Biden Permitting Changes Touted as Boon to Environmental Justice

摘要

Environmental justice advocates told the White House on Thursday that its proposed changes to the nation’s permitting laws would significantly improve people’s health in low-incomecommunities of color.The consideration of a project’s indirect and cumulative effects on the environment will “ensure that we aren’t just ignoring some impacts,” said Marven Norman, policy specialist at theCenter for Community Action and Environmental Justice, speaking at the second of two scheduled public meetings convened by the Council on Environmental Quality.But CEQ could also go further to protect environmental justice communities, said Kym Hunter, an attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. For example, she said the agencycould strike down changes made by the Trump administration in 2020 that limited public participation—an important issue in low-income neighborhoods, whose residents often struggleto find time to attend meetings.