May is Clean Air Month! -- May 2002
Environmental Justice
What is Environmental Justice?
"Racial minority and low-income populations experience higher than average exposures to selected air pollutants, hazardous waste facilities, contaminated fish, and agricultural pesticides," according to a 1990 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Report. Environmental justice is 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. For the American Lung Association, environmental justice represents the need to focus special attention on people living in at-risk communities.
Examples of environmental inequities are:
- Low-income residents, and quite often people of color, are more likely than other groups to live near pollution sources including freeways, industrial centers with increased truck traffic, landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste treatment facilities.
- Low-income and African American children consistently have higher than normal levels of lead in their blood.
- Eighty percent of Hispanics, 65 percent of African Americans, and 57 percent of whites live in communities that fail to meet some U.S. EPA air quality standards.
- A large number of hired farm workers in the United States, and especially in California, are people of color. Farm workers suffer from pesticide-related illnesses.
Environmental Justice in California
California legislation (SB 115, Solis) requires the fair treatment of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income with respect to the laws, regulations and policies implemented by the California EPA (Cal/EPA). Despite the fact that environmental justice is a growing concern in California, there is a lack of cumulative data to document the heavy toll air pollution is taking on these communities. The American Lung Association of California has joined the California Air Resources Board’s Neighborhood Assessment Program Advisory Committee, which is developing new strategies for measuring the impact of air pollution on targeted communities and investigating ways to reduce the amount of pollution generated by industrial and other sources in these communities.
The Cal/EPA has also established an Advisory Committee on Environmental Justice, pursuant to SB 89 (Escutia), to assist in implementing an environmental justice agenda. The committee will examine existing data and studies on environmental justice; recommend criteria for identifying and addressing any gaps in existing programs; recommend procedures for collecting, maintaining, analyzing, and coordinating information relating to environmental justice; and recommend procedures to ensure that public documents and public hearings related to health or the environment are concise, understandable, and readily accessible to the public.
Among recent Cal/EPA activities to promote environmental justice have been programs to limit diesel exhaust in low income and minority neighborhoods and monitoring of industrial activities in residential areas so that pollution can be minimized or eliminated.
- Environmental Justice and Diesel
The American Lung Association of California is working to reduce diesel emissions in California. The association advocates replacing diesel-powered buses and trucks with cleaner-fueled vehicles powered by natural gas, electricity or fuel cells, and reducing emissions from existing buses and trucks. Diesel particulates are the most significant source of air toxics and account for 70 percent of the cancer risk from toxic air contaminants statewide. This is a significant environmental justice issue because low-income residents, and quite often people of color, live in communities located near freeways, shipping yards, and other areas with heavy diesel truck traffic.
Diesel emissions are also released throughout the process of fuel production, refining, distribution and dispensing. Diesel refining, distribution and storage facilities are predominantly located in communities already burdened by major air pollution and toxic risks. Continued expansion of refining increases toxic air pollution and raises the risk of lung cancer and other lung diseases in low-income areas. Increasing diesel consumption has a devastating effect on these communities.
- Brief History of Environmental Justice
The spark that lit the fire for the Environmental Justice/Equity Movement had its beginnings in a small, low-income, predominately African-American community in the South. And while there had always been an awareness of the disproportionate burden borne by minorities and low-income communities, events did not give rise to a "movement" until 1982 in Warren County, North Carolina.
A landfill was created there to be used for the disposal of PCB contaminated soil, removed from 14 colonies throughout the state. Many civil and states-rights activists collaborated to stage numerous demonstrations, which resulted not only in the arrest of more than 500 people, but in the creation of a rallying point for those eager to focus on the prejudiced usage of community lands.
At the request of Congressman Walter Fauntroy, the U.S. General Accounting Office conducted a study of eight southern states to determine the correlation between the location of hazardous waste landfills and the racial and economic status of the surrounding communities. The disheartening results showed obvious bias in the placement of the landfills: three out of every four landfills were located near predominantly minority communities.
Another milestone commission on racial justice showed that race was in fact the most significant factor in determining the siting of hazardous waste facilities. This study found that three out of every five African-Americans and Hispanics live in a community with unregulated toxic waste sites. The commission also noted that African-Americans were heavily over represented in areas with the greatest number of toxic waste sites. While race plays a great part in determining the location of hazardous waste landfills, economic status is also important. Often, poor communities are intentionally chosen to house such sites. Why? There is no expectation of resistance from community residents and/or leaders, as there simply may not be enough money to fuel confrontations. Thus the degradation of environmental justice continues.
Closely following this commission was a study by the National Law Journal. It found that the U.S. EPA took 20 percent longer to cite abandoned sites in minority communities as a priority, as compared to the time it took the U.S. EPA to prioritize sites in white communities. It also noted that polluters of such communities paid fines 54 percent lower than polluters of white communities.
The U.S. EPA created an office of environmental justice in 1992, commissioned a task force to address environmental issues, and is making progress towards a more equal environmental community.
Resources
Cal/EPA, Environmental Justice 916.324.8425
California League of Conservation Voters Educational Fund310.441.4162
Communities for a Better Environment
Southern California 323.826.9771
San Francisco 415.243.8373
Environmental Defense 202.387.3500
Environmental Protection Agency 415.744.1212
Five Local
Governments Commit to Purchase Cleaner Vehicles
-- American Lung Association of California Pushes for More
-- Statewide Campaign Raises Awareness about Diesel Exhaust, Particulate Matter
and Cleaner Alternatives during Clean Air Month
(News Release -- May 15, 2002)
Print Ads: There’s Even More You Should Know About Diesel
View or Download Ads
There’s Even More You Should Know About Clearing the Air
(Clean Air Tips)
California Air District Resource Directory
2002
There’s Even More You Should Know About Diesel
Frequently Asked Questions About Diesel Fuel
Particulate Matter Air Pollution - There’s Even More You Should Know About Particulate Matter
Public Health and Diesel
Fact Sheet
Renewable Energy - There’s Even More You Should Know About Renewable Energy
There’s Even More You Should Know About Smart Growth, Urban Sprawl, Air Quality and Health
Fact Sheet
Clean Air Month 2002 Proclamation
Sample Proclamation for California Cities & Counties
Milestones in Air Pollution History
American Lung Association Timeline
Cleaner Fuels -- There’s Even More You Should Know About Cleaner Vehicles
Environmental Justice
Fact Sheet
Position Statement: Reducing Public Exposure To Diesel Emissions From Heavy Duty Vehicles
Green Diesel: Fact or Fiction? Reducing Toxic Soot from Trucks and Buses
(Backgrounder from Natural Resources Defense Council and Coalition for Clean Air)
From Breathe Easy Magazine, Spring/Summer 2002:
Cover Story: Smog and Your Lungs
Public Policy Update: Association Works to Reduce Diesel Exhaust
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