PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 26, 2021
The Environmental Protection Agency first created an Office of Environmental Justice in 1992, but it has never given the issue sustained attention. EPA officials can advance environmental justice immediately by not just listening to people of color and other communities suffering from pollution burdens, but empowering them to be involved in decisions that affect their lives. Second, EPA should prioritize enforcement activities where federal and state agencies conduct fewer inspections and impose lighter penalties when offending pollution sources are located in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Third, EPA can make better use of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits organizations that receive federal funds from discriminating against protected groups. Fourth, EPA can make it routine to consider environmental justice in its rule-making. ~ David Konisky