Introduction and summary
No administration in history has done more than President Joe Biden’s to ensure that all people—regardless of race, income, or ZIP code—live in healthy and safe communities. The Biden administration has advanced an unprecedented climate, clean energy, and environmental justice agenda to accelerate progress toward securing access to clean air and safe water, affordable and clean renewable energy, and climate-resilient and healthy communities for all Americans.1
In August 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), delivering historic investments to support the most ambitious climate and clean energy plan in U.S. history.2 The IRA is accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy that will lower household energy costs, create good jobs, reduce planet-warming pollution, and protect communities from harmful climate change effects. In addition, the IRA invested roughly $55 billion to reduce local pollution and improve public health and economic security in Black, brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities. (see Figure 1) Combined with the more than $93 billion for pollution cleanup and lead pipe removal delivered by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)—also known as the bipartisan infrastructure law3—(see Figure 2) the Biden administration is targeting at least $148 billion to improve lives and livelihoods in disadvantaged communities.
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This new funding is part of the Biden administration’s Justice40 Initiative,4 developed in partnership with environmental justice leaders and front-line communities, which aims to deliver at least 40 percent of federal climate, clean energy, and other infrastructure investment benefits from more than 500 federal programs to low-income communities and communities of color.5 These benefits include healthy air quality, safe drinking water, climate-resilient affordable housing, and affordable clean energy and transportation.
The IRA and IIJA funds designated for disadvantaged communities, along with other federal investments mobilized by the Justice40 Initiative, are beginning to bring real benefits to low-income, Black, brown, and Indigenous communities overburdened by high levels of pollution and economic and racial inequality. For example, the administration has invested more than $11.7 billion in IIJA funds to ensure that communities in all 55 states and U.S. territories have access to safe drinking water and clean rivers, lakes, and other water resources—with plans to spend an additional $2.3 billion from the IIJA for clean and safe water in 2024.6
These ambitious yet long-overdue efforts are part of the Biden administration’s far-reaching actions to advance racial justice and equity.
The administration also has invested $3.5 billion in IIJA funds to support the cleanup of more than 150 high-priority Superfund sites, many of which have languished without funding for years.7 This investment also launched 96 new cleanup projects in 33 states and territories, including Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and more.8 According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe, “[This] funding has made it possible for EPA to initiate clean ups at every single Superfund site where construction work is ready to begin. This is an incredible milestone in our efforts to clean up and protect communities, deliver local jobs, enhance economic activity, and improve people’s lives for years to come.”9 In addition, the administration awarded $1 billion in IRA funds for roughly 400 projects in all 50 states to expand parks and tree cover, reduce extreme heat risks, and improve public health and quality of life in communities.10
This report discusses how these and the Biden administration’s other historic investments are accelerating efforts to guarantee that all people can live in healthy and safe communities by 1) ensuring clean air, clean water, and a healthy climate; 2) lowering household energy costs and providing access to clean renewable energy; and 3) improving community climate resilience, transportation, and access to living-wage jobs.
Biden administration actions to prioritize healthy communities and environmental justice for all
Within days of taking office, President Biden launched the first-ever White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC)11 to help shape the administration’s environmental justice policies.12 Guided by the WHEJAC, in April 2023, President Biden issued an executive order (EO) recognizing that “restoring and protecting a healthy environment — wherever people live, play, work, learn, grow, and worship — is a matter of justice and a fundamental duty that the Federal Government must uphold on behalf of all people.”13 The EO calls on federal agencies to redouble efforts to enforce the nation’s environmental and civil rights laws, address the deadly cumulative impacts of pollution and other stressors, and protect against climate change and other environmental hazards, which disproportionately harm low-income communities and communities of color.14
In January 2024, President Biden announced a pause on all pending approvals of liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities to consider their impacts on climate change, the economy, and national security.15 This decision was a victory not only for safeguarding Americans from a 9 to 14 percent increase in natural gas prices16 but also for protecting the health and safety of the predominantly Black communities living near LNG processing facilities and their efforts to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for putting profits over people.
