President Trump issued an Executive Order (“Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”) rescinding President Clinton’s 1994 Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations). Trump’s order also required OMB to “terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all . . . ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions (including but not limited to ‘Chief Diversity Officer’ positions); all ‘equity action plans,’ ‘equity’ actions, initiatives, or programs, ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts, and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.” The EO revoked any authority agencies previously had to pursue and promote environmental justice.
Background on Order 12898
Executive Order 12898, signed by President Clinton in 1994, required all agencies to “make achieving environmental justice part of [their] mission.” However, the order was not judicially enforceable, included no metrics or reporting mechanisms, and has not been significantly updated since 1994.
In his Climate Crisis Executive Order, President Biden ordered the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council to recommend changes to Executive Order 12898 within 120 days (by May 27, 2021). The Council includes representatives from the Attorney General’s office and the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, HUD, Interior, Labor, and Transportation, plus EPA.
The WHEJAC publicly submitted its own proposed revisions to Order 12898 to CEQ on May 21, 2021 as a final report and cover letter. In that report, the WHEJAC offered new definitions for key terms including “environmental justice community,” “just treatment,” and “meaningful participation”; outlined new mandates for the Council; and drafted new agency mandates regarding environmental assessment, monitoring, and reporting among other provisions.
President Biden issued the “Executive Order on Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All” (EO 14096) on April 21, 2023. President Trump also rescinded EO 14096.