Environmental Justice

Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), along with Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), are leading the environmental justice movement in Congress.

Beginning in 2018, Ranking Member Grijalva and the late-Representative A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) launched an inclusive, transparent, community-led, and community-driven process to create the most comprehensive environmental justice bill in history — the Environmental Justice For All Act. After establishing the first-ever Congressional Convening on Environmental Justice, the lawmakers gathered additional input from environmental justice communities, leaders, and allies all across the country. Read more about that historic effort here.

In March 2023, Ranking Member Grijalva re-introduced the landmark legislation as the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice For All Act (H.R. 1705) to honor the late congressman and announced Rep. Lee as the bill's new co-lead. Senators Duckworth and Booker co-lead the Senate companion to the bill.

Resources

BILL TEXT | SECTION BY SECTION
FACT SHEET | LIST OF SUPPORTERS

COMMUNITY IMPACTS REPORT on the Environmental Justice For All Act | STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES for Environmental Justice Legislation

PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THE BILL

The unique community-led process for drafting the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act was founded on the belief that policymaking should be led by the people most affected by the issue. In early 2022, then-Chair Grijalva and Rep. McEachin kicked off a Community Input Tour to visit environmental justice communities all over the country so they could hear directly from residents about issues facing their communities and how federal legislation can help. Select media coverage of each Community Input Tour stop is below:

New York City area, NY - March 11-12 (photos)

READ Natural Resources Committee Medium post

READ "Lawmakers urge clean energy investment in Queens"

Tucson, AZ - April 20

READ "Cleaning up Tucson's South Side water pollution part of Grijalva enviro bill"

READ "Push for environmental justice in underserved communities gains traction in Arizona"

Detroit, MI - May 6-7 (photos)

READ "Federal bill would help defend communities from pollution"

New Orleans area, LA - June 17-19 (photos)

READ "Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' has received increased attention. Will it bring more action?"

READ "'Cancer Alley' groups want to know how new industry impacts health. This bill could require it."

READ "Cancer Alley in Louisiana: What is it, and how and legislation address environmental injustice?"

Los Angeles area, CA - July 8-10 (photos)

READ "A federal bill aims to tackle environmental injustice holistically"

READ "'We are not for sale'"

Richmond, VA - July 16 (photos)

Environmental Justice For All Act - Legislative History

February 16, 2022 House Natural Resources Committee Holds Hearing on Historic Environmental Justice For All Act - HERE

March 18, 2021 Chair Grijalva, Rep. McEachin Reintroduce Environmental Justice for All Act' Widely Supported Effort Comes as Congress Eyes New Investments - HERE

October 1, 2020 Congressional Hearing on Environmental Justice for All Act - HERE

September 25, 2020 Key Provisions of the Environmental Justice for All Act Were Passed By the U.S. House in the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act - HERE

July 30, 2020 Senator Kamala Harris Introduces the Senate Companion of Chair Grijalva and Rep. McEachin's Environmental Justice for All Act - HERE, HERE

February 27, 2020 Following Year-Long Collaborative Effort, Chair Grijalva and Rep. McEachin Introduce Landmark Environmental Justice Legislation - HERE, Video HERE

November 2019 - February 2020 Chair Grijalva and Rep. McEachin work with Environmental Justice Groups and Advocates to Receive and Review Comments on Discussion Draft Through PopVox - HERE

November 15, 2019 Chair Grijalva, Rep. McEachin Release Discussion Draft of Environmental Justice Bill, Marking New Public Input Phase of Historic Collaborative Effort - HERE

At the Convening, Chair Grijalva and Rep. McEachin unveiled a draft set of policy principles informed by the input from the EJ Working Group. The draft was opened for comment to be further refined and strengthened by EJ organizations' input. This commenting process was managed through a new, innovative online tool open to the public.

June 2018 - June 2019 Congressional staff held multiple strategy calls over the course of 8 months with the EJ working group, which is made up of experts in the EJ field and key leaders in the environmental justice community. They discussed substantive policy considerations, outreach strategies to engage EJ organizations, acute challenges faced by EJ communities, and much more. Throughout the project, both Chair Grijalva and Rep. McEachin continued to hold environmental justice roundtable discussions with communities across the country to gather input on the needs of communities faced with unjust and inequitable impacts from environmental degradation.

June 2018 Rep. McEachin becomes the co-lead of this environmental justice effort and works with Chair Grijalva to bring these issues to the forefront of the Democratic legislative agenda and develop a comprehensive bill.

June 2018 Chair Grijalva convenes an Environmental Justice Working Group of advisors to help develop a comprehensive bill and the process for gathering public input from communities.

June 28, 2017 Then-Ranking Member Grijalva Becomes First Member of Congress to Introduce a Comprehensive Environmental Justice Bill: H.R. 3590 the Environmental Justice and Civil Rights Restoration and Enforcement Act - HERE

April 8, 2015 Then-Ranking Member Grijalva Leads House Natural Resources Committee Democrats in Hosting a Democratic Forum on Environmental Justice in Los Angeles - HERE

Previous Public Input Sessions