The Biden administration’s Office of Environmental Justice (DOJ) is part of their strategy to prioritise environmental injustice — particularly in relation to the climate crisis — after the issue had been largely ignored by the Trump administration.
Garland stated that the OEJ would “serve as the central hub of our efforts to advance the comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy.” The office will work alongside a number other intradepartmental agencies including the Civil Rights Division, United States Attorneys’ offices and the Civil Rights Division to “prioritize meaningful, constructive engagement with communities most affected by environmental crime or injustice.”
“In our enforcement efforts to protect the environment, we will prioritize those cases that will have the greatest effect on the communities most affected by environmental harm,” he said. He noted that “communities, of color, and indigenous communities often bear the brunt the harm caused environmental crime, pollution, and climate change.”
“Whenever possible these efforts will respond to community needs and concerns,” said he, noting “communities of color and indigenous communities often bear most of the harm caused environmental crime, pollution and climate change.”
Cynthia Ferguson, an attorney who works in the DOJ’s Environmental Enforcement Section and its Environment and Natural Resources Division, will lead the new office.
Garland stated that his department is working to regain its ability to use an enforcement instrument that was removed by the previous administration. Supplemental environmental projects, also known as supplemental environmental projects, are used in settlement agreements when federal environmental laws are violated to compensate victims or remedy the harm.
Garland stated that these projects are powerful tools for advancing environmental justice because they bring environmental and public health benefits directly to the communities most affected by the underlying violations.
This story is currently in progress and will be updated.
