Washington DC – The White House on Friday rolled out a new screening tool to help identify communities disparately impacted by environmental injustice, but activists and advocates are criticizing the omission of one very critical factor.

The administration's new tool will be used to help decide how federal funds are allocated to communities impacted by environmental hazards.

Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the tool would help the government devote resources to communities "that have been left out and left behind for far too long," according to the Associated Press.

It includes indices like air pollution, health outcomes, and economic status – but excludes race, despite many experts pointing out that race is the greatest determining factor when it comes to environmental injustice.

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That omission has led to criticism from racial and environmental justice advocates.

"It’s a major disappointment and it’s a major flaw in trying to identify those communities that have been hit hardest by pollution," Robert Bullard, a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, told the Associated Press.

Administration officials said leaving out race was a means of reducing the number of legal challenges they might face.

The public now has 60 days to test out the tool and submit any comments.