The Biden administration is also strengthening public health protections under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to reduce the harmful and costly health effects of pollution. In February 2024, the administration finalized a new lifesaving standard to reduce particulate matter, also known as soot, that will prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and premature death in communities across the country.17 In March 2024, the EPA set a stronger emissions standard for cars and light trucks to protect public health, safeguard the climate, and lower fuel and maintenance costs for drivers.18 In the coming months, the administration is also expected to finalize carbon pollution standards for coal power plants and newly built gas plants,19 as well as stronger standards to protect communities from mercury and air toxics,20 toxic coal ash,21 and emissions from heavy-duty vehicles.22 In addition, the administration proposed strong standards to protect public health from lead pollution, which would require utilities to remove and replace all lead pipes in every community within 10 years.23
See also
These ambitious yet long-overdue efforts are part of the Biden administration’s far-reaching actions to advance racial justice and equity while addressing the climate crisis.24 To be sure, much more work is needed to undo the brutal and lasting legacy of racial, environmental, and climate injustice in this country. For example, huge wealth disparities between Black and white households persist,25 as do state voter suppression laws that cost Americans of color their voices at the polls.26 Moreover, communities of color are more likely than white neighborhoods to live with unsafe air quality and drinking water and near toxic waste sites.27 Yet the bold steps this administration is taking lay a strong foundation for future policies that will be needed to continue to tackle racial and environmental injustice and climate change and secure safe and healthy communities for all. This foundation includes the real benefits delivered by the Biden administration’s historic investments in climate protections, environmental justice, clean renewable energy, clean air and water, and pollution cleanup in Black, brown, Indigenous, and other communities of color. These investments and their benefits are described below.
Toward the “Beloved Community”
Dr. Martin Luther King believed deeply that all life is interrelated. He described our destinies as “tied in a single garment … Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”28 Dr. King also believed that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”29 He held out a vision of what he called the “Beloved Community,” where peace, justice, love, and understanding prevailed and where poverty, racism, and discrimination of any kind were not tolerated. For Dr. King, the Beloved Community was not an unachievable utopia, but rather an attainable goal that could be reached through unshakable commitment.30
While Dr. King’s Beloved Community has not yet been realized, the Biden administration has made important progress that offers hope that perhaps someday it can be. To do so requires faith in this possibility. Policymakers and the American people must not be complacent with where things stand or despondent about what must still be accomplished. Through tireless determination, our country can build on the foundation laid by the Biden administration to ensure that all people—regardless of race, income, or ZIP code—have access to clean air and safe water and the ability to live in a healthy “Beloved Community.”
1. Ensuring clean air, clean water, and a healthy climate
Power plants, industrial facilities, and Superfund sites—or areas contaminated by harmful industrial waste—are disproportionately sited in communities of color and low-income areas,31 leading to higher rates of cancer, asthma, and other life-threatening health problems among these communities.32 In fact, communities of color are 3.7 times more likely than white communities to live with high levels of air pollution,33 and they are disproportionately exposed to harmful levels of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pollution, or “forever chemicals,” in drinking water from industrial sources.34 In addition, Black Americans are 75 percent more likely than white Americans to live near polluting industrial facilities.35
$55 billion for safe drinking water and essential water infrastructure
To make long-overdue progress on addressing these injustices, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act made an unprecedented $55 billion investment in upgrading our nation’s water infrastructure to deliver safe drinking water to all communities.36 This included $23.4 billion to modernize community water infrastructure through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF),37 $15 billion to replace lead service lines,38 and $10 billion to treat water polluted by dangerous forever chemicals and other contaminants disproportionately found in communities of color.39 The IIJA also invested $3.5 billion in critical water infrastructure in Tribal communities and additional funds to upgrade water infrastructure in rural areas.40 These investments improve public health, create good-paying union jobs, and protect the right of all people to drink safe water and have access to clean water resources.
