Notice2022-07514
Request for Information (RFI): 2022 HHS Environmental Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan Draft Outline
Primary source
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Published
April 8, 2022
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services Department
Abstract
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to receive input from the public on HHS' draft outline to further the development of the 2022 Environmental Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan. Consistent with the policy of this administration directing HHS to make achieving environmental justice part of its mission, HHS would like to identify priority actions and strategies to best address environmental injustices and health inequities for people of color, disadvantaged, vulnerable, low- income, marginalized, and indigenous populations. With the engagement of and input from the public, the 2022 Environmental Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan will serve as a guide to confront environmental and health disparities and implement a multifaceted approach that will serve vulnerable populations and communities disproportionately impacted by environmental burdens.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 68 (Friday, April 8, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 68 (Friday, April 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20876-20878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07514]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Request for Information (RFI): 2022 HHS Environmental Justice
Strategy and Implementation Plan Draft Outline
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice of request for information.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing
this Request for Information (RFI) to receive input from the public on
HHS' draft outline to further the development of the 2022 Environmental
Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan. Consistent with the policy of
this administration directing HHS to make achieving environmental
justice part of its mission, HHS would like to identify priority
actions and strategies to best address environmental injustices and
health inequities for people of color, disadvantaged, vulnerable, low-
income, marginalized, and indigenous populations. With the engagement
of and input from the public, the 2022 Environmental Justice Strategy
and Implementation Plan will serve as a guide to confront environmental
and health disparities and implement a multifaceted approach that will
serve vulnerable populations and communities disproportionately
impacted by environmental burdens.
DATES: To be assured consideration, comments must be received at the
email address provided below, no later than midnight Eastern Time (ET)
on May 19, 2022. HHS will not reply individually to responders but will
consider all comments submitted by the deadline. Do not provide
confidential information as comments may be published or otherwise used
for agency purposes.
ADDRESSES: Please submit all responses via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f4bbb5a7bc979b9999919a8087b49c9c87da939b82"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b0fff1e3f8d3dfddddd5dec4c3f0d8d8c39ed7dfc6">[email protected]</span></a> as a Word document or in the body of an email.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. LaToria Whitehead, Senior Public
Health Analyst, email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4427213572042720276a232b32"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="aac9cfdb9ceac9cec984cdc5dc">[email protected]</span></a>, phone: (770) 488-3633.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services is to enhance the health and well-being of
Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by
fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying
medicine, public health, and social services. For years studies have
demonstrated that people of color and disadvantaged, vulnerable, low-
income, marginalized, and indigenous populations are disproportionately
burdened by environmental hazards.\1\ These populations are often
exposed to unhealthy land uses, poor air and water quality, dilapidated
housing, lead exposure, and other environmental threats that drive
health disparities. Many of these communities are underserved and
surrounded by social inequities such as job insecurity,
underemployment, linguistic isolation, underperforming schools, noise,
crowded homes, lack of access to
[[Page 20877]]
healthy foods and transportation, and limitations on access to and
participation in the decision-making processes.<SUP>2 3</SUP> The
combination of environmental risks and social inequities creates a
cumulative, disproportionate impact that hinders optimal health and
environmental justice for these populations.\4\ The Environmental
Protection Agency defines Environmental Justice (EJ) as ``the fair
treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race,
color, national origin, or income with respect to the development,
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and
policies''.\5\
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\1\ Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty 1987--2007. A Report
Prepared for the United Church of Christ Justice & Witness
Ministries. Principal Authors: Bullard R, Mohai P, Saha R, Wright B.
2007.
\2\ Bullard RD, Johnson GS, Torres AO. Environmental Health and
Racial Equity in the United States. Building Environmentally Just,
Sustainable, and Livable Communities. Washington, DC: American
Public Health Association Press. 2011.
\3\ Morello-Frosch R, Zuk M, Jerrett M, Shamasunder B.
