Justice Imperiled: Assessing the Legal Arguments for the Trump Administration’s Assault on Federal Environmental Justice Programs

The report examines the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle environmental justice initiatives, arguing that the legal justifications for these rollbacks are weak. It specifically addresses the impact of Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action, asserting that while such decisions impose constraints, they do not make environmental justice initiatives categorically unlawful nor prevent the government from considering the historical legacies of racism.

• The Trump administration has dismantled environmental justice efforts by rescinding executive orders on environmental inequities, terminating relevant agency staff, and revoking public health rules for vulnerable communities, ending thirty years of bipartisan support for these issues.

APA

Levine, G. L. (2026). Justice Imperiled: Assessing the Legal Arguments for the Trump Administration’s Assault on Federal Environmental Justice Programs. Institute for Policy Integrity. https://policyintegrity.org/publications/detail/justice-imperiled-assessing-the-legal-arguments-for-the-trump-administrations-assault-on-federal-environmental-justice-programs

Chicago

Levine, Gabriel L. Justice Imperiled: Assessing the Legal Arguments for the Trump Administration’s Assault on Federal Environmental Justice Programs. Institute for Policy Integrity, 2026. https://policyintegrity.org/publications/detail/justice-imperiled-assessing-the-legal-arguments-for-the-trump-administrations-assault-on-federal-environmental-justice-programs.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Levine |first1=Gabriel L. |title=Justice Imperiled: Assessing the Legal Arguments for the Trump Administration’s Assault on Federal Environmental Justice Programs |publisher=Institute for Policy Integrity |date=29 June 2026 |url=https://policyintegrity.org/publications/detail/justice-imperiled-assessing-the-legal-arguments-for-the-trump-administrations-assault-on-federal-environmental-justice-programs |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{levine2026justice, author = {Levine, Gabriel L.}, title = {{Justice Imperiled: Assessing the Legal Arguments for the Trump Administration’s Assault on Federal Environmental Justice Programs}}, institution = {Institute for Policy Integrity}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://policyintegrity.org/publications/detail/justice-imperiled-assessing-the-legal-arguments-for-the-trump-administrations-assault-on-federal-environmental-justice-programs}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }