In January of 2021, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14008. The order directed the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to develop a new tool called the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. The tool has an interactive map and uses datasets that are indicators of burdens in eight categories: climate change, energy, health, housing, legacy pollution, transportation, water and wastewater, and workforce development. The tool uses this information to identify communities that are experiencing these burdens. These are the communities that are disadvantaged because they are overburdened and underserved. Federal agencies will use the tool to help identify disadvantaged communities that will benefit from programs included in the Justice40 Initiative. The Justice40 Initiative seeks to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of investments in climate, clean energy and related areas to disadvantaged communities.
Geographic coverage: Census Tract