Equitable and Just National Climate Platform signatories call for inclusion of environmental justice priorities in the Build Back Better Act
Washington, D.C. (Sept. 20, 2021) – In response to the House Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Education and Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, and Agriculture markups of their Build Back Better bills, the coauthors of the Equitable and Just National Climate Platform, a coalition of environmental justice and national environmental groups, released the following statement:
“We commend key House committees for making historic, broad and bold investments to advance environmental and racial justice, which will improve the health and lives of millions of people, in their Build Back Better bills. These investments also mark an important step toward realizing President Biden’s commitment to addressing long-unmet needs in communities enduring toxic pollution, systemic racism and economic inequality.
“The environmental justice provisions in the House committees’ bills—including environmental and climate justice block grants; funding to reduce greenhouse gases and local pollution; increased monitoring of toxic air pollution in front-line communities; solar projects that serve low-income households; and investments in healthy ports, pollution-free heavy-duty vehicles, affordable housing, climate resilience, and much more—must remain in the final bill voted on by the full House and Senate. The best way to Build Back Better is to stop leaving communities behind.”
The Platform is a coalition of environmental justice and national environmental groups calling for national climate action that confronts racial, economic, and environmental injustice as it enacts deep cuts in climate pollution and accelerates a pollution-free energy future that benefits all communities. The co-authors included leaders from a dozen environmental justice organizations and six national environmental groups. More information can be found at ajustclimate.org. A list of critical environmental justice investments in the House bills that must be included in the full Build Back Better Act is below. These investments are essential to improve the health and economic vitality of communities that have long borne the brunt of fossil fuel pollution and racial injustice, and to equip the administration to deliver on its Justice40 commitment.
Investments in the House Build Back Better Bills that Must Remain in the Final Build Back Better Act
Cleanup and Reduction of Legacy Pollution
Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants: To reduce pollution and climate threats in communities on the front lines of our nation’s most dangerous legacy environmental and health hazards. These grants would provide up to $500,000 for 1 to 3 years to support community-led priorities to reduce pollution and improve public health and climate-readiness (funding level: $5 billion).
Investments in Data Collection on Disproportionate Environmental Hazards: To support the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality in identifying and tracking communities disproportionately harmed by environmental threats, climate change, and cumulative impacts of pollution in disadvantaged communities (funding level: $50 million).
Cleanup of Superfund Sites on the National Priority List: To reduce the public health risks from hazardous waste sites where federal agencies are the responsible parties, and support emergency response and removal and the Superfund Job Training Initiative (funding: $10 billion).
Investments in Healthy Ports: To provide rebates and grants for zero emissions (ZE) port equipment to reduce diesel emissions, improve public health and mitigate the cumulative impacts of air pollution on neighborhoods near ports, often communities of color and low-income areas (funding level: $3.5 billion).
Pollution-free Heavy-duty Vehicles: To replace refuse trucks and school buses with zero emission (ZE) vehicles and for workforce development and training for maintenance, charging, fueling and operations of ZE vehicles (funding level: at least $5 billion).
EPA Air Quality Monitoring: To ensure accountability and transparency of toxic levels of air pollution (funding level: $265 million).
Reinstating the Hazardous Substance Superfund Financing Rate on crude oil and imported petroleum products at the rate of 16.4 cents/per gallon.
Diesel Emissions Reductions: To improve public health, including for grants, loans and rebates to reduce pollution from the movement of goods and goods movement facilities in low income and disadvantaged communities (funding level: $170 million).
Reducing air pollution and toxics at public schools in low-income and disadvantaged communities. (funding level: $20 million)
Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: For nonprofit, state, and local climate finance institutions that support rapid deployment of pollution-free energy and transportation technologies to reduce GHG emissions and local air pollution. At least 40 percent of these investments will be made in low income and disadvantaged communities (funding level: $27.5 billion).
Low-income solar: To provide pollution-free energy and community solar and storage assistance to affordable housing complexes, underserved areas and communities with high energy burden (funding level: $2.5 billion).
Incentive For Renewables Deployment In Low-income Communities: To provide a higher tax credit payments for renewable energy projects in EJ communities.
DOE Building Upgrades: To aid public buildings in upgrading and retrofitting fixtures to reduce energy consumption. This competitive grant program would allow hospitals, public libraries, community-based non-profits, and additional state and local governments to apply. Additionally, grant funding will prioritize environmental justice communities (funding level: $3.5 billion).