Understanding the Cumulative impacts of inequalities in
Environmental Health: Implications for Policy. Health Affairs. 2011.
\4\ Cushing L, Morello-Frosch R, Wander M, Pastor M. The Haves,
the Have-Nots, and the Health of Everyone: The Relationship Between
Social Inequality and Environmental Quality. Annual Review of Public
Health. 2015.
\5\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Environmental
Justice. Environmental Justice [verbar] US EPA.
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On January 27, 2021, President Biden directed the Department of
Health and Human Services to make achieving environmental justice part
of its mission by developing programs, policies, and activities to
address the disproportionately high and adverse human health,
environmental and climate-related and other cumulative impacts on
disadvantaged communities.\6\ In 1994, President Clinton signed
Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice
in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, also directing
federal agencies to ``make achieving environmental justice part of its
mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate,
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority
populations and low-income populations.'' Executive Order 12898
required each agency to develop an agency-wide environmental justice
strategy specific to that agency's mission. In response, HHS issued its
first Environmental Justice Strategy in 1995. Federal environmental
justice efforts were reinvigorated in 2010 and in 2012, and again, HHS
responded with release of an updated Environmental Justice Strategy and
Implementation Plan.\7\ Currently, to support the executive order
initiatives, and to pursue the Administration's policy priorities for
environmental justice, a revised strategy focused on short-term
concrete actions, alongside thoughtful long-term planning, is required.
OASH has convened and tasked the HHS Environmental Justice Working
Group to develop the 2022 HHS Environmental Justice Strategy and
Implementation Plan.
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\6\ Executive Order 14008. ``Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home
and Abroad.'' 86 FR 7619 (January 27, 2021). See <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad">https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad</a>.
\7\ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 2012
Environmental Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan. See 2012 HHS
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
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The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to seek public
comment on the 2022 HHS Environmental Justice Strategy and
Implementation Plan Draft Outline. The goal of the HHS Environmental
Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan is to provide direction for
HHS efforts, pursue the Administration's policy priorities and identify
priority actions for environmental justice. The draft outline provides
a general overview and a platform of how the plan will be structured.
Within the outline, each strategic element is aligned to priority
actions that HHS will carry out. Please see the Draft Strategy Outline
below, followed by a request for information in the form of questions
to the public.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2022 Environmental Justice
Strategy and Implementation Plan Draft Outline
The 2022 HHS Environmental Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan
will likely include six interrelated strategic elements that mirror the
2012 HHS Environmental Justice Strategy. The elements include two new
strategic elements: (1) Partnerships and Community Engagement and (2)
Performance Measures. The additional elements align to Executive Order
12898 to engage and partner with disadvantaged populations in building
sustainable and healthy communities and creating performance measures
to evaluate the process and the outcomes of activities that address
adverse environmental conditions. The six proposed strategic elements
are:
(1) Services
(2) Partnerships and Community Engagement
(3) Policy Development and Dissemination
(4) Research and Data Collection, Analysis, and Utilization
(5) Education and Training
(6) Performance Measures
For each strategic element, the 2022 HHS EJ Strategy will include
priority actions to be undertaken by designated HHS Operating Divisions
and Staff Divisions.
I. Services
[cir] Priority Action(s)
[ssquf] Increase linguistic and culturally appropriate outreach to
racial and ethnic minority, low[hyphen]income, and Indigenous
populations, and Native American persons with disproportionately high
and adverse environmental exposures to raise their awareness of the
availability of technical assistance for applying for HHS funding.
[ssquf] Expand funding opportunities to disadvantaged communities
for economic development and social services.
II. Partnerships and Community Engagement (Public Engagement)
[cir] Priority Action(s)
[ssquf] Establish partnerships with disadvantaged communities to
assess and address disproportionate environmental exposures and health
risks.
[ssquf] Partner with offices and departments with Title VI
enforcement and compliance responsibilities to address environmental
injustices and ensure that disadvantaged communities can effectively
participate in and benefit from federally funded public health and
social service programs and activities without discrimination.
