Environmental Justice

EELP collaborates with environmental justice and Tribal organizations and coalitions to identify legal pathways for laws, regulations, and policies to be more equitable. We produce legal research on how governmental agencies can drive meaningful engagement and produce more just environmental and public health outcomes for impacted communities.

Media Inquiries

CleanLaw Podcast

CleanLaw — Joel Scata and Hannah Perls on Fixing the National Flood Insurance Program

The history of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the challenges facing the program in helping communities adapt to a climate-changed world.

February 14, 2022

Legal Analysis

Equitable Disaster Relief: An Analysis of FEMA’s Legal Authority to Integrate Equity under the Stafford Act

The act’s discretionary function exception gives FEMA extraordinary flexibility in integrating equity considerations by shielding most FEMA rules, policies, and other decisions from judicial review.

October 13, 2021

Legal Analysis

Equitable Disaster Relief: An Analysis of FEMA’s Legal Authority to Integrate Equity under the Stafford Act

The Stafford Act’s nondiscrimination provision provides the statutory authority for FEMA to redesign its programs in an “equitable and impartial manner,” including reforming programs that currently disproportionately exclude low-income communities and communities of color.

October 13, 2021

CleanLaw Podcast

CleanLaw — Hannah Perls and Aminta Ossom Talk about Human Rights and Climate Change

How looking at environmental problems through a human rights lens can provide new insights and legal strategies for addressing environmental injustice in the United States and beyond.

August 9, 2021

CleanLaw Podcast

Cleanlaw – Hana Vizcarra and Hannah Perls Talk about President Biden’s First 100 Days

Hana Vizcarra and Hannah Perls talk about the progress of the Biden-Harris administration on climate and environmental priorities now that the first hundred days have passed.

June 3, 2021

EELP News

Hana Vizcarra and Hannah Perls Talk about Biden’s First 100 Days

Hana Vizcarra and Hannah Perls had a Zoom chat recently to discuss their observations of Biden’s first 100 days in office. They cover a range of topics around the Biden-Harris climate […]

May 7, 2021

EELP News

Jody Freeman on The Legal and Regulatory Perspective at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Spring Exercise

Recently, Jody Freeman joined Harvard Kennedy School Professor Joe Aldy and HKS students to speak about the role of regulation in making changes to environmental and energy policy, focusing on […]

April 29, 2021

CleanLaw Podcast

CleanLaw – Environmental Racism in NC Hog Farming Part II with Naeema Muhammad, Elizabeth Haddix, and Hannah Perls

Second episode in a two-part series looking at environmental justice litigation in eastern North Carolina, where communities are challenging pervasive air and water pollution from industrial hog operations.

April 22, 2021

Rolling Back DOJ’s Title VI Protections: Trump’s Abandoned Attempt and Potential Impacts on EJ Enforcement

In January 2021, without any public input, the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) prepared to issue a final rule eliminating the agency’s ability to enforce protections against discriminatory practices that […]

April 16, 2021