environment on which such people depend.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Advisory committee.--The term ``Advisory Committee'' 
        means the advisory committee established by section 6.
            (2) Environmental justice.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``environmental justice'' 
                means the fair treatment of people of all races, 
                cultures, and socioeconomic groups with respect to the 
                development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement 
                of laws, regulations, and policies affecting the 
                environment.
                    (B) Fair treatment.--The term ``fair treatment'' 
                means policies and practices that will minimize the 
                likelihood that a minority, low-income community that 
                is rural or urban will bear a disproportionate share of 
                the adverse environmental consequences, or be denied 
                reasonable access to the environmental benefits, 
                resulting from implementation of a Federal program or 
                policy in the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected 
                area.
            (3) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means--
                    (A) each Federal entity represented on the Working 
                Group;
                    (B) any other entity that conducts any Federal 
                program or activity that substantially affects human 
                health or the environment; and
                    (C) each Federal agency that implements any 
                program, policy, or activity applicable to Native 
                Americans.
            (4) Hurricanes katrina and rita affected area.--The term 
        ``Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected area'' means the area 
        for which the President has declared the existence of a major 
        disaster, in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. 
        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 5170), as a consequence of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
            (5) Working group.--The term ``Working Group'' means the 
        interagency working group established by section 4.

SEC. 4. HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE 
              RESPONSIBILITIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    (a) Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Environmental Justice Mission.--To 
the greatest extent practicable, the head of each Federal agency shall 
make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying 
and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse 
human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and 
activities on minority, low-income populations that are rural or urban 
in the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected area.
    (b) Nondiscrimination.--Each Federal agency shall conduct its 
programs, policies, and activities in a manner that ensures that such 
programs, policies, and activities do not have the effect of excluding 
any person or group from participation in, denying any person or group 
the benefits of, or subjecting any person or group to discrimination 
under, such programs, policies, and activities, because of race, color, 
national origin, or income.

SEC. 5. HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA INTERAGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE 
              WORKING GROUP.

    (a) Creation and Composition.--There is hereby established the 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Interagency Working Group on Environmental 
Justice, to be comprised of the following:
            (1) The heads of the following executive agencies and 
        offices (or their designees):
                    (A) The Department of Defense.
                    (B) The Department of Health and Human Services.
                    (C) The Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development.
                    (D) The Department of Homeland Security.
                    (E) The Department of Labor.
                    (F) The Department of Agriculture.
                    (G) The Department of Transportation.
                    (H) The Department of Justice.
                    (I) The Department of the Interior.
                    (J) The Department of Commerce.
                    (K) The Department of Energy.
                    (L) The Environmental Protection Agency.
                    (M) The Office of Management and Budget.
            (2) Not more than 4 representatives of community-based and 
        local nonprofit organizations, designated by the Governors of 
        the States in the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected area 
        acting jointly.
            (3) Not more than 4 State and local civic leaders, 
        designated by the Governors of the States in the Hurricanes 
        Katrina and Rita affected area acting jointly.
            (4) Not more than 4 elected officials, designated by the 
        Governors of the States in the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita 
        affected area acting jointly.
    (b) Functions.--The Working Group shall--
            (1) provide guidance to Federal and State agencies on 
        criteria for identifying disproportionately high and adverse 
        human health or environmental effects on minority, low-income 
        populations that are rural or urban;
            (2) coordinate with, provide guidance to, and serve as a 
        clearinghouse for, Federal and State agencies as Federal 
        agencies develop or revise an environmental justice strategy 
        under section 5, in order to ensure that the administration, 
        interpretation, and enforcement of programs, policies, and 
        activities are undertaken in a consistent manner;
            (3) assist in coordinating research by, and stimulating 
        cooperation among, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
        Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of 
        Housing and Urban Development, and other Federal agencies 
        conducting research or other activities in accordance with 
        strategies under section 5;
            (4) assist in coordinating data collection, maintenance, 
        and analysis required by this Act;
            (5) examine existing data and studies on environmental 
        justice within the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected area;
            (6) hold public meetings and otherwise solicit public 
        participation and consider complaints as required under 
        subsection (c); and
            (7) develop interagency model projects on environmental 
        justice that evidence cooperation among Federal and State 
        agencies.
    (c) Public Participation.--The Working Group shall--
            (1) hold public meetings and otherwise solicit public 
        participation, as appropriate, for the purpose of fact-finding 
        with regard to implementation of this Act, and prepare for 
        public review a summary of the comments and recommendations 
        provided; and
            (2) receive, consider, and in appropriate instances conduct 
        inquiries concerning complaints regarding environmental justice 
        and the implementation of this Act by Federal and State 
        agencies.
    (d) Annual Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Each fiscal year following enactment of 
        this Act, the Working Group shall submit to the President, 
        through the Office of the Deputy Assistant to the President for 
        Environmental Policy and the Office of the Assistant to the 
        President for Domestic Policy, a report that describes the 
        implementation of this Act, including a report on the final 
        environmental justice strategies described in section 5 and 
        annual progress made in implementing those strategies.
            (2) Copy of report.--The President shall transmit a copy of 
        each report submitted to the President under paragraph (1) to 
        the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of 
        the Senate, and the Governor of each State in the Hurricanes 
        Katrina and Rita affected area.

