What is Environmental Justice?
Too often, transportation planning and decision making is done without good input from those most affected by new projects. The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project (BREJTP) is an effort to correct this imbalance by encouraging the use of an environmental justice (EJ) framework in regional transportation planning. Ultimately, we hope to unite Baltimore citizens around improving transportation planning in low-income and/or vulnerable communities nationwide.
Although government action to eliminate discrimination in federally-funded activities dates back to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the official introduction of "Environmental Justice" (or EJ) as a federal requirement did not occur until 1994. In that year, President Clinton signed Presidential Executive Order 12898, or 'Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority and Low-Income Populations.' Because of the environmental impetus behind E.O. 12898, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was tasked with implementing the new law.
The EPA subsequently defined environmental justice 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. Fair treatment means that no group of people, including a racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic group should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local or tribal programs and policies.
Meaningful involvement means that: (1) potentially affected community residents have an appropriate opportunity to participate in decisions about a proposed activity that will affect their environment and/or health; (2) the public's contribution can influence the regulatory agency's decisions; (3) the concerns of all participants involved will be considered in the decision making process; and (4) the decision makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected. In sum, environmental justice is achieved when everyone, regardless of race, culture or income, enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn and work."
