The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s existing framework for applying principles of environmental justice to its oversight activities needs to more clearly state what such a process would look like at the agency, a staff review team informed the commission late last month.
“[T]here is not a common understanding both internally and externally of how [environmental justice] is addressed and what it means at the NRC,” agency staff said in a new report summarizing the findings of a months-long review of agency environmental justice (EJ) policies. “[V]arious stakeholders have different definitions and concepts of EJ.”
In an addendum to the report, staff said that NRC should specifically define the term ‘environmental justice’ in the statement and explain how the practice is employed at the agency.
The report also suggested enhancing NRC’s environmental justice-related community outreach activities, standing up a federal advisory committee for the issue and holding periodic meetings with environmental justice communities and Tribal nations.
The results of the survey — a roughly eight-month process that involved a comment period and meetings with stakeholders including environmental groups and indigenous communities — hit the commissioners’ desk March 29 and were made public Tuesday.
While staff found that overall consideration of environmental justice issues in NRC programs and activities were “consistent with applicable law,” the review team suggested that the agency’s 2004 policy statement on the issue could “ benefit from additional clarity, consistency, and transparency.”
Now that the commissioners have the report, they will vote on whether to approve staff’s recommendations, an NRC spokesperson told RadWaste Monitor via email Tuesday. The vote won’t take place during a public session, and there’s no schedule for when it might happen, the spokesperson said.
Environmental justice has become a common theme across the Joe Biden administration’s energy and climate agendas. The White House last January established an environmental justice advisory council to address the issue and propped up the Justice40 initiative — an effort designed to ensure that 40% of the nation’s environmental improvements benefit underserved communities and those most affected by climate change.
