Environmental protection begins by ending environmental policies and practices that burden America’s most vulnerable communities. Low-income communities and people of color are disproportionately burdened by environmental pollution and the myriad of health problems associated with poor air and water quality and toxic exposure. The environmental justice movement recognizes that America's environmental laws and policies should protect all communities regardless of race, color, national origin, or income level.

Established in 1991, the Environmental Justice Project works with the private bar to represent and advocate on behalf of communities of color challenging environmentally discriminatory conditions and decisions. The Environmental Justice Project seeks justice for people of color who are fighting to clean up contamination in their community or who are fighting to stop environmentally harmful activities from occurring in their neighborhoods.

Project Accomplishments

The Environmental Justice Project has released the report of the National Commission on Environmental Justice on the Gulf Coast. The report, Protecting Vulnerable Coastal Communities: Meaningful Political Action and Strategies for Environmental Justice After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, highlights the work of community activists in the wake of the numerous failures to protect coastal communities from the environmental threats exacerbated by the two storms. The report will be discussed in a series of events over the next few months in D.C and on the Gulf Coast. The first will be on February 29, 2008 during the symposium "Katrina's Wake: Emergency Preparedness and Response from the Bayou to the Beltway" at the David A. Clarke Law School in Washington D.C.

Dowanload Report: Click Here

Lawyers’ Committee Files Amicus Brief with the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Support of a Cause of Action to Challenge the Discriminatory Provision of Municipal Services.

National Commission on Environmental Justice on the Gulf Coast Holds Hearings in Gulfport, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana

Comments of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Draft Final Title VI Public Involvement Guidance for EPA Assistance Recipients Administering Environmental Permitting Programs – Submitted to the EPA Office of Civil Rights, April 8, 2005.

Comments of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on the Environmental Protection Agency’s ”) Draft Framework for Integrating Environmental Justice at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Draft Environmental Justice Strategic Plan Outline – Submitted to the EPA Office on Environmental Justice, August 15, 2005.

Environmental Justice Project Submits Comments to the Department of Interior on Mining Permit that Will Adversely Impact Water Resources of the Hopi and Navajo Reservations.

Settlement of Washington Park Lawsuit Succeeds in Relocating Residents To Integrated Housing Opportunities And Demolition Public Housing On Superfund Site.

Lawyers' Committee Files Amicus Briefs with Supreme Court and Court of Appeals in Support of Private Right of Action to Enforce Disparate Impact Regulations

Project Publications, Documents, and Speeches

Archives

The Committee is currently seeking financial support for this program. For more information, please contact: the Development Office of the Committee at: 202-662-8303.

The Committee relies on contributions from individuals, lawyers, law firms, corporation, and foundations, as well as volunteer legal services. Your contributions are tax-deductible. Contributions can range from as little as $10.00 to $500, $1,000, $10,000 or much more. Click here to donate now.  |   Legal Notice