Created in 1993, the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) provides independent and consensus advice on integrating environmental justice into the programs and practices of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2023, the agency formed the NEJAC Cumulative Impacts Workgroup to research, consider, and answer questions about how best to integrate cumulative impact assessments into the agency’s practices. For this effort, the NEJAC was able to draw on a wide variety of sources, including the activities of community groups and state and local governments that have driven many of the innovations and advancements in cumulative impact work.
In October 2024, the workgroup submitted its report to the EPA, "Reducing Cumulative and Disproportionate Impacts and Burdens in Environmental Justice Communities." (PDF) That document lays out recommendations for how the EPA can better address and assess cumulative impacts in its practices, programs, and policies. To improve environmental health protections by reaching a larger audience, the Union of Concerned Scientists prepared eight fact sheets summarizing the recommendations:
● Overarching Recommendations for Cumulative Impact Assessments (PDF)
● Best Practices for Defining Cumulative Impacts (PDF)
● A Road Map for Accelerating Innovative Approaches to Cumulative Impacts Implementation (PDF)
● Principles to Guide the Practice of Cumulative Impact Assessment (PDF)
● Validating and Incorporating Lived Experience into Assessments and Processes (PDF)
● Supporting Comprehensive, Solution-Oriented, Community-Driven Programs (PDF)
● Incorporating Colonialism, Racism, and Other Structural Drivers into Cumulative Impact Assessments and Implementation (PDF)
● Promoting Climate Justice (PDF)
Fact sheet authors: Natalie Gehred is a doctoral student in molecular biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Kristie Ellickson is a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
NEJAC Cumulative Impacts Workgroup Cochairs: Dr. Sandra Whitehead, program director for the Sustainable Urban Planning Program at The George Washington University, and Dr. Kristie Ellickson.
EPA leadership for the workgroup: Charles Lee and Surabhi Shah are senior policy advisors at the EPA.
NEJAC Cumulative Impacts Workgroup Members:
Alec Ayers, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
April Baptiste, Colgate University
Cemelli DeAztlan, La Mujer Obrera
Kristie Ellickson, Union of Concerned Scientists (workgroup co-chair)
Ebony Griffin-Guerrier, Earthjustice
Yvonka Hall, Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition
Jill Lindsey Harrison, University of Colorado Boulder
Loren Hopkins, City of Houston Health Department
Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance
Andy Kricun, Moonshot Missions
Richard Mabion, Building a Sustainable Earth Community
*Ayako Nagano, *Clean Water Fund
Benjamin Pauli, Kettering University
Millie Piazza, Washington State Department of Ecology
Kristi Pullen Fednick, The George Washington University/White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Jerome Shabazz, Overbrook Environmental Education Center
Pamela Tally, Lewis Place Historical Preservation, Inc.
Michael Tilchin, Jacobs Engineering
Sandra Whitehead, The George Washington University (workgroup co-chair)
Sacoby Wilson, University of Maryland
Related resources
Resources for Federal Scientists
Attacks on Science
Applications of Climate, Energy, and Environmental Justice
