[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 175 (Monday, November 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S6672]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Booker, Ms. 
        Duckworth, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Warren, and Mr. 
        Merkley):
  S. 5081. A bill to establish an Office of Environmental Justice 
within the Department of Justice, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Empowering and 
Enforcing Environmental Justice Act to improve efforts at the 
Department of Justice to hold polluters accountable and to build 
capacity at State, local, and Tribal governments to do the same.
  The Empowering and Enforcing Environmental Justice Act builds on the 
recent announcement by the Department of Justice to launch a new Office 
of Environmental Justice. My bill would make this new office permanent 
and authorize $50 million in grant funding to assist State, local, and 
Tribal governments with their own environmental enforcement efforts. It 
would also create a new Section for Environmental Justice within the 
Environment and Natural Resources Division to bring cases for 
violations of environmental laws in low-income communities and 
communities of color burdened by pollution.
  Environmental hazards like air, water, and land pollution 
disproportionately affect communities that have been historically 
marginalized, such as Tribal communities, low-income populations, and 
communities of color. Many of these communities have been further 
neglected by decades of underinvestment in housing, transportation, 
water and wastewater infrastructure, and healthcare. The codification 
of a permanent Office of Environmental Justice will ensure that DOJ 
coordinates with Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies to advance 
environmental justice and will give communities a seat at the table 
where decisions impacting their communities are being made. Further, a 
permanent Environmental Justice Section will help ensure that 
environmental justice is at the forefront of DOJ's enforcement work 
while improving enforcement of title VI of the Civil Rights Act to 
investigate civil rights complaints related to environmental justice.
  Finally, the new grant program this legislation would establish would 
improve the capacity of State, local, and Tribal agencies to launch 
their own environmental enforcement efforts--which is necessary for a 
whole-of-government approach to reversing environmental injustice.
  Enforcement of our Nation's bedrock environmental laws cannot be 
something that ebbs and flows between administrations but must be a 
constant commitment from the Federal Government to protecting the 
communities most over-exposed to pollution. Enacting this legislation 
will guarantee a long-term commitment by the Federal Government to 
advancing environmental justice and to building healthier, cleaner 
communities.
  I am grateful to Representative Barragan for leading this effort in 
the House of Representatives, and I am thankful that the Department of 
Justice is willing to prioritize defending environmental justice. I 
look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this bill as 
quickly as possible.

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