| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 720 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To establish an Office of Environmental Justice within the Department of |
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| 6 | 6 | | Justice, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | FEBRUARY25, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. P |
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| 10 | 10 | | ADILLA(for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, |
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| 11 | 11 | | Mr. M |
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| 12 | 12 | | ERKLEY, Mr. VANHOLLEN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. |
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| 13 | 13 | | S |
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| 14 | 14 | | CHIFF, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following |
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| 15 | 15 | | bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary |
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| 16 | 16 | | A BILL |
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| 17 | 17 | | To establish an Office of Environmental Justice within the |
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| 18 | 18 | | Department of Justice, and for other purposes. |
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| 19 | 19 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 20 | 20 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 22 | 22 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Empowering and En-4 |
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| 23 | 23 | | forcing Environmental Justice Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | SEC. 2. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. 6 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (a) I |
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| 26 | 26 | | NGENERAL.—Chapter 31 of title 28, United 7 |
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| 27 | 27 | | States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-8 |
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| 28 | 28 | | lowing: 9 |
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| 31 | 31 | | •S 720 IS |
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| 32 | 32 | | ‘‘§ 530E. Environmental Justice 1 |
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| 33 | 33 | | ‘‘(a) D |
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| 34 | 34 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 2 |
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| 35 | 35 | | ‘‘(1) C |
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| 36 | 36 | | OUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 3 |
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| 37 | 37 | | Senior Advisory Council established under subsection 4 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (c). 5 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘(2) D |
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| 40 | 40 | | EPARTMENT.—The term ‘Department’ 6 |
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| 41 | 41 | | means the Department of Justice. 7 |
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| 42 | 42 | | ‘‘(3) E |
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| 43 | 43 | | NVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE .—The term 8 |
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| 44 | 44 | | ‘environmental justice’ means the just treatment and 9 |
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| 45 | 45 | | meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of 10 |
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| 46 | 46 | | income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, 11 |
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| 47 | 47 | | or disability in agency decision-making and other 12 |
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| 48 | 48 | | Federal activities that affect human health and the 13 |
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| 49 | 49 | | environment so that individuals— 14 |
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| 50 | 50 | | ‘‘(A) are fully protected from dispropor-15 |
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| 51 | 51 | | tionate and adverse human health and environ-16 |
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| 52 | 52 | | mental effects (including risks) and hazards, in-17 |
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| 53 | 53 | | cluding those related to climate change, the cu-18 |
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| 54 | 54 | | mulative impacts of environmental and other 19 |
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| 55 | 55 | | burdens, and the legacy of racism or other 20 |
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| 56 | 56 | | structural or systemic barriers; and 21 |
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| 57 | 57 | | ‘‘(B) have equitable access to a healthy, 22 |
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| 58 | 58 | | sustainable, and resilient environment in which 23 |
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| 59 | 59 | | to live, play, work, learn, grow, worship, and 24 |
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| 60 | 60 | | engage in cultural and subsistence practices. 25 |
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| 63 | 63 | | •S 720 IS |
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| 64 | 64 | | ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MATTER .—The 1 |
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| 65 | 65 | | term ‘environmental justice matter’ includes any 2 |
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| 66 | 66 | | civil or criminal matter in which the conduct or ac-3 |
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| 67 | 67 | | tion at issue may involve a disproportionate and ad-4 |
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| 68 | 68 | | verse environmental or human health effect on— 5 |
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| 69 | 69 | | ‘‘(A) an identifiable low-income, Tribal, or 6 |
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| 70 | 70 | | Indigenous population or community in the 7 |
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| 71 | 71 | | United States; or 8 |
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| 72 | 72 | | ‘‘(B) a community in the United States 9 |
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| 73 | 73 | | with environmental justice concerns. 10 |
