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How does EPA use
EJSCREEN?
EPA uses EJSCREEN to identify
areas that may have higher
environmental burdens and
vulnerable populations as the
Agency develops programs, policies
and activities that may affect
communities. A few examples of
what EJSCREEN supports across the
Agency include:
• Informing outreach and
engagement practices;
• As an initial screen for voluntary
programs, enhanced outreach
in permitting, and prioritizing
enforcement work;
• Developing retrospective reports
of EPA work; and
• Enhancing place-based
activities.
EJSCREEN is not used by EPA staff
for any of the following:
• As a means to identify or label an
area as an "EJ community;"
• To quantify specific risk values for
a selected area; or
• As the sole basis for EPA decision-
making or making a
determination regarding
the existence or absence of EJ
concerns.
Additionally, note that EPA is not
requiring state, local, or tribal
partners to use EJSCREEN in any
context.
What is Environmental Justice?
EPA defines environmental justice (EJ) as, "the fair treatment and meaningful
involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with
respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws,
regulations, and policies." EPA's goal is to provide an environment where all people
enjoy the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal
access to the decision-making process to maintain a healthy environment in which to
live, learn, and work.
What is EJSCREEN?
An important first step to ensuring environmental
justice for all people in this country is to identify the
areas where people are most vulnerable or likely
to be exposed to different types of pollution. For
this reason, EPA developed EJSCREEN to help aid in
efforts to ensure programs, policies, and resources
are appropriately inclusive and consider the needs of
communities most burdened by pollution.
EJSCREEN is an environmental justice screening and
mapping tool that utilizes standard and nationally-
consistent data to highlight places that may have
higher environmental burdens and vulnerable
populations. The tool provides both summary
and detailed information at a high geographic resolution for both demographic and
environmental indicators.
EJSCREEN also provides eleven EJ Indexes, which combine demographic information
with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help
identify communities that may have a high combination of environmental burdens and
vulnerable populations. The tool displays this information in color-coded maps, bar
charts, and standard reports on an easy to use web interface. All of this information can
be used to assist efforts by stakeholders and advocates to protect human health and the
environment in communities affected by pollution.
How can EJSCREEN be accessed?
EJSCREEN will be available as part of EPA's GeoPiatform that helps coordinate mapping
activities, applications, and data across the Agency. It will be available through the EPA
website, and will not require any downloads to use the tool.
Proximity to traffic is one of the
11 environmental indicators.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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EJSCREEN
FACT SHEET
What are the limitations of
the tool?
For EPA's purposes, EJSCREEN will be used as an initial
step in highlighting locations that may be candidates
for further review. But EPA recognizes that screening
level results have significant limitations and are not
intended or designed to provide a risk assessment.
For example, EJSCREEN does not provide data on
every environmental impact and demographic
indicator that may be relevant to a particular location,
and data may be several years old. Thus, EPA will
supplement EJSCREEN outputs with additional
information and local knowledge before making
any decisions about potential environmental justice
issues.
Users of this tool should also be aware that screening
tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their
demographic and environmental data, particularly
when looking at small geographic areas like a census
block group. Lastly, while the use of percentiles
provides useful perspective by putting the 11
environmental indicators in common units, it simply
means those two scores are equally common (or
equally rare) in the United States. It does not mean
the risks are equal or comparable.
How can the public use
EJSCREEN?
EJSCREEN can be a useful tool to help communities
and others identify areas with higher environmental
and economic burdens in order to participate
meaningfully in decision-making processes that
impact their health and environment.
The public will be able to use EJSCREEN to access
high-resolution environmental and demographic
information for communities in the United States.
The tool may help users identify areas with minority
and/or low-income populations, potential air and
water quality issues, and other factors that may be
of interest. EJSCREEN may also be used to support
educational programs, grant writing, community
awareness efforts, and other purposes.
What kind of data does EJSCREEN use?
Because EJSCREEN is intended as a national tool, environmental and
demographic data selected for the tool must be nationally available at the
Census tract or block group level. EPA uses demographic data from the
U.S. Census Bureau American Community 5-year Summary Survey (ACS),
which include demographic indicators for race/ethnicity, poverty, age,
educational level and language barriers.
Demographic Indicator
Description (Source: 2010-2014 ACS Estimates)
Low-Income
% of block group population at or below twice the federal "poverty level."
Minority
All people other than non-Hispanic white-alone individuals.
Less than high school education
% of people age 25 or older without a high school diploma.
Linguistic isolation
%of people in household in which all members overage 14years speak
English less than "very well."
Individuals underage 5
% of people in a block group under the age of 5.
Individuals over age 54
% of people in a block group over the age of 64.
EJSCREEN puts each indicator or index value in perspective by reporting
the value as a percentile. For example, an area may show 60% of housing
was built prior to 1960. It may not be obvious whether this is a relatively
high or low value, compared to the rest of the nation or in the state.
Therefore, EJSCREEN also reports that 60% pre-1960 puts this area at the
80th percentile nationwide. For a place at the 80th percentile nationwide,
that means 20% of the US population has a higher value.
The elevenenvironmental indicators are based on information developed
from direct measurements, proxy estimates of pollution exposure, and
facility location information. Environmental and proximity indicators are
screening-level proxies for exposure or risk - not actual exposure or risk.
Environmental Indicator Raw Data Tvpe (Units)
Indicator
Descriptor
Year Data
published
Particulate Mattel (PM2.5 in jig/m3)
Potential
Exposure
2012
Ozone (ppb)
Potential
Exposure
2012
* National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) Diesel PM in (ng/m3)
Potential
Exposure
2011
* NATA Air Toxics Cancer Risk (risk per million people)
Hazard/Risk
2011
* NATA Respiratory Hazard Index
Hazard/Risk
2011
Lead Paint Indicator (% pre-1960s Housing)
Potential
Exposure
2010-
2014
Traffic Proximity (daily traffic count/distance to road)
Proximity
2014
Proximity to Superfund sites (count/km distance)
Proximity
2015
Proximity to Risk Management Plan facilities (count/km distance)
Proximity
2015
Proximity to Treatment Storage Disposal Facilities (count/km
distance)
Proximity
2015
Proximity to Major Direct Water Dischargers (count/km distance)
Proximity
2015
-S-EPA
For More Information
To find out more detailed information about EJSCREEN or environmental justice at EPA,
visit: https://www.eDa.gov/eiscreen
For questions, requests, feedback, and issues using EJSCREEN, e-mail enviromail group@epa.gov.
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