EPA, through its Office of Environmental Justice, asked the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council to provide advice and recommendations on the follow question: in order to secure protection from environmental degradation for all citizens, what factors should be considered by a federal permitting authority, as well as state or local agencies with delegated permitting responsibilities, in the decision-making process prior to allowing a new pollution-generating facility to operate in a minority and/or low-income community that may already have a number of such facilities?