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| 74 | 74 | | ‘‘(5) I |
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| 75 | 75 | | NDIGENOUS POPULATION OR COMMU -11 |
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| 76 | 76 | | NITY.—The term ‘Indigenous population or commu-12 |
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| 77 | 77 | | nity’ includes populations or communities of Amer-13 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ican Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. 14 |
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| 79 | 79 | | ‘‘(6) L |
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| 80 | 80 | | OW-INCOME COMMUNITY .—The term 15 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ‘low-income community’ means any census block 16 |
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| 82 | 82 | | group in which 30 percent or more of the population 17 |
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| 83 | 83 | | are individuals with an annual household income 18 |
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| 84 | 84 | | equal to, or less than, the greater of— 19 |
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| 85 | 85 | | ‘‘(A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 20 |
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| 86 | 86 | | median income of the area in which the house-21 |
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| 87 | 87 | | hold is located, as reported by the Department 22 |
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| 88 | 88 | | of Housing and Urban Development; and 23 |
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| 89 | 89 | | ‘‘(B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 24 |
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| 90 | 90 | | line. 25 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘(7) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of-1 |
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| 95 | 95 | | fice of Environmental Justice established under sub-2 |
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| 96 | 96 | | section (b)(1). 3 |
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| 97 | 97 | | ‘‘(8) S |
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| 98 | 98 | | TATE.—The term ‘State’ means any 4 |
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| 99 | 99 | | State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 5 |
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| 100 | 100 | | the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is-6 |
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| 101 | 101 | | lands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common-7 |
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| 102 | 102 | | wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 8 |
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| 103 | 103 | | ‘‘(b) O |
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| 104 | 104 | | FFICE OFENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.— 9 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ‘‘(1) E |
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| 106 | 106 | | STABLISHMENT.—There is established 10 |
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| 107 | 107 | | the Office of Environmental Justice within the Envi-11 |
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| 108 | 108 | | ronment and Natural Resources Division of the De-12 |
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| 109 | 109 | | partment. 13 |
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| 110 | 110 | | ‘‘(2) P |
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| 111 | 111 | | ERSONNEL AND FUNDING .—The Attor-14 |
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| 112 | 112 | | ney General shall provide to the Office such per-15 |
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| 113 | 113 | | sonnel and funds as are necessary to establish the 16 |
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| 114 | 114 | | Office under paragraph (1) and to carry out the du-17 |
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| 115 | 115 | | ties of the Office under paragraph (4). 18 |
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| 116 | 116 | | ‘‘(3) L |
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| 117 | 117 | | EADERSHIP.—The Office shall be headed 19 |
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| 118 | 118 | | by a Director, who shall be appointed by the Attor-20 |
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| 119 | 119 | | ney General. 21 |
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| 120 | 120 | | ‘‘(4) D |
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| 121 | 121 | | UTIES.—The Director shall: 22 |
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| 122 | 122 | | ‘‘(A) Develop, and update every 5 years 23 |
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| 123 | 123 | | thereafter, the environmental justice strategy 24 |
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| 126 | 126 | | •S 720 IS |
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| 127 | 127 | | for the Department relating to Federal actions 1 |
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| 128 | 128 | | to address environmental justice. 2 |
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| 129 | 129 | | ‘‘(B) Coordinate environmental justice 3 |
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| 130 | 130 | | matters that arise at the Department and 4 |
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| 131 | 131 | | United States Attorneys’ offices, including 5 |
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| 132 | 132 | | building outreach and engagement capacity and 6 |
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| 133 | 133 | | competency among the Department’s personnel. 7 |
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| 134 | 134 | | ‘‘(C) Administer the grant program estab-8 |
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| 135 | 135 | | lished under section 3 of the Empowering and 9 |
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| 136 | 136 | | Enforcing Environmental Justice Act of 2025. 10 |
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| 137 | 137 | | ‘‘(D) Promote and protect the right of the 11 |
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| 138 | 138 | | public to participate meaningfully in the deci-12 |
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| 139 | 139 | | sion-making process on environmental justice 13 |
