Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice

• Overview
• EJ IWG Action Agenda Framework
• EJ IWG Members
• Current Environmental Justice Efforts

Overview

The Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice (EJ IWG) was established in 1994 under Executive Order (EO) 12898 PDF (6 pp, 123K). The role of the EJ IWG is to guide, support and enhance federal environmental justice and community-based activities. The EJ IWG is comprised of 17 federal agencies and White House offices.

As one of its outreach efforts, the EJ IWG, has created a directory of member agencies (PDF) (52 pp, 886K) and a guide of community-based resources (PDF) (126 pp, 3MB) to assist communities with accessing information about federal agencies and their programs as a part of the ongoing effort to improve community participation in federal programs.

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EJ IWG Action Agenda Framework

The EJ IWG Action Agenda Framework (PDF) (10 pp, 254K) seeks to advance greater federal agency collaboration to improve the quality of life and to expand economic opportunity in overburdened and under-resourced communities. The Framework is the EJ IWG’s three-year strategic plan to advance environmental justice.

Call for Public Comment

EPA, as convener of the EJ IWG, is seeking public comment on the Draft Framework. The open public comment period The open public comment period has been extended to October 19, 2015. Stakeholders and the public can review the Framework and submit comments to ejstrategy@epa.gov. In addition to the public comment period, the EJ IWG is hosting several national webinars about the draft Framework. Information about the webinars can be found to the right.

For more information, or to participate in dialogue sessions with EPA, please contact Marsha Minter (minter.marsha@epa.gov), Associate Director, Office of Environmental Justice.

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EJ IWG Members

Below is a list of the EJ IWG member agencies and links to their environmental justice websites, where you can find agency strategies and progress reports. For EPA's strategy and progress report, please refer to Plan EJ 2014.

• Environmental Protection Agency (Chair)
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce
• Department of Defense
• Department of Education
• Department of Energy
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Homeland Security
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of the Interior
• Department of Justice
• Department of Labor
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Veteran's Affairs
• General Services Administration
• Small Business Administration
• White House Offices

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Current Environmental Justice Efforts

• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)/EJ Resource Compendium (10 pp, 158K) – a compendium created by EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and the EJ IWG NEPA Committee that gathers publically available information from Federal Agencies on the intersection of environmental justice and NEPA into one place. A select set of key references are also available.
  
  
• EJ 2020 Action Agenda - Builds on the foundation established through EPA’s Plan EJ 2014 and expand that work through commitments that will continue through the next five years. The action agenda strengthens our collaborations with the communities we serve, our governmental partners, and all other interested stakeholders.
  
  
• Sustainable Communities Partnership - A collaborative Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, and EPA partnership to improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide.

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