Environmental Justice at the White House

Click here to return to EELP’s Federal Environmental Justice Tracker.

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.

The White House

Mar. 28, 2024President Biden Signs Executive Order to Better Recognize Women’s History
Current Status: President Biden signed an Executive Order directing the National Parks Service to identify women and girls from American History that could be recognized in existing historic sites. The review includes an assessment of existing and possible new historic sites that could better recognize the contributions of women in American history. The review will look across a range of historical periods and subjects, including “women and girl leaders in advocacy and social movements, defense, diplomacy, education, law, medicine, the sciences, conservation and environmental protection, sports, the arts, or other professions and disciplines,” and “shall reflect diversity in factors such as gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, Tribal affiliation, disability, age, geography, income, and socioeconomic status.” Read Secretary Haaland’s response here.
Dec. 12, 2023 The Biden-Harris administration announced an agreement with Pacific Northwest Tribes to restore wild salmon, expand clean energy production, increase resilience, and provide energy stability in the Columbia River Basin. As part of the agreement the federal government has agreed to: new funding for restoration of native fish and wildlife, DOE support for new Tribally sponsored clean energy projects, flexible management of Federal hydrosystem to support fish populations, and studies of dam services for possible reconsideration of existing dams. Read more about the agreement between Tribes and the federal government here.
Dec. 6, 2023 President Biden issued Executive Order 14112, intended to reform federal funding and support for Tribal Nations. The Executive Order directs agencies administering funding to Tribal Nations to coordinate to identify opportunities for reform, instructs OMB to identify chronic shortfalls in federal funding and programs supporting Tribal Nations, and requires that agencies undertake efforts to increase the accessibility, equity, flexibility and utility of federal support for Tribal Nations. Read EO 14112 here.
Sep. 28, 2023: The Biden Administration released the National Climate Resilience Framework during the first-ever White House Climate Resilience Summit. The Framework sets out specific objectives and actions to guide and align climate resilience investments and activities by federal agencies and non-federal partners.
Aug. 8, 2023: President Biden establishes the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. The monument includes three areas north and south of Grand Canyon National Park, and include the homelands and sacred sites for several Tribal Nations. The Presidential Proclamation calls for the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to explore opportunities for Tribal co-stewardship of the monument, and to create a monument advisory committee with representatives from Tribal Nations and other organizations.
Apr. 21, 2023 President Biden issues Earth Day Executive Order 14096, supplementing EO 12898 with a wide range of agency mandates and new initiatives aimed at advancing environmental justice across the federal government. Among other initiatives and mandates, the Order establishes the White House Office of Environmental Justice within CEQ, led by a Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer, and tasked with coordinating the implementation of environmental justice policy across the federal government. For more information, see EELP’s explainer and analysis of key updates in EO 14096.
Jan. 17, 2023 The White House releases its first-ever National Strategy to Advance Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) Communities,containing action plans from 32 federal agencies. These plans build on the Biden Administration’s efforts to promote safety and equity for AA and NHPI communities. DoI’s plan includes i) standardizing the agency’s use of the Native Hawaiian language in communications, ii) codifying the agency’s policy and processes for meaning consultation with the Native Hawaiian community, and iii) assist U.S. Pacific territories in successfully competing for funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Nov. 8, 2022: The Biden-Harris Administration releases the Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap, an outline of recommendations to advance the United States on a path toward utilizing nature-based solutions to address climate change, nature loss, and inequity. The Administration moreover announces a suite of interagency commitments aligned with the roadmap, including agency actions to ensure over $25 billion in infrastructure and climate funding can support nature-based solutions; a new guide for bringing the power of nature to maximize the value and resilience of military bases; and a new technical working group to better account for nature-based options in benefit cost analysis. The Administration accompanies the roadmap with a Nature-Based Solutions Resource Guide containing over 150 federal examples guidance, resource documents, tools, and technical assistance.
Nov. 1, 2022: President Biden signs Partnership to Accelerate Transition to Clean Energy (PACE) with the United Arab Emirates. Seeking to advance the clean energy transition, the agreement will catalyze $100 billion in financing, investment, and other support and deploy 100 gigawatts of clean energy globally by 2035. The partnership espouses four foundational pillars: (1) clean energy innovation, deployment, and supply chains, (2) carbon methane management, (3) nuclear energy, and (4) industrial and transport decarbonization. Together, the U.S. and UAE will convene an expert group to identify priority projects, remove potential hurdles, and measure PACE’s progress in achieving its goal of catalyzing $100 billion in financing, investment, and other support and deploying globally 100 gigawatts of clean energy.

