The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) and U.S. EPA Region 8 have released a final workplan to implement a 2022 Memorandum of Understanding on Advancing Environmental Justice through Enforcement & Compliance Assurance in Disproportionately Impacted Communities. The final workplan explains how the agencies will collaborate through enforcement and compliance to reduce pollution in communities overburdened by environmental and public health impacts.
“We are going to leverage every tool we have to make sure that everyone has a healthy environment to be in,” says CDPHE Director of Environmental Health & Protection Trisha Oeth. “That means prioritizing areas that have more than their fair share of pollution to reduce negative environmental impacts.”
The focus areas of the final workplan include:
- Strategically targeting inspections in disproportionately impacted communities
- Collaborating with state, local, and federal partners on enforcement and compliance assurance actions to reduce pollution burdens, and
- Creating equitable opportunities for communities across Colorado to learn from and engage with CDPHE about enforcement and compliance issues.
Learn more here.