The Environmental Justice designation is aimed at protecting poor and minority communities that often bear the brunt of pollution. But the update leaves out oil and gas drilling operations.
Families in Butler County sued the fracking company when their well water had a strong smell and a bad taste after drilling began. Their water is still bad.
Environmentalists and lawmakers from both parties welcomed the announcement, saying it was an overdue move by an official who sought to undermine the mission of the agency he headed.
Range Resources is building a shale gas well along a ridge a few hundred feet from the popular trail. A pipeline right-of-way, about 50 feet wide, has been cut through a wooded section that hikers will see as they pass by.