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| 140 | 140 | | matters and design communications efforts with 14 |
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| 141 | 141 | | the goal of maximizing community under-15 |
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| 142 | 142 | | standing of how to participate in environmental 16 |
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| 143 | 143 | | justice matters, including how to file adminis-17 |
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| 144 | 144 | | trative complaints with Federal agencies. 18 |
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| 145 | 145 | | ‘‘(E) Counsel and assist State, local, and 19 |
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| 146 | 146 | | Tribal governments on how to coordinate their 20 |
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| 147 | 147 | | actions with the Federal Government with re-21 |
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| 148 | 148 | | spect to environmental justice matters and 22 |
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| 149 | 149 | | counsel and assist State, local, and Tribal gov-23 |
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| 150 | 150 | | ernments and Indigenous populations or com-24 |
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| 153 | 153 | | •S 720 IS |
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| 154 | 154 | | munities in providing equal environmental pro-1 |
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| 155 | 155 | | tection for all individuals. 2 |
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| 156 | 156 | | ‘‘(F) Provide support for State and local 3 |
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| 157 | 157 | | environmental enforcement training in commu-4 |
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| 158 | 158 | | nities with environmental justice concerns. 5 |
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| 159 | 159 | | ‘‘(G) Work with the Community Relations 6 |
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| 160 | 160 | | Service to facilitate a working relationship be-7 |
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| 161 | 161 | | tween parties involved in environmental justice 8 |
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| 162 | 162 | | matters, including regulated industry, State, 9 |
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| 163 | 163 | | local, and Tribal decision-makers, nonprofits, 10 |
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| 164 | 164 | | low-income communities, and Indigenous popu-11 |
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| 165 | 165 | | lations or communities. 12 |
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| 166 | 166 | | ‘‘(H) Organize, at minimum, bimonthly 13 |
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| 167 | 167 | | calls or meetings with environmental justice or-14 |
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| 168 | 168 | | ganizations and communities with environ-15 |
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| 169 | 169 | | mental justice concerns. 16 |
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| 170 | 170 | | ‘‘(I) Manage the Council. 17 |
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| 171 | 171 | | ‘‘(J) Make recommendations to Federal 18 |
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| 172 | 172 | | agencies on community participation in the de-19 |
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| 173 | 173 | | velopment of administrative settlement agree-20 |
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| 174 | 174 | | ments relating to environmental justice matters. 21 |
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| 175 | 175 | | ‘‘(K) Develop— 22 |
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| 176 | 176 | | ‘‘(i) instructional videos and other ma-23 |
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| 177 | 177 | | terials for Department personnel to provide 24 |
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| 178 | 178 | | an overview of the scope of environmental 25 |
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| 182 | 182 | | justice matters and procedures for identi-1 |
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| 183 | 183 | | fying and reporting such matters; 2 |
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| 184 | 184 | | ‘‘(ii) education programs for environ-3 |
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| 185 | 185 | | mental attorneys about criminal, civil, and 4 |
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| 186 | 186 | | civil rights laws; 5 |
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| 187 | 187 | | ‘‘(iii) education programs for civil, 6 |
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| 188 | 188 | | criminal, and civil rights attorneys about 7 |
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| 189 | 189 | | environmental laws for the purpose of 8 |
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| 190 | 190 | | identifying and effectively addressing envi-9 |
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| 191 | 191 | | ronmental justice matters; 10 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ‘‘(iv) an email address that Depart-11 |
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| 193 | 193 | | ment attorneys and other Department per-12 |
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| 194 | 194 | | sonnel may contact that enables Depart-13 |
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| 195 | 195 | | ment attorneys and other Department per-14 |
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| 196 | 196 | | sonnel to seek information and guidance 15 |
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| 197 | 197 | | on environmental justice matters; 16 |
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| 198 | 198 | | ‘‘(v) joint education and training ac-17 |
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| 199 | 199 | | tivities, where appropriate, with Federal 18 |
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| 200 | 200 | | agencies and State, local, and Tribal legal 19 |
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| 201 | 201 | | offices; 20 |
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| 202 | 202 | | ‘‘(vi) a continuing legal education 21 |
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| 203 | 203 | | course on environmental justice matters, 22 |
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| 204 | 204 | | developed in coordination with the Office 23 |
