Low-income, minority, tribal, and indigenous communities are more likely to be impacted by environmental hazards and more likely to live near contaminated lands. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) continues to strengthen environmental and public health protections for vulnerable, low-income, minority, tribal and indigenous communities—making measurable progress in improving outcomes for these Americans especially given COVID-19 concerns over the past year.
The FY 2020 Environmental Justice Progress Report (“FY 2020 Report”), mandated by Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice, highlights the outcomes the EPA is achieving for communities with environmental justice concerns. These outcomes include accelerating the clean-up of contaminated sites and returning them to productive use, improving air quality in areas out of attainment, financing critical water infrastructure improvements, and delivering technical assistance and grant funding to economically distressed communities, including Opportunity Zones.
The FY 2020 Report provides examples of EPA’s efforts across the nation to deliver a cleaner, healthier environment, develop and maintain more effective partnerships, and provide greater certainty, compliance, and effectiveness for environmental justice communities.
The EPA continues to work day in and day out to provide clean air, water and land, with a particular focus on environmental justice. The FY 2020 Report demonstrates the Agency’s commitment to advance and accelerate this important work to fulfill our critical mission and protect the American people we serve.