About

The Environmental Justice movement has grown tremendously over the last 20 years, now comprising regional and constituency networks, increasing numbers of grassroots and groups, and collaborations between grassroots groups, groups and collaborations between grassroots groups, labor, academia, governmental institutions and others. These groups have distinguished themselves from environmental groups that focus primarily on issues such as conservation, wildlife and endangered species. It is important to note that the Environmental Justice and environmental movement don not always share the same concerns, goals, objectives and tactics. When Environmental Justice first became a national issue in the late 1980s and early 1990s, government agencies tented to reacts by denying charges of environmental racism. Many environmental proceedings were marked by outright hostility towards community residents who questioned the practices of environmental agencies. of environmental agencies. When evidence of disparities made it hard for agencies to continue to deny charges of environmental injustice, agencies tended to respond by renaming existing programs as "Environmental Justice initiatives." Subsequently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies began to fund discrete Environmental Justice projects; eg., the National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (NEJAC), established by EPA.

In response to growing concerns about and evidence of environmental injustices, President Bill Clinton in 1994 issued Executive Order 12898, which required federal agencies to develop strategies for ensuring compliance with EJ principles. Essentially, these principles held that:

• Significant adverse environmental and health effects should not fall disproportionately on low-income and communities of concern; and
• Members of those communities should be informed of and helped to participate in decision-making that affects their health and environment.

The Executive Order relied on Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act for its authority. For Environmental Justice matters, the most relevant passage of this statute is:

"No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

During the past 20 years, Environmental Justice and health issues have been on the forefront of much discussion and research. However we must continue to address these issues. As you can see from America's Health Rankings, the states in Region IV continue to be the least healthy states; South Carolina overall ranking is 42. In addition to its low ranking, South Carolina's overall ranking is 42. In addition to its low ranking, Region IV has a huge listing of Superfund Sites, which are the sites that have been contaminated by hazardous waste and have been or are being cleaned under the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund or Brownfield programs. In South Carolina, there are 28 national priority sites that are on the Environmental Protection Agency's(EPA) List of the Most Serious Uncontrolled or Abandoned Hazardous Waste Sites.

According to The Honorable James E. Clyburn, United States House of Representatives' Assistant Democratic Leader (SC-06), "The demographic, industrial and technological changes our nation and world experienced duding the 20th century necessitate a new, comprehensive and enlightened approach to environmental policy. In the 21st century, it is no longer good enough to maintain and improve environmental quality, although these are worthy goals. Instead, we must recognize the unique relationship between the quality of our environment, the health of our citizens, and the economic well-being of our nation. We must find ways to reconcile decreasing resources with increasing demand. Moreover, we must do these things with equal regard for all citizens, regardless of race and economic status. We must recognize and foster true Environmental Justice as a concept of central to National Environmental Policy.

We collaborate with the Public Information & Community Outreach Program (PICO) at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC): http://pico.library.musc.edu