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| 205 | 205 | | of Legal Education and the Environmental 24 |
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| 206 | 206 | | Protection Agency; and 25 |
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| 210 | 210 | | ‘‘(vii) training programs with respect 1 |
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| 211 | 211 | | to environmental justice for individuals 2 |
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| 212 | 212 | | participating in the Attorney General’s 3 |
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| 213 | 213 | | Honors Program. 4 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ‘‘(L) Coordinate with all relevant compo-5 |
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| 215 | 215 | | nents within the Department to develop and 6 |
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| 216 | 216 | | maintain an appropriate system for tracking 7 |
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| 217 | 217 | | and assessing cases that raise environmental 8 |
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| 218 | 218 | | justice matters. 9 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ‘‘(c) S |
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| 220 | 220 | | ENIORADVISORYCOUNCIL.— 10 |
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| 221 | 221 | | ‘‘(1) E |
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| 222 | 222 | | STABLISHMENT.—There is established a 11 |
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| 223 | 223 | | Senior Advisory Council to advise the Assistant At-12 |
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| 224 | 224 | | torney General of the Environment and Natural Re-13 |
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| 225 | 225 | | sources Division on matters of environmental justice 14 |
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| 226 | 226 | | and recommend policy and initiatives with respect to 15 |
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| 227 | 227 | | environmental justice matters. 16 |
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| 228 | 228 | | ‘‘(2) C |
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| 229 | 229 | | O-CHAIR.—The Co-chairs of the Council 17 |
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| 230 | 230 | | shall be the Assistant Attorney General of the Envi-18 |
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| 231 | 231 | | ronment and Natural Resources Division and the 19 |
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| 232 | 232 | | Director of the Office. 20 |
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| 233 | 233 | | ‘‘(3) M |
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| 234 | 234 | | EMBERS.—The Council shall be com-21 |
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| 235 | 235 | | posed of: 22 |
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| 236 | 236 | | ‘‘(A) The Assistant Attorney General of 23 |
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| 237 | 237 | | the Environment and Natural Resources Divi-24 |
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| 238 | 238 | | sion. 25 |
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| 242 | 242 | | ‘‘(B) The Director of the Office. 1 |
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| 243 | 243 | | ‘‘(C) One representative of the Office of 2 |
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| 244 | 244 | | the Deputy Attorney General. 3 |
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| 245 | 245 | | ‘‘(D) One representative of the Office of 4 |
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| 246 | 246 | | the Associate Attorney General. 5 |
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| 247 | 247 | | ‘‘(E) One representative from the Environ-6 |
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| 248 | 248 | | mental Enforcement Section of the Environ-7 |
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| 249 | 249 | | mental and Natural Resources Division. 8 |
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| 250 | 250 | | ‘‘(F) One representative from the Environ-9 |
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| 251 | 251 | | mental Defense Section of the Environment and 10 |
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| 252 | 252 | | Natural Resources Division. 11 |
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| 253 | 253 | | ‘‘(G) One representative of the Civil Rights 12 |
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| 254 | 254 | | Division. 13 |
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| 255 | 255 | | ‘‘(H) One representative of the Civil Divi-14 |
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| 256 | 256 | | sion. 15 |
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| 257 | 257 | | ‘‘(I) One representative of the Federal Bu-16 |
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| 258 | 258 | | reau of Investigation. 17 |
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| 259 | 259 | | ‘‘(J) One representative of the Bureau of 18 |
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| 260 | 260 | | Prisons. 19 |
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| 261 | 261 | | ‘‘(K) One representative of the Community 20 |
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| 262 | 262 | | Relations Service. 21 |
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| 263 | 263 | | ‘‘(L) One representative of the Office for 22 |
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| 264 | 264 | | Access to Justice. 23 |
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| 265 | 265 | | ‘‘(M) One representative of the Office of 24 |
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| 266 | 266 | | Legal Policy. 25 |
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| 270 | 270 | | ‘‘(N) One representative of the Office of 1 |
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| 271 | 271 | | Legislative Affairs. 2 |
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| 272 | 272 | | ‘‘(O) One representative of the Office of 3 |
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| 273 | 273 | | Tribal Justice. 4 |
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| 274 | 274 | | ‘‘(P) Two representatives from the Execu-5 |
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| 275 | 275 | | tive Office for United States Attorneys. 6 |
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| 276 | 276 | | ‘‘(Q) The Section Chief of the Environ-7 |
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| 277 | 277 | | mental Justice Section. 8 |
