"The EPA is using new firepower to finally start addressing decades of complaints that it and other agencies have ignored environmental justice concerns, the agency’s top official on the issue told Bloomberg Law.

President Joe Biden’s call for an “all of government” approach to environmental equity has allowed the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Justice to flex its muscles and bring other agencies into the fight, its director, Matthew Tejada, said Wednesday.

Tejada’s comments came amid environmental justice advocates’ skepticism that the EPA is moving fast enough to address the disproportionate pollution that has impacted low-income and minority populations for decades.

The office is offering guidance on environmental justice to an array of agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers—which plays a key role in environmental permitting—the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and even NASA, he said."

Stephen Lee and Dean Scott report for Bloomberg Environment June 23, 2021. [2]