Environmental Justice at the White House

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The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is best known as the agency responsible for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). (For updates on NEPA, see EELP’s Regulatory Tracker page on NEPA Environmental Review Requirements). CEQ sits within the Executive Office of the President and historically has played a limited role in administrative policy more broadly. However, President Biden’s whole-of-government priority to advance environmental justice often depends on CEQ leadership to direct or coordinate interagency efforts, including federal clean energy and vehicle procurement; implementing Justice40 and supervising the creation of a new Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool; and identifying climate-related financial risk exposure. (For more on these commitments, see our Biden Environmental Action Tracker).

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also plays a crucial role in advancing Biden’s equity priorities, including developing Justice40 guidance, and review and coordination of agencies’ regulatory activities. (For more on OMB’s role in the regulatory process, see our explainer here).

In his January 27 Climate Crisis EO (EO 14008), President Biden also created several new advisory bodies to elevate and inform environmental justice priorities government-wide. While these groups don’t have rulemaking capacities, they nevertheless create new spaces to inject environmental justice principles in federal decision-making at an unprecedented level. These bodies are summarized below. (For more on President Biden’s Week One Executive Orders, see our Week One Report).

• The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) advises the IAC (described below) and Chair of CEQ. The WHEJAC is distinct from the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), established by EPA in 1993 to advise the EPA Administrator on how to integrate environmental justice concerns into the agency’s programs. While the NEJAC will likely remain focused on integrating EJ priorities at EPA, the WHEJAC advises the White House and other agencies on integrating EJ priorities government-wide. Read the WHEJAC’s charter here.
• The White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (IAC) replaced the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice, which was established in 1994 and convened by EPA. In EO 14008, President Biden elevated the IAC to the Executive Office of the President, where it is chaired by the head of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The IAC is responsible for developing accountability metrics, recommending updates to EO 12898 and publishing an annual public performance scorecard on its implementation, and creating the Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool.
• The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization is chaired by the National Climate Advisor and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and housed within the Department of Energy (DOE). Under EO 14008, the group is tasked with delivering resources, opportunities, and benefits to communities that are economically dependent on coal, oil and gas, and power plants.