EPA finalized its Phase II Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) rule. The rule included a new provision that would allow the agency to expedite FOIA requests when there is a “pressing need to inform a community that is potentially experiencing disproportionate and adverse human health or environmental effects.” The proposed rule allowed the public to obtain records about environmental justice issues through an expedited process if it met four requirements: “(1) a pressing need; (2) to inform a community potentially experiencing disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects; (3) about those effects; (4) affecting, or potentially affecting, that community. The rule went into effect Nov. 13, 2023.
Federal Environmental Justice Tracker