Environmental Justice

What is environmental justice?

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people—regardless of race, color, national origin, or income—with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

How does DOJ pursue environmental justice?

The U.S. Department of Justice enforces the nation’s civil and criminal environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and hazardous waste laws. We also protect natural resources and handle cases relating to tribal rights and resources.

Working with our U.S. Department of Justice partners, the U.S. Attorney’s Office seeks to secure environmental justice for all communities and to ensure that everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to a healthy environment in which to live, learn, play, and work.

What can you do?

If you become aware of an event that may be an immediate threat to human health or the environment, call 911, then report it to the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.

If you see a potential violation that does not pose an immediate threat to human health or the environment, you should still report it. Depending on the specific type of violation, different federal agencies will be responsible for addressing the concern.

The bullet points below list relevant agencies and how to contact them. When contacting an agency to report environmental, health, and safety concerns in the Western District, please also email us at USATNW.Environment@usdoj.gov. Notifying our office helps us protect the community from harmful violations of federal health and safety laws.

If you still have questions regarding reporting, email us at USATNW.Environment@usdoj.gov or contact the Department’s Environmental Crimes Section (USDOJ-ECS) at 202-305-0321 or ECSEJ.ENRD@usdoj.gov.

Reporting Potential Violations

To notify us of environmental concerns, you can use the following contact methods:

email concerns to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Environmental Justice Coordinator at USATNW.Environment@usdoj.gov;

leave a voicemail for the Environmental Justice Coordinator at 901-544-4231;

for violations related to air quality; climate change; chemicals and toxins; health; land, waste, and cleanup; and water, file an online complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency at https://echo.epa.gov/report-environmental-violations;

for violations related to workplace conditions like chemicals or toxic fumes, contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at 1-800-321-6742; or Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) at 844-224-5818;

for violations related to pesticides harming wildlife, contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 1-800-344-9453 or www.fws.gov/wildlife-crime-tips;

for violations related to the destruction of wetlands, contact the Memphis branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at 901-544-3360;

for violations related to medications, cosmetics, biological products, and other products for human consumption, contact the FDA at 1-888-463-6332;

for violations related to housing conditions, contact the Department of Housing & Urban Development – Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) at 1-800-347-3735;

to report an oil or chemical spill, contact the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802;

for violations related to public corruption, contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation at https://tips.fbi.gov/; and

for concerns about discriminatory environmental and health impacts caused by recipients of federal funds, contact the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division at 1-888-TITLE-06 (1-888-848-5306) or email our office at USATNW.Environment@usdoj.gov.

Want to learn more?

Community members who are interested in learning more about our environmental justice efforts are encouraged to contact us via email at USATNW.Environment@usdoj.gov

Updated November 9, 2022