Good afternoon.
Administrator Regan is a great person and I am grateful that he joined us at the Justice Department.
Today, I am announcing three actions the Department is taking in order to promote environmental justice.
First, in compliance with the Presidents Executive Order to Tackling the Climate Crisis At Home and Abroad, the Department of Environmental Justice is launching a comprehensive enforcement strategy for environmental justice. In a moment, Vanita Gupta, Associate Attorney General, will discuss this strategy.
Second, I am happy that we have launched the Justice Department’s first-ever Office of Environmental Justice. It will oversee and guide the Justice Departments wide-ranging efforts in environmental justice. It will be known as the OEJ, just like all other parts of government.
The Justice Department has issued an Interim Final Rule, which will restore the use a crucial law enforcement tool, supplemental environmental projects. These projects will be subject to new guidelines.
Administrator Regan, and I, know that the most affected communities by environmental harm aren’t isolated to any one area of the country. Environmental crime and injustice affect communities all over the country, including in cities, towns, rural and tribal areas.
Despite the fact that violations of environmental laws can occur anywhere, it is often communities of color, indigenous communities and low-income communities that suffer the most from environmental crime, pollution and climate change.
They include fenceline communities that have been exposed to toxic air pollutants, which has resulted in many cancer-related deaths.
These communities include communities where students were exposed by harmful emissions from boilers at their public schools.
These include communities where disease has spread from inept wastewater management.
For far too long, these communities have been denied the opportunity to receive the justice they need.
Our new OEJ will be a hub for all our efforts to implement our comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy in partnership with EPA.
We will prioritise cases that have the greatest impact for the communities most affected by environmental harm in our environmental efforts.
Together with our Civil Rights Division Office for Access to Justice Office of Tribal Justice Office of Tribal Justice Office of Tribal Justice Office and United States Attorneys Offices, OEJ is committed to constructive engagement with those communities most affected and impacted by environmental crime and injustice.
These efforts will, whenever possible, respond directly to community concerns and needs.
Acting Director Cynthia Ferguson, a veteran attorney from the Environmental Enforcement Section in our Environment and Natural Resources Division, will lead the new OEJ.
Cynthia has more then two decades of experience in environmental justice at DOJ. Cynthia was a mechanical engineer before she started her legal career at DOJ. She has the passion, dedication and common sense to guide OEJ in the future.
Today, the Justice Department also issued an Interim Final Rule. This will allow us to use supplemental environmental project to compensate victims and correct violations of federal environmental laws. Their use will be subjected to the new guidelines, limitations, and restrictions set forth in a separate memo that I am also issuing today.
These are environmentally-beneficial projects that a defendant proposes and agrees to implement in settlement of an enforcement case.
The Justice Department and EPA relied on them for decades to compensate victims, correct harm, punish, and deter violations. This was long before 2017.
These projects can be a powerful tool for environmental justice advancement because they provide environmental and public health benefits for the communities most affected by the underlying violations.
Let me close by stating, as I have stated many times before: The Justice Department has three essential responsibilities. They are to uphold the rule of law and keep our country safe while protecting civil rights.
All three of these responsibilities require that you seek justice for communities that aredisproportionately affected by environmental harms.
It is a task that we enjoy.
I am pleased to hand the program over to Administrator Regan.
