WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday launched a new environmental justice office to oversee cases involving the discriminatory impact of pollution, and said it would once again use supplemental environmental projects in civil settlements with polluters.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, at a news conference, said the department was tightening and strengthening the rules surrounding such projects’ use in settlements as part of the plan aimed at aiding communities most adversely impacted by illegal pollution.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Susan Heavey)