Council on Environmental Qualiy (CEQ)

Nov. 20, 2023 CEQ requested public feedback on Phase One of the Environmental Justice Scorecard. Phase One was designed to provide a baseline of EJ actions taken by 24 federal agencies in 2021 and 2022, including progress made towards implementing the Justice40 Initiative. Comments are due on Jan. 19, 2024 and can be submitted online here. To review comments already submitted, click here.
Nov. 3, 2023 CEQ released its Strategic Planning to Advance Environmental Justice template to guide agencies in crafting their Environmental Justice Strategic Plans, as required under Executive Order 14096. To learn more about Order 14096, click here.
Sep. 5, 2023: CEQ announces Dr. Rebecca Stanfield McCown will join CEQ on a year-long detail as the new Deputy Director for Environmental Justice Public Engagement. Dr. Stanfield McCown joins CEQ after more than 14 years with the National Park Service, where she directed the Stewardship Institute and also served as Community Engagement and Partnerships Coordinator.
July 31, 2023: CEQ publishes its proposed “Phase 2” revisions to its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The proposal includes several provisions that would require agencies to identify, analyze, or mitigate impacts to “communities with environmental justice concerns,” and improve community consultation and engagement procedures. Comments on the proposal are due Sep. 29 and can be submitted at federalregister.gov. View the complete rulemaking docket, including posted comments, at regulations.gov (Docket CEQ-2023-0003). For more information on the proposal, read EELP’s analysis here.
June 8, 2023: CEQ seeks public comment to inform the development of an Ocean Justice Strategy, which will describe the federal government’s goals for coordinating and guiding ocean justice activities, including identifying barriers and opportunities to fully integrate environmental justice principles into ocean-related federal activities. Comments are due July 24, 2023 and can be submitted at regulations.gov (Docket No. CEQ-2023-0004).
Apr. 21, 2023: CEQ, OMB, and the U.S. Digital Service release Phase One of the Environmental Justice Scorecard, which represents the first government-wide assessment of federal agencies’ efforts to advance environmental justice. Agency progress toward environmental justice, the Justice40 initiative, and implementation of environmental and civil rights laws will be measured against the baseline established by this initial version of the scorecard.
Apr. 21, 2023: Under Biden’s Earth Day Executive Order 14096, CEQ is charged with collecting and publishing Environmental Justice Strategic Plans and Assessments, which agencies are expected to regularly develop in order to assess their environmental justice efforts and to coordinate strategic planning toward the advancement of environmental justice in the federal government.
Mar. 24, 2023: CEQ announces the creation and membership of two task forces designed to inform responsible development and deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS). One task force will address CCUS permitting and development on federal lands and the outer continental shelf; the other will address CCUS permitting and development on non-federal lands. Both task forces will focus on ways to “ensure that CCUS projects . . . are permitted in an efficient manner, reflect the input and needs of a wide range of stakeholders, and deliver benefits rather than harms to local communities.”
Mar. 6, 2023: CEQ, along with the Office of Management and Budget and the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, issues guidance to federal agencies for implementing the Biden-Harris Permitting Action Plan. The memorandum, which seeks to strengthen and accelerate federal environmental review and permitting, provides guidance on conducting early outreach with tribes, states, territories, and local communities; accelerating permitting through early inter-agency coordination; establishing timeline goals and tracking project information; and improving responsiveness, technical assistance, and support.
Jan. 6, 2023: CEQ releases updated guidance for federal agencies on how to quantify and disclose the greenhouse gas emissions and climate change-related effects associated with proposed actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The guidance also encourages federal agencies to “meaningfully engage” with communities impacted by the proposed action and to incorporate environmental justice considerations into climate-related analyses. The guidance is effective immediately, but CEQ is accepting comments through Apr. 10, 2023.
Dec. 9, 2022: CEQ adds two staffers to its environmental justice team: Allison Rogers, a longtime climate advocate, and Natasha DeJarnett, a public health professor at the University of Louisville school of medicine.

Dec. 1, 2022: CEQ and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) jointly release new government-wide guidance and an implementation memo for federal agencies on how to recognize and include Indigenous Knowledge in research, policy, and decision making. The announcement coincides with the administration’s 2022 Tribal Nations Summit and fulfills a 2021 CEQ-OSTP mandate to develop such guidance. To learn more about the development of the guidance and implementing memo, click here.

Sep. 30, 2022: The White House extends the Environmental Justice Scorecard public comment period by 30 days. Responses are now due by Nov. 3.
Aug. 3, 2022: The White House issues a request for comment on the Environmental Justice Scorecard. Responses are due by Oct. 3.
July 27, 2022: CEQ establishes and seeks nominations for two new task forces that will offer input to inform the development of carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration technologies and projects. An objective of the task forces will be to ensure that projects related to these technologies “deliver benefits rather than harms to local communities.” Nominations must be submitted before Sep. 26, 2022. Nominations for the Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization and Sequestration Federal Lands and Outer Continental Shelf Permitting Task Force can be submitted here, and for the Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization and Sequestration Non-Federal Lands Permitting Task Force here.
May 23, 2022: CEQ releases a report submitted to Congress outlining steps taken to implement recommendations from the WHEJAC on Justice40, the Screening Tool, and revisions to executive order 12898.
May 5, 2022: The Biden administration announces that Dr. Jalonne White-Newsome will become senior director for environmental justice at CEQ. Dr. White-Newsome previously led the environmental consulting group Empowering a Green Environment and Economy, and was a policy organizer with WE ACT for Environmental Justice.
April 18, 2022: President Biden grants a waiver to Jessica Ennis, a former Congressional lobbyist for Earthjustice, to join CEQ as the new director of public outreach. Ennis is filling the position left by David Kieve.
Mar. 30, 2022: President Biden’s FY 2023 budget proposal includes increasing the number of full-time staff for CEQ from 14 to 22.
March 9, 2022: CEQ announces a series of public listening sessions and training webinars on the beta version of the Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST). The training webinars will be held at 4pm ET on March 9, 10, and 16. The listening sessions will be held at 4pm ET on March 22 and April 15. Learn more and register for these sessions online here.
March 9, 2022: CEQ hires Amanda Aguirre as a senior advisor on environmental justice. Aguirre previously served on the Biden transition term as senior adviser to CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory, and worked at EPA during the Obama administration.
Feb. 22, 2022: CEQ issues guidance on advanced techniques for carbon capture and underground storage (CCUS), including requiring federal agencies to “evaluat[e] the impacts of proposed CCUS actions on potential host communities early in the planning process” and providing information on a project’s impacts, costs and benefits in advance of Tribal consultation and stakeholder engagement. The WHEJAC released a report last year that listed carbon capture and storage as among the types of projects that do not actually benefit communities, and thus shouldn’t be included as “benefits” under Justice40. CEQ is accepting comments on the guidance by April 18, 2022.
Feb. 18, 2022: CEQ announces the beta release of the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST). Access the beta Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool here (CEJST). People can submit feedback or ideas about data and information reflecting conditions in their community by emailing [email protected]. For more information on the Screening Tool, see our main EJ Tracker page here.
Jan. 7, 2022: Dr. Martinez announces that she is leaving CEQ.
Dec. 6, 2021: The same day as the first Tribal Nations Summit since 2016, the White House releases a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by 17 federal agencies, including CEQ, committing to increase consultation and collaboration with Tribes in recognition of existing treaty and reserved rights. The MOU includes agency-specific commitmemts including to create a searchable treaty database, and integrate tribal treaty and reserved rights early into agency decision-making, in particular work to address the climate crisis. (See pp. 3-4 of the MOU for more).
Nov. 23, 2021: 19 Democratic Attorneys General submit comments on CEQ’s proposed rules implementing NEPA, urging CEQ to repeal the 2020 rule in its entirety and codify specific guidance to analyze the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and effects on environmental justice communities. (For more on CEQ’s proposed rule and the 2020 rule, see EELP’s Regulatory Tracker page)
Nov. 15, 2021: A memo from CEQ and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) informs agency heads of the creation of an Interagency Working Group on Indigenous and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK), in partnership with Tribal and Native communities. The working group will facilitate communication between the Federal government and Tribal members, and incorporate ITEK into Federal decision making to inform federal environmental policies.
Oct. 7, 2021: (CEQ) announces its “Phase 1” rule revisiting the Trump-era revisions to the NEPA implementing regulations finalized in 2020. (For more on this rule, see EELP’s Regulatory Tracker page). The proposal would restore the 1978 regulatory language in three provisions: (1) regarding the purpose and need of a project in agencies’ environmental statements, correcting 2020 changes that required an agency to limit consideration of the public interest and reasonable alternatives; (2) clarifying that agencies have discretion to go beyond requirements set by CEQ; and (3) restoring the definitions of direct and indirect effects and cumulative impacts, and removing other language that could narrow the scope of NEPA analysis. This proposed change ensures federal agencies consider all reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts associated with their decisions, including climate change and environmental justice impacts. CEQ says it will “more broadly revisit” the 2020 NEPA regulations in a “Phase 2” rule.
Sep. 13, 2021: Sharmila Murthy, a Suffolk Law Professor, is appointed senior counsel to CEQ. Professor Murthy is an expert in environmental justice, climate change, and water policy, and co-founded the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation program as a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
April 14, 2021: Brenda Mallory is confirmed as the head of CEQ. Mallory previously served as CEQ’s general counsel under President Obama.
Jan. 2021: President-elect Biden names Dr. Cecilia Martinez as senior director for environmental justice at CEQ.

