In this section you will find information on the U.S. DOT's Environmental Justice (EJ) efforts. This includes information on the Department's EJ Strategy, EJ Orders, participation in the EJ Interagency Working Group, annual Implementation Reports, and additional resources.
The U.S. DOT is committed to following the principles of EJ, which include:
These goals of EJ should be considered throughout transportation planning and project development, and through all public outreach and participation efforts conducted by the U.S. DOT and their grantees.
As part of the reinvigoration of EJ in 2012 U.S. DOT updated its Departmental Environmental Justice Strategy. Other agencies have also published new or revised strategies for EJ, which are listed on the EPA's Compendium of EJ Strategies. On August 4, 2011, the Secretary of Transportation, along with heads of other Federal agencies, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Justice and Executive Order 12898 (EJ MOU) confirming the continued importance of identifying and addressing EJ in agency programs, policies, and activities. As part of the EJ MOU, each Federal agency agreed to produce annual implementation reports detailing their actions and ongoing work at achieving EJ goals. In addition to the Annual Reports, in 2013 U.S. DOT developed a department wide EJ Working Group which is described below.
U.S. DOT EJ Working Group - The DOT EJ Working Group is comprised of representatives from each administration within DOT. The Working Group helps to integrate Environmental Justice (EJ) considerations into projects, policies, and programs across the each mode within the Department focusing on comprehensive implementation of the Department's EJ Strategy and Order.
