White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) Public Meetings for 2023

Two recent peer-reviewed studies have highlighted the serious environmental justice concerns caused by unequal pesticide regulatory protections in the USA. The study "Pesticides and environmental injustice in the USA: root causes, current regulatory reinforcement and a path forward" found that pesticides are disproportionately harming people of color and low-income communities both in the urban and rural environments in the U.S. and throughout the lifecycle of pesticides, from manufacture to use. The study "United States and United Nations pesticide policies: Environmental violence against the Yaqui Indigenous nation" highlights how U.S. pesticide law permits the export of dangerous pesticides banned within our own borders. This paper provides a case study of the significant harms suffered by the people of the Yaqui Nation in Mexico from this immoral practice that perpetuates environmental violence against Indigenous Peoples in the Americas and beyond. Both of these studies offer pragmatic, common-sense actions that the EPA can take immediately to reduce or entirely prevent these injustices. Pesticide use is set to increase dramatically due to the effects of global climate change and increasing pressure from pests and pathogens. We hope the WEJAC will consider these studies in its policy recommendations to the Federal Government.