Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All

The order directs all executive agencies to identify and address disproportionate health and environmental burdens — including those from climate change, cumulative pollution, and historical discrimination — on communities with environmental justice concerns. Each agency must produce an Environmental Justice Strategic Plan within 18 months, and two years after that, an Environmental Justice Assessment evaluating the plan's effectiveness. The order also establishes a White House Office of Environmental Justice within CEQ, led by a presidentially appointed Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer; expands the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council to include 24 named senior officials; requires EPA to build a public, multilingual online clearinghouse by March 31, 2024; and mandates that agencies hold public meetings within six weeks after toxic chemical releases under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The Director of OSTP must establish an Environmental Justice Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council to prepare biennial research and data plans addressing gaps in environmental health science.

Implementation is tied to CEQ guidance — interim guidance due within six months of signing and final guidance within 18 months — which agencies must follow in developing their plans. The order expressly states it does not itself create any enforceable legal right or benefit, and its requirements are subject to available appropriations. Independent regulatory agencies are encouraged but not required to comply.

All federal executive agencies and their staff; low-income communities, communities of color, Tribal Nations, and other overburdened communities nationwide; state, territorial, and local governments that receive federal funds or partner on environmental programs; and recipients of federal financial assistance subject to civil rights requirements.

Agencies must now formally plan, measure, and publicly report on reducing environmental health disparities, creating accountability mechanisms where few previously existed. Communities near industrial sites or toxic releases gain rights to agency-held public meetings. Overburdened communities gain expanded access to multilingual federal environmental information.

Each agency submits an EJ Strategic Plan to CEQ at the 18-month mark, followed two years later by an EJ Assessment. CEQ issues guidance — interim at 6 months, final at 18 months — to standardize both documents across agencies. The newly established White House Office of Environmental Justice coordinates policy, while the expanded Interagency Council (chaired by CEQ) facilitates cross-agency collaboration and holds at least one annual public meeting. EPA builds the public clearinghouse by March 2024 and reports annually to CEQ on Clean Air Act section 309 reviews. CEQ submits a consolidated implementation report to the President one year after the Strategic Plan deadline.