Desk Reference to the Toolkit
for Assessing Potential Allegations
of Environmental Injustice
Public Participation
Environment
Environmental
Justice
Economic
Access to Information
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DISCLAIMER
This document provides an overview of tools and other reference materials to assist
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) personnel in assessing and addressing
potential allegations of environmental injustice. This desk reference is intended as an
overview of the materials presented in the "Toolkit for Assessing Potential Allegations of
Environmental Injustice." As such, it should not be considered a substitute for the complete
Toolkit.
The Toolkit and the accompanying desk reference are living documents and may be
revised periodically without public notice. EPA welcomes public comments on these
documents at any time and will consider those comments in any future revision of the
Toolkit.
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Environmental Justice Toolkit - Desk Reference
Introduction
The Office of Environmental Justice, in coordination with the EPA Regions
and Headquarters Program Offices, developed a comprehensive "Toolkit for
Assessing Potential Allegations of Environmental Injustice" (Toolkit) as a conceptual
and substantive framework for understanding the Agency's environmental justice
program. The Toolkit provides a systematic approach to assess and respond to
potential allegations of environmental injustice as they occur, or to prevent injustices
from occurring in the first place. The core audience for the Toolkit is the
Environmental Justice Coordinators at EPA Headquarters and Regional Offices who
are directly involved in environmental justice initiatives and are the front-line in
addressing allegations of environmental injustice. The purpose of this desk reference
is to present the systematic approach in a format that allows quick and easy reference
to the methodology.
Because of the infinitely variable nature of environmental justice problems and
stakeholders, as well as the resources available to address any particular situation,
neither this document nor the complete Toolkit are intended to mandate an assessment
or actions to be taken in each situation. Rather, they are intended to promote a
common understanding and provide a flexible framework for assessing and
addressing such situations. The decision on whether and how to use the tools and the
approach presented in the Toolkit and this desk reference will be made on a case-by-
case basis.
Overview of the Methodology
The basic environmental justice assessment methodology consists of the
following general phases (also see diagram on page 6):
Phase 1 - Problem Formulation
Phase 2 - Data Collection
Phase 3 - Assessment of the Potential for "Adverse" Environmental and
Human Health Effects or Impacts
Phase 4 - Assessment of Potential for "Disproportionately High and
Adverse" Effects or Impacts
The methodology relies on the use of data referred to as "Environmental Justice
Indicators." Environmental Justice Indicators are: (1) Environmental Indicators; (2)
Health Indicators; (3) Social Indicators; and (4) Economic Indicators. Indicators are
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Environmental Justice Toolkit - Desk Reference
data that highlight some aspect of current conditions and trends in the environment or
within a community. They provide information that can be used in an environmental
justice assessment to supplement, as appropriate, information more specific to the
environmental decision being evaluated (e.g., impacts from a facility being sited or
permitted, or potential impacts from a proposed rule) and data required by the
statutory authorities that apply to the particular situation. The Toolkit provides more
detailed definition of the various types of Environmental Justice Indicators and
potential sources of data.
Phase 1; Problem Formulation. Problem formulation establishes the context,
management goals, and scope of the entire assessment. It also identifies the
participants in the process (e.g., the Assessment Team), the endpoints that are going
to be assessed to inform the decision-making process, and which Environmental
Justice Indicators (referenced above) will be used to assess those endpoints. The
products include a conceptual model of the problem and an analysis plan for the
assessment. During this step, an affected area also is identified in at least a general
way, as are potential reference communities or statistical sources (e.g., national or
state-wide values).
Phase 2; Data Collection. The purpose of this phase is to collect the situation-
specific data needed to conduct the analysis of whether the affected area is likely to or
is already experiencing disproportionately high and adverse impacts from the
situation. In this phase, two types of data are collected:
(1) Identification of Environmental Sources of Stress and Likelihood of Exposure.
Information is collected to determine the sources of environmental pressures or stress
in the affected area that are different from or additional to those in the reference
community. This includes an assessment of existing or likely future additional
pressures or sources of stress and their proximity to the community (compared with
the reference community), that may result from a particular decision or activity.