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| 278 | 278 | | ‘‘(R) Not fewer than 2 representatives 9 |
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| 279 | 279 | | from United States Attorneys’ offices. 10 |
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| 280 | 280 | | ‘‘(4) R |
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| 281 | 281 | | EPORTING REQUIREMENT .— 11 |
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| 282 | 282 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 283 | 283 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 12 |
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| 284 | 284 | | days after the date of enactment of the Empow-13 |
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| 285 | 285 | | ering and Enforcing Environmental Justice Act 14 |
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| 286 | 286 | | of 2025, and annually thereafter, each member 15 |
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| 287 | 287 | | of the Council shall submit to the Director a re-16 |
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| 288 | 288 | | port on the implementation of the progress of 17 |
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| 289 | 289 | | the component of which the member is a rep-18 |
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| 290 | 290 | | resentative in implementing the environmental 19 |
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| 291 | 291 | | justice strategy of the Department and any pro-20 |
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| 292 | 292 | | posed revisions to the environmental justice 21 |
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| 293 | 293 | | strategy of that component. 22 |
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| 294 | 294 | | ‘‘(B) O |
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| 295 | 295 | | THER REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS .— 23 |
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| 296 | 296 | | In addition to the reports required under sub-24 |
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| 297 | 297 | | paragraph (A), the Director may also request a 25 |
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| 301 | 301 | | report or briefing from the head of any compo-1 |
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| 302 | 302 | | nent not a member of the Council explaining 2 |
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| 303 | 303 | | how the component may facilitate the efforts of 3 |
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| 304 | 304 | | the Department in meeting the obligations of 4 |
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| 305 | 305 | | the Department under the environmental justice 5 |
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| 306 | 306 | | strategy. 6 |
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| 307 | 307 | | ‘‘(5) A |
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| 308 | 308 | | DMINISTRATION.—The Director shall co-7 |
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| 309 | 309 | | ordinate and support the work of the Council. The 8 |
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| 310 | 310 | | Director shall convene the Council not later than 90 9 |
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| 311 | 311 | | days after the date of enactment of the Empowering 10 |
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| 312 | 312 | | and Enforcing Environmental Justice Act of 2025 11 |
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| 313 | 313 | | and shall convene the Council not less than 4 times 12 |
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| 314 | 314 | | annually thereafter. 13 |
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| 315 | 315 | | ‘‘(6) G |
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| 316 | 316 | | UIDANCE FOR DEPARTMENT .— 14 |
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| 317 | 317 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 318 | 318 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 15 |
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| 319 | 319 | | days after the date of enactment of the Empow-16 |
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| 320 | 320 | | ering and Enforcing Environmental Justice Act 17 |
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| 321 | 321 | | of 2025, the Council shall develop guidance 18 |
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| 322 | 322 | | with respect to environmental justice and pro-19 |
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| 323 | 323 | | vide such guidance to Department personnel, 20 |
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| 324 | 324 | | including provisions for identifying, tracking, 21 |
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| 325 | 325 | | and addressing environmental justice matters. 22 |
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| 326 | 326 | | ‘‘(B) R |
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| 327 | 327 | | EVIEW AND UPDATE .—Not later 23 |
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| 328 | 328 | | than 3 years after the development of the guid-24 |
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| 329 | 329 | | ance under subparagraph (A), and every 3 25 |
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| 333 | 333 | | years thereafter, the Department shall review 1 |
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| 334 | 334 | | and update such guidance.’’. 2 |
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| 335 | 335 | | (b) T |
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| 336 | 336 | | ECHNICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 3 |
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| 337 | 337 | | for chapter 31 of title 28, United States Code, is amended 4 |
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| 338 | 338 | | by adding at the end the following: 5 |
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| 339 | 339 | | ‘‘530E. Environmental justice.’’. |
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| 340 | 340 | | SEC. 3. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MATTERS ENFORCE- |
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| 341 | 341 | | 6 |
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| 342 | 342 | | MENT GRANTS. 7 |
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| 343 | 343 | | (a) D |
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| 344 | 344 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 |
