An ad hoc planning committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine will organize and host a two-day workshop to gather stakeholder input on implementing community benefit agreements in federally-funded energy infrastructure projects as they relate to the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Justice 40 initiative. The participants will:
• Review the status of community benefits determination, guidance, and tools developed by DOE, the Council on Environmental Quality, and other agencies relevant to Justice 40;
• Discuss the alignment, gaps, and areas of conflict across current and proposed approaches to community benefit formulation;
• Learn from historically disadvantaged and host communities about succesful engagement models and how to formulate community benefits;
• Describe and discuss existing and proposed methods for measuring, reporting, and evaluating community benefits under Justice 40 and contributions from relevant academic scholarship that could inform the development of community benefits—particularly in assessing non-monetary contributions;
• Highlight community benefit agreements developed by state and local governments and the private sector that can serve as national models for Justice 40 programs; and
• Discuss steps that could improve formulation and delivery of Justice 40 goals in energy and infrastructure projects.
The Academies will issue a proceedings from the workshop.