NTC TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964] (fwd)

[Career/Pro <cpro@igc.apc.org>]

EPA has established a new NACEPT advisory committee to address 
environmental justice issues and ways to assess and address 
Title VI violations.  

On Thu, 12 Mar 1998 14:29:25 -0500 (EST)  
GROUP PRESS 202-260-4355 <PRESS@epamail.epa.gov> wrote:

NTC/TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

FOR RELEASE:   THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1998


     Administrator Carol M. Browner and Deputy Administrator 
Fred  Hansen have announced the establishment of a new advisory 
committee to  assist the Agency in its implementation of Title 
VI of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964.  The new advisory 
committee will be headed by  Elliott Laws, former EPA Assistant 
Administrator for the Office of  Solid Waste and Emergency 
Response.          

Under Title VI, recipients of federal financial assistance 
cannot  conduct programs or activities that discriminate on the 
basis of race,  color or national origin.  Since 1993, EPA has 
received an increasing  number of complaints that allege 
violations of Title VI due to the  issuance of state pollution 
control permits.  The new advisory  committee specifically will 
evaluate and recommend techniques to  assess Title VI concerns 
and, where they exist, identify avenues to  address them before 
they become the subject of complaints.  

The new advisory committee is being established as part of 
EPA's  existing National Advisory Council for Environmental 
Policy and  Technology.  The advisory committee will comprise 
state environmental  commissioners, local government officials, 
industry representatives,  academics and environmental justice 
leaders.  

     Elliott Laws, served as EPA Assistant Administrator for 
the  Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response from 1993 - 
1997.  Laws  is currently a partner at the Washington, D.C., 
law firm of Patton  Boggs.  During his tenure at EPA, Laws 
worked with a broad range of  stakeholder groups to integrate 
environmental justice considerations  into EPA decision-making. 
  Laws was selected to chair the advisory  committee because of 
his experience and demonstrated leadership on  environmental 
justice issues.