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| 345 | 345 | | (1) C |
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| 346 | 346 | | ERTAIN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES .— 9 |
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| 347 | 347 | | The term ‘‘certain congressional committees’’ 10 |
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| 348 | 348 | | means— 11 |
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| 349 | 349 | | (A) the Committees on Environment and 12 |
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| 350 | 350 | | Public Works and the Judiciary of the Senate; 13 |
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| 351 | 351 | | (B) the Committees on Energy and Com-14 |
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| 352 | 352 | | merce and the Judiciary of the House of Rep-15 |
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| 353 | 353 | | resentatives. 16 |
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| 354 | 354 | | (2) E |
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| 355 | 355 | | NVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE .—The term ‘‘en-17 |
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| 356 | 356 | | vironmental justice’’ means the just treatment and 18 |
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| 357 | 357 | | meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of 19 |
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| 358 | 358 | | income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, 20 |
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| 359 | 359 | | or disability in agency decision-making and other 21 |
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| 360 | 360 | | Federal activities that affect human health and the 22 |
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| 361 | 361 | | environment so that individuals— 23 |
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| 362 | 362 | | (A) are fully protected from dispropor-24 |
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| 363 | 363 | | tionate and adverse human health and environ-25 |
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| 366 | 366 | | •S 720 IS |
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| 367 | 367 | | mental effects (including risks) and hazards, in-1 |
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| 368 | 368 | | cluding those related to climate change, the cu-2 |
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| 369 | 369 | | mulative impacts of environmental and other 3 |
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| 370 | 370 | | burdens, and the legacy of racism or other 4 |
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| 371 | 371 | | structural or systemic barriers; and 5 |
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| 372 | 372 | | (B) have equitable access to a healthy, sus-6 |
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| 373 | 373 | | tainable, and resilient environment in which to 7 |
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| 374 | 374 | | live, play, work, learn, grow, worship, and en-8 |
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| 375 | 375 | | gage in cultural and subsistence practices. 9 |
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| 376 | 376 | | (3) E |
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| 377 | 377 | | NVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MATTER .—The 10 |
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| 378 | 378 | | term ‘‘environmental justice matter’’ includes any 11 |
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| 379 | 379 | | civil or criminal matter where the conduct or action 12 |
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| 380 | 380 | | at issue may involve a disproportionate and adverse 13 |
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| 381 | 381 | | environmental or human health effect on an identifi-14 |
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| 382 | 382 | | able low-income, minority, Tribal, or Indigenous 15 |
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| 383 | 383 | | population or community in the United States. 16 |
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| 384 | 384 | | (4) I |
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| 385 | 385 | | NDIGENOUS POPULATION OR COMMU -17 |
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| 386 | 386 | | NITY.—The term ‘‘Indigenous population or commu-18 |
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| 387 | 387 | | nity’’ includes populations or communities of Amer-19 |
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| 388 | 388 | | ican Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. 20 |
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| 389 | 389 | | (5) L |
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| 390 | 390 | | OW-INCOME COMMUNITY .—The term ‘‘low- 21 |
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| 391 | 391 | | income community’’ means any census block group 22 |
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| 392 | 392 | | in which 30 percent or more of the population are 23 |
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| 393 | 393 | | individuals with an annual household income equal 24 |
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| 394 | 394 | | to, or less than, the greater of— 25 |
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| 398 | 398 | | (A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 1 |
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| 399 | 399 | | median income of the area in which the house-2 |
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| 400 | 400 | | hold is located, as reported by the Department 3 |
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| 401 | 401 | | of Housing and Urban Development; and 4 |
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| 402 | 402 | | (B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 5 |
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| 403 | 403 | | line. 6 |
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| 404 | 404 | | (6) S |
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| 405 | 405 | | TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 7 |
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| 406 | 406 | | State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 8 |
|---|
| 407 | 407 | | the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is-9 |
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| 408 | 408 | | lands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common-10 |
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| 409 | 409 | | wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 11 |
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| 410 | 410 | | (b) I |
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| 411 | 411 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 12 |
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| 412 | 412 | | date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 13 |
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| 413 | 413 | | establish a grant program (in this section referred to as 14 |
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| 414 | 414 | | the ‘‘Program’’) within the Office of Environmental Jus-15 |
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| 415 | 415 | | tice to improve the capacity of State, local, and Tribal gov-16 |
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| 416 | 416 | | ernments to enforce environmental laws involving environ-17 |
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| 417 | 417 | | mental justice matters. 18 |
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| 418 | 418 | | (c) G |
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| 419 | 419 | | RANTAUTHORITY.—In carrying out the Pro-19 |
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| 420 | 420 | | gram, the Assistant Attorney General may award grants 20 |
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| 421 | 421 | | on a competitive basis to eligible recipients, except that 21 |
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| 422 | 422 | | no eligible recipient may be awarded more than 1 grant. 22 |
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| 423 | 423 | | (d) E |
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| 424 | 424 | | LIGIBLERECIPIENTS.—The Assistant Attorney 23 |
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| 425 | 425 | | General may award a grant under the Program to a State, 24 |
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| 426 | 426 | | local, or Tribal government determined by the Assistant 25 |
|---|
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| 429 | 429 | | •S 720 IS |
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| 430 | 430 | | Attorney General to be capable of carrying out a project 1 |
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| 431 | 431 | | pursuant to subsection (e). 2 |
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| 432 | 432 | | (e) G |
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| 433 | 433 | | RANTFUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under the 3 |
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| 434 | 434 | | Program, shall only be used to— 4 |
|---|
| 435 | 435 | | (1) train State, local, and Tribal agencies re-5 |
|---|
| 436 | 436 | | sponsible for prosecuting and enforcing laws involv-6 |
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| 437 | 437 | | ing environmental justice matters; 7 |
|---|
| 438 | 438 | | (2) hire staff to assist in the investigation, 8 |
|---|
| 439 | 439 | | prosecution, and enforcement of laws involving envi-9 |
|---|
| 440 | 440 | | ronmental justice matters; or 10 |
|---|
| 441 | 441 | | (3) establish collaborative programs to provide 11 |
|---|
| 442 | 442 | | technical and legal assistance, outreach, and engage-12 |
|---|
| 443 | 443 | | ment to help communities with environmental justice 13 |
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| 444 | 444 | | concerns participate in decisions impacting the envi-14 |
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| 445 | 445 | | ronment, health, and safety of those communities 15 |
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| 446 | 446 | | with environmental justice concerns. 16 |
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| 447 | 447 | | (f) A |
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| 448 | 448 | | PPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 17 |
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| 449 | 449 | | the Program, an eligible recipient shall submit to the As-18 |
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| 450 | 450 | | sistant Attorney General an application in such form, at 19 |
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| 451 | 451 | | such time, and containing such information as the Assist-20 |
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| 452 | 452 | | ant Attorney General determines to be appropriate. 21 |
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| 453 | 453 | | (g) L |
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| 454 | 454 | | IMITATIONS ONGRANTAMOUNTS.—Subject to 22 |
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| 455 | 455 | | the availability of appropriations under subsection (j), 23 |
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| 456 | 456 | | each grant made under this section shall be for an amount 24 |
|---|
| 457 | 457 | | not less than $50,000 and not greater than $1,000,000. 25 |
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| 461 | 461 | | (h) FEDERALSHARE.—The Federal share of a 1 |
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| 462 | 462 | | project under the Program shall not exceed 80 percent, 2 |
|---|
| 463 | 463 | | unless the Attorney General waives, wholly or in part, this 3 |
|---|
| 464 | 464 | | requirement. 4 |
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| 465 | 465 | | (i) R |
|---|
| 466 | 466 | | EPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 5 |
|---|
| 467 | 467 | | date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there-6 |
|---|
| 468 | 468 | | after, the Attorney General shall submit a report to cer-7 |
|---|
| 469 | 469 | | tain congressional committees on the grant program es-8 |
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| 470 | 470 | | tablished under this section, including a description of the 9 |
|---|
| 471 | 471 | | grantees and activities for which grantees used grants 10 |
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| 472 | 472 | | awarded under this section. 11 |
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| 473 | 473 | | (j) A |
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| 474 | 474 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 12 |
|---|
| 475 | 475 | | authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 13 |
|---|
| 476 | 476 | | $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2026 through 14 |
|---|
| 477 | 477 | | 2035. 15 |
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| 478 | 478 | | Æ |
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