What is the Justice40 Initiative? 

• The Justice40 Initiative is a requirement of Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
• The Justice40 Initiative is a government effort to deliver at least 40 percent of the overall benefits from certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities.
• On July 20, 2021, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued the Interim Implementation Guidance for the Justice40 Initiative, Justice40 Interim Guidance: This guidance supports the administration’s comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all people in the United States.

What are Justice40 Covered Programs? 

• In accordance with the Justice40 Interim Guidance, a “Covered Program” is a federal government program that makes covered investment benefits in one or more of seven areas and for EM, its Covered Program is “remediation and reduction of legacy pollution.”

What EM cleanup sites and EM programs are covered under the Justice40 Initiative?

• The focus of EM’s environmental cleanup work under the Justice40 Initiative is soil and groundwater remediation.
• The EM-Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) in New Mexico was chosen by the Administration as one of five U.S. Department of Energy Justice40 Pilot Programs and it is the only Justice40 Pilot Program in EM.
• The following EM field sites and programs make up the 10 EM Justice40 Covered Programs: 

1. Hanford Site, Washington 
2. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho
3. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California 
4. Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico (EM-LA legacy cleanup)
5. Moab, Utah
6. Nevada National Security Site, Nevada
7. Sandia National Laboratory, New Mexico 
8. Savannah River Site (SRS), South Carolina 
9. Community Engagement Grants: 
   • Hanford: Tribal grants and States of Washington and Oregon grants.
   • INL: Shoshone-Bannock Tribal DOE program grants; 
   • SRS: Grants for Savannah State University, University of South Carolina, and SRS Community Reuse Organization 
   • EM-LA: Grants for the Santa Fe Indian School and four Accord Pueblos as part of the Los Alamos Pueblos Project
10. Community Engagement Cooperative Agreements related to:
    • Energy Communities Alliance 
    • EM Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program
    • Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation
    • Florida International University
    • National Conference of State Legislatures

How has EM begun to implement the Justice40 Initiative?

• EM has been interacting with stakeholders on the Justice40 Initiative through presentations, conference calls, in-person and virtual meetings, and workshops.
• As the EM Justice40 Pilot Program, EM-LA has conducted listening sessions with its stakeholders on the Justice40 Initiative. 

What are the next steps of the Justice40 Initiative?

• OMB will issue further guidance to agencies for the Justice40 Initiative including the path forward with a final version of the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and an Environmental Justice Scorecard. 

For additional information on how the U.S. Department of Energy is implementing the Justice40 Initiative, please visit the department's Justice40 Initiative Page.  

Read and download the Justice40 Initiative Fact Sheet here.