As the federal government advances rollbacks of more than 100 environmental and climate policies and resources, it is redefining the U.S. government’s role in protecting communities disproportionately impacted by pollution — and diminishing opportunities for communities to make decisions that impact their everyday lives.For 35 years, federal policies have helped scale the national environmental justice movement, building on decades of community-led efforts.Reversing that long history in 2025, however, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shuttered its Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, along with all the regional EPA Environmental Justice offices. They also canceled historic levels of investment aimed at addressing pollution and climate risk in underserved communities. At the same time, new federal actions are directing agencies to scale back on enforcement of policies that address disproportionate harm — such as those that strengthened protections for infrastructure siting, integrated environmental justice across federal agencies, and helped address cumulative exposures to environmental and socioeconomic burdens. For 35 years, federal policies have sought to protect communities from harmful pollution associated with the siting of chemical plants and oil refineries. Photo by Meinzahn/iStock. Yet despite these changes, the environmental justice movement has not been undone. Long before it was recognized in federal policy, the environmental justice movement was born out of local movements that identified and fought toxic hazards in their communities and then recognized larger patterns of environmental racism and inequality across the U.S.Since the 1980s, efforts from local communities and governments have inspired federal environmental justice policies, from planning and permitting reform to funding commitments and reparative investments. While federal action has helped expand these efforts, environmental justice’s durability will continue to be grounded in the actions local communities and governments are taking now, which will help sustain them across future political administrations. How Communities Are Advancing Environmental Justice From smallholder farms in Africa to the busy streets of Bogota, communities are reshaping the way the world designs its cities, uses energy and produces food. These examples show not just what could work, but what already does. Learn more about the series. In recent years, environmental justice advocates have made inspiring progress in cities, states and tribal nations across the U.S., holding polluters accountable by actively getting involved in state and local planning councils, shaping how land is used and developed, and remedying environmental hazards through climate planning and community development initiatives. While environmental challenges and inequities continue to exist, communities are showing how local actions can safeguard public health.Holding Polluters AccountableMany decisions about how land is used or what gets built in communities — including where polluting factories or waste sites might be located — are made at the regional, city or neighborhood level. Communities can hold polluters accountable by challenging siting and permitting decisions, even after pollution burdens have accumulated. By getting involved in development decisions, filing legal cases and pushing for new laws, community members can move environmental justice forward and, more importantly, ensure the health of their communities. In St. James Parish, Louisiana, Sharon Lavigne leads a protest against increased development of oil refineries in her community. Photo by Alejandro Dávila Fragoso/Earthjustice. In St. James Parish, near New Orleans, Sharon Lavigne — founder of RISE St. James, a faith-based grassroots organization — has long led residents in raising concerns about the concentration of oil refineries and chemical plants, in what’s become known as ‘Cancer Alley.’ The 85-mile stretch of land is home to approximately 200 of these operations and a majority Black and low-income population, who, as a result, face elevated rates of cancer and other health problems.In a closely watched environmental justice legal case — Inclusive Louisiana v. St. James Parish — residents are fighting back against construction of a new petrochemical plant in a neighborhood already saturated with these facilities. The case has bounced around the court system, highlighting both the persistence of community advocacy and the limits of relying on existing legal systems to address the combined impact of multiple sources of pollution, health and socioeconomic burdens over time (known as cumulative harm). The most recent decision has allowed the case to proceed in federal court.In tribal nations and Native communities, siting decisions can affect environmental health and access to traditional food sources and culturally significant lands. Last August, the Muscogee (Creek) National Council introduced legislation for the development of a technology park, which would have allowed for a large AI data center to be built on tribal lands that are dedicated to hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering. Muscogee citizens fought back: Six community town halls in partnership with the Indigenous Environmental Network raised concerns about the facility’s potential water demand, pollution and energy costs to residents. The organizing worked and the proposed bill was defeated last November. In other regions, tribes are also advocating for greater transparency and consultation on the environmental and archeological impacts of proposed projects.Several states have started enacting