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January 19, 2025

EPA, DNREC reach agreement on civil rights complaint

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The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of External Civil Rights Compliance (OECRC) and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) have signed an Informal Resolution AgreementOpen this document with ReadSpeaker docReader addressing a civil rights complaint related to permitting for a bioenergy project in Seaford.

The resolution builds on steps DNREC had already taken to strengthen public engagement processes in communities impacted by permitting decisions. In the agreement, the EPA notes that before the complaint was accepted for investigation, DNREC had already:

  • Hired the first environmental justice coordinator, the first such position in the state;
  • Developed an environmental justice screening tool to allow staff to analyze demographics and make determinations as to whether additional outreach and/or translation services are necessary;
  • Adopted an Environmental Justice Compliance Policy and conducted 22 training and consultation sessions for staff to support its implementation;
  • Developed a Community Engagement Outline to help staff take steps to improve community engagement;
  • Created internal and external environmental justice webpages with information on community resources, data, and information DNREC uses, as well as identifying ways the public can participate in DNREC activities and programs;
  • Initiated a Community Assets Campaign that enables community members to provide information about the community in which they live to grow more effective communication.

These initiatives are not new or part of the agreement itself but were acknowledged by the EPA as measures DNREC took independently.

“DNREC has made great strides in improving and growing community engagement, but we know we must continue to find ways to bring everyone to the table and ensure their voice in our processes,” said Acting DNREC Secretary Lisa Borin Ogden. “We appreciate the EPA’s work in identifying areas where we can focus on improving, and also the agency’s acknowledgment of the programs and processes that we have developed and continue to improve upon in our outreach efforts.”

Looking ahead, DNREC is further enhancing these efforts through additional steps outlined in the agreement, including working with the EPA to implement DNREC’s new grievance procedures and a new language access plan to ensure meaningful access to DNREC programs and activities for individuals with limited English proficiency.

The EPA acknowledged DNREC’s proactive efforts, stating in the agreement that “In consideration of DNREC’s implementation of commitments and actions described in Section III of this Agreement, OECRC will end its investigation of Complaint No. 02RNO-23-R3 and not issue a decision containing findings on the merits of the complaint.” The EPA will monitor DNREC’s progress for one year to ensure compliance with the agreement.

The complaint was filed in late 2022, and the EPA accepted it for investigation on Sept. 8, 2023. It alleged that DNREC’s permitting process for the Bioenergy Development Company’s (BDC) Bioenergy Innovation Center Project in Seaford, including its public participation process, discriminated against Black, Latino, and Haitian individuals living near BDC’s facility based on race, color, and national origin in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 40 C.F.R. Part 7. It also alleged discrimination against Spanish-speaking and Haitian Creole-speaking individuals with limited English proficiency.

For more information about the BDC project, including documents, notices ,and presentations in English, Spanish, and Haitian-Creole, visit de.gov/biodevco

Source: delawarelive.com…