Council on Native American Affairs

Dec. 6, 2021: The same day as the first Tribal Nations Summit since 2016, the White House releases a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by 17 federal agencies committing to increase consultation and collaboration with Tribes in recognition of existing treaty and reserved rights. The MOU includes agency-specific commitmemts including to create a searchable treaty database, and integrate tribal treaty and reserved rights early into agency decision-making, in particular work to address the climate crisis. (See pp. 3-4 of the MOU for more).
May 27, 2021: Anthony (Morgan) Rodman is named Executive Director of the Council. Rodman served as the Council’s Director during the Obama administration, and is a member of the Cherokee Nation and Osage Nation.
April 23, 2021: The Council holds its first meeting since it last met in 2016 under President Obama. The Council is chaired by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Mar. 28, 2024 OMB issued revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 to update the questions all federal agencies use to collect information on race and ethnicity. The changes include using one combined question for race and ethnicity and directing respondents to select as many options as apply to their identity, adding Middle Eastern or North African as a new category, and include various updates to definitions, terminology, and guidance to agencies for how best to collect and present data. The revisions are the result of efforts begun in 2022 to improve the quality and usefulness of federal race and ethnicity data. The revisions went into effect on Mar. 28, 2024, and the full information on the updates to Policy Directive No. 15 can be found here.
Feb. 28, 2024 For the first time, OMB issued a general ecosystem services cost-benefit guide for federal agencies, providing guidance on how agencies should weigh “contributions to human welfare from the environment or ecosystems” in their cost-benefit analyses of rulemakings. The guidance builds on OMB’s November revisions to its cost-benefit guidance, Circular A-4. In the guidance, OMB encourages agencies to “pay close attention” to localized effects, including health or other impacts on overburdened communities. The guidance also encourages agencies to account for changes in culturally valued experiences stemming from changes to ecosystem services, including for Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples.
Dec. 14, 2023 OMB released the first annual report from the Frontiers of Cost-Benefit Analysis initiative, which identified areas for further research to improve federal agency cost benefit analyses. The report notes in particular subjects that could be included in cost benefit analyses, including wildfires and extreme weather, the effects of public benefits programs, non-fatal health effects, ecosystem services, and the value of information and transparency. Read OMB’s Advancing the Frontiers of Benefit Cost Analysis report here.
Aug. 1, 2023: OSTP and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) release the first-ever federal guidance on accounting for ecosystem services in cost-benefit analysis. The public can submit comments on the guidance through Sep. 18, 2023 at regulations.gov (Docket OMB-2022-0016). The guidance broadly interprets ecosystem services to potentially include impacts to Tribal communities’ access to sacred sites and ability to engage in cultural practices, and encourages agencies to include any impacts to underserved communities or a potential “shift in inequities” due to changes in an ecosystem service.

July 19, 2023: OIRA issues guidance to federal agencies on broadening public participation and community engagement in the regulatory process. OIRA emphasizes the importance of early planning around public engagement to define agencies’ regulatory priorities and recommends agencies proactively reach out to members of underserved communities prior to a rulemaking, among other provisions.
Mar. 6, 2023: OMB, along with CEQ and the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, issues guidance to federal agencies for implementing the Biden-Harris Permitting Action Plan. The memorandum, which seeks to strengthen and accelerate Federal environmental review and permitting, provides guidance on conducting early outreach with tribes, states, territories, and local communities; accelerating permitting through early inter-agency coordination; establishing timeline goals and tracking project information; improving responsiveness, technical assistance, and support; among other guidance.
Feb. 17, 2023: OIRA solicits feedback on its recommendations for broadening public engagement in the federal regulatory process. The public may offer comments – as written feedback or recorded audio or video – to [email protected] on or before March 10, 2023.
Jan. 19, 2023 The Biden-Harris Administration releases the first-ever National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions. This Strategic Plan is developed as a result of collaboration between OMB, OSTP, and the Dept. of Commerce, with input from over 27 federal agencies and public comment. The strategy outlines steps for federal agencies to begin to account for and quantify the economic benefits of natural assets like land, water, minerals, animals, and plants, and include that natural capital in official U.S. economic statistics. The Strategy includes recommendations for agencies to develop engagement plans to coordinate with state, territorial, local, and tribal governments, and specifically recommends agencies rely on EO 13175 and the White House Memorandum on Indigenous Knowledge when engaging Tribes given that “economics-based statistical systems may not fit with some worldviews, especially those of some Indigenous Peoples.”
Jan. 4, 2023: OMB releases its Fall 2022 Unified Regulatory Agenda and Regulatory plan, which summarizes the regulatory actions that federal agencies will consider in the coming months. OMB notes that this agenda will advance the Biden Administration’s climate and clean energy objectives, mitigate the dangers of climate change, and center equity in economic development by “reduc[ing] barriers to opportunity, root[ing] out discrimination, and deliver[ing] environmental justice to communities across the nation.” For a list of agencies’ upcoming regulatory actions, click here.
Sep. 12, 2022: OMB names Elizabeth Carr as the office’s first ever Tribal Advisor to the Director. Carr is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and most recently served as the senior advisor to the director of the Indian Health Service.
Aug. 18, 2022: OMB releases a national strategy to reflect natural assets, their benefits, and the effects of their enhancement or diminution in federal decision-making. The strategy recommends that the federal government produce ongoing statistics to index the U.S.’s natural assets, their enhancement or depletion, and the impact of such enhancement or depletion on the nation’s economic strength. Highlighted within the strategy is a framework for investment opportunities to address sources of environmental injustice by uncovering environmental dependencies. The strategy invites members of the public to submit comments to inform the strategy’s development by Oct. 21, 2022.
June 15, 2022: OMB initiates a formal review to revise its Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, which establishes standards for maintaining, collecting, and presenting federal data on race and ethnicity. As part of the review, OMB will convene an Interagency Technical Working Group of Federal Government career staff who represent programs that collect or use race and ethnicity data to solicit public feedback and provide recommendations to the Office regarding the directive’s revision.OMB also announces public listening sessions – beginning Sep. 15, 2022 – to inform this review.