SEC. 6. FEDERAL AGENCY STRATEGIES.

    (a) Agency-Wide Strategies.--Each Federal agency shall develop an 
agency-wide environmental justice strategy that identifies and 
addresses disproportionally high and adverse human health or 
environmental effects or disproportionally low benefits of its 
programs, policies, and activities with respect to minority, low-income 
populations that are rural or urban.
    (b) Revisions.--Each strategy developed pursuant to subsection (a) 
shall identify programs, policies, planning, and public participation 
processes, rulemaking, and enforcement activities related to human 
health or the environment that should be revised to--
            (1) promote enforcement of all health and environmental 
        statutes in areas with minority, low-income populations that 
        are rural or urban;
            (2) ensure greater public participation;
            (3) improve research and data collection relating to the 
        health and environment of minority, low-income populations that 
        are rural or urban; and
            (4) identify differential patterns of use of natural 
        resources among minority, low-income populations that are rural 
        or urban.
    (c) Timetables.--Each strategy developed pursuant to subsection (a) 
shall include a timetable for undertaking revisions identified pursuant 
to subsection (b).

SEC. 7. FEDERAL HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE 
              ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a committee to be known as 
the Federal Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Environmental Justice Advisory 
Committee.
    (b) Duties.--The Advisory Committee shall provide independent 
advice and recommendations to the Environmental Protection Agency and 
the Working Group on areas relating to environmental justice, which may 
include any of the following:
            (1) Advice on Federal and State agencies' framework 
        development for integrating socioeconomic programs into 
        strategic planning, annual planning, and management 
        accountability for achieving environmental justice results 
        agency-wide.
            (2) Advice on measuring and evaluating agencies' progress, 
        quality, and adequacy in planning, developing, and implementing 
        environmental justice strategies, projects, and programs.
            (3) Advice on agencies' existing and future information 
        management systems, technologies, and data collection, and the 
        conduct of analyses that support and strengthen environmental 
        justice programs in administrative and scientific areas.
            (4) Advice to help develop, facilitate, and conduct reviews 
        of the direction, criteria, scope, and adequacy of the Federal 
        agencies' scientific research and demonstration projects 
        relating to environmental justice.
            (5) Advice for improving how the Environmental Protection 
        Agency and others participate, cooperate, and communicate 
        within that agency and between other Federal agencies, State 
        and local governments, environmental justice leaders, interest 
        groups, and the public.
            (6) Advice regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's 
        administration of grant programs relating to environmental 
        justice assistance (not to include the review or 
        recommendations of individual grant proposals or awards).
            (7) Advice regarding agencies' awareness, education, 
        training, and other outreach activities involving environmental 
        justice.
    (c) Advisory Committee.--The Advisory Committee shall be considered 
an advisory committee within the meaning of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
    (d) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The Advisory Committee shall be composed 
        of 21 members to be appointed in accordance with paragraph (2). 
        Members shall include representatives of--
                    (A) community-based groups;
                    (B) industry and business;
                    (C) academic and educational institutions;
                    (D) minority health organizations;
                    (E) State and local governments, federally 
                recognized tribes, and indigenous groups; and
                    (F) nongovernmental and environmental groups.
            (2) Appointments.--Of the members of the Advisory 
        Committee--
                    (A) three members shall be appointed by the 
                majority leader of the Senate;
                    (B) three members shall be appointed by the 
                minority leader of the Senate;
                    (C) three members shall be appointed by the Speaker 
                of the House of Representatives;
                    (D) three members shall be appointed by the 
                minority leader of the House of Representatives;
                    (E) two members shall be appointed by the 
                President; and
                    (F) for each State in the Hurricanes Katrina and 
                Rita affected area, one member shall be appointed by 
                the Governor of such State.
    (e) Meetings.--
            (1) In general.--The Advisory Committee shall meet at least 
        twice annually. Meetings shall occur as needed and approved by 
        the Director of the Office of Environmental Justice of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency, who shall serve as the officer 
        required to be appointed under section 10(e) of the Federal 
        Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) with respect to the 
        Committee (in this subsection referred to as the ``Designated 
        Federal Officer'').
            (2) Travel and per diem expenses.--The Administrator of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency may pay travel and per diem 
        expenses of members of the Advisory Committee when determined 
        necessary and appropriate.
            (3) Agenda.--The Designated Federal Officer or a designee 
        of such Officer shall be present at all meetings, and each 
        meeting shall be conducted in accordance with an agenda 
        approved in advance by such Officer.
            (4) Adjournment.--The Designated Federal Officer may 
        adjourn any meeting when the Designated Federal Officer 
        determines it is in the public interest to do so.
            (5) Open to public.--As required by the Federal Advisory 
        Committee Act, meetings of the Advisory Committee shall be open 
        to the public unless the President determines that a meeting or 
        a portion of a meeting may be closed to the public in 
        accordance with subsection (c) of section 552b of title 5, 
        United States Code.
            (6) Comments.--Unless a meeting or portion thereof is 
        closed to the public (in accordance with paragraph (5)), the 
        Designated Federal Officer shall provide an opportunity for 
        interested persons to file comments before or after such 
        meeting or to make statements to the extent that time permits.
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