Will We Reverse The Little Progress We've Made On Environmental Justice?

There is ample evidence that hazardous waste facilities, Superfund sites, sources of toxic air and water pollution, and other environmental nuisances are more likely to be located in poor and minority communities, and that these communities face disproportionate health risks as a result. The EPA’s Civil Rights Office did not resolve its historical mismanagement of Title VI claims which are made by communities when they believe recipients of federal monies are violating their civil rights (e.g., a state agency issuing a permit for a new power plant in already overburdened minority neighborhood). [...] the agency failed to effectively intervene as the lead contamination crisis unfolded in Flint, Michigan. The future of environmental justice policy at the EPA during the Trump administration is vulnerable to diminishment, if not outright reversal. Since taking the reins at the EPA, Scott Pruitt has focused most of his attention on reaching out to manufacturing, agriculture, mining and other industries affected by EPA regulation, as well as starting the rollback of high-profile regulations, such as the Clean Power Plan and the Waters of the United States rule. The Trump administration’s plans to scale back enforcement efforts by cutting resources and personnel are particularly important. Because major sources of pollution, such as power plants and oil refineries, tend to be located in poor and minority areas, any changes that result in more lax enforcement of environmental rules will disproportionately affect these communities. [...] despite Scott Pruitt’s insistence that state governments will pick up the slack, there is reason to doubt this happening given states’ own budgetary pressures.

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