Environmental Justice Tracker

EJ Tracker Update

EPA Revised the Children’s Health Policy and Plan

Last updated:

October 5, 2021

Agencies

EPA

Actions

Guidance/Policy

EPA revised its 1995 Policy on Children’s Health for the first time. The revision clarified what EPA considers childhood as it includes environmental exposure from conception to 21 years of age. This group is at a greater risk for environmental contaminants than adults due to behavior and biology. The revision underscored that “children who live in highly exposed or underserved communities may have reduced biological resilience and ability to recover from exposure to environmental hazards” and therefore EPA has a greater responsibility to provide safeguards to protect children’s health. With the revision, EPA planned to “identify and integrate data to conduct risk assessments of children’s health to inform decisions.”