Advocates are concerned that the Biden administration’s environmental justice efforts received a significant funding boost in the $1.5 billion government spending bill. However, advocates worry about whether the increased attention can last given years of promises that have not been fulfilled in their communities.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s equity activities have been rewarded with $100 million, which is a significant $83 million increase in funding over fiscal 2021.
The agency will receive grants for disadvantaged communities, but the increase will also allow it to improve its ability to integrate environmental justice efforts throughout its entire mission, which includes clean air, clean water and toxic chemical management.
Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, stated that although this funding is vital, it’s only a start. He was a leading voice in Congress advocating for more attention for disadvantaged communities.
We need the resources to address the problem. He stated that vulnerable communities need laws to hold polluters accountable, give them recourse against discriminatory policy, and more input into permit decisions.
Funding Boosts
The $100 million was spent on environmental justice initiatives. Fiscal 2022 spending measures provided a modest $13million boost for enforcement and monitoring of the environment. Totaling $539,000,000 The bill gave the EPA Superfund cleanups $1.23 Billion in fiscal 2022 spending, a slight increase of $27 M over fiscal 2021 levels.
One million dollars was added to the $92 million amount for Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. These increases are modest, but Superfund and other waste cleanups received billions of dollars in additional money under the bipartisan Infrastructure Package. This was partly to help long-neglected areas near the sites.
The law allocated $3.5 billion to Superfund cleanups for five years.
The House approved Omnibus measure (
All-Agency Effort
Advocates claim that funding for EPA programs will not be enough to serve underserved communities. Biden promised that the effort would be an all-of-government initiative when he was elected.
We have been fighting legacy pollution issues for communities built on Superfund sites or landfills for over 30 years. We are trying to find a solution, said Beverly White, a member the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, and executive director of Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.
White stated that more resources are needed in order to transform clean-up waste sites into jobs such as solar energy projects, which can benefit the local communities. To resolve this issue, they need the assistance of multiple agencies, and EPA is only one gateway to an all-of-government approach.
White stated that she does not see a way to extend the EPA’s efforts beyond it.
Significant Gains
Former senior adviser to EPA’s environmental justice initiatives, Mustafa Santiago Ali, stated that EPA’s environmental justice efforts, especially its Office of Environmental Justice, which coordinates efforts across all EPA regional offices, are seeing significant gains from the spending measure.
This is a major step forward in environmental justice. Superfund and other cleanups of waste sites now have a stronger foundation than they have had for a number years, Ali, the National Wildlife Federations vice-president of environmental justice and climate and community revitalization.
Ali and other advocates stated that, while more funding is always welcome, that funding is arriving because EPA leadership vows more aggressive enforcement to better safeguard communities of color, low-income neighborhoods, and more surprise inspections at polluting sites.
He said that even though some of these modest increases are important, it could be just as important to see how the agency uses those resources to benefit these communities.
Looking ahead to the Next Year
According to Dana Johnson who is senior strategy director and federal policy chief at WE ACT, Environmental Justice, many advocates are already looking forward to next year in order to determine whether recent gains made in federal spending will be sustained.
She stated that fiscal 2023 will be a time when we want to see spending that is focused on environmental justice, beyond EPA.
In January, Michael Regan, EPA Administrator, announced that the agency would increase inspections of sites within and around disadvantaged communities. It also plans to use more air monitoring efforts, including the single-engine turboprop ASPECT aircraft and hire additional air pollution inspectors.
Regan, who organized a tour of long-ignored communities this fall, stated that too many communities have been suffering for far to long, with some communities waiting decades for answers.