policies to prevent these harms before they happen. New Jersey’s 2020 Environmental Justice Law was the first-of-its-kind to require regulators to consider the cumulative impacts of pollution when deciding where new facilities can be built — no longer issuing permits to facilities that would worsen conditions in already overburdened communities. The law initially faced legal challenges, but the New Jersey Appellate Court upheld the law this year. Since 2020, several other states such as Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York and Vermont have enacted similar laws. Another 13 states are also proposing similar permitting policies to protect overburdened communities from additional environmental health hazards.Power to Shape Environmental DecisionsA growing number of cities and states are establishing environmental justice advisory bodies and offices to embed environmental justice across government decision-making to ensure equitable access to clean air, water and green spaces.Among the 21 states that have established these entities, 18 have set up environmental justice advisory bodies, which are composed of trusted volunteers that support engagement with environmental justice communities, make recommendations on policies such as permitting, and contribute to land-use and climate plans.In addition, 20 states have established environmental justice offices, within government agencies to lead the day-to-day implementation of environmental justice policies and programs. These offices are integrating environmental justice into planning, funding and technical assistance programs across government. Together, these offices and advisory bodies represent one of the clearest examples of environmental justice becoming embedded within the routine operations of government rather than existing solely as an outside advocacy effort. While these state entities can face political rollbacks and tensions with state bureaucracies, they are pioneering new ways to build trust between communities and the institutions working to address harms caused by past policies.In Rhode Island, the city of Providence’s Climate Justice Plan was notably co-developed by the City’s Department of Sustainability and the Racial and Environmental Justice Committee, which began as a nonprofit organization set up by community members. The city has since formally adopted and operationalized a ‘Just Providence Framework’ and continues to collaborate with the committee on equitable and sustainable planning and development.Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection established a dedicated Climate Action for Environmental Justice Communities Program in 2023 to engage residents in environmental justice areas who were disproportionately exposed to flooding and heat waves. Their input guided the environmental justice strategies of the 2024 Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan. The program office also developed resources to help communities find energy funding and support and helped other government offices develop programs that advance environmental justice.Just Climate and Land-Use PlanningCities, states and tribal governments are also increasingly integrating environmental justice and equity into their climate and land-use plans to protect their residents from the impacts of air, water and climate pollution.Since Portland, Ore., adopted the first city climate action plan in 1993, climate planning has expanded significantly across the United States. As of 2021, 58 of the 100 largest U.S. cities had adopted climate action plans, with 40 explicitly incorporating justice considerations. These plans are becoming important tools for translating environmental justice into concrete actions, helping to ensure climate actions benefit all residents and do not replicate previous injustices.From 2021 to 2025, climate planning efforts also expanded across tribal nations, with more than 200 tribes and four U.S. territories creating climate action plans through federal initiatives. Over time, climate action plans have also evolved from treating equity as an aspirational goal to embedding justice considerations more directly into policies, investments and implementation strategies.Disability justice is an essential yet often overlooked dimension of environmental and climate justice — particularly in climate action planning, where transportation, housing and emergency response decisions significantly affect people with disabilities. This is especially urgent given that a disproportionate number of people with disabilities live in neighborhoods with elevated levels of air pollution that can compound their health challenges.The Environmental Law Institute lauded Austin, Texas as a leader in the U.S. for including concrete steps to make transit stations and stops, sidewalks and pedestrian street crossings more accessible to people with disabilities in its climate equity action plan. Investing in accessible public transportation simultaneously reduces climate and air pollution, while expanding reliable transportation access for daily needs.Across tribal nations, climate planning is also advancing through tribal-led processes that integrate cultural knowledge, land stewardship and long-term resilience.In 2024, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) developed a priority climate action plan that advances clean energy deployment, tribal energy sovereignty and climate resilience. It includes the installation of a microgrid at the Cherokee Boys Club and electric buses and freightliners. Since adopting their plan, EBCI has deployed 21 electric school buses, achieving full-fleet electrification. The tribe also installed a 50 