6. Create oversight and accountability mechanisms to ensure that guidance is followed and goals are met
Build a robust and transparent monitoring and reporting process.
A transparent accountability structure is necessary for both the administration and the public to understand whether Justice40’s goals are being met. This requires a robust monitoring and reporting process that is consistent across federal agencies. The OMB’s interim guidance calls for all agencies to report on progress annually, but because agencies are allowed to independently determine what “counts” as a benefit for each of their programs, they are only required to declare the percentage of overall benefits directed to “disadvantaged” communities. Since any given program can have multiple benefits, and not all benefits have equal impacts, the current reporting structure does not allow for a comprehensive understanding of Justice40’s impact.
More detailed guidance on desired benefits and how to measure them (see recommendation 5: Refine implementation guidance) would allow the administration to build a more robust monitoring and reporting process that would hold agencies and their grantees accountable to Justice40’s intent and principles. The administration should also direct federal agencies to implement a monitoring and reporting process for Justice40 funding recipients that balances the need for information on progress with the need to avoid placing unnecessarily onerous burdens on communities and funding recipients. To enable community oversight, the data gathered from both agency and recipient reports should be published publicly, updated regularly, and made easily accessible. This could be done via the planned Environmental Justice Scorecard (which would need to be expanded in scope to account for all of Justice40’s intersecting goals) or through a separate platform.
Develop clear mechanisms of accountability.
For Justice40 to meet its goal of delivering 40 percent of benefits to “disadvantaged” communities, the federal government must establish clear mechanisms of accountability. This necessitates both specifying who is to be held accountable for meeting Justice40’s goals—whether that is federal agencies, funding recipients, or a centralized oversight body—and what the consequences of underperformance would be. These consequences should be meaningful enough to ensure compliance with Justice40 principles and goals, but also fair and not punitive. Potential consequences could include instituting performance-improvement plans for underperforming agencies or requiring adjustments to reporting requirements. Clearly defining the consequences of failing to meet Justice40’s goals while providing the support necessary for compliance will be key to positioning funding recipients, federal agencies, and the initiative as a whole for success.
Provide the support and resources needed to comply with Justice40’s framework.
Alongside clear reporting requirements and accountability mechanisms, the administration must provide the necessary resources for funding recipients and federal agencies to comply with Justice40’s framework. As noted in our initial framing paper, there are presently no funds dedicated to the implementation of Justice40—instead, each federal agency must carve out resources from their existing allocations to ensure that covered programs comply with Justice40 requirements and meet the initiative’s goals. But the transformative changes in agency programs and operations that Justice40 demands cannot be achieved without dedicated funding to redesign existing programs, create new ones, engage community members, and establish methods of tracking and reporting on benefits delivered to communities. The administration should invest in developing the necessary infrastructure to build capacity across federal agencies, whether by providing additional funding, technical assistance, or other necessary resources. Funding recipients—whether states, regional bodies, local governments, private actors, or nongovernmental organizations—may also require support to comply with Justice40’s framework and reporting requirements. The administration should direct federal agencies to provide this support and resource them to do so.
Designate an appropriate body to perform centralized oversight functions.
For accountability mechanisms to work as intended, there must be a single entity charged with centralized oversight of all Justice40 programs that will be responsible for monitoring progress and intervening as needed. Given that Justice40 is concerned primarily with the benefits of federal investments, the Office of Management and Budget could be a prime candidate to fulfill this role. Importantly, oversight should be institutionalized, including by giving responsibility to civil servants instead of political appointees, to ensure that oversight functions continue past the current administration (see recommendation 8: Expand Justice40’s reach).