To date, the EPA has invested more than $11.7 billion from the IIJA to ensure that communities have access to safe drinking water and clean rivers, lakes, and other water resources.41 For example, in November 2023, the EPA awarded more than $77 million to upgrade clean water and drinking water infrastructure in Delaware.42 As stated by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DL):
One of the most fundamental responsibilities of government is to ensure access to clean water … I’m proud to join the Biden Administration and Senators Carper and Coons in announcing this transformational funding for Delaware, made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, that will strengthen the First State’s ability to deliver on our shared commitment to providing safe and clean water to our communities.43
In 2024, the EPA will invest an additional $2.3 billion in IIJA funding for clean water and safe drinking water infrastructure in all 55 states and U.S. territories.44
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$25 billion to clean up industrial pollution
The IIJA also made the largest investment in U.S. history to clean up decades-old industrial legacy pollution—such as lead, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)—that lingers in the environment and can lead to lifelong health problems.45 According to the EPA, “More than 1 in 4 Black and Hispanic Americans [live] within 3 miles of a Superfund site.”46 For this reason, the IIJA invested $3.5 billion to clean up the most toxic of these sites and reinstated the Chemicals Superfund Tax and the Hazardous Substances Tax—two environmental excise taxes that were eliminated more than 25 years ago.47 For its part, the IRA reinstated the Petroleum Superfund Tax, at a rate of 16.4 cents per barrel. Together, these three taxes are expected to raise $20 billion in revenue over 10 years to fund the cleanup of hazardous waste sites and protect the health and safety of neighboring communities.48
Since December 2021, the EPA has invested $3.5 billion from the IIJA to clean up more than 150 high-priority Superfund sites across the country and to address the long backlog of hazardous waste sites in communities that have been waiting years for cleanup.49 According to the EPA, nearly 80 percent of these sites are “in communities with potential environmental justice concerns,”50 with new cleanup projects in 33 states and territories, including Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and more.51
In addition, the IIJA invested more than $1.5 billion in the EPA’s successful Brownfields Program to clean up former industrial sites, build public infrastructure on these sites, and support job training and community revitalization.52
$3 billion for community-driven projects to reduce pollution
Meanwhile, the Inflation Reduction Act created the Environmental and Climate Justice (ECJ) program, which invested $3 billion in communities overburdened by pollution and climate risks to improve public health and protect against more extreme weather fueled by climate change.53 Through this program, the EPA provided $2 billion for Community Change Grants—the largest single investment in environmental justice in history—to support community-driven projects that reduce pollution and build community capacity to tackle long-standing public health problems tied to racial injustice and disinvestment in communities of color.54
$27 billion for clean renewable energy and climate resilience projects
The IRA’s $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund invests in clean renewable energy and climate resilience projects that reduce planet-warming pollution and improve local air quality, with roughly $19 billion for investments in disadvantaged communities.55 The fund focuses on improving public health, economic opportunities, and access to clean affordable energy in communities overburdened by pollution and economic and racial inequality.
Nearly $300 million for air quality monitoring and enforcement in low-income communities and communities of color
The IRA also provided $235 million to monitor air quality—including dangerous pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter in communities—at industry fence lines and in or near schools in low-income communities and communities of color.56 IRA investments in new enforcement technologies, together with the EPA’s enforcement staff expansion, have accelerated actions to hold industrial polluters accountable for meeting critical environmental and public health standards in communities of color.57
Together, these historic investments in critical water infrastructure, industrial pollution cleanup, community-driven projects to reduce pollution and build climate resilience, clean and renewable energy, and air quality monitoring are accelerating progress toward securing clean air and water and a healthy climate for all.
2. Lowering household energy costs and providing access to clean renewable energy
According to Diana Hernández, associate professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, “More than thirty million US households are energy insecure, meaning that they are unable to adequately meet household energy needs.”58 Low-income, Black, brown, and Indigenous communities experience the highest rates of energy insecurity due to racial and economic inequality and poor-quality housing—outcomes of generations of racist housing policies, labor market discrimination, systemic bias within the financial system, and more.59 These conditions, together with more frequent and intense extreme-heat events fueled by climate change, are forcing families to make heart-wrenching choices between paying energy bills or buying food, clothes, and medicine.
