Protection from Cumulative Emissions and Underenforcement of Environmental Law Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2397 To advance environmental justice by addressing cumulative impacts and underenforcement, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 8, 2021 Ms. DEGETTE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To advance environmental justice by addressing cumulative impacts and underenforcement, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protection from Cumu- 4 lative Emissions and Underenforcement of Environmental 5 Law Act of 2021’’. 6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH CUMU- 7 LATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS. 8 (a) PROPOSED PROTOCOL.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:35 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2397.IH H2397 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2397 IH (1) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad- 2 ministrator shall publish a proposal for a protocol 3 for assessing and addressing the cumulative public 4 health risks associated with multiple environmental 5 stressors. 6 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS.—The envi- 7 ronmental stressors addressed under the proposed 8 protocol published under paragraph (1) shall in- 9 clude— 10 (A) impacts associated with global climate 11 change, including extreme heat, extremes in 12 temperature change, drought, wildfires, sea 13 level rise, flooding, storms, water shortage, food 14 shortage, ecosystem disruption, and the spread 15 of infectious disease; 16 (B) exposure to pollutants, emissions, dis- 17 charges, waste, chemicals, or other materials 18 subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act, 19 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the 20 Safe Drinking Water Act, the Toxic Substances 21 Control Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the 22 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com- 23 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the Emer- 24 gency Planning and Community Right-to-Know 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:35 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2397.IH H2397 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2397 IH Act of 1986, and other laws administered by 1 the Administrator; and 2 (C) other environmental stressors deter- 3 mined by the Administrator to impact public 4 health. 5 (3) PUBLIC COMMENT AND HEARINGS.—During 6 the 90 days following publication of the proposed 7 protocol under paragraph (1), the Administrator 8 shall— 9 (A) allow for public comment on such pro- 10 posed protocol; and 11 (B) hold at least 4 public hearings on such 12 proposed protocol at times and in locations in- 13 tended to maximize public input. 14 (b) FINAL PROTOCOL.—Not later than 1 year after 15 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 16 shall— 17 (1) finalize the proposed protocol published 18 under subsection (a) by revising such proposed pro- 19 tocol as the Administrator determines necessary 20 based on public comments received in writing and 21 during the public hearings held pursuant to such 22 subsection; and 23 (2) publish in the Federal Register the final 24 protocol for assessing and addressing the cumulative 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:35 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2397.IH H2397 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2397 IH public health risks associated with multiple environ- 1 mental stressors. 2 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 3 years after 3 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 4 shall implement the final protocol described in subsection 5 (b). 6 SEC. 3. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOR COMMUNITIES 7 OVERBURDENED BY ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLA- 8 TIONS. 9 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF COMMUNITIES.—Not later 10 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, 11 the Administrator shall, in consultation with co-regulators 12 in State and local agencies, identify at least 100 commu- 13 nities— 14 (1) that are environmental justice communities; 15 and 16 (2) in which there have been, over the previous 17 5 years, a number of violations of environmental law 18 that the Administrator determines to be greater 19 than the national average of such violations. 20 (b) ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later 21 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, 22 with respect to each community identified under sub- 23 section (a), the Administrator shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:35 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2397.IH H2397 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2397 IH (1) undertake an analysis of the conditions that 1 have led to the number of violations described in 2 subsection (a)(2), including through engagement 3 with the residents of each such community; 4 (2) identify the root cause of the number of vio- 5 lations described in subsection (a)(2); and 6 (3) identify measures that the Administrator 7 shall take, in coordination with co-regulators in 8 State and local agencies, to reduce the number of 9 violations of environmental law to a number that the 10 Administrator determines to be significantly below 11 the national average. 12 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 2 years after 13 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 14 shall complete the implementation of the measures identi- 15 fied under subsection (b)(3). 16 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 17 In this Act: 18 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 19 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 20 mental Protection Agency. 21 (2) COMMUNITY OF COLOR.—The term ‘‘com- 22 munity of color’’ means a geographically distinct 23 area in which the population of any of the following 24 categories of individuals is higher than the average 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:35 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2397.IH H2397 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2397 IH population of that category for the State in which 1 the community is located: 2 (A) Black. 3 (B) African American. 4 (C) Asian. 5 (D) Pacific Islander. 6 (E) Other non-White race. 7 (F) Hispanic. 8 (G) Latino. 9 (H) Linguistically isolated. 10 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 11 The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means 12 a community with significant representation of com- 13 munities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal 14 and indigenous communities, that experiences, or is 15 at risk of experiencing higher or more adverse 16 human health or environmental effects. 17 (4) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘low- 18 income community’’ means any census block group 19 in which 30 percent or more of the population are 20 individuals with an annual household income equal 21 to, or less than, the greater of— 22 (A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 23 median income of the area in which the house- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:35 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2397.IH H2397 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2397 IH hold is located, as reported by the Department 1 of Housing and Urban Development; and 2 (B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 3 line. 4 (5) TRIBAL AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY.— 5 The term ‘‘Tribal and indigenous community’’ 6 means a population of people who are members of— 7 (A) a federally recognized Indian Tribe; 8 (B) a State-recognized Indian Tribe; 9 (C) an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 10 community or organization; or 11 (D) any other community of indigenous 12 people located in a State. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:35 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2397.IH H2397 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS