Environmental Justice Legislation & Litigation: History, Trends, and Predictions

Environmental justice, a movement with origins in the Civil Rights Movement, is changing at an unprecedented pace. While there is no singular all-encompassing environmental justice law on the federal scale, there are existing laws, regulations, and initiatives that advocates can and do use to advance clients' environmental justice goals. For example, the current Biden administration has begun to change the federal government's approach to environmental justice. Simultaneously, states, as "laboratories of democracy," have been addressing environmental justice in novel and creative ways through legislation and regulation. 

This program, taught by Hilary Jacobs of Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., will discuss the background and history of the environmental justice movement. Attendees will learn about existing legal federal and state laws, regulations, and initiatives that can be used to advance environmental justice goals, how the legal landscape is changing, and practical insights on advising clients facing or seeking to proactively address environmental justice issues. 

Learning Objectives: 

1. Define "environmental justice" and related key concepts

2. Review the history of the environmental justice movement

3. Identify key legal laws, regulations, and initiatives that are often used to advance environmental justice

4. Discuss how the legal landscape for environmental justice is changing on a federal and state level

5. Learn tips for advising clients on environmental justice issues