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Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice refers to the disproportionate environmental risks that are borne by poor communities and communities of color. The environmental health status that poor communities experience is subject to a multiplying effect from poor housing stock, poor nutrition, poor access to health care, unemployment, underemployment, and employment in the most hazardous jobs.

A. The environmental risk burden is generally greater for minorities and those who are economically disadvantaged because they are exposed to a greater number and intensity of environmental pollutants in food, air, water, homes, and workplaces.

B. Information sharing may be inadequate or less effective in economically-disadvantaged communities as a function of language and literacy issues, as well as the challenge of understanding technical language in warning signs and other "right-to-know" materials.

C. Indicators of increased risk are measured by residents' proximity to hazardous waste sites, polluting industries, and incinerators. Poor people are also more likely to live in substandard housing with friable asbestos and deteriorating lead paint and to have yards with contaminated soil.

D. In 1993, the Environmental Justice Act was passed and in 1994 Executive Order 12898, "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations" was signed. These created policies to more comprehensively reduce the incidence of environmental inequity.