EPA Appoints Environmental Justice Advisor To Support Administrator’s Environmental Justice Goals – Environment

On February 8, 2022, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Administrator Michael Regan announced the
appointment of Robin Morris Collin as Senior Advisor of
Environmental Justice to the Administrator. This appointment is the
most recent agency action in the EPA-wide effort to prioritize
environmental justice. According to EPA, “Collin will advise
Administrator Regan as the Agency works to advance environmental
justice and civil rights in communities that continue to suffer
from disproportionately high pollution levels, including low-income
communities and communities of color.”

In announcing her appointment, Administrator Regan restated his
commitment “to embedding equity, environmental justice, and
civil rights into the DNA of the Agency’s programs, policies,
and processes, and to delivering tangible results to underserved
communities.” According to Regan, the Senior Advisor of
Environmental Justice role will be key to ensuring that
“vulnerable populations have a seat at the table” as EPA
works to “deliver environmental justice.”

Collin, who most recently served as a professor of law at
Willamette University, received the EPA Environmental Justice
Achievement Award. Environmental justice advocates and members of
the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council have expressed support of Collin’s
appointment.

EPA also is working with the Office of Management and Budget to
create a new national program manager role for environmental
justice and civil rights at EPA, as proposed by President Joe Biden
in the fiscal year 2022 budget request.

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