$14.3 billion to reduce household energy bills and climate change risks
To cut household energy costs, the Inflation Reduction Act invested nearly $9 billion in home energy rebates for consumers to upgrade to electric home appliances and make other home energy efficiency improvements, with a focus on low-income families.60 For example, the $4.5 billion Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates program offers households up to $14,000 in rebates to switch to more efficient electric appliances and save on monthly energy bills, covering 50 to 100 percent of the cost for low- to moderate-income households.61 The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that these programs will save households up to $1 billion annually.62
In addition, the IRA invested $1 billion in the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program to make affordable housing more energy and water efficient and better able to withstand more extreme heat events, flooding, and other climate change effects.63 As of March 2023, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had awarded more than $368 million in Green and Resilient Retrofit Program funding to improve the energy efficiency and climate change readiness of 84 multifamily properties, upgrading more than 9,000 homes for low-income families across the country, including in Philadelphia; Augusta, Georgia; and Waukesha, Wisconsin, among many other places.64
In 2022 and 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $58.7 million in IIJA funds to 21 cities and 14 state agencies to support innovative weatherization assistance projects and save low-income families an average of $372 or more per year on their energy bills.
The Biden administration is also mobilizing IIJA funds to cut energy costs for low-income households, including $3.5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program to improve home energy efficiency and save low-income families an average of $372 or more per year on their energy bills.65 In 2022 and 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $58.7 million in IIJA funds to 21 cities and 14 state agencies to support innovative weatherization assistance projects, including by installing solar panels and making substantial home repairs and efficiency improvements to cut energy costs for low-income families.66 For example, the Athens Land Trust in Georgia received funding to improve home weatherization, install solar home systems, and make energy more affordable in three Athens neighborhoods where energy costs absorb a significant portion of household incomes.67 Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s Community Relations-Social Development Commission was awarded funds to support home electrification, improve extreme weather-readiness, and lower energy costs for low-income households, and provide skills training to expand the home repair workforce.68 (see figures 1 and 2 below for additional investments to reduce household energy costs and extreme weather risks)
Bonus credit to draw renewable energy development to low-income and Indigenous communities
Moreover, the IRA created the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program to incentivize renewable energy project development in low-income and Indigenous communities to reduce electricity bills for residents.69 This program provides an additional 10 to 20 percent bonus for solar and wind energy projects in low-income and Indigenous communities—on top of the IRA’s clean energy investment tax credit, which already covers up to 30 percent of project development costs.70
Through these unprecedented investments to upgrade the energy efficiency and climate change readiness of low-income households and increase access to clean renewable energy, the Biden administration is reducing monthly energy costs and extreme weather risks for families.
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3. Improving community climate resilience, transportation, and access to living wage jobs
Low-income, Black, brown, and Indigenous communities are hit hardest by extreme weather and climate disasters.71 Housing discrimination, disinvestment, and the racial wealth gap have left a harmful legacy of crumbling infrastructure and an inadequate supply of quality affordable housing.72 These inequities increase residents’ vulnerability to climate change73 and severely limit their ability to prepare for and recover from extreme weather events, with devastating health consequences.74 For example, extreme heat is responsible for more deaths every year than any other type of extreme weather,75 with the highest risks in Black, brown, and Indigenous communities,76 where many struggle to pay energy bills, do not have access to air conditioning, and have chronic illnesses tied to racial and economic inequality—such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.77 The harmful practice of redlining also left many communities of color with concentrated poverty,78 more pavement, and fewer trees and parks, which help to cool temperatures.79
In addition, many ports and highways were intentionally built in, near, or directly through Black communities,80 reinforcing segregation and decimating neighborhoods by cutting them off from economic opportunities and bringing safety risks and air and noise pollution from gas-powered cars and diesel-fueled trucks.81
$14.7 billion to reconnect communities and support sustainable and affordable transportation