Consumer Incentives For Efficient Electric Appliances: To electrify buildings, with outreach and additional incentives for low-income homeowners and renters (funding level: $9 billion).
Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP): To lower energy bills for low- and middle-income households and create clean energy jobs (funding level: $3.5 billion).
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program: To promote energy efficiency and conservation projects while prioritizing program-spending in communities left behind by past and ongoing energy efficiency programs (funding level: $5 billion).
Training and Workforce Development
Building a Civilian Climate Corps. To employ the next generation of workers to address climate change and protect our public lands, prioritizing training for people living in low-income and communities of color, and Tribal and environmental justice communities (funding level: $8 billion).
Comprehensive Support for Dislocated Workers: To ensure fossil fuel workers have adequate support and are not left behind during the transition to clean energy (funding level: $16 billion).
Sustainable and Equitable Community and Economic Development
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG): To assist urban and rural communities by expanding economic opportunities and include targeted increases for the modernization and rehabilitation of public infrastructure and facilities and resilience (funding level: $8.5 billion).
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund: To spur community-led investments (funding level: $10 billion).
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs): To fund R&D investments (funding level: $10 billion).
Rural Partnership Program: To help rural regions, including Tribal Nations, build on their unique assets and realize their vision for inclusive community and economic development (funding level: $3.87 billion).
Reconnecting communities: To revitalize communities that were deliberately segregated and divided by highways through affordable and pollution-free transportation options that improve public health and mobility, and other investments to restore thriving communities (funding level: $4 billion).
Minority Development Business Agency: To support small business manufacturing to increase the growth and competitiveness of minority-owned businesses (funding level: $3.1 billion).
Affordable and Sustainable Housing
Low-income Housing Tax Credit: To incentivize the construction of rental housing targeted to lower-income families.
Increase the Housing Trust Fund: To create and preserve affordable housing for extremely low- and very low-income households (funding: $37 billion).
Incentivize Zoning Reform: To allow families that have previously been excluded from certain communities more opportunity, with a focus on inclusionary zoning and reducing climate change risks (funding level: $4.5 billion).
Investments in Indian Country: To support housing and community development in Indian Country (funding level: $2 billion).
Public Housing: To improve the infrastructure of the public housing system in America (funding level: $80 billion).
HOME Investment Partnerships Program: To build energy efficient and climate climate-resilient affordable housing and provide direct rental assistance to low-income households, with a focus on electrification and access to transit (funding level: $35 billion).
Community Land Trusts: To decrease displacement and provide homeownership opportunities for local residents (funding level: $500 million).
Development of Critical Clean Water Infrastructure
Lead Service Line Replacement: To ensure everyone has access to clean drinking water (funding level: $30 billion).
Low-Income Household Drinking Water and Wastewater Emergency Assistance Program: To assist low-income water customers in reducing arrearages and water rates for those customers (funding level: $500 million).
Reducing Lead in School Drinking Water: To assist schools in the installation and maintenance of lead filtration stations, lead testing, and the replacement of school drinking water fountains that may contain lead (funding level: $700 million).
Climate Resilience
Hazard Mitigation Revolving Loan Fund: To allow communities to implement the types of mitigation projects best suited to the unique flood hazards they face (funding level: $500 million).
Oversight, Transparency, and Accountability
Investments in the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) for community engagement: To support technology, staff and grants to effectively engage communities to secure their input on large infrastructure projects early to understand the cumulative impact of the pollution on clean air, water, and wildlife at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior, the Department of Transportation, and the Army Corps of Engineers (funding level: $950 million).
Oversight of investments: To support Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Office of Management Budget (OMB) oversight of federal funds disbursed pursuant to the Build Back Better Act, including social, economic and local environmental impacts of the programs funded, in meaningful consultation with other federal agencies and stakeholders (funding level: $29 million).
EPA’s Integrated Compliance Information System: For enforcement technology and public information, including to update, to ensure accountability for facilities that emit harmful air pollution (funding level: $50 million).
Platform co-authors and inaugural signatories
Center for American Progress, Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy, Center for the Urban Environment at the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Earthjustice, Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform, Harambee House–Citizens for Environmental Justice, League of Conservation Voters, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Los Jardines Institute, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Midwest Environmental Justice Network, Natural Resources Defense Council, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, ReGenesis Community Development Corporation, Sierra Club, Tishman Environment and Design Center at the New School, Union of Concerned Scientists, WE ACT for Environmental Justice.
For more information, or to speak with an expert, please contact Jake Thompson at jthompson@nrdc.org or Ari Drennen at adrennen@americanprogress.org
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