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White House announces that over $29 billion in funding opportunities have already incorporated Justice40 considerations

President Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad laid the foundation for the most ambitious environmental justice agenda ever undertaken by an Administration—committing to center communities overburdened by pollution, on the frontlines of climate impacts, and marginalized by decades of underinvestment.

As part of this historic commitment to environmental justice, President Biden created the Justice40 Initiative to ensure that federal agencies deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water, and other investments to disadvantaged communities. In total, hundreds of federal programs, representing billions of dollars in annual investment—including programs that were funded or created in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—are being  utilized to maximize benefits to disadvantaged communities through the Justice40 Initiative.

At the start of 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration marked a year of progress on advancing environmental justice. Today, the Administration is launching a Justice40 Week of Action to highlight additional steps that are delivering real benefits to communities across the country. The Administration is kicking off the week with announcements including:

These actions will be followed throughout the week by additional announcements from across the Biden-Harris Administration. Although there is much more work to do, this Administration has made historic strides to realize the vision of the Justice40 Initiative, including:

Delivering Historic and Long Overdue Investments in Disadvantaged Communities President Biden and Vice President Harris secured $5 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for a key environmental justice priority—clean school buses to protect our kids and neighborhoods from dirty diesel exhaust. Last week, Vice President Harris joined EPA Administrator Regan to announce that $500 million is now available for school districts and other eligible school bus operators and contractors to begin replacing the nation’s fleet of school buses with clean, American-made, low and zero-emission buses. New, clean school buses will produce cleaner air for students, bus drivers, school staff working near the bus loading areas, and the communities that the buses drive through each day. This investment, like other climate and clean energy-related Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments, are included in the President’s Justice40 Initiative and will prioritize applications that will replace buses serving high-need local education agencies, Tribal schools, and rural areas.

Over the last year, the Biden-Harris Administration has already made available tens-of-billions of dollars in funding opportunity notifications and announcements to deliver on the Justice40 Initiative. A new compilation from the White House Office of Management and Budget provides a snapshot of at least $29 billion of these opportunities. This initial wave of funding includes announcements on:

In response to the Administration’s Justice40 efforts, philanthropic, labor and nonprofit organizations have also committed new resources to assist communities in Justice40 implementation—including the Justice40 Accelerator, a partnership between Elevate, Groundswell, The Hummingbird Firm, Partnership for Southern Equity and the Solutions Project that are working together to ensure the tools and resources are in place for frontline organizations to be prepared to access the benefits of the Justice40 Initiative.

Renewing a Focus on Environmental Justice Across the Federal Government

Today, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released a report submitted to Congress that outlines how the Biden-Harris Administration has addressed recommendations from the first-ever White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC). The report fulfills a statutory obligation under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to provide a report to Congress within one year of receiving recommendations from a Federal Advisory Committee. The report is a formal response to recommendations the WHEJAC provided on the Justice40 Initiative, the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, and revisions on Executive Order 12898 Executive Order 12898 on Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.

The report submitted by CEQ to Congress contains detailed status updates from fifteen agencies to the WHEJAC’s recommendations on the Justice40 Initiative. In keeping with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to improving transparency in government, the report illustrates how Federal agencies are advancing and implementing the President’s commitment to environmental justice right now. The report also summarizes actions that agencies are taking—informed by nearly 200 recommendations from the WHEJAC—to ensure that the benefits of key programs are reaching the communities that need them most.

Elevating the Voices of Environmental Justice Communities  

The White House announced the launch of a Justice40 stakeholder engagement series that will bring Administration officials into communities to both listen to the concerns of stakeholders and identify ways to magnify the impact of Justice40 covered programs. This stakeholder engagement began with a public Justice40 update briefing with senior Administration officials highlighting leaders at the agency, state and community level who are using the mandate of the President’s Justice40 Initiative to deliver benefits to disadvantaged communities. The White House also announced the launch of a new website, WhiteHouse.gov/EnvironmentalJustice, which provides a public platform and centralized location for information about the Administration’s environmental justice priorities and initiatives, such as the Justice40 Initiative and the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council, as well as news and updates on environmental justice across the whole-of-government.

This week also marks the closure of the extended public comment period for the beta version of the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. This geospatial mapping tool will provide important information for the Justice40 Initiative by helping agencies to identify disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. The tool was released in a beta version in order to receive feedback from the public, Tribal Nations, and Federal agencies.  After hearing from environmental justice leaders, community-based organizations and allied groups, and members of the public from across the country, CEQ extended the public comment period until May 25, 2022. An updated version of the screening tool, along with an updated technical support document, will be released after the feedback from the public comment period, Tribal consultations, and meetings with Federal agencies has been reviewed. The screening tool will be continually updated as new data and research become available.

We'll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better.

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500