President Joe Biden still has not nominated a leader for EPA’s new national office for environmental justice, despite his agenda’s emphasis on addressing marginalized communities bearing the brunt of pollution.
“The fact that this office does not have a serious, capable, competent, connected leader who could speak to the breadth and depth of the environmental justice movement at this stage in the game, six months into the game, is a profound disappointment and disservice to the people,” said Aaron Mair, an environmental justice pioneer who was the Sierra Club’s first Black president.
On Sept. 24, 2022, EPA stood up the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. The office, which is tasked with billions of dollars to distribute and hundreds of staff to hire, is meant to have a Senate-confirmed leader, putting it on par with other program offices. It’s part of Administrator Michael Regan’s legacy-making effort to cement