Health and Human Services announces new office focused on environmental risks to underserved communities

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The new HHS office will be responsible for creating and implementing a department-wide strategy on environmental justice and health.


(CNN) The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday it is establishing an Office of Environmental Justice, putting a spotlight on environmental inequities in health.

The new office will be led by interim director Sharunda Buchanan, a former official at the Centers for Disease Control specializing in environmental health issues like lead exposure.

While there are other federal offices, including the White House Council on Environmental Quality, that focus on environmental justice, Buchanan told CNN she hopes the HHS office will bring new resources to communities, especially low incomes communities and communities of color dealing with elevated lead exposure or inadequate waste water treatment.

"My goal for this office is to serve as a resource for communities, I want to work alongside these communities," Buchanan told CNN in an interview Tuesday. "I like to say that environmental justice and health equity are inextricably linked. If you find an environmental justice issue, you're going to inevitably find a health issue."

The office will be responsible for creating and implementing a department-wide strategy on environmental justice and health and taking the lead on annual HHS environmental justice reports, among other tasks.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/31/politics/hhs-office-of-environmental-justice-climate/index.html