WSDOT - Environmental Justice Frequently Asked Questions

We have categorized these FAQs into three general areas. We have tried to answer most of the more common questions. Please contact us if you do not find the answer to your question.

If you are looking for overall general information, review Background.

If you are part of a project team scoping a project, review Project Team Information.

If you are writing an environmental justice report, Doing an EJ Analysis will give you answers to most of your questions.

Background

Why in the world do we call it environmental justice?

We will achieve environmental justice when everyone, regardless of race, culture or income, enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental health hazards and equal access to the decision making process for a healthy environment in which to live, learn and work.

What are the fundamental concepts?

There are three fundamental environmental justice principles summarized from Executive Order 12898 and the USDOT and FHWA orders:

To avoid minimize, or mitigate disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects, including social and economic effects, on minority populations and low-income populations.
To ensure the full and fair participation by all potentially affected communities in the transportation decision-making process.
To prevent the denial of, reduction in, or significant delay in the receipt of benefits by minority populations and low-income populations.

So what are disproportionately high and adverse effects?

This question is one thing that makes environmental justice analysis challenging. A disproportionate adverse effect determination can vary from project to project even when the effects are similar. You can find more detail on how to determine this in the FAQ section below called “For the Analyst”.
Summarized, disproportionate adverse effects are ones that are:

Predominately borne by a minority population and/or low-income population, or
Will be suffered by the minority population and/or low-income population and is appreciably more severe or greater in magnitude than the adverse effect that will be suffered by the non-minority population and/or non-low-income population.

Is it a new requirement?

No. All recipients of Federal-aid have always been required to show compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and many other laws, regulations, and policies. In 1997, to implement the requirements of the 1994 Executive Order 12898, the U. S. DOT issued its "Order to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations".

What is the FHWA and WSDOT's policy direction?

FHWA encourages full involvement of partners, assessment of social benefits and a highway system that fits harmoniously within both the natural environment and neighborhoods and communities. In 1996, FHWA issued “CIA: A Quick Reference for Transportation” (purple book). FHWA sponsors community impact assessment workshops and supports a Transportation Research Board subcommittee on community impact assessment. WSDOT created Context Sensitive Design training and co-sponsored a Community Impact Assessment workshop in Spokane. We issued “Building Projects that Build Communities” in 2003, as well as our Secretary's Executive Order on Context Sensitive Solutions.

Should we consider EJ in the planning process?

Yes. We should consider environmental justice during all phases of the planning process. In a truly integrated and effective planning process, you need to actively consider and promote environmental justice within projects and groups of projects, across the total plan, and in policy decisions. Recent federal authorization places increased emphasis on public involvement in the planning process. All members of the community need to be included in outreach for public involvement to be effective.

Planners need to determine whether Environmental Justice/Title VI issues exist and use data and other information to:

Assess potential benefits to and potential negative effects on minority populations and low-income populations from proposed investments or actions;
Quantify expected effects (total, both positive and negative) and disproportionately high and adverse effects on minority populations and low-income populations; and
Propose an appropriate course of action, whether avoidance, minimization, or mitigation. If you do not address issues at the planning stage, they may arise during project development, or later. They then could be more difficult to mitigate and delay project decisions.

Do you consider Title VI and Environmental Justice only for large projects?

No. Title VI and Environmental Justice apply to all planning and project development programs, policies and activities. The determination of significance should be guided as much by potential impacts to the human environment as by potential impacts to the natural environment.

How do I know whether I need to address EJ and when?

You should consider Title VI and environmental justice at the scoping stage in the NEPA process, identify public and agency issues. You should identify minority and low-income populations as early as possible, and examine and address their concerns, preferably in planning stages. Use our decision matrix (pdf 64 k) to help you scope for possible EJ impacts.

What is Limited English Proficiency?

Limited English Proficiency (LEP) comes from the Presidential Executive Order 13166, "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency", signed in 2000. Federal agencies are required to examine their services, identify needed services for those with limited English proficiency and ensure those persons have meaningful access to those services. Due to Washington state's large increase in immigration, limited English proficiency should addressed in most public involvement plans.

In your social analysis, you are “painting a picture” of the community. Including your discussion of limited English proficiency in the social analysis section of an environmental document, will help you to “paint that picture”. In addition, discussing LEP only in the environmental justice section does not allow you to discuss recent immigrants from European countries who may not be minority nor low-income. You should also consider LEP when you discuss environmental justice, considering that most LEP persons are either minority and/or low-income. For more information on how to identify LEP populations, review our LEP page.

What if there are separate EJ and Social reports, where do I discuss LEP?

