Population Surrounding 19,537 Brownfields Sites That Received EPA Funding (Population data is from the Census Bureau's 20011-2015 ACS 5 year estimates; sites are as of FY 2016.) UPDATE: October 2017 Brownfields sites exist in thousands of communities across the U.S. ranging from remote to large urban settings. Many of these sites are located in economically distressed communities. To help describe who benefits from EPA's Brownfields Program, the Agency collected data on the population living within 3, 1, and >2 miles of Brownfield sites that received EPA funding. Population within 3 Miles of Sites: The 3-mile area surrounding sites was used because it is a good representation of the geographic area where people in a community live most of their lives - where they shop, work, go to school, go to restaurants, and participate in outdoor activities. As of the end of FY16, approximately 129 million people live within 3 miles of a Brownfields site that received EPA funding (roughly 40% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 41% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 39% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 55% of all black people in the U.S. • 47% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 49% of all minorities in the U.S. • 49% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 45% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S. • 53% of the linguistically isolated households in the U.S. Population within 1 Mile of Sites: As of the end of FY16, approximately 50 million people live within 1 mile of a Brownfields site that received EPA funding (roughly 16% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 17% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 15% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 27% of all black people in the U.S. • 19% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 21% of all minorities in the U.S. • 24% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 20% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S. • 22% of the linguistically isolated households in the U.S. Population within Vi Mile of Sites: As of the end of FY16, approximately 24 million people live within 1/2 mile of a Brownfields site that received EPA funding (roughly 7% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 8% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 7% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 14% of all black people in the U.S. • 9% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 10% of all minorities in the U.S. • 12% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 10% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S. • 11% of the linguistically isolated households in the U.S. Brownfield Sites that fcPKgvW* Received EPA Funding OLEM/Office of Communications, Partnerships, and Analysis ------- Demographics of Near-Site Population: While there is no single way to characterize communities located near these sites, this population is more minority, low income, linguistically isolated, and less likely to have a high school education than the U.S. population as a whole (see Table 1). As a result, these communities may have fewer resources with which to address concerns about their health and environment. TABLE 1: Key Demographics of the Total Brownfields Near-Site Population and the Total U.S. Population Population within % mile of All Sites Population within 1 mile of All Sites Population within 3 miles of All Sites U.S. Population Minority 54.2% 52.3% 47.1% 38.4% Below poverty level 23.7% 21.6% 17.7% 14.7% Linguistically isolated 7.2% 7.2% 6.7% 5.2% Less than a High School Education 19.0% 17.9% 15.4% 13.5% Methodology: A circular site boundary, equal to the site acreage, was modeled around the latitude/longitude for each site and then a 3 or 1 mile buffer ring was placed around the site boundary. American Community Survey (ACS) 2011-2015 census data was then identified for each block group with a centroid that fell within the 3 or 1 mile area. Data collected includes: (1) Brownfields program site information as of FY2016; and (2) ACS 20011-2015 census data. Site data from FY2016 included 19,537 brownfields sites in the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico with accurate locational data. IMPORTANT Caveats: • Data collected represent a national look at the characteristics of the population in communities surrounding our sites. While some of the data point to possible Environmental Justice (EJ) characteristics of the population, this is not an EJ analysis. • Proximity to a site does not necessarily represent risk of adverse health effects. The risk of exposure to contamination varies sign if ica ntly across all sites. • Data are a snapshot in time only, the site and population information will change over time (can be updated every year when new census data comes out and compared over time in 5-year intervals). • Used best available information, but data collected are estimates only, for the following reasons: ~ Used a single latitude/longitude location to model site boundaries based on acreage, not the actual site boundaries. ~ Used centroid points of the census block groups which under-estimates the population in some cases, and over-estimates in others. Footnote to Use When Citing Data: 1U.S. EPA, Office of Land and Emergency Management Estimate. 2017. Data collected includes: (1) brownfields site information as of the end of FY2016; and (2) 20011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) census data. Sites used in this analysis included 19,537 brownfields sites in the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico with accurate location data. Brownfields - Page 2 ------- TABLE 2: Detailed Data on the Population within 1, and 3 miles of Brownfields Sites Below are data on the demographic characteristics of the population surrounding Brownfields sites that received EPA funding. The table indicates whether certain population demographics near sites are above (in bold) or below (in italics) the U.S. average. Demographics Population Within of Sites (Approximate) Population Within | of Sites (Approximate) Population Within S of Sites (Approximate) U.S. Population (Approximate) Race White 58.4% 13,854,356 60.6% 30,278,133 65.9% 84,707,974 73.6% 235,439,052 Black 24.2% 5,744,073 22.0% 11,002,484 17.3% 22,258,905 12.6% 40,209,614 Asian 5.3% 1,267,567 5.4% 2,719,576 6.0% 7,714,633 5.1% 16,245,464 Native American 0.8% 196,907 0.8% 399,021 0.8% 964,529 0.8% 2,580,945 Hawaiian/Pacific islander 0.2% 43,611 0.2% 90,944 0.2% 252,572 0.2% 546,384 Other 11.0% 2,611,335 10.9% 5,466,080 9.9% 12,664,303 7.8% 25,076,635 Ethnicity Hispanic (any race) 22.0% 5,213,383 22.2% 11,096,927 21.1% 27,183,555 18.1% 57,779,493 Non-Hispanic (any race) 78.0% 18,504,466 77.8% 38,859,311 78.9% 101,379,361 81.9% 262,318,601 Minority Minority (Includes all race & ethnicity categories except "non-Hispanic white") 54.2% 12,852,010 52.3% 26,125,510 47.1% 60,573,632 38.4% 122,814,916 Income Households below the poverty level 23.7% 2,167,300 21.6% 4,116,045 17.7% 8,575,062 14.7% 17,375,862 (Household) Households with a ratio of income to poverty level of two and over 51.2% 11,744,724 54.0% 26,106,891 60.4% 75,527,907 65.3% 203,830,131 Education Less than a high school education 19.0% 2,930,754 17.9% 5,855,978 15.4% 13,138,777 13.5% 28,879,991 Linguistically isolated Linguistically isolated households 7.2% 657,209 7.2% 1,363,957 6.7% 3,247,712 5.2% 6,151,790 Age Under 5 years of age 6.8% 1,602,359 6.7% 3,339,982 6.5% 8,337,577 6.3% 20,107,354 Under 18 years of age 22.7% 5,379,206 22.6% 11,288,275 22.6% 29,075,124 23.3% 74,487,716 Over 64 years of age 11.8% 2,798,582 12.3% 6,142,751 13.4% 17,205,644 14.1% 45,211,757 Total Population 23,717,849 49,956,238 L28,562,916 320,098,094 Brownfields - Page 3 ------- |