New positions created at four key state agencies could help prevent confusion and clashes on environmental justice matters in the future. That’s what a special state commission studying those issues recommends going forward.

The state Department of Administration’s Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental and Health Equity Task Force released its first biannual report (PDF) last week. Created by Gov. Roy Cooper this summer, the task force reviews this range of concerns and makes recommendations for improving the way state agencies handle them, including environmental justice.

One of the task force’s recommendations is the creation of dedicated staff posts to review the environmental justice implications of decisions in the Departments of Commerce, Transportation, and Natural and Cultural Resources, and the Office of Emergency Management. (The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) already has such a staff position.)

Observers of state policy issues note multiple examples of the disconnect between different state agencies on decisions that can have a disproportionate impact on poor and minority communities. One recent example involved the state Commerce Department recommending the Atlantic Coast Pipeline at the same time DEQ was studying its potential problems. 

The new positions could be created in each department by redesignating an existing position or by adding a new one. Adding new posts would most likely require state legislative budget approval.

Gov. Cooper’s first assignment for the newly created task force was finding ways to address the disparate health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.