EPA plans to stop expediting Freedom of Information Act requests for underserved communities that have struggled with pollution.
The agency is proposing to rescind the environmental justice provision in its FOIA regulations. Expected to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, according to a public notice, the move will squelch another part of the Biden administration’s EPA legacy that sought to elevate relief for neighborhoods often of color and low income that sit next to industrial facilities and waste sites.
Under the proposal, EPA would remove the environmental justice provision from its FOIA rules that expedited requests for public records related to “an environmental justice-related need” that could “inform an affected community.” The agency also waived fees for those requests.
EPA spokesperson Brigit Hirsch said in a statement the agency “is committed to enhancing its implementation of the Freedom of Information Act consistent with applicable law to better serve the American public.”