kilowatt (kW) grid-tied solar canopy that partially powers bus charging, deployed an electric semi-truck and began construction on a 400 kW microgrid to support charging infrastructure. As part of a priority climate action plan, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians installed a solar canopy that provides energy for partial charging of the Cherokee Boys Club fleet of electric school buses. Photo by WRI. Cities are also addressing environmental justice in their comprehensive land-use plans. Since 2018, California has required all cities to incorporate environmental justice into their general plans, the documents that guide overall city development planning. Cities such as Minneapolis and Seattle have also integrated environmental justice into their comprehensive plans, which will guide future land-use and infrastructure decisions to prioritize community health and environmental quality.Building Healthy and Resilient CommunitiesLocal communities are also embedding environmental justice values into their development decisions by designing and building sustainable housing, transit and park projects that are cleaning up the air, and promoting walkable, connected and green communities.For example, the Cully neighborhood, which is one of the most diverse, low-income and polluted areas of Northeast Portland, Ore., helped pass energy affordability legislation and bring climate investments to their neighborhood through a coalition of community-based organizations, including Verde, Habitat for Humanity Portland Region, Hacienda CDC and the Native American Youth and Family Center.The Cully community developed a park on a former landfill site and multiple affordable housing and homeownership developments over the last 15 years. One of those projects, Las Adelitas, took shape from a Hacienda CDC-driven community design process that transformed a neglected site into a sustainable multifamily affordable housing development. Las Adelitas houses nearly 400 people in 142 apartments and includes rooftop solar, energy efficient appliances, electric vehicle (EV) chargers and an EV car-sharing program. The Cully community also launched a new tax district in 2022 that will generate $350 million in revenue for future affordable housing and economic development projects. A neglected site in the Cully neighborhood of Portland, Ore., is now the Las Adelitas, a sustainable multifamily affordable housing development. Photo by the City of Portland. Environmental justice communities across the U.S. are also cleaning up contaminated land, such as former industrial, waste or polluted sites, known as brownfields, and turning them into areas that residents can enjoy, such as parks and gardens. Although these efforts can take years of fundraising, clean-up and project development, communities have demonstrated what’s possible, transforming polluted sites into healthy ones.In Roxbury, Mass., a historically Black and formerly redlined neighborhood in Boston, the resident-led organization, Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) and community development corporations including Nuestra CDC and Madison Park CDC, led a decades-long brownfields cleanup and redevelopment effort that pushed for stricter permitting, secured investment in community priorities and reshaped the neighborhood landscape. For years, highway expansion and the concentration of waste transfer stations and industrial facilities contributed to elevated air and noise pollution in the neighborhood. Today, Roxbury has turned acres of brownfields and vacant lands into new affordable and mixed-income housing, schools and community centers, parks and urban farms, small businesses and commercial spaces. DSNI also established the Dudley Neighbors Incorporated Community Land Trust, one of several community-based efforts helping to prevent displacement by dedicating land to community uses such as permanently affordable housing, commercial and cultural spaces.Moving Environmental Justice Forward at the Local LevelFederal environmental policy rollbacks are reducing protections and resources, enforcement capacity and investment for communities disproportionately burdened by pollution. The loss of those commitments will have real consequences for many communities.Yet environmental justice in the U.S. never depended on just one level of government. Across the country, cities, states, tribal nations and community organizations continue to make advances in strengthening permitting practices, shaping land-use and climate planning, expanding participation in decision-making, reducing pollution, and building healthier and more resilient neighborhoods. In doing so, they are institutionalizing environmental justice at the local, state and tribal levels — and proving it can be adapted and expanded elsewhere. It also positions communities and local governments to scale protections and investments at the federal level if future opportunities return as occurred following the first Trump administration.Many federal environmental justice policies were built on decades of grassroots organizing and local innovation. The ongoing work taking place in communities across the country helps preserve that foundation — one that is not vulnerable to shifts in federal leadership. The long-term durability of environmental justice will depend on strong governance and partnerships across local, state and tribal governments, as well as the communities that continue to drive this work forward. The more environmental justice is embedded into the laws, policies, plans and institutions that shape everyday decisions, the less vulnerable it becomes to changes in federal policies or political leadership.