Environmental Justice

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Executive Order 12898, issued in 1994, established the responsibility of each Federal agency to "make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low income populations ...." An accompanying Presidential Memorandum directed that human health, economic, and social effects, including effects on minority communities and low-income communities, be included in the analysis of environmental effects pursuant to NEPA. CEQ issued guidance (1997) for agencies on addressing environmental justice (EJ) in the NEPA process.

In 2016, the Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group (EJ IWG, established under the Executive Order) issued a "Promising Practices" report of compiled agency approaches to incorporating EJ into environmental reviews.

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