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Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice Enforcement

Environmental justice combines civil rights with environmental protection to focus on communities with low-income, minority, tribal, or indigenous populations that experience disproportionate and adverse environmental or human health impacts. Consistent with President Biden’s Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, and the Department of Justice’s Comprehensive Environmental Justice Strategy, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is committed to using all available tools at its disposal to promote environmental justice.

The U.S. Department of Justice, together with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, enforces the Nation’s civil and criminal environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and hazardous waste laws. Working with our partners, we seek to secure environmental justice for all communities, to ensure that everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and to promote equal access to a healthy environment.

 The United States Attorney’s Office welcomes reporting and information from the public by emailing USAPAE-EnvironmentalJustice@usdoj.gov or calling 215-861-8555 when also contacting local, state, or federal agency hotlines or websites to report environmental, health, and safety concerns.

Ensuring safe living and working conditions for our entire community is a priority in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Notifying our office helps us protect the community from harmful violations of federal health and safety laws.

Who to Contact:

If the violation impacts …

Contact:

•           Air quality

•           Climate Change

•           Chemicals and Toxics

•           Health

•           Land, waste, and cleanup

•           Water

The Environmental Protection Agency at:

https://echo.epa.gov/report-environmental-violations

 

•           Workplace conditions

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at:

 1-800-321-6742  (OSHA)

•           Pesticides harming wildlife

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at

 1-800-344-9453 (1-800-344-WILD)

•           Medications, cosmetics, biological products, and other products for human consumption

The FDA at

1-888-463-6332 (1-888-INFO-FDA)

•           Oil or chemical spill or hazardous material releases

The National Response Center at

 1-800-424-8802

•           Public housing conditions, including lead paint or lead exposure in HUD housing, and unsafe or unsanitary conditions in HUD housing

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General Hotline:

1-800-347-3735

Toll-Free and Toll Access Number for Federal Relay: (800) 877-8339 TTY/ASCII

•           Discriminatory environmental and health impacts caused by recipients of federal funds

USAPAE-EnvironmentalJustice@usdoj.gov

and DOJ Civil Rights at 1-888-848-5306 (1-888-TITLE-06)

 

For more information about the Department of Justice’s environmental justice initiative, please visit the website of the Office of Environmental Justice.

EDPA’s Environmental Justice Coordinator: Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Lindgren

Updated September 26, 2023