Environmental Justice

The United States Department of Justice enforces the Nation’s civil and criminal environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and hazardous waste laws. We also protect natural resources and handle cases relating to tribal rights and resources. 

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, in coordination with the United States Department of Justice and our agency partners, seeks to secure environmental justice for all communities, to ensure that everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to a healthy environment in which to live. 

The Office welcomes information from the public that brings to our attention possible violations of our nation's environmental laws and regulations. At the same time, the United States Attorney’s Office is primarily a legal office and not an investigative agency. However, this Office’s Environmental Justice Coordinator will evaluate your complaint to determine whether this Office will take further action on it or refer the complaint to another agency. Please keep in mind that this office cannot represent you in any matter, including in your pursuit of any private claims of violations of environmental laws. Therefore, you may need to consult and retain your own attorney.

In connection with its environmental justice practice, the Office is interested in learning from the public about lead paint problems in the community we serve. Violations of lead paint regulations and laws may involve contractors or repair people who do not properly investigate or remediate lead paint safely. Other violations of lead paint regulations involve the failure of landlords to make proper disclosures about lead paint.

The office encourages residents to contact our Environmental Justice Coordinator at (415) 436-7200 or by e-mail: [email protected]. 

In addition to contacting our Office, residents can contact the Environmental Protection Agency about lead paint concerns, as well as violations about air quality, climate change, chemicals and toxics, health, land waste and cleanup, and water. You can report directly to the EPA https://echo.epa.gov/report-environmental-violations. You can also report lead paint complaints to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for federally-funded housing at [email protected]. You may also consider contacting local, state, or other federal agency hotlines or websites to report environmental health and safety concerns.

If you are concerned about the discriminatory environmental and health impact caused by recipients of federal funds, contact DOJ Civil Rights at 1-888-TITLE-06 (1-888-848-5306) and our Office at [email protected].