On July 30, Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) unveiled the “The Environmental Justice for All Act.”

The bill proposes a finding that communities of color, low-income communities, tribal communities, and other vulnerable populations, such as children, elderly, and persons with disabilities, are disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards. The premise of the bill is that all people have a right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live free of dangerous levels of environmental pollution, irrespective of their race, national origin, or income level.

If passed, the bill would authorize regulators to consider cumulative impacts in permitting decisions under the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act; authorize $75 million to support projects to address environmental and public health issues; require greater community involvement in agency decision making; and amend the Civil Rights Act to allow private citizens and organizations that experience discrimination in environmental programs to seek legal remedies.

The same bill, H.R. 5986, was introduced in the House earlier this year by Rep. Grijalva (D-AZ). Considering that the recent NEPA re-write eliminates agency responsibility to consider cumulative impacts, the chance of passage of these bills is slim (See July 20 E2 Law Blog Post). However, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought a new focus on environmental justice and how multiple routes of environmental exposure compound health impacts within communities of color, resulting in a higher mortality rate among people of color who contract COVID-19. As such, environmental justice issues may well remain a priority for Democrat leadership in the U.S. House and Senate.

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Photo of Maribel Nicholson-Choice Maribel Nicholson-Choice

Maribel is a shareholder with Greenberg Traurig’s Tallahassee office with a concentrated practice in local government, environmental, and land use law.

With 30 years of experience which includes local government, environmental, land use, brownfields, construction with an emphasis in negotiating and resolving complex…

Maribel is a shareholder with Greenberg Traurig’s Tallahassee office with a concentrated practice in local government, environmental, and land use law.

With 30 years of experience which includes local government, environmental, land use, brownfields, construction with an emphasis in negotiating and resolving complex environmental permitting, due diligence, and litigation matters, Maribel serves as environmental and land use counsel on multi-million-dollar projects and transactions. She advises lending institutions on environmental liability, including permitting and remediation projects associated with collateral property subject to foreclosure proceedings. She counsels regulated clients on complex litigation matters. Her practice includes counseling and litigation on environmental aspects in real estate transactions, commercial foreclosure proceedings, bankruptcy cases, environmental investigations, remediation projects, brownfields development, and evaluating risks and costs associated with potential environmental cleanup and third-party liability, as well as on regulatory and permitting technical aspects of complex contamination remediation projects.

Additional experience includes advising local government boards and negotiating settlement of all types of complex environmental violations with federal, state and municipal governmental agencies. Maribel’s key clients include property owners, Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, banks and local governments.