The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) recently announced the release of its draft EEA secretariat-wide Environmental Justice (EJ) Strategy.

The EJ Strategy was developed by a Secretariat-wide EJ Task Force comprised of representatives of each of EEA’s agencies, major offices, and affiliated organizations.  The draft strategy contains chapters that pertain to each of these agencies and offices, and is tailored to the unique mandate of each entity. It also provides a consistent approach to common issues, such as the development of EJ metrics to measure progress, staff training for awareness of EJ issues, commitment to diversity in hiring, inclusion of EJ criteria in grant disbursement and commitment to provision of languages services. 

The draft strategy, including translated versions, is available for written public comment until January 27, 2023; more details on how to provide feedback are here.

The LSPA plans to submit comments on behalf of the association, with a focus on the MassDEP section of the strategy. Please send your written comments to Executive Director Wendy Rundle at [email protected] by Friday, January 13, 2023.  We encourage you to also submit comments on your own as the LSPA cannot guarantee that we will include all comments we receive. 

EEA will hold four public comment listening sessions:  

December 15, 2022, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm, In-person listening session
UMass Amherst Center, 1500 Main Street, Springfield, MA 01115.

January 10, 2023, 10:00 am -12:00 pm, Remote only
Register in advance at: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pzGFvrsBRoycdZ8pRZKpWg

January 10, 2023, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Remote only
Register in advance at: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h3pSqAeRQh--b50JnMccfA

January 19, 2023, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, In-person listening session
Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, 2300 Washington Street, Roxbury, MA 02119.

Any questions, please contact Wendy Rundle, LSPA Executive Director at [email protected].