May 23, 2022: OMB announces that in addition to restructuring hundreds of federal programs to maximize benefits to disadvantaged communities, the Biden Administration has incorporated $29 billion in federal investments and funding opportunities into the Justice40 I nitiative, to date.
Apr. 4, 2022: In a first-of-its-kind report, an OMB analysis calculates climate risks could cut the national GDP by 10% by the year 2100. The report notes that “severe harms” disproportionately fall on socially vulnerable populations, and in particular on racial and ethnic minority communities. The analysis also predicts the US could spend an additional $25 billion to $128 billion annually due to six climate-related financial risks: disaster relief, flood insurance, crop insurance, healthcare expenditures, wildland fire suppression spending, and flood risk at Federal facilities.
Nov. 24, 2021: President Biden nominates Shalanda Young to lead OMB. Young is currently OMB’s Acting Director, and if confirmed, will be OMB’s first Black female director. Biden also nominates Nani Coloretti as deputy director. Coloretti is currently senior vice president for financial and business strategy at the Urban Institute.
Nov. 17, 2021 During the WHEJAC’s meeting, the chair of the WHEJAC’s Justice40 scorecard working group identifies five areas of agency action that will inform the scorecard: (1) engage in just treatment, full protection, and eliminating legacy pollution; (2) collect relevant qualitative and quantitative data at the beginning of agency activities; (3) improve human health and environmental quality outcomes in EJ communities; (4) collect data and measure level of “meaningful participation” in federal actions, and whether it results in better actions; and (5) generate strategic planning reports for each agency under FACA, and coordinate with governments receiving federal dollars.
Oct. 19, 2021 The WHEJAC convenes a working group to develop scorecard metrics to evaluate agencies’ progress in implementing Justice40. The Justice40 Scorecard is due in February. The chair of that workgroup is Kyle Whyte, a Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan.
Aug. 6, 2021: OMB submits its report to President Biden on identifying methods to assess equity, finding that administrative burdens exacerbate inequity, the federal government must expand opportunities for meaningful stakeholder engagement, and that long-term change will require internal cultural changes. Read the White House’s summary here. To inform its report, OMB issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment. See OMB’s summary of responses here and read individual comments here.

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)

Dec. 8, 2023 The Biden-Harris administration announced the first-ever US Ocean Justice Strategy to advance three goals: embed ocean justice in federal activities; develop a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible federal ocean workforce; and enhance ocean justice through education, data, and knowledge. Read the Ocean Justice Strategy here.
Oct. 13, 2023: OSTP has requested public comment to inform the development of a “coordinated Federal strategy to identify and address gaps in science, data, and research related to environmental justice”. Information received through this request will inform the biennial Environmental Justice Science, Data, and Research Plan. OSTP seeks comments on gaps in data collection and research related to EJ; opportunities to coordinate research with State, Tribal, territorial, and local governments; and recommendations for federal agencies and the White House on data sources, ethical standards, and privacy protections. Comments can be submitted online at regulations.gov (Docket No. OSTP-CE-2023-0012) by Dec. 12, 2023.
Aug. 1, 2023: OSTP and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) release the first-ever federal guidance on accounting for ecosystem services in cost-benefit analysis. The public can submit comments on the guidance through Sep. 18, 2023 at regulations.gov (Docket OMB-2022-0016). The guidance broadly interprets ecosystem services to potentially include impacts to Tribal communities’ access to sacred sites and ability to engage in cultural practices, and encourages agencies to include any impacts to underserved communities or a potential “shift in inequities” due to changes in an ecosystem service.