You should discuss LEP in both the EJ and Social reports. Since many LEP persons are low-income and many are minorities, you should not ignore them in the EJ report. Once you have identified who is limited English proficient, you can then decide where the main discussion should be located. For instance, if you have a large Ukrainian population in the area, you would probably want to locate most of the discussion in the Social report with a summary in the EJ report. If your demographic analysis identifies all your LEP populations as minority or low-income, then the main discussion would appear in the EJ report with a summary in the Social report to help “paint the picture" of the community.

Who is a limited English proficient person?

According to FHWA, a limited English proficient person is an individual who does not speak English as their primary language and who has a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English.

Project Team Information

What is the difference between Environmental Justice and Title VI?

The major similarities and differences between EJ and Title VI are:

Similarities

Both address non-discrimination.
Both identify minority populations.
Both are rooted in the constitutional guarantee (14th Amendment) that all citizens are created equal and are entitled to equal protection.
Both address involvement of affected citizens in the decision-making process through meaningful involvement and participation.

Differences

EJ covers minority and low-income while Title VI and other legislation cover, race, color, national origin, gender, age and disability.
EJ is an executive order (an order of the President of the United States).
EJ mandates a process, while Title VI prohibits discrimination.

How should I address Environmental Justice during the NEPA process?

You should consider and address environmental justice in NEPA compliance and appropriately document it in Environmental Impact Statements, Environmental Assessments, and Categorical Exclusions.

The Executive Order 12898 and the accompanying Presidential Memorandum infer that specific actions be carried out in NEPA-related activities. They include:

Analyzing environmental effects, including human health, economic, and social effects on minority populations and low-income populations when such analysis is required by NEPA;
Ensuring that mitigation measures are outlined and disproportionately high and adverse environmental effects or proposed actions on minority populations and low-income populations are addressed;
Providing opportunities for community input in the FHWA NEPA process, including identifying potential effects and mitigation measures in consultation with affected communities and improving accessibility to public meetings, official documents, and notices to affected communities; and improving accessibility to public meetings, official documents, and notices to affected communities; and
In reviewing other agencies' proposed actions under Section 309 of the Clean Air Act, EPA must ensure that the agencies have fully analyzed environmental effects on minority populations and low-income populations, including human health, social, and economic effects.

Do I need to do an Environmental Justice analysis for both NEPA and SEPA projects?

Yes and no. You need to do an environmental justice analysis during the NEPA process, in connection with programs and activities receiving federal assistance.

However, Section 109(h) of the Federal Aid Highway Act also requires consideration of economic and social effects, which would apply to non-NEPA projects. Because the nondiscrimination requirements of Title VI extend to all programs and activities of State DOTs and their respective sub-recipients and contractors, the concepts of Environmental Justice apply to all State projects, including those which do not involve Federal-aid funds, whether Design Build, or not.

There are no federal laws that protect low-income populations,so projects without federal dollars do not have to analyze possible discrimination of that specific group. However, low-income areas often have higher numbers of minorities and recent immigrants, both protected by federal law. The other reason to do a full EJ analysis for SEPA projects is to demonstrate to the public that WSDOT has done our due diligence. Doing so can help avoid controversy, costly delays or changesThe local FHWA division office is a good resource if you have questions. (360) 534-9325.

Does an EJ analysis have to be a separate discipline study?

No. We prefer that you integrate the EJ analysis into the social analysis in your environmental document. Whichever approach you use, the reader should be able to understand the process you used to arrive at the conclusions. Since many things affect the human environment, you will need to include summaries of the effects and cross references to areas such as noise, air toxics, economics, public involvement, relocation, recreation, and transportation. For help with scaling the level of documentation for EJ, please use our decision matrix (64 k).

Do we need to coordinate between discipline reports?

Yes. You will need information from other reports, mainly transportation, economics, social, public involvement, air and noise, visual and other documents that might identify effects on the human environment. Scheduling the environmental justice report until one of the last, will help you make use of their data. Sharing data may cause you to refine your demographics in those areas potentially affected. This type of coordination may help save time and dollars.

How should I define the study area?

Define your study area for the EJ analysis to include the effects that would potentially affect the social environment (i.e.: noise, relocations). Commonly you would use ½ mile from centerline making sure that complete neighborhoods are included. You should also consider census block group areas and natural divisions. Typically, you would do this based on an educated guess, with input from the Project lead and other team members since you would do this early in the process.

Gather demographic information on the unaffected area just outside of your study area. This information will help you later in the process when you are looking at who is affected by the project and who is not affected. For an environmental justice analysis, this information has a lot more value than demographic information for the city or county.