[ssquf] Work with federal partners and various stakeholders to
provide coordinated technical assistance and support to programs
focused on disadvantaged communities.
[ssquf] Promote actions and seek resources to overcome
participation barriers such as language and culture.
III. Policy Development and Implementation
[cir] Priority Action(s)
[ssquf] Identify and provide technical assistance to HHS programs
covered under the Justice40 Initiative to ensure 40 percent of the
overall benefits the programs provide flow to disadvantaged
communities.
[ssquf] Provide home cooling, weatherization, and/or low-cost home
energy assistance to communities disproportionately affected by extreme
weather events.
[[Page 20878]]
[ssquf] Fund and implement training and workforce development
programs that build skills and careers related to climate, natural
disasters, environment, clean energy, clean transportation, housing,
water and wastewater infrastructure, and legacy pollution reduction.
IV. Research and Data Collection, Analysis, Utilization
[cir] Priority Action(s)
[ssquf] Support research that explores the multiple and complex
factors contributing to minority health disparities, including but not
limited to environmental factors acting independently or dependently
across multiple social levels.
[ssquf] Support the spectrum of community engaged research
including community-based participatory research and community led
research. Additionally, strengthen authentic community engagement in
planning, implementing, evaluating, and disseminating effective
interventions for diseases disproportionately affecting disadvantaged
communities and vulnerable populations.
[ssquf] Coordinate the design, dissemination, and utilization of an
environmental justice and social vulnerability data dashboard and
index, for identifying, tracking, and addressing environmental burden
and health inequities in disadvantaged communities.
[ssquf] Report research data to communities using culturally
appropriate and accessible methods.
V. Education and Training
[cir] Priority Action(s)
[ssquf] Provide data, training, and technical assistance to
disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations at higher risk for
exposure to harmful environmental and health hazards.
[ssquf] Deliver comprehensive training to increase opportunities
for individuals from disadvantaged, overburdened, and underserved
communities to obtain careers in environmental cleanup, construction,
hazardous waste removal, and emergency response.
[ssquf] Develop guidance and templates to assist states and tribes
in the communication of environmental and health risks to households
and communities.
[ssquf] Develop environmental justice training programs for Federal
staff, primary health care and public health professionals, and policy
and other decision-makers.
VI. Performance Measures (Evaluation)
[cir] Priority Action(s)
[ssquf] Develop milestones and provide periodic progress to
demonstrate accountability and progress.
HHS is requesting information from the public regarding the
following questions:
Environmental Justice Core Principles
1. What Environmental Justice Core Principles should be included in
the HHS EJ Strategy to advance environmental justice for disadvantaged
communities?
2. How should HHS incorporate Environmental Justice Core Principles
in the HHS EJ Strategy?
Strategic Elements
1. Do the Strategic Elements reflect relevant areas of
environmental justice that address the needs of disadvantaged
communities?
2. Are there additional Strategic Elements that should be included
in the HHS EJ Strategy?
Priority Actions
1. Do the Priority Actions capture the urgent, environmental
justice issues of today?
2. If not, what additional Priority Actions should be included
within the HHS EJ Strategy?
Research and Data Tools
1. What research methods, research questions, and data tools should
HHS use to address environmental justice and social determinants of
health?
Additional Information
1. What other strategies can be included within the 2022 HHS
Environmental Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan to address
environmental justice and health equity issues for disadvantaged
populations?
HHS encourages all potentially interested parties--individuals,
associations, governmental, non-governmental organizations, academic
institutions, and private sector entities--to respond. HHS is
interested in the questions listed above, but respondents are welcome
to address as many or as few as they choose and to address additional
areas of interest not listed. To facilitate review of the responses,
please reference the question category and number in your response.
Arsenio Mataka,
Senior Advisor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health,
Department of Health and Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2022-07514 Filed 4-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-28-P
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