March 2023: The National Science and Technology Council, an interagency group, reports its progress on the implementation of the Equitable Data Working Group’s recommendations to agencies on how to disaggregate and analyze data to identify disparities in federal policies and programs. The report summarizes actions taken and next steps across five areas: making disaggregated data the norm, leveraging underused data, building federal capacity to conduct robust equity assessments, promoting diverse partnerships, and accountability.
Mar. 22, 2023: OSTP releases a guide for federal agency climate adaptation planners on Selecting Climate Information to Use in Climate Risk and Impact Assessment. The guide offers agencies both a starting point for climate adaptation planning and a four-step process for selecting climate information for use in their climate risk and impact assessments. The plan emphasizes both climate and non-climate stressors, including socioeconomic vulnerability, and recommends agencies use CEQ’s Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool to identify those stressors.
Mar. 21, 2023: OSTP’s Ocean Policy Committee releases a comprehensive Ocean Climate Action Plan (OCAP), with three main goals: (1) create a carbon-neutral future, (2) accelerate nature-based solutions , and (3) enhance community resilience to ocean change. The plan identifies cross-cutting principles and related OCAP actions, including engagement with tribal nations and indigenous peoples, including formal nation-to-nation consultation and consideration of Indigenous knowledge; and advancing environmental justice by developing an Ocean Justice Strategy to identify barriers to integrating EJ principles into federal ocean activities.
Jan. 19, 2023 The Biden-Harris Administration releases the first-ever National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions. This Strategic Plan is developed as a result of collaboration between OSTP, OMB, and the Dept. of Commerce, with input from over 27 federal agencies and public comment. The strategy outlines steps for federal agencies to begin to account for and quantify the economic benefits of natural assets like land, water, minerals, animals, and plants, and include that natural capital in official U.S. economic statistics . The Strategy includes recommendations for agencies to develop engagement plans to coordinate with state, territorial, local, and tribal governments, and specifically recommends agencies rely on EO 13175 and the White House Memorandum on Indigenous Knowledge when engaging Tribes given that “economics-based statistical systems may not fit with some worldviews, especially those of some Indigenous Peoples.”
Jan. 11, 2023: The OSTP announces new actions to “advance open and equitable research” including an official definition of “open science” to be applied government-wide; requiring all federal agencies to update their public access plans in response to OSTP’s memo on ensuring free, immediate, and equitable access to federally funded research; and releasing the Fifth U.S. Open Government National Action Plan.
Dec. 1, 2022: CEQ and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) jointly release new government-wide guidance and an implementation memo for federal agencies on how to recognize and include Indigenous Knowledge in research, policy, and decision making. The announcement coincides with the administration’s 2022 Tribal Nations Summit and fulfills a 2021 CEQ-OSTP mandate to develop such guidance. To learn more about the development of the guidance and implementing memo, click here.
Oct. 31, 2022: OSTP requests input from the public to inform the framing, development, and eventual use of a National Nature Assessment. The Assessment will evaluate the status, observed trends, and future projections of America’s lands, waters, wildlife, biodiversity and ecosystems and the benefits they provide, including connections to the economy, public health, equity, climate mitigation and adaptation, and national security. Comments may be submitted electronically until March 31, 2023.

White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC)

Aug. 17, 2022: The WHEJAC issues Phase 1 recommendations for implementation of President Biden’s Justice40 initiative. While the WHEJAC offers numerous agency-specific recommendations, the Council also offers several cross-cutting agency recommendations, including transforming practices to rectify existing inequities, closing opportunity gaps through modified grants and funding strategies, ensuring infrastructure projects improve rather than disrupt community life, and devising effective accountability and incentive structures to address rather than perpetuate inequities.
Aug. 16, 2022: The WHEJAC offers recommendations on the Climate and Economic Justice Screening tool to CEQ. The recommendations include integrating indicators of structural racism, including relevant indicators of Native American and tribal lands, and expanding environmental hazard indicators.
Aug. 16, 2022: The WHEJAC recommends CEQ direct EPA to expeditiously revise incinerator air pollution emissions limits to shield environmental justice communities from the adverse consequences of dangerous emissions.
May 23, 2022: CEQ releases a report submitted to Congress outlining steps taken to implement recommendations from the WHEJAC on Justice40, the Screening Tool, and revisions to executive order 12898.
May 13, 2021: The WHEJAC submits its interim final recommendations to CEQ on Justice40, the Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool, and proposed revisions to Executive Order 12898. The WHEJAC releases its final report and cover letter on May 21. For top takeaways and related resources, check out this Twitter thread from EELP’s Legal Fellow Hannah Perls.
March 29, 2021: President Biden announces members of the new White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC), which will advise CEQ. Members include renowned environmental justice leaders Dr. Robert Bullard, Katherine Flowers, and Dr. Beverly Wright.

Working Group on Revitalizing Coal and Power Plant Communities

Apr. 4, 2023: 11 federal agencies in the Energy Communities Interagency Working Group release an MOU to support Rapid Response Teams to provide on-the-ground assistance, resources, and technical guidance to energy communities consistent with identified economic transformation and revitalization goals.
Sep. 29, 2022: The Energy Communities IWG launches a rapid response team to support the clean energy transition in Illinois Basin energy communities in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. The team – comprising representatives from 11 federal agencies – will align federal resources toward communities experiencing economic downturns from coal mine and power plant closures.
Aug. 25, 2022: The Energy Communities IWG launches a Four Corners rapid response team to advance the clean energy transition within communities in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.
June 15, 2022: The Energy Communities IWG opens a public comment portal to receive feedback from energy communities on the challenges they face and the measures to address those challenges. The public comment portal will remain open until Sep. 8, 2022 (the working group extended the comment period by 30 days on Aug. 11, 2022)
Dec. 15, 2021: The Working Group launches a $45 billion funding clearinghouse, featuring existing funding sources to provide Energy Communities with easy access to funding opportunities for infrastructure, environmental remediation, job creation, and community revitalization.
April 23, 2021: Dr. Brian Anderson, former Director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory, is named Executive Director of the Working Group.
April, 2021: The Working Group releases its initial report identifying nearly $38 billion in existing federal resources to assist communities hit hardest by the transition to renewable energy.

Other Interagency Efforts

July 21, 2022: The White House announces it is reviving the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR), which includes the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense departments. The group will focus on the administration’s “America the Beautiful” program, which seeks to set aside 30 percent of the nation’s lands and waters in a natural state, and create equitable access to nature. The council was established in 2011 and disbanded under President Trump.
Sep. 20, 2021: The White House announces new agency initiatives to protect Americans from heat-related illnesses, both in the workplace and at home, coordinated by the White House Interagency Working Group on Extreme Heat. These include OSHA’s development and enforcement of new workplace heat standards, providing cooling assistance via HHS and EPA programs, and a new EPA analysis of the heat impacts on socially vulnerable groups.
July 30, 2021: The White House’s Coastal Resilience Interagency Working Group (IWG) met this week to discuss the vital role coastal communities play in mitigating climate change. CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory highlighted that federal funding and access to data is crucial for disadvantaged and historically underserved communities and NOAA Administrator Dr. Rick Spinrad underscored the necessity for equitable investment in coastal communities and infrastructure.