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About the Office

The Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) engages all Justice Department bureaus, components, and offices in the collective pursuit of environmental justice. The mission of OEJ is to protect overburdened and underserved communities from the harm caused by environmental crimes, pollution, and climate change. The Office:

  • Serves as the central hub to implement the Department of Justice’s Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy;
  • Builds partnerships with community advocates; and
  • Promotes fair and equal treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in environmental decision-making process.

OEJ was established within the Environment and Natural Resources Division on May 5, 2022. Visit the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Meet the Director

Leadership

Cynthia M. Ferguson
Director

Contact
Email the Office

Cynthia Ferguson, Director of OEJ

Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy

In October 2023, the Office of Environmental Justice released its first-ever Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy Annual Report, highlighting the department’s recent accomplishments in cases with environmental justice concerns and outlining the department’s strategy for engaging with and delivering results to communities long overburdened by pollution. The Strategy was signed in 2022 and provides a roadmap for using the Justice Department’s civil and criminal enforcement authorities and tools to advance environmental justice in underserved communities that have been historically marginalized, including low-income communities, communities of color, and Tribal and Indigenous communities.

The Strategy is grounded in four core principles, which direct Department attorneys to:

  • prioritize cases that will reduce public health and environmental harms to overburdened and underserved communities;
  • make strategic use of all available tools to address environmental justice concerns;
  • meaningfully engage with impacted communities; and
  • be transparent about environmental justice efforts, as well as the results of those efforts.

As we work to advance environmental justice, the Justice Department through the Office of Environmental Justice will look to strengthen our partnerships with community advocates and other stakeholders. We look forward to your input and engagement, to make this Strategy a living document that guides DOJ’s enforcement efforts.

DOJ Environmental Justice News

Monday, March 4, 2024
Press Release
U.S. Attorney Graves Announces New Affirmative Civil Rights and Environmental Justice Unit in the District of Columbia

October 13, 2023
Press Release
Justice Department Releases First-Ever Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy Report

September 29, 2023
Press Release
Readout of Department of Justice Federal/Tribal Regional Summit in the Twin Cities in Minnesota

September 19, 2023
Press Release
United States Obtains Consent Decree Against City Of Mount Vernon To Address Polluting Storm Sewers

September 5, 2023
Press Release
United States Obtains Consent Decree Against Apex Building Company For Violating Lead Paint Safety Regulations

July 27, 2023
Press Release
Readout of Department of Justice Federal/Tribal Regional Summit in Spokane, Washington

June 6, 2023
Press Release
Justice Department Announces Agreement in Environmental Justice Investigation of Illegal Dumping in the City of Houston

May 24, 2023
Press Release
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah Announces New Initiative Focusing on Environmental Justice and Public Reporting

May 11, 2023
Press Release
Justice Department Announces Launch of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Environmental Crimes Task Force

May 5, 2023
Press Release
Justice Department Looks Back on First Year of Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy and Office of Environmental Justice

Friday, May 5, 2023
Fact Sheet
Year One of the Justice Department’s Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy and Office of Environmental Justice

Thursday, May 4, 2023
Speech
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks to Announce Agreement in Civil Rights and Environmental Justice Investigation of Alabama Department of Public Health

Thursday, May 4, 2023
Press Release
Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services Announce Interim Resolution Agreement in Environmental Justice Investigation of Alabama Department of Public Health

Monday, March 20, 2023
Press Release
United States Seeks Preliminary Injunction Against Denka Performance Elastomer to Immediately Reduce Chloroprene Emissions

Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Press Release
Justice Department Files Complaint Alleging Public Health Endangerment Caused by Denka Performance Elastomer’s Carcinogenic Air Pollution

Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Press Release
Fayette County Man and Business Plead Guilty to Clean Water Act Violations

Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Press Release
United States Files Complaint and Reaches Agreement on Proposal with City of Jackson and State of Mississippi on Interim Solution to the Jackson Water Crisis

Friday, July 1, 2022
Press Release
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Announces Department of Justice 2022-26 Strategic Plan

Monday, June 13, 2022
Press Release
U.S. Attorney Announces $1.5 Million Settlement With Tzumi Innovations, LLC For Selling Unregistered Antimicrobial Household Products During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Press Release
Federal Prosecutor Named as Environmental Justice Coordinator for the District of Rhode Island

Thursday, May 5, 2022
Press Release
Justice Department Launches Comprehensive Environmental Justice Strategy

Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Press Release
Chevron Phillips Chemical Company Agrees to Reduce Harmful Air Pollution at Three U.S. Chemical Plants

Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Press Release
Justice Department Announces Environmental Justice Investigation into Alabama Department of Public Health and Lowndes County Health Department

Monday, September 27, 2021
Press Release
United States Announces Settlement of Civil Action Addressing Clean Air Act Violations at New York City Public Schools