Specific types of data to be considered include:
Sources of stressors placed on the community
- Number of environmentally regulated facilities within a community
- Length of time regulated facilities have operated within a community
- Number of current and past permit exceedances by regulated facilities
- Number or extent of non-point sources of pollution
- Noise levels
Potential exposure to stressors
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Environmental Justice Toolkit - Desk Reference
- Proximity of regulated facilities to the majority of the community's
population
- Proximity to multiple contaminant sources
- Potential or actual cumulative exposure across multiple locations
- Potential or actual exposure to multiple stressors
- Number of biomarkers of exposure that are evident
Environmental conditions resulting from stressors
- "Quality" of the air, water, and other environmental media
- Density of contaminants in biota (living organisms)
Environmental vulnerability
- Climate
- Geomorphic features
- Hydrogeomorphic features
- Presence of ecologically sensitive areas
(2) Collection of Data on Affected Area and Reference Community. Health-related,
social, and economic data on the affected area and on the potential reference
communities are collected. This information will be used to compare impacts on the
affected area in comparison with the reference community. Generally speaking, the
geographic boundaries for a potentially affected area will be defined by the problem
(e.g., defining an impact zone around a hazardous waste site or permitted facility) or
by the community itself.
Health Indicators provide information on the general health of the community's
residents and their ability to cope with environmental stresses. Specific types
of data that would be considered include:
Existing health conditions
- Percent of infant mortality within the community (per 1000 births)
- Average birth weight
- Adult mortality
- Life expectancy at birth
Health impacts from environmental stressors
- Number of illnesses attributable to chemical contaminants - if
contaminant stressors are in question.
- Number of diseases attributable to pathogens - if pathogenic stressors
are in question.
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Environmental Justice Toolkit - Desk Reference
Social Indicators include data on the distribution of certain population
characteristics (e.g., race, color, or ethnicity). Specific types of data that would
be considered include:
General demographics
- Percent of population (that have various ethnic and national origins)
- Population density, including the distribution of urban and rural
populations
- Percent of the population that is Native American
- Distribution of languages spoken in population
- Percent of the population that is literate in English or other languages
Vulnerability to exposure
- Percent of community with access to public transportation and
services
- Percent of community with access to health care facilities
- Percent of community that uses regulated (cigarettes, alcohol) and
unregulated (drugs) substances
- Percent of community with access to alternative sources of drinking
water
- Percent of community with sewage treatment
- Percent of community that relies on local food sources
Government response actions
- Expenditure/investment on providing access to environmental
information (as a percent of total community budget)
- Expenditure/investment on environmental education and training (as a
percent of total community budget)
- Number and frequency of public meetings on proposed actions and
policy decisions
- Number of different types of materials distributed
- Percent of households that received distributed materials
- Number of documents available in the various languages associated
with a community
Community participation
- Community identification
- Cultural dynamics
- Quality of public participation of community residents
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Environmental Justice Toolkit - Desk Reference
- Number of community residents participating in non-governmental
organizations
- Number of community members participating in the decisionmaking
process
Economic Indicators reveal trends about the community's economic well-
being. Specific types of data that would be considered include:
Economic information
- Unemployment rate
- Income level and distribution
- Percent of homeowners in a community or the percent of renters in a
community
- Percent of community residents with employment in pollution-
generating industrial facilities or services
- Number of brownfields in the community
- Reliance on natural resources for the community's economic base (as
a percent of total community budget)
Phase 3; Assessment of Potential for "Adverse" Environmental and
Human Health Effects or Impacts. In this phase, the Assessment Team uses the
information collected above to determine whether the proposed actions or existing
situation, either alone or in combination with other sources of stress in the
environment, might cause adverse impacts in the affected areas. This analysis
consists of two activities:
Assessment of Potential for "Adverse" Environmental Impacts. For
environmental impacts, this analysis may involve using analytical tools to
assess the transport and fate of contaminants in the environment. The
endpoints of the assessment include environmental conditions for which EPA
has established numerical criteria, such as air and water quality, contaminant
concentrations in soils and drinking water, and ambient concentrations of toxic
substances outdoors and indoors. The endpoints might also include other
parameters for which no numerical standards or criteria exist (e.g., traffic) that
need to be evaluated for both the community of concern and the reference
community.
Assessment of the Potential for "Adverse " Human Health Impacts. This can
involve the analytic tools used for human exposure and toxicity assessment and
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Environmental Justice Toolkit - Desk Reference
risk characterization. The affected area might be stressed directly by some of
the sources identified above or indirectly via changes in or contamination of
the environment in which they live and work. This analysis includes two
components. The first is estimating the likelihood that the proposed actions or
existing sources under evaluation would cause adverse effects on human
health. The second is assessing the existing health conditions in the affected
area that might result from all sources of stress, including behavioral choices.
Compromised health due to poor diet or abuse of substances can make
individuals more sensitive to the stressors under investigation. Again,
information should be collected for both the affected area and the reference
community.
Phase 4; Assessment of Potential for "Disproportionately High and
Adverse" Effects or Impacts. The final question to determine the extent of an
environmental justice situation is whether the potential for adverse effects on the
environment or human health is disproportionately high in the affected area compared
with the reference community. This involves a comparison of the likelihood,
magnitude, and severity of potential effects in the affected area with the likelihood,
magnitude, and severity of potential effects in the reference population(s).
Historically, environmental justice concerns have focused on populations
considered to be minority and/or low-income. However, since environmental justice
is defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, this
characterization would not necessarily cause an assessment to be considered "closed"
if the population was not considered to be a minority or low-income area. The final
decision should be, rather, whether the affected area is likely to or is already impacted
by greater adverse effects than the reference community. In many cases, a community
that is predominately low-income and/or minority may have the characteristics that
will increase its vulnerability or sensitivity to environmental impacts. However, to the
extent possible, the actual Health Indicators and other data should be collected to
demonstrate how these conditions contribute to greater adverse impacts, rather than
relying on just demographic data. Furthermore, some demographic and other social
data will be useful in determining how to address the situation (e.g., to increase public
participation).
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Environmental Justice Toolkit - Desk Reference
Methodology for Assessing Potential Allegations of Environmental Injustice
Context
Scope
Participants
Indicators -
Inputs
Formulate problem
Inputs
Endpoints
Community definitions
Conceptual model
Identify environmental
sources of stress and
likelihood of exposure
Collect data on
community of concern
and reference community
I
Assess potential for adverse environmental
and human health impacts
Uj
I
Determine whether impacts
are disproportionate
Determine action
Use of the Methodology
Use of the specific components of this methodology is intended to be flexible.
This methodology may be conducted in conjunction with, or as a supplement to, the
programmatic analysis that occurs within existing environmental programs (e.g.,
RCRA permitting process). In the absence of a specific decisionmaking process (e.g.,
in response to an allegation from a community), the methodology may be
implemented independently.
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Environmental Justice Toolkit - Desk Reference
Furthermore, each situation may differ in the order in which the data collection
components are addressed (e.g., collecting information on the affected area prior to
assessing the environmental impacts), the quality and quantity of data used, the level
of effort expended, and in many cases, the greater certainty with respect to the
conclusions that can be reached. However, it is important that appropriate data
collection be completed before making a determination as to whether an
environmental injustice situation is occurring or likely to occur. In particular, a
situation should not be excluded from further consideration based solely on
demographics (i.e., if a community does not appear to be significantly lower in
income or higher in minorities than the comparison community) - since the goal of
environmental justice is to ensure equal protection for all populations. The defining
issue is, rather, whether a particular community is likely to suffer from
disproportionately greater environmental impacts, regardless of its demographics.
The methodology is intended to be used in a tiered approach to ensure that the
process is cost-effective and that subsequent efforts can be focused on situations
requiring greater attention from EPA. For example, initial results from the first
assessment may indicate that the situation is more appropriately handled under the
lead of another federal department/agency. The initial tier is referred to as "The
Screening-Level Assessment," while the subsequent (or additional) tier is called "The
Refined Assessment."
The Screening-Level Assessment consists of the basic methodology and begins
with readily available information. The purpose of the Screening-Level Assessment
is two-fold. First, in some cases, it might be possible to demonstrate at the end of the
screen that the problem is not a significant environmental justice concern or one in
which EPA should take the lead. For example, at this stage of the assessment, the
Assessment Team might be able to conclude that a proposed activity or an existing
stress is unlikely to cause any adverse effects on the environment (e.g., water quality
standards would not be or are not exceeded) or pose risks to human health (e.g.,
estimated cancer risk less than one in ten million). In addition, the team may
conclude that the situation is more appropriately addressed under the lead of another
federal, state, or local agency. If this is the case, EPA's environmental justice
analysis could stop at the end of the screening analysis. Second, for those cases in
which the screen indicates a possible environmental justice concern for which EPA
could be of assistance, the screening analysis generally helps to narrow the focus of
the more Refined Assessment to those issues that the screen indicated are most
important.
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If, at the end of the Screening-Level Assessment, the decision is that an
environmental injustice situation might exist and that EPA might have a role to play
in alleviating the injustice, the EPA decisionmaker could choose to conduct a Refined
Assessment. The steps in the Refined Assessment are similar to the steps in the
Screening-Level Assessment, but more quantitative data and more certain answers to
the questions generally are required.
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