EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation (“OAR”) recently issued eight Principles for Addressing Environmental Justice Concerns in Air Permitting (“Principles”) for the consideration of environmental justice in Clean Air Act (“CAA”) permitting decisions. Like other recent EPA environmental justice guidance, the Principles do not impose legally binding requirements. Instead, OAR characterizes them as “an interim operating framework for identifying, analyzing, and addressing environmental justice” and Civil Rights in CAA permitting.

Building off of (and frequently referencing) EPA’s Interim Environmental Justice and Civil Rights in Permitting Frequently Asked Questions, the Principles encourage EPA regions to: (1) identify communities with potential environmental justice concerns, for example, by using EJScreen; (2) engage early in the permitting process to promote meaningful participation by, and fair treatment of, environmental justice communities; (3) enhance the affected community’s involvement throughout the permitting process; (4) conduct a “fit for purpose” environmental justice analysis to determine if a permitting action may disproportionately impact an environmental justice community; (5) minimize and mitigate disproportionate negative and cumulative impacts; (6) provide technical support to the permitting authority; (7) enhance transparency in the permitting process; and (8) build capacity with stakeholders, affected communities, and tribal, state, and local regulatory partners.