This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on January 27, 2012. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2012. No further distribution is permitted. Click here to view article (pdf format): EPA Takes Steps To Resolve Civil Rights Concerns IEPA 01-12.pdf View the DRAFT Report from EPA [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Lisa Jackson’
Equity Advocates Issue ‘Demands’ For EPA To Reform Civil Rights Agenda (reprinted with permission from Inside Washington Publishers)
This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on September 2, 2011. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2011. No further distribution is permitted. Click here to view article (pdf format): Equity Advocates Issue ‘Demands’ For EPA To Reform Civil Rights Agenda
Agencies’ Pact Seen Forcing Action To Address Environmental Justice (reprinted with permission from Inside Washington Publishers)
This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on August 12, 2011. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2011. No further distribution is permitted. Click here to view article (pdf format): Agencies’ Pact Seen Forcing Action To Address Environmental Justice
Despite Jackson’s Vows, EPA Faces New Suit For Stalled ‘Rights’ Petitions (reprinted with permission from Inside Washington Publishers)
This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on July 8, 2011. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2011. No further distribution is permitted.
Click here to view article (pdf format): EPA Faces New Suit For Stalled ‘Rights’ Petitions
Report Attacks EPA Civil Rights Office As DOJ Fights Pollution Complaint (reprinted with permission from Inside Washington Publishers)
This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on April 15, 2011. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2011. No further distribution is permitted. Click here to view article (pdf format): Report Attacks EPA Civil Rights Office As DOJ Fights Pollution Complaint
Deloitte Consulting LLP Final Report on EPA Office of Civil Rights: “Poor Performance”
EPA, under the direction of Administrator Lisa Jackson, has released a redacted version of the Deloitte Consulting LLP Final Report on the Evaluation of the EPA Office of Civil Rights (OCR).
Rosemere Neighborhood Association (RNA) Title VI Complaint and subsequent Settlement Agreement between RNA and EPA of March 2010 figure prominently in the Report (See page 2 of Deloitte Report, link provided below):
This situation has exposed EPA’s Civil Rights programs to significant consequences which have damaged its reputation internally and externally. In the Rosemere Neighborhood Association case regarding the timeliness of a Title VI complaint response, it was found that “OCR’s failure to process the Retaliation Complaint in accordance with the timeline set forth in 40 C.F.R. S7.115(c)(1) constitutes agency action unlawfully withheld pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C. S706(1).” 5 OCR’s performance has also damaged its reputation within EPA. It was noted repeatedly in interviews with EPA staff and management that OCR has been viewed as an organization that performs poorly and does not offer specialized expertise.
Deloitte’s assessment reveals a bleak accounting of the anti-discrimination processes within the OCR, listing, among others, these issues:
The Office of Civil Rights lacks “the rudiments of organizational infrastructure,” such as established procedures, defined staff duties or the ability to track cases. Its handling of employee complaints “is known for poor investigative quality and a lack of responsiveness”;
Dismally “poor performance” with backlogs and long delays in investigations of discrimination complaints. A review of complaints from EPA employees found that none received a final agency decision on time, with many several months overdue; and
A confused “fire drill mentality has resulted in significant financial and reputational consequences for the Agency” in the form of large cash settlements from botched discrimination investigations.
White House Forum on Environmental Justice: Dec 15, 2010
CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, NEJAC Chair Elizabeth Yeampierre, and South Carolina State Representative Harold Mitchell deliver opening remarks at the White House Forum on Environmental Justice (Photo by Eric Vance, US EPA)
CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, NEJAC Chair Elizabeth Yeampierre, and South Carolina State Representative Harold Mitchell deliver opening remarks at the White House Forum on Environmental Justice, December 15, 2010 (Photo by Eric Vance, US EPA)
Rosemere has attended various meetings held by the Oregon Environmental Justice Task Force, and the Task Force has been supportive of Rosemere’s work. To date, Lisa Jackson, director of EPA, has refused to meet with Rosemere to discuss the 9th Circuit Case in Rosemere v. EPA, where the court found EPA had broken the law by failing to investigate Title VI complaints filed with EPA’s office of Civil Rights. Environmental Justice Communities around the nation have experienced the same failures by EPA, and have called for the Office of Civil Rights to be be revamped.
Professors Will Collin and Robin Collin of Willamette University attended the White House Forum on Environmental Justice in Washington DC as recipients of the national award to Oregon Environmental Justice Task Force. This was the first convening for the cause of Environmental Justice in a decade. Mrs. Collin was able to provide some important remarks on what is needed to support the Environmental Justice movement, as noted in Part 3 of the Youtube video
Environmentalists Suggest EPA Close Civil Rights Office (reprinted with permission from Inside Washington Publishers)
This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on October 15, 2010. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2010. No further distribution is permitted. Click here to view article (pdf format): Environmentalists Suggest EPA Close Civil Rights Office 10-15-10
New EPA Data On Civil Rights Backlog May Help Reshape Equity Agenda (reprinted with permission from Inside Washington Publishers)
This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on April 9, 2010. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2010. No further distribution is permitted. Click here to view article (pdf format): Rosemere New EPA Data IEPA 04-10 Click here to view the EPA Spreadsheet (pdf format): Updated [...]
Landmark Pact Could Speed EPA Review Of Stalled Civil Rights Complaints (reprinted with permission from Inside Washington Publishers)
This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on March 26, 2010. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2010. No further distribution is permitted. Click here to view article (pdf format): Rosemere Landmark Pact IEPA 03-10
