White House Issues New Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool

On November 23^rd, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) launched version 1.0 of the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), a step in implementing President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and ensuring that the benefits of Federal programs are reaching communities that are overburdened by pollution and historic underinvestment. Through the Justice40 Initiative, the Administration is delivering 40 percent of the overall benefits of Federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water, and other investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. The CEJST will help Federal agencies better identify communities that can benefit from the Justice40 Initiative.

Version 1.0 of the CEJST is a component of the President’s environmental justice commitments in Executive Order 14008. Federal agencies are currently implementing the Justice40 Initiative and are now able to use the CEJST to help identify disadvantaged communities. Justice40 covers hundreds of Federal programs representing billions of dollars in annual investment, including programs that were funded or created in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. A list of Federal programs covered by the Justice40 Initiative is available here.