What: On November 21, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comment on the agency’s “Interim Framework for the Consideration of Cumulative Impacts.”
EPA defines “cumulative impacts” as “the totality of exposures to combinations of chemical and nonchemical stressors and their effects on health and quality-of-life outcomes.” The agency is analyzing “cumulative impacts” in part to “acknowledge the role of government in policies and practices that have resulted in the inequitable distribution of environmental burdens.”
The interim framework seeks to incorporate the consideration of “cumulative impacts” into EPA’s activities. The scope of EPA actions covered by the framework includes “standard setting, permitting, rulemaking, cleanup, emergency response, funding, planning, state, territorial, and Tribal program oversight, and other decision-making, and initiating administrative or judicial action.”
Deadline for comments: Comments on the interim framework are due February 19, 2025.
Action: Read the Interim Framework for the Consideration of Cumulative Impacts and read the Federal Register notice and submit comments.
Advocacy contact: Send an email to Nick Goldstein at nick.goldstein@sba.gov.