The Inflation Reduction Act and IIJA both aim to make historic progress in addressing these racist policies. For example, the IRA invested $3.2 billion in the Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) grant program to remove existing transportation infrastructure that cuts off communities from economic opportunities.82 This investment included $1.3 billion for economically disadvantaged communities to improve community health, connectivity, and quality of life. The program is bolstered by the IIJA’s $1 billion for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot grant program,83 which shares the same goals as NAE.84 In February 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced its first wave of awards from this historic program,85 totaling $185 million for 45 communities across the country—from Tucson, Atlanta, and Charlotte to Las Vegas and Pittsburgh—to reconnect neighborhoods divided by transportation infrastructure.86 In March 2024, President Biden awarded an additional $3.3 billion to reconnect communities divided by decades-old highways and rail lines in more than 40 states. These investments aim to revitalize communities and increase access to jobs, quality housing, schools, health care, parks, and other essential services.87
Meanwhile, the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program received a $7.5 billion boost from the IIJA to improve community connectivity, safety, and economic security by investing in sustainable and equitable transportation projects, including public transit, railways, and roads.88 In addition, the IIJA invested $3 billion in the Tribal Transportation Program to improve transportation safety and mobility in Tribal communities.89
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Roughly $3 billion for healthy ports and diesel pollution reduction
The IRA also invested $3 billion to reduce air pollution at ports.90 In February 2024, the EPA launched the Clean Ports Program and announced the $3 billion funding opportunity to help port authorities and truck hubs purchase zero-emission equipment and develop climate action plans to reduce air pollution from diesel-powered equipment, vehicles, and marine vessels. In a statement, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory affirmed: “Communities near our nation’s ports are disproportionately impacted by air pollution and other environmental hazards, and this funding will help reduce emissions while creating good-paying jobs as we transition to a clean energy future.”91 In addition, the IRA provided $60 million for the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act program to improve public health in communities disproportionately exposed to diesel pollution from goods movement facilities and vehicles servicing those facilities.92
$2.5 billion to reduce extreme heat and climate disaster risks
The IRA and IIJA also made groundbreaking investments in protecting communities from climate change threats. The IRA included $1.5 billion for the Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Program to expand tree cover and green spaces in cities, where roughly 85 percent of Americans live and work, in an effort to cool neighborhoods, reduce extreme heat risks, and create jobs in tree-planting and maintenance.93 In September 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded $1 billion for roughly 400 projects in all 50 states to increase community access to trees and parks.94
These investments are improving climate resilience, public health, and access to economic opportunities in communities affected by racial and environmental injustice and economic inequality.
The IIJA, likewise, provided $1 billion for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program to reduce extreme weather and climate disaster risks, including extreme heat, flooding, hurricanes, wildfires, and drought.95 The program prioritizes climate resilient infrastructure and hazard mitigation in disadvantaged and Tribal communities, including disaster-ready building codes. In May 2023, the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded $136 million for 325 projects in 55 states and territories and 34 tribes.96 In addition, 46 Tribal nations and communities will receive direct technical assistance to support the development of community resilience projects.97
These investments to reconnect communities, expand access to sustainable transportation, cut pollution at ports, and reduce extreme weather and climate disaster risks are improving climate resilience, public health, and access to economic opportunities in communities affected by racial and environmental injustice and economic inequality.
Conclusion
The more than $148 billion that the Biden administration has invested in low-income, Black, brown, and Indigenous communities, mobilized by the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, along with the Justice40 Initiative and other groundbreaking environmental justice policies, provides clear evidence that President Biden has prioritized securing clean air and water, healthy communities, and a more just and prosperous future for all. The work is far from complete; yet the Biden administration’s historic actions to tackle environmental injustice and climate change offer hope that with tireless determination, we can and must bring to life Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved Community for all people.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Trevor Higgins, Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Jill Rosenthal, Marquisha Johns, Mariam Rashid, Will Beaudouin, Bill Rapp, Shanée Simhoni, Cindy Murphy-Tofig, and Steve Bonitatibus from the Center for American Progress. They would also like to thank Harold Mitchell from ReGenesis Institute and Richard Moore from Los Jardines Institute for their contributions.