[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2696 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2696

   To establish the Office of Environmental Justice in the Executive 
            Office of the President, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2017

 Ms. Jayapal (for herself, Mr. McEachin, and Ms. Barragan) 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 establish the Office of Environmental Justice in the Executive 
            Office of the President, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Executive Office of Environmental 
Justice Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.

    (a) Establishment of Office; Duties.--There is established in the 
Executive Office of the President an Office of Environmental Justice, 
which shall have the following duties:
            (1) Liaise with the Administrator of the Environmental 
        Protection Agency.
            (2) Complete an environmental justice assessment of each 
        Executive order, to be made public on the White House website.
            (3) Discuss an assessment with the President before an 
        Executive order is signed. Any such assessment shall be made 
        available to the public not later than 15 days after the 
        Executive order is signed.
            (4) Attend the Interagency Working Group meetings 
        established under Executive Order 12898 (50 Fed. Reg. 7629; 
        relating to Federal actions to address environmental justice in 
        minority populations and low-income populations) and meet, not 
        less frequently than annually, with the members of the 
        Interagency Working Group described in section 1-102 of such 
        Executive order to review progress being made on implementing 
        the environmental justice goals of the Interagency Working 
        Group within the applicable agency or office.
            (5) Coordinate roundtables with stakeholders and hold 
        public meetings.
            (6) Ensure that the goals of Executive Order 12898 (59 Fed. 
        Reg. 7629; relating to Federal actions to address environmental 
        justice in minority populations and low-income populations) are 
        being actively implemented through science-based regulations in 
        the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (7) Represent the executive branch in the community and 
        regularly engage in frontline communities, including 
        communities of color, low income communities, people with 
        limited English proficiency, indigenous peoples, and people 
        living with disabilities.
            (8) Serve as a member on the Domestic Policy Council, 
        established by Executive Order 12859 (58 Fed. Reg. 44101; 
        relating to establishment of the Domestic Policy Council).
    (b) Director.--
            (1) Establishment.--There shall be a Director of the Office 
        of Environmental Justice who shall head the Office.
            (2) Appointment.--The Director shall be appointed by the 
        President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 
        The first such appointment shall not be later than 60 days 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (3) Duties.--The Director shall serve as the liaison with 
        the Office of Environmental Justice of the Environmental 
        Protection Agency.
            (4) Pay.--The annual rate of basic pay for the Director 
        shall be the rate payable under level III of the Executive 
        Schedule (section 5314 of title 5, United States Code).
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 5314 of such title is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to ``Director of the Office of 
Emergency Planning'' the following new item:
        ``Director of the Office of Environmental Justice.''.
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