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Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice
Federal Interagency Working Group
“We want to put an end to the days when public health and economic potential are harmed by disproportionate exposure to pollution... Our continued success relies on close collaboration with our federal partners and strong input from the groups and individuals engaged at the community level.”
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.
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
Current Environmental Justice Efforts
- Plan EJ 2014 - A four-year roadmap to help EPA develop stronger community relationships and increase the Agency’s efforts to improve environmental and health conditions in overburdened communities. The plan identifies five cross-agency focus areas, including Fostering Administration-Wide Action on Environmental Justice.
- 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.