U.S. Environmental Justice Screening Tool (EJScreen) Post-Cancellation Impact: Expansion into State-Level Regulation and Private Litigation Risk

The environmental justice screening tools "EJScreen" and "CEJST," developed and operated under the Biden administration, were fully suspended at the federal level and taken offline pursuant to Executive Order 14148 (January 20, 2025). However, even after the federal tools were shut down, state-specific screening tools—including California's "CalEnviroScreen" and Washington State's "Environmental Health Disparities Map"—continue to operate. Furthermore, private plaintiffs and environmental NGOs have independently preserved and made use of the federal government's previously published EJScreen open data and archived data, actively citing it as evidentiary material in challenges to new plant construction or permit renewals near disadvantaged communities, as well as in various civil suits alleging nuisance or disparate health impacts. It should be noted that the federal cancellation of the tool has not immediately eliminated environmental justice-related legal risk at the private and state levels.