Earth Day executive order on environmental justice

President Biden signed the executive order on April 21, 2023. Credit: White House

On April 21, 2023, President Biden signed an executive order (EO) to advance environmental justice initiatives. The EO directs federal agencies to address inequities in environmental hazards through community engagement, interagency coordination, advancement in science, data, and research, and more. To develop a strategy to fill environmental justice data and research gaps, the EO also establishes a new Environmental Justice Subcommittee within the National Science and Technology Council, led by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). This new subcommittee will work closely with the Air Quality and Community Health Research Subcommittee (ACRS), to improve the resilience of marginalized and underserved communities to the health and environmental impacts of pollution and climate change. ACRS is led collaboratively by NOAA, EPA, and NIEHS and co-chaired by CPO’s Atmospheric Chemistry, Carbon Cycle and Climate (AC4) Program Manager Monika Kopacz, with Greg Frost as the alternate.