HUD Releases Draft EJ Strategy

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Draft Environmental Justice Strategy Released

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is happy to announce the release of its draft Environmental Justice Strategy. This EJ strategy is a four-year plan to address environmental justice concerns and increase access to environmental benefits through HUD policies, programs, and activities. Our Department is committed to meeting the goals of Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations,” which states that each federal agency, with the law as its guide, should make environmental justice part of its mission.

This release is the latest step in a larger Administration-wide effort to ensure strong protection from environmental and health hazards for all Americans. In August, federal agencies signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Justice and Executive Order 12898” (EJ MOU), which committed each agency to, among other things, finalizing an EJ strategy and releasing annual implementation reports.

The draft strategy will be open for public comment for 45 days, or until November 14, 2011. Comments can be submitted by emailing EJStrategy@hud.gov or by attending an Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice Listening Session. The department will then review those comments and finalize the strategy by February 2012. After the strategy is final, the Department and its federal partners will continue to engage stakeholders through outreach, education and stakeholder events and respond to public comments through annual implementation reports.

Draft Environmental Justice Strategy

Comments may be emailed to: EJStrategy@hud.gov

Links to the other federal EJ Strategies are expected to be posted on the Interagency Working Group webpage at by Friday, October 7th.

For more information about the EJ MOU