[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 23, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID (for Mrs. Clinton):
  S. 2549. A bill to require the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency to establish an Interagency Working Group on 
Environmental Justice to provide guidance to Federal agencies on the 
development of criteria for identifying disproportionately high and 
adverse human health or environmental effects on minority populations 
and low-income populations, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the 
Environmental Justice Renewal Act, legislation to address the issue of 
environmental racism that is faced by far too many Americans today.
  In our country, we have communities predominantly racial and ethnic 
minority and low-income communities in which the air is unsafe to 
breathe, the water unfit to drink, the schools unsafe places to learn.
  A 2005 Associated Press analysis of Environmental Protection Agency, 
EPA, air data found that African Americans were 79 percent more likely 
than their white counterparts to live in an area where the levels of 
air pollution posed health risks. About half of lower-income homes in 
our Nation are located within a mile of factories that report toxic 
emissions to the EPA. Hispanic and African-American children have lead 
poisoning rates that are roughly double that of their white 
counterparts. The evidence clearly documents the disproportionate 
impact of pollution faced by minority and low-income populations.
  For more than a quarter-century, activists have been working to 
address this disparity in exposure. The work of residents in Warren 
County, NC, in protesting the placement of a toxic waste site in a 
predominantly African-American community sparked the modern-day 
environmental justice movement. Since that time, individuals in all 
parts of the United States have spoken out about the conditions in 
their own neighborhoods, and have joined together with schools, with 
churches, and with local organizations to create positive change in 
their communities. But they cannot act alone. The Federal Government 
has a clear role in reducing and eliminating the disparate pollution 
burden placed upon racial and ethnic minorities and low-income 
populations.
  This role has been acknowledged by the Federal Government by 
individuals on both sides of the aisle. Under the first Bush 
administration, the EPA released several reports on what was then known 
as environmental equity, now called environmental justice. President 
Clinton promulgated Executive Order 12898, titled ``Federal Actions to 
Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income 
Populations,'' which directed federal agencies to account for the ways 
in which their activities would impact low-income and minority 
communities. The Federal Government took action to ensure that 
environmental justice was part of the mission of its agencies.
  But under the current Bush administration, the EPA has not lived up 
to its motto ``to protect human health and the environment.'' Because 
of their inaction on environmental justice, too many minority and low-
income Americans lack equal access to protections that safeguard 
health, well being, and potential of children and families.
  A 2004 report from the EPA's Office of the Inspector General found 
the following: ``EPA has not fully implemented Executive Order 12898 
nor consistently integrated environmental justice into its day-to-day 
operations.''
  In 2005, the Government Accountability Office released a report 
concluding that the agency has failed to consider environmental justice 
in making rules that protect families from environmental degradation 
and pollution.
  In 2006, the Office of the Inspector General released another report 
on the EPA's environmental justice record, concluding that EPA senior 
management had not ``sufficiently directed program and regional offices 
to conduct environmental justice reviews.''
  Earlier this year, the United Church of Christ released a report, 
Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty, which stated: ``Environmental Justice 
faltered and became invisible at the EPA under the George W. Bush 
Administration.''
  The Environmental Justice Renewal Act will address the rollbacks that 
have taken place during this Administration, and once again focus 
federal attention and resources on environmental justice.
  It will revitalize the Interagency Working Group, IWG, on 
Environmental Justice, codifying the IWG and requiring biennial 
assessments of their efforts by the Government Accountability Office, 
to ensure that all agencies are completing goals and following 
timelines identified in each agency's environmental justice strategy.
  It will establish new and expand current grant programs. With this 
additional funding, community groups can address the complicated 
health, environmental, and economic components of the pollution 
problems in their neighborhoods. The legislation will help states, 
tribes and territories develop and implement environmental justice 
strategies and policies. It will strengthen the technical assistance 
available to communities, by developing web-based Environmental Justice 
Clearinghouse.
  This bill will increase the number of federal employees who have 
received environmental justice training, and who are able to 
incorporate environmental justice into their daily activities, such as 
permit review. In addition, it would establish a training program for 
community members modeled after the existing Superfund training 
programs to help affected individuals gain the skills needed to 
identify and monitor environmental concerns in their local areas.
  Finally, the bill will increase public awareness of and participation 
in environmental justice activities, requiring the EPA to routinely 
hold community-based outreach meetings and ensuring increased 
interaction with the National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, 
which represents stakeholders and impacted communities. It will also 
establish the position of Environmental Justice Ombudsman at the EPA, 
in order to receive, review, and process comments about the 
environmental justice work of the agency.
  Groups supporting the legislation include the Sierra Club, ReGenesis, 
the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, Earthjustice, the 
Indigenous Environmental Network, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil 
Rights Under Law.
  We have neglected this issue for far too long, and it is time to once 
again ensure that the federal government works to reduce and eliminate 
these disparities that exist in our minority and low-income 
communities. I look forward to joining my colleagues in the Senate to 
get this enacted into law.

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