The Biden administration brought a much sharper focus and prioritization to issues of climate change and environmental justice, which presents significant implications for environmental permitting, civil and criminal enforcement, agency rulemaking and legislative action, and beyond. Corporations are constantly adapting and must remain light on their feet, particularly in these changing times. This article will take a closer look at how those initiatives are taking shape in practice and what to anticipate going forward. This includes increased consideration of climate change and environmental justice impacts in decision-making and liability as it relates to existing and closed CERCLA sites. This article will further address company response to these issues and proactive approaches. Lastly, the article will examine environmental justice screening tools and the underlying databases to better understand how they work, how regulators and litigants are using them, and what limitations and concerns they present.

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