The reader will find it helpful if you illustrate these two areas with a map. Use the same study area for your social analysis and EJ analysis even if they are in separate reports.

Why are demographics important for an EJ analysis?

There are three important reasons to do a demographic analysis:

To determine if minority and/or low-income populations are within the study area so you can then determine if they could be potentially affected by the project.
To support the projects' public involvement plan -- you need to know who you are communicating with in order to determine the best means of communication (e.g.: this may identify translation needs or specific methods that could be most effective).
To enable the analyst to make a determination by overlaying the demographics with the project effects.

What about Reader-Friendly requirements?

WSDOT's Reader-Friendly Document Tool Kit was published in 2005. The same year, we asked that environmental documents, (EISs and EAs) be prepared in the Reader-Friendly format. We do not require you to use the Reader Friendly format for technical reports. However, we do expect to see clear, concise writing in all environmental documents. If you write the summary of the discipline report using the Reader-Friendly format, you can easily transfer it to the larger environmental document. Our Reader-Friendly style is consistent with both the WSDOT Communications manual and the Washington State Governor's executive order 05-03 on Plain Talk. You should apply Plain talk principles to all WSDOT documents.

How do you convey technical information to non-technical people?

Think about how you would explain the information to your neighbor. Try to avoid technical terms. If you cannot find another word or phrase in place of the term, then footnote the word (or phrase) and give an explanation. Use short sentences. Be clear about your message. Use the active voice. It's more direct, concise and understood than the passive voice. Write short sections and separate them with headings. Remember to stay away from acronyms as much as possible. If you can use a visual instead of text, do so. In other words, use Plain Talk.

You may need to write some legal requirements in a certain way i.e.: ADA statement or legal notices. Nonetheless, text surrounding them can be in Plain Talk.

Should we conduct surveys?

The methods you use to communicate with people and gather information about the community will vary from project to project. If you have people in your project area who are not likely to attend or to speak out in a public workshop a survey can be an invaluable tool. You can use written or oral interviews for surveys and survey service providers (pdf 23 k) or their clients. You may also find it helpful to do business surveys. You may find that oral surveys are especially effective in area where there are a lot of recent immigrants or people with low literacy or limited English proficiency.

Do we have to print ALL materials in other languages?

No, you do not need to print environmental documentation in languages other than English; however, if requested, WSDOT will work to provide equal access to the information. If you have limited English proficient populations in your project area, you may need to provide project newsletters, fliers and other project information in other languages. Please see our information on limited English proficiency for further guidance.

When does public involvement start?

Ideally, you should start public involvement in the planning process. Typically, you would initiate public involvement prior to scoping when a project moves from the definition phase to the design phase. Make sure your public involvement is inclusive of all the affected community. Use demographic information to identify your public. Using demographic information will help you create public involvement that fits local community needs. Information you gather from public involvement will help the project team with scoping. It will also help define issues early and give the team the opportunity to address them.

Involve environmental staff and public information staff early in the process to help define issues. If you get an early start on public involvement it will help determine the appropriate level of documentation for a project, build trust with the community, develop a transportation system that meets real community needs and save money by reducing or eliminating need for redesign.

How should I track and document public involvement?

In your public involvement plan, identify whom to involve, what you will do to involve the public, where you will hold any meetings, a timeline for when activities will take place, how you will use strategies to involve the affected public, (including limited English proficiency strategies) and an overview of a budget. In addition, you should consider regulatory requirements and project schedule and budget constraints for your public involvement plan.

Document the following as they occur.

Retain copies of all meeting materials, press releases, public materials such as brochures or websites, traffic to the website, responses to surveys, public comments from all contacts. Document as much content as reasonable from your public meetings and summarize issues.
Develop meeting summaries and include the purpose of the meeting, number of attendees, minority composition based on Title VI forms, action items, issues discussed, and lessons learned.

The project team also should set up a tracking system early in the project so you can track comments and responses, including responses and who responded. Whatever system you use, you should be able to identify and track issues to identify and evaluate patterns.

As the public submits comments, you should track and distribute comments to the correct technical person on the project team, and address them appropriately. These comments will provide you insight into potential effects, mitigation measures, benefits, and more.

As the technical reports are developed, we need to determine whom the potential project effects affect and create a dialogue with the potentially affected community.

How should our public involvement plan relate to EJ?

It is helpful to have a public involvement plan as an appendix to the environmental documentation to enable reviewers to be able to determine if public involvement was inclusive.

Depending on how you are incorporating your EJ analysis and the public involvement plan into the environmental document, provide:

A brief summary of the project's outreach strategies to any EJ populations
A summary of results of outreach efforts to EJ populations, and
Cross referenced sections of the document where this information can be found

You need to summarize any specific outreach done for EJ populations in the environmental document. Remember that often the community can help to define whether an effect is adverse or not, the degree of adversity and give ideas for mitigation. If listened to early in the process, they may have creative ideas that will help create a better project. This can provide valuable information for your EJ analysis and should be summarized in the environmental document.

If you translated documents, mention that in your document. Although many limited English proficient individuals are low-income or minority, some are not, so analyze LEP in the larger context of the social analysis and then summarize it in the environmental justice section. You should include in your discussion, the history of your public involvement efforts, present efforts and future plans. If you include all these areas, it will demonstrate that your public involvement has been ongoing, effective and inclusive.

Should our public involvement plan change?

Yes. Your public involvement plan should be a living document. As the team learns more about the affected community, you should adjust your strategies to ensure you are reaching everyone. Review your workshop attendance. If you find it is not reflective of the community, you should adjust your outreach strategies. You may need targeted outreach to ensure that you include individuals who normally might not participate due to language or cultural differences. Many of those people do not attend our standard public meetings.

Evaluate your public involvement methods periodically to determine if you need to change the plan. Ask the following questions.

Is the entire project community participating in public involvement activities?
Are you employing the appropriate communication techniques?
Are community comments relevant to the project? Are they realistic and appropriate to the project phase?
Are there significant unresolved issues on the project?

Doing an EJ Analysis

Where does the process start?

When you start developing the scope of work for the project, you should start the environmental justice process. You will need to answer some basic questions:

Does the EJ analysis need to be in a separate discipline study? Are the potential effects so minor or non-existent that you could use a letter to file (183k) for documentation instead? To help you come to this decision, use our decision matrix (64 k). It is designed to help you right size your documentation.
What data will you need for the analysis and what will the sources be?

What is a "letter to file"?

A letter to file is a term we use to describe the documentation of minor effects. If you use the decision matrix and find that there are minor effects to EJ populations and no controversy, a "letter to file" (pdf 183 k) may be the most appropriate method of documentation.

What are the basic components of conducting an EJ Analysis?

Describe the proposed Project.
State why you are doing the analysis. List applicable laws and regulations.
Determine and discuss how you will conduct the analysis.
Identify the study area (include a travelshed for a tolling project) in which the analysis will be done.
Identify the study area's demographics including an area just outside of the affected area. (Make sure you use at least two data sources.)
Document the public outreach process including any targeted outreach and translations for limited English proficiency.
Identify and discuss anticipated effects, both adverse and beneficial. Tie these, when possible, to public comments.
Identify who is being affected and who is not being affected and the degree.
Consider the magnitude or intensity of effect when you determine if high and adverse effects fall disproportionately on the minority or low-income populations.
Determine the anticipated effect on the environmental justice population. Consider any offsetting benefits the EJ population may receive in greater proportion or degree.
Identify appropriate mitigation/enhancements.
Determine if effects are still disproportionate or not.
Document all data sources.

Consider using our template (pdf 62 k) for a discipline report. It covers all the above areas and gives references to resources.

What is the first step in doing an EJ analysis?

The first step is to determine if you have any minority or low-income individuals within your study area. To make this determination you need to define your study area and conduct a demographic analysis of your study area as well as the unaffected nearby area. Preparers working together in the closely related areas of public involvement, EJ, social and economic analysis can share one set of demographics. In addition, your analysis results can provide data in a continuing loop of information. Keep in mind that because you develop the project public involvement plan prior to scoping, you would want to do this as soon as possible.

What if this is a tolling project?

We layer the methodology (pdf 68k) used for a tolling project on top of the EJ methodology we use for other projects. We always look at the effects on people living within the geographic study area of effects. With a tolling project, we still need to perform that same analysis but additionally we need to determine how the users of the tolled facility are affected.

How do you determine how the users of a tolled facility are affected?

Establish a travelshed (the origin and destination of most trips)
Gather demographic data on those in the travelshed
Use public involvement and local research data to determine how low-income travelers are affected. (Since tolling effects are economic, your focus is on how low-income travelers are affected.)
Consider effects on limited English proficient travelers since many are low-income and have the additional burden of difficulty with English.
Consider the alternatives travelers have to paying the toll.
Include in your analysis the amount of the toll and accessibility of the tolling system.

What should I include in the demographics?

Your analysis for EJ should include minorities and low-income. The U.S. DOT Order (5610.2) on Environmental Justice defines "Minority" in the Definitions section of the Appendix, and provides clear definitions of the four (4) minority groups addressed by the Executive Order. These groups are:

Black (a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
Hispanic (a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
Asian (a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands.
American Indian and Alaskan Native (a person having origins in any of the original people of North America and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.

The 2000 Census added new minority categories. They separated Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander from Asian American, and added "some other race" to the basic four categories. Asian American was changed to Asian alone. The other categories had "alone" added to them and "American" deleted. People of mixed race use the "some other race" category, which has segments for two or more, three or more etc. For purposes of an EJ analysis, using current Census designations will be easier. The analyst should make a judgement on whether to include "some other race" based on numbers in that group.

What about low-income data? Do we have to use the federal standard?

The FHWA Order defines "low-income" as "a person whose household income is at or below the Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines." You can find the most current HHS poverty guidelines on HHS's website.

FHWA states that you may use a higher threshold for low-income as long as it is not selectively implemented and is inclusive of all persons at or below the HHS poverty guidelines. WSDOT projects use the federal poverty guidelines.

We have had a few projects use two data sets. The first data set would be those who are at and below the federal poverty guidelines for your EJ analysis and a second set, those who may be considered "functionally poor" in your area, but are above the federal poverty line. You can obtain richer information about the area from two data sets for your social analysis. However, you would still use just the first set (at and below the poverty line) for your EJ analysis.

How detailed should the demographics be?

Census tract data is usually too broad to be very helpful. Use the census block group level since all data you need is available at that level and it will give you more detail. Minority data is available at both census block and block group level, but low-income data is not available at the block level. You may find some valuable information from examining minority data at the census block level, but when you create tables and maps, use the smallest level all data is available. Your data needs to be detailed enough to determine if EJ populations are in the project area and what the effects could be. We do not use a threshold in Washington state, which complies with FHWA guidance, (Question 15), so at this point, percentages do not matter.

You can use the same demographic data for your public involvement plan, and EJ and social analyses. You may want to also include; age distribution, income levels, employment status, transit dependency and special sub-populations (e.g.: Section 8 housing, disabled, immigrant, and limited English proficient populations). This information will help you to understand who is in the affected communities.

Do I need to include data on city and county demographics?

Since we do not use a threshold, you do not need this data to do your analysis. It is helpful to show differences in areas, and to "paint" a picture of the community.

What is the next step?

After collecting the demographics, you should create the project's public involvement plan using the study area's demographics as part of its base. This will help you to choose specific outreach methods to target difficult to reach audiences. Speaking with local businesses, community services, and local government agencies will help you identify stakeholders and understand more about the community and its concerns.

The most effective public involvement starts with identifying the affected community and stakeholder groups. The study area demographics will help to identify community structure, culture and community issues. WSDOT has a responsibility to ensure effective two-way communication, since people have a key role in the decisions shaping the transportation systems and services that will be part of their communities.

What does public involvement have to do with EJ?

You need to know “who” you will be talking with to determine the best means of communicating with them (e.g.: this may identify translation needs, cultural traditions to be aware of, specific communication methods used by that community). Personalize your public involvement plan with the results.

Identifying "who" your audience is and using appropriate involvement strategies will accomplish a number of things.
It will

help identify whether those affected consider it adverse or not
help improve your public involvement results
help you to involve underserved populations
help improve the level of public involvement
help you to create appropriate mitigation

Is there a certain percentage of minority or low-income populations that triggers an EJ analysis?

Some states use a threshold of a certain percent to identify EJ populations. We do not use a threshold for several reasons.

Our populations tend to be very diverse. We seldom have neighborhoods heavily populated by one minority so usually do not have "EJ communities".
The use of a threshold eliminates further analysis and could result in an unknown disproportionate adverse impact.
We feel our more thorough methodology is consistent with the intent of Executive Order 12898, Title VI and FHWA's guidance.

We worked cooperatively with our local FHWA division to develop our guidance and to make sure it is consistent with FHWA policy.

In addition, our local FHWA division developed a guide --Environmental Justice: What You Should Know. FHWA intended the guide to assist its Division staff (working with project teams) in developing an appropriate approach for Title VI Environmental Justice analysis and an effective public involvement strategy. The guide's material also provides a framework to review or write environmental EJ documents.

The FHWA and WSDOT spent a considerable amount of time preparing our respective guidance documents to ensure that they are closely aligned and usable by FHWA, WSDOT, local agencies, and consultants.

How large must the minority or low-income population be to consider EJ?

A very small minority or low-income population in the project, study, or planning area does not eliminate the possibility of a disproportionately high and adverse effect on these populations. You will make your environmental justice determination based on effects, not population size. It is important to consider the comparative effect of an action among different population groups. You need to show the comparative effects on these populations in relation to either non-minority or higher income populations.

What happens if there are no minority or low-income individuals in the study area?

When demographics show that there are no environmental justice populations in your study area, end your analysis, and document your results. You may use the following statement:

“No minority or low-income populations have been identified that would be adversely affected by this project as determined above. Therefore, this project has met the provisions of Executive Order 12898, as it is supported by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.”

What methodology should I use to conduct an EJ analysis?

You should tailor your specific approach to the unique circumstances of each project and those communities/populations affected by it. Do not assume the determination from a similar project will be the same. Even when project effects are similar, people can be affected differently. Your determination should combine analyzing the effects in conjunction with what you have learned from the community. Use the EJ decision matrix (pdf 64 k) and template (pdf 62 k). Follow the steps presented in these FAQs.

What data sources should I use?

Use census data to start. Since Census Data can be 10-12 years old, also examine other data sources that could help determine the existence of environmental justice populations within the study areas (e.g. public school data, social service agency data).

WSDOT GIS Work Bench and the US Census Data Engine can be used to analyze Census data.
Determine if you will use tracts, block groups, or blocks for your initial analysis. Not all data is available at all levels. You should use census block group data for your main analysis.
Determine minority and low-income percentages in both the study area and the surrounding nearby area.

How do I get Census data and which files should I use?

The Census site is not easy for the novice to use. If you do not know which census tract(s) you are looking for use the site map feature on the census site and search for a street address in your project area. You should use Summary File 3 Sample data at the Census Block Group level for an EJ analysis.

Once you have the census tract and block group numbers use our guidance (pdf 25 k) to navigate to the files you will want to use. The main files you will use are P-6, P-7 and P-87.

What else should I use to supplement Census data?

Generally, the next best data set to use is from schools. Districts and individual schools vary on their privacy policies. Some will not give out any information. Others are willing to release aggregated information. Contacting the school(s) in or near the project area could be well worth your time since they can give you information about English language learner programs, recent immigrants and cultural information and sometimes information on percentages of students on reduced and free lunch (poverty indicator) and minority status. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has aggregated school data. Review our guidance (pdf 20k) if you need help using this website.

Do I do an EJ analysis on only residential effects?

No, an EJ analysis includes more than residential. Businesses and social and cultural resources should be looked at for disproportionate, adverse effects on the EJ population. Businesses that are minority owned, employ large numbers of minorities or businesses that serve a specific minority or low-income population are especially important to identify.

How should I display the demographics?

Displaying your study area demographics visually is very useful. Maps are also invaluable to use for public outreach. They can help to visually identify effects in relation to the surrounding community. Visualization techniques are encouraged by FHWA since they communicate to all members of the public whether they are proficient in English or not.

One of the most helpful maps to display in your environmental document is one that overlays the demographic data and the project effects such as relocations. It gives an immediate visual to help identify if there might be disproportionate, adverse effects.

Use the term "minority populations" instead of the census terms "racial' and "ethnic". The term ethnic means pertaining to or characteristic of a people, which is very broad. Minority includes non-white racial categories and Hispanic or Latino. Adding a note that indicates that Hispanic or Latino can be of any race helps the reader to know that there is some overlap in census data. Another option would be to use the terms "race" and "Hispanic" if you want to include all racial data.

What is an "adverse effect" in the context of EJ"?

According to FHWA, “all reasonably foreseeable adverse social, economic, and environmental effects on minority populations and low-income populations must be identified and addressed. As defined in the Appendix of the DOT Order, adverse effects include, but are not limited to:

Bodily impairment, infirmity, illness or death;
Air, noise, and water pollution and soil contamination;
Destruction or disruption of man-made or natural resources;
Destruction or diminution of aesthetic values;
Destruction or disruption of community cohesion or a community economic vitality;
Destruction or disruption of the availability of public and private facilities and services;
Vibration
Adverse employment effects
Displacement of persons, businesses, farms, or nonprofit organizations;
Increased traffic congestion, isolation, exclusion or separation of minority or low-income individuals within a given community or from the broader community;
Denial of, reduction in, or significant delay in the receipt of benefits of DOT programs, policies, or activities."

Adverse effects are determined in part through discussion with those potentially affected by the action, which is why inclusive public involvement is so important. The displacement of a store may not be significant on the surface, but after interviewing the business owner, you may find that the store supplies the local community with culturally specific services that are not available elsewhere nearby. The displacement of that store may now become significant. This information should be combined with the technical analysis and other public involvement feedback to determine if there is an overall significant adverse effect.

What is "disproportionate" in the context of EJ?

According to FHWA, it is an adverse effect that:

Is predominately borne by a minority population and/or low-income population, or
Will be suffered by the minority population and/or low-income population and is appreciably more severe or greater in magnitude than the adverse effect that will be suffered by the non-minority population and/or non-low-income population.

How are "disproportionately high and adverse effects" determined?

You determine both disproportionate and adverse by a combination of factors that can vary from project to project. Therefore, we can't give an exact formula. It is important to realize that:

Adverse effects = input from technical experts + public input

Adverse effects should not be determined just from the input from public feedback nor from technical analyses but both should be used together to determine what is adverse.

Disproportionate needs to be determined by comparing the effect on the EJ population versus a comparison population, therefore:

Disproportionate = effect on EJ population vs. non EJ population. The only time a comparison is necessary is to determine disproportionate.

So how high is "high"?

Environmental justice analysis is not a science. We are talking about effects on people, which introduces variability. There is no reasonable measure for when you have crossed the line between what is disproportionate and high and not disproportionate and high. Your determination is one of professional judgment combined with information you have on the level and intensity of effects as well as how people feel about them. Sometimes you may need to consider the history of past effects when making the determination. Widening of a freeway may not seem like much of an effect but if, when that freeway was built, it divided the community, the widening is a cumulative effect.

I've gathered my demographics. Now how do I go about determining if there is a disproportionate adverse impact or not?

This is the first time you should use comparisons. Review the minority and low-income percentages in the census block groups where people are affected. Then look at percentages in the census block groups adjoining the project. These will be the unaffected people living in the same general vicinity. If there is a higher percentage of minority or low-income populations in the affected census blocks, you will need to investigate further to determine if there is a disproportionate adverse impact or not.

Your next step is to overlay the effects onto to the area that is affected. Pay special attention to effects that can be felt differently or to a greater degree. They are commonly relocations and noise.

There are some noise effects from my project. I don't know who lives there. How do I determine if it is disproportionate or not?

One of many challenges with doing an EJ analysis is the lack of data at the time you are writing the report. At this stage, you probably will not have this information, so you will need to base your analysis on a probabilistic model. For instance, if you have 20% minorities in the census block group where there are noise effects, you can assume that 20% of those affected will be minority. From that assumption, you can then compare the demographic data in the area where there are no effects to see if they have a lower or higher percentage of minorities or low-income populations. You will also need to look at all the other effects as well before coming to a conclusion. If the areas where there are effects have a higher percentage of EJ populations than the non-affected areas, you will probably conclude that it is a disproportionate effect.

What else do I need to consider in making my determination?

Use the two measures from the FHWA implementing order 6640.23 and ask if the effects are:

predominately borne by a minority population and/or low-income population, or
suffered by the minority population and/or low-income population and is appreciably more severe or greater in magnitude than the adverse effect that will be suffered by the non-minority population and/or non-low-income population.

This will help you to determine how high is "high" as well as whether it can truly be considered disproportionately high and adverse. You will also need to consider whether those affected feel it is adverse. Information from your targeted public involvement should help.

What if those who are affected do not feel it is adverse?

You may have a situation where you have concluded that you have a high and disproportionate adverse effect but those who are affected do not feel it is adverse. A situation such as this shows why early, inclusive public involvement is an essential part of environmental justice analysis. It is very important to document whether the affected population feels the effects are adverse or not. In a situation where you have noise effects that cause this determination; a noise wall would mitigate the effects but the community does not want the noise wall. You would still conclude that it is a high and adverse disproportionate impact. In this case, documenting the community decision will be very important.

This is a tolling project. How is this process different?

Tolling is regressive since everyone pays the same toll, resulting in a greater effect on low-income travelers. Therefore for tolling projects, the second FHWA measure is applicable since the effects of a toll are 'appreciably more severe" on low-income populations than the effects would be on higher income populations. In your document, you need to:

review and summarize alternatives to avoid the toll
consider the viability of those alternatives
include in your analysis the amount of the toll, transponder and accessibility issues
review public involvement to help determine adversity
review and summarize applicable local research on tolling effects
list the agreed upon mitigation if you determine that the tolling effects on low-income populations would be high and disproportionate

Review other EJ discipline reports for tolling projects to ensure your document is consistent. Do not assume that the determination will be the same for all projects. If alternatives to avoiding the toll do not have a significant time or cost penalty, as is with some HOT lanes, you might not end up with a negative determination. You should consider anything that will improve access for all potential users of the tolled facility such as nearby customer service centers, use of EBT cards and ability to set up an account without a credit card or checking account. Also, consider if there are viable transit options since most studies show that low-income travelers use transit in a greater proportion than their percentage in the population. Examine frequency and availability of service and likelihood of transfers to determine viability.

What would improve access to tolled facilities?

Since many low-income travelers do not have debit, credit or even checking accounts, they need to be able to purchase transponders and set up accounts using cash. A near by service center is important for the majority of low-income populations who do not have Internet access.

What happens if the analysis shows there are no effects to minority or low-income individuals in the study area?

When it is determined that there are no effects to the environmental justice populations, end your analysis, and document your results. You may use the following statement:

If I conclude there are effects but they are not disproportionately high and adverse, how should I end my analysis?

After you have followed the process listed here, and can conclude that the EJ populations will not either predominately bear the effects or suffer them to a greater degree than the non-EJ populations you can use the following statement.

“No minority or low-income populations have been identified that would be disproportionately adversely affected by this project as determined above. Therefore, this project has met the provisions of Executive Order 12898, as it is supported by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.”

If I conclude there is a disproportionately high and adverse effect on EJ populations, will it stop the project?

Absolutely not. However, you will need to discuss how the effects of the preferred alternative could not be avoided or minimized, how the affected populations were involved in the decision process and what practicable mitigation commitments have been made.

You should also consider enhancements and benefits the affected EJ populations will receive when you make the determination. However, these should be enhancements and benefits that the EJ population will mainly receive, not general project benefits. For instance, if the adversely affected population will also have new or improved sidewalks and safe street crossings, you could consider them an offsetting benefit.

In addition, you must demonstrate how other alternatives, which would have a less-adverse effect (if any) on minority and/or low-income populations, are not practicable. Either they would not satisfy the project needs, have more severe adverse effects on other environmental elements (i.e., wetlands, 4(f), et al), or the social, economic, environmental or human health effects of the other alternatives would reach costs of extraordinary magnitudes.

We can only carry out a proposed alternative with disproportionately high and adverse effect(s) on EJ populations if further avoidance, minimization, mitigation and enhancement measures are not practicable. In determining whether a measure is "practicable", the social, economic (including costs), and environmental effects of avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating the adverse effects can be taken into account.

How can I determine appropriate avoidance, minimization, mitigation and enhancement measures?

This is one reason why good outreach to EJ populations is so important. The community can help you to identify appropriate avoidance, minimization, mitigation and enhancement measures.

For instance, in a survey with a social service agency, you might find out that day workers stand on a particular corner waiting for job pickups. Either avoiding that corner or working with the agency to identify another corner would be an example of either avoidance or minimization. In another situation, a community could identify an informal path that schoolchildren use. The addition of a sidewalk would improve the neighborhood and improve safety for the schoolchildren.

Consider the fairness in distribution of avoidance, minimization, mitigation and enhancement measures between EJ and non-EJ populations. When considering these measures for an EJ population vs. the entire project area, keep in mind that the measures should be proportional to the level of effect on each.

How should I document all of this?

For each alternative, provide a clear explanation for any adopted avoidance, minimization, mitigation and enhancement measures.

Document the strategies taken to avoid, reduce, or mitigate effects to EJ populations. The discussion of these strategies should be clearly ‘linked' to the associated community effects. If appropriate, include a discussion of how these strategies helped turn a disproportionate adverse effect into a proportionate adverse effect.

Make sure you list any specific benefits the EJ population will receive such as sidewalks or improved transit times, not just the overall project benefits.

Include a summary of the public outreach used to develop and/or review the various strategies.

Below is a list of things that one would expect to see in an environmental justice analysis. By no means is this an all-inclusive list, nor does this mean that a separate discipline study has to be written. The amount and type of documentation done on a project will vary according to its level of complexity. A good rule of thumb is to do more documentation than you think is necessary. Err on the side of more documentation, not less. More documentation means keeping good records of data gathered, public outreach and results, and a solid administrative record. It does not mean increasing the length of a discipline report. Our documents should be clear and concisely written but legally defensible.

Project Description

Describe briefly the project, its purpose, need, and location.
Describe the type of environmental document (EIS, EA, DCE, etc.) being developed for the project

Regulatory Framework

Document that the analysis is being done in accordance with appropriate laws, regulations, and guidance
Document the reason why an EJ analysis is being done for the project (EIS, EA, DCE, etc.)

Methodology

Define “adverse” and “disproportionate” effects (per USDOT order.)
Document your data sources and methods for determination.

Affected Environment

Describe the study area and the rationale for its establishment.
Document the presence/location of low-income or minority populations, including demographics.

Public Involvement

Document your outreach strategy to involve low-income or minority population.
Describe outreach efforts results (issues, attendance, responses, etc.).
Document community perception (+/-) of effects/benefits and severity.
Document community perception of suitability of mitigation proposed.
