ISSUE DATE: July 21, 2023                                                                               

FB23-049

CONTACT: Heather Blough: 727-304-0131, [email protected]; and

                   Brent Stoffle: 305-951-1212, [email protected]

Key Message:

NOAA Fisheries finalized a national Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy designed to break down key barriers impeding the equitable delivery of services and opportunities derived from our living marine resource conservation and management programs and activities. The agency wants your help developing a plan to operationalize the national strategy in the Southeast United States.

Through September 30, 2023, NOAA Fisheries requests your input on specific actions and related performance metrics to incorporate into our Southeast United States Equity and Environmental Justice Implementation Plan. In addition to submitting written suggestions through the online portal at https://www.regulations.gov/document/NOAA-NMFS-2023-0092-0001, you can provide verbal comments during a webinar-based listening session to be held Tuesday, August 29, 2023, from 6:00pm to 8:00 pm ET. Recorded presentations providing more information on this public comment opportunity will be made available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/about-us/southeast-equity-and-environmental-justice-implementation-plan for interested persons to listen to at their convenience prior to submitting input. Both the recordings and webinar-based listening session will be available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Summary:

NOAA Fisheries is responsible for managing the nation’s living marine resources. We work to make fisheries sustainable and productive, provide safe seafood to consumers, conserve threatened and endangered species and other protected resources, and maintain healthy ecosystems. The work that we do affects people in underserved communities who depend on these resources for their environmental, economic, social, and cultural well-being. We recognize that these communities experience barriers to accessing our services and that the services they access may not effectively meet their needs.

On May 22, 2023, NOAA Fisheries finalized a national Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy designed to break down key barriers impeding the equitable delivery of services and opportunities derived from the work that we do. The national strategy describes the path we will take to incorporate equity and environmental justice into the vital services we provide to all communities.

Our goals under the strategy are to:

  1. Prioritize identification, equitable treatment, and meaningful involvement of underserved communities;
  2. Provide equitable delivery of services; and
  3. Prioritize equity and environmental justice in our mandated and mission work with demonstrable progress.

The strategy outlines six objectives to accomplish those goals:

  1. Provide an empowering environment within NOAA Fisheries to support multiple approaches to equity and environmental justice;
  2. Ensure that our policies promote equal opportunities for all and do not create unintended inequities or unequal burdens for underserved communities;
  3. Identify underserved communities and their needs, conduct collaborative research, and assess impacts of management decisions;
  4. Build relationships with underserved communities to better understand their engagement preferences, and improve information sharing with all communities;
  5. Distribute benefits equitably among communities by increasing the access to opportunities for underserved communities; and
  6. Enable the meaningful involvement of underserved communities in decision-making processes.

Together, these goals and objectives are intended to create the capacity and accountability processes necessary to effectively embed equity and environmental justice within our agency and the work that we do.

How You Can Help:

Through September 30, 2023, NOAA Fisheries requests your input on specific actions we can take to operationalize the national Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy in the Southeast, as well as related performance metrics. These actions and performance metrics will be incorporated into our Southeast Equity and Environmental Justice Implementation Plan to be finalized this winter. In addition to submitting written suggestions through the online portal at https://www.regulations.gov/document/NOAA-NMFS-2023-0092-0001, you can provide verbal comments during a webinar-based listening session to be offered on Tuesday, August 29 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm ET. Recorded presentations providing more information on this public comment opportunity will be made available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/about-us/southeast-equity-and-environmental-justice-implementation-plan for interested persons to listen to at their convenience prior to submitting input. Both the webinar and recorded presentations will be made available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. NOAA Fisheries will supplement the information we receive in response to this Request for Information with information we obtain through a series of focus group meetings we are conducting with underserved community members and liaisons throughout the region.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is NOAA Fisheries’ Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy?

NOAA Fisheries’ Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy provides a framework to incorporate Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy into our daily activities. It identifies step-down implementation plans at the regional level; seeks to remove barriers to equity and environmental justice; and seeks to promote equity in all we do at NOAA Fisheries.

 

How are you defining ‘equity’?

As defined in Executive Order 13985, equity means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.

 

How are you defining ‘environmental justice’? 

Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies including but not limited to:

  • Equitable protection from environmental and health hazards;
  • Equitable access to decision-making processes;
  • Equitable opportunity for disadvantaged communities that have been historically marginalized.

 

How are you defining ‘underserved communities’?

Underserved communities have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life. These include geographic communities as well as populations sharing a particular characteristic such as: women and girls; Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and other persons of color; persons facing discrimination or barriers related to gender identity; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.

 

Who/what are the driving forces behind the development of the national strategy?

NOAA Fisheries’ Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy builds on executive orders promoting equity, recommendations from the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, action items from the Department of Commerce Equity Action Plan, and guidance from the NOAA Climate Council. In addition, this strategy is driven by strong support from NOAA Fisheries’ leadership, enthusiastic staff participation, and a clear and growing need from underserved communities.

 

Is this strategy a new effort within NOAA Fisheries?

No, this strategy builds on NOAA Fisheries’ previous equity and environmental justice efforts to provide guidance for incorporating and prioritizing equity and environmental justice in ongoing and future activities in support of the NOAA Fisheries’ mission.