Items

• Report: White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council Recommendations from the Carbon Management Workgroup

  The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) represents urgent initial recommendations on carbon management, highlighting regulatory, data, and risk challenges. Key recommendations include halting carbon management investments, clarifying federal initiatives, reviewing associated risks, ensuring transparent communication, and securing informed consent from affected environmental justice communities. WHEJAC plans ongoing review and requests specific responses at its December 2023 public meeting. This report of recommendations has been written as part of the activities of the WHEJAC, a public advisory committee providing independent advice and recommendations on the issue of environmental justice to the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and to the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (IAC). Dr. Ana I. Baptista was on the Carbon Management Workgroup and contributed to these recommendations.
• Report: White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council Recommendations - Scorecard Workgroup

  This document presents recommendations from the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Environmental Justice Interagency Council (IAC) to inform Phase Two of the Environmental Justice (EJ) Scorecard. It recognizes the contributions of the Scorecard Workgroup members in developing the report and continuing efforts to advance federal accountability in environmental justice such as Peggy Shepard, Maria López-Núñez, LaTricea Adams, Dr. Beverly Wright, Jerome Foster II, Dr. Rachel Morello-Frosch, Harold Mitchell, and Michele Roberts. Dr. Yukyan Lam, Research Director at the Tishman Center, was an external contributor.
• Report: White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council Recommendations - Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) Workgroup

  This document contains recommendations from the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regarding the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST). It acknowledges CEQ’s responsiveness to previous feedback and reaffirms the Tool’s purpose: identifying underserved and overburdened communities to guide Justice40 investments. The recommendations support the continued refinement of CEJST ahead of its Version 2.0 release and future updates as new data becomes available. WHEJAC acknowledges the efforts of the CEJST Workgroup in preparing this report such as co-chairs Dr. Rachel Morello-Frosch and Dr. Nicky Sheats, along with Jade Begay, Jerome Foster II, Juan Parras, LaTricea Adams, Michele Roberts, Tom Cormons, and Vi Waghiyi. Dr. Yukyan Lam, Research Director at the Tishman Center provided comments on the recommendations.
• Report: WHEJAC Recommendations on Climate Planning, Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Impacts

  The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) submitted its final report to White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory and President Joseph R. Biden, offering recommendations on a whole-of-government approach to environmental justice, including climate change, disaster preparedness, and community planning. WHEJAC emphasized that their recommendations are a starting point for deeper, transformational change and rejected the overuse of the term "resilience," noting that it can be used to ignore communities’ needs. The report underscores the urgent and unequal impacts of climate change, especially on communities already burdened by poverty, pollution, and systemic inequality. Tishman Center prepared a literature review as preparation for the report.
• WHEJAC Meeting Notes and Agendas 2024

  Summaries of public WHEJAC meetings in 2024. The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) held several public virtual meetings in 2024 to address environmental justice issues and offer recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration.
• WHEJAC Meeting Notes and Agendas 2023

  Summaries of public WHEJAC meetings in 2023. The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) held several public virtual meetings in 2023 to address environmental justice issues and offer recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration.
• WHEJAC Meeting Notes and Agendas 2022

  Summaries of public WHEJAC meetings in 2022. The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) held several public virtual meetings in 2022 to address environmental justice issues and offer recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration.
• WHEJAC Meeting Notes and Agendas 2021

  Summaries of public WHEJAC meetings in 2021. The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) held several public virtual meetings in 2021 to address environmental justice issues and offer recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration.
• Response to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council's (WHEJAC) Phase One Scorecard Recommendations Report

  This letter by US Environmental Protection Agency's Associate Administrator Timothy DelMonico, transmits the White House Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) official response to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council’s (WHEJAC) Phase One Scorecard Recommendations Report. The report, submitted in March 2022, offers guidance for developing the Environmental Justice Scorecard as directed by Executive Order 14008. CEQ's response fulfills requirements under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which mandates a report to Congress within one year of receiving advisory committee recommendations. The EPA is submitting CEQ’s response in its role as the President’s delegate under FACA for the WHEJAC.
• WHEJAC Carbon Management Recommendations

  Letter from WHEJAC co-chairs Richard Moore and Peggy M. Shepard, on behalf of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) to provide recommendations on carbon management strategies must not harm disadvantaged communities. Its recommendations prioritize human rights, health, and inclusive decision-making. WHEJAC stresses that environmental justice is essential to effective climate action and rejects any federal actions that create new injustice.
• Executive Order 14096 Recommendations

  WHEJAC submitted recommendations to support implementation of Executive Order 14096, urging federal agencies to fully integrate environmental justice into all operations. The recommendations emphasize transparency, community engagement, and detailed reporting on environmental burdens and Justice40 outcomes. WHEJAC requests a response at its October 2024 public meeting.
• White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (IAC): Environmental Justice Officer Contact List

  Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad specifies that each agency serving the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (IAC) shall designate “a designated official within the agency to be an Environmental Justice Officer. This document provides a the contact information for designated Environmental Justice Officer.
• Frequently Asked Questions about the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council

  Document on the most Frequently Asked Questions about the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council, created by Executive Order 14008, which coordinates federal efforts to address environmental injustice in overburdened communities. Chaired by CEQ, it includes senior officials from multiple agencies and oversees initiatives like Justice40 and the Environmental Justice Scorecard. The IAC replaced the former Interagency Working Group to elevate environmental justice across the federal government.
• Letter: Recommendations for the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool

  Letter from WHEJAC co-chairs Richard Moore and Peggy M. Shepard, on behalf of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) to Chair Brenda Mallory and the CEQ. The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) submitted a set of recommendations to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regarding the development of the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST). The CEJST is designed to help federal agencies identify marginalized, underserved, and pollution-burdened communities to better target investments under the Justice40 Initiative. WHEJAC emphasized the need for the tool to remain accurate, data-driven, and responsive to community input, especially from rural and Tribal areas. They also stressed the importance of CEQ dedicating adequate funding, staffing, and capacity-building resources to ensure equitable implementation and ongoing improvement of the tool.
• Letter: Air pollution emissions limits for Incinerators

  Letter from WHEJAC co-chairs Richard Moore and Peggy M. Shepard, on behalf of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) to Chair Brenda Mallory and the CEQ to urge the EPA to swiftly revise outdated air pollution emissions limits for municipal waste incinerators, which disproportionately harm low-income and communities of color. Despite a congressional mandate under the 1990 Clean Air Act to review and update these standards every five years, the EPA has repeatedly missed deadlines—some by over a decade—and the current limits are based on flawed data. WHEJAC emphasizes that continued delay perpetuates environmental racism and endangers lives, calling for immediate regulatory action.
• Updates from Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

  Letter from Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality to WHEJAC co-chairs Richard Moore and Peggy M. Shepard. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) thanked the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) for its August 2022 recommendations on the Justice40 Initiative, the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), and incinerator emissions. CEQ is finalizing version 1.0 of the CEJST, incorporating WHEJAC’s input and committing to ongoing updates based on data and community feedback. The Justice40 Initiative now includes hundreds of federal programs, with efforts underway to ensure transparency, stakeholder engagement, and measurable community benefits. CEQ emphasized that WHEJAC's recommendations have directly influenced federal environmental justice actions and affirmed its commitment to continued collaboration.
• Justice40 Initiative Implementation Phase 1 Recommendations

  Letter from WHEJAC co-chairs Richard Moore and Peggy M. Shepard, on behalf of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) to announce the second report on the Justice40 Initiative to Chair Mallory and the Environmental Justice Interagency Council. The report provides agency-specific and cross-cutting recommendations to help ensure that 40% of federal investment benefits reach disadvantaged communities.
• WHEJAC Final Report Submission Letter on Justice40, CEJST, and EO 12898 Revisions

  Letter from WHEJAC co-chairs Richard Moore and Peggy M. Shepard on behalf of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) to chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Brenda Mallory and President Joseph R. Biden, notifying submission of its final report and offering recommendations on the Justice40 Initiative, the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, and revisions to Executive Order 12898. The letter urges immediate and accountable implementation of Justice40 to ensure at least 40% of federal benefits reach frontline communities, with calls for actions like phasing out fossil fuels by 2030, ensuring no harm from investments, and expanding agency compliance. WHEJAC also requests regular engagement with federal bodies and plans to submit further recommendations on key environmental justice initiatives.
• White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council Final Recommendations: Justice40, Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, and Executive Order 12898 Revisions – May 21, 2021

  On Jan. 27, 2021, President Biden established the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) via Executive Order 14008, titled “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” to advise the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (WHEJIC) and the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality on an array of policies related to environmental justice. These policies include the Justice40 Initiative to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of climate investments to environmental justice communities, improvements to mapping the locations and characteristics of frontline communities, and changes to a 1994 executive order, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.” On May 13, 2021, WHEJAC released an interim final report setting forth recommendations regarding the Biden administration’s environmental justice agenda, and it finalized those recommendations on May 21, 2021. WHEJAC’s recommendations provide insight into how the current administration may pursue its “whole-of-government” approach to environmental justice and climate change.
• Response by the White House Council on Environmental Quality to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council’s Final Recommendations:

  Response by the White House Council on Environmental Quality to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council’s Final Recommendations: Justice40, Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, and Executive Order 12898 Revisions That Were Submitted on May 21, 2021
• Workgroups and Charges of White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC)

  Workgroups and Charges of White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) as of May 2024. WHEJAC workgroups were established to develop draft recommendations to assist the WHEJAC in providing independent advice and recommendations to the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and to the White House Interagency Council on Environmental Justice (IAC) on how to increase the Federal Government’s efforts to address current and historic environmental injustice. The workgroups were created in support of the President’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
• White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council Contact List

  White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council Contact List as of April 2024. Includes contact information of White House Council on Environmental Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council Chairs
• WHEJAC Membership Biographies

  Biographies of WHEJAC members as of 2023
• Executive Order on Continuance or Reestablishment of Certain Federal Advisory Committees and Amendments to Other Executive Orders

  Executive Order 14048 by Joseph R. Biden Jr on Continuance or Reestablishment of Certain Federal Advisory Committees and Amendments to Other Executive Orders (Sept 30, 2021)
• Publication: Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad

  Executive Order 14008 by Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad was signed on January 27, 2021. The executive order outlines the Biden Administration’s plans to center the climate crisis in United States foreign policy and national security, as well as implement a government-wide approach that reduces climate pollution across all sectors of the economy, strengthens climate resilience, protects public health, conserves U.S. land and biodiversity, delivers environmental justice, and creates well-paid union jobs and economic growth.