U.S. Department of the Interior Environmental Justice Annual Implementation Report 2016

In 1994, Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-income Populations, set forth the responsibility of Federal agencies to “make achieving environmental justice part of their missions by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations in the United States and its territories and possessions, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands.”

In addition, the Executive Order called for the creation of the Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice (EJIWG). The EJIWG is comprised of the DOI and 16 other Federal agencies plus White House staff to fact find, receive public comments, and conduct inquiries concerning environmental justice. The roles of the EJIWG are to guide, support and enhance federal environmental justice and community-based activities. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the convener of the EJIWG. The EJIWG has established committees to develop guidance and support the following topic areas: goods movement, civil rights, strategic planning and implementation, rural communities, regional committees, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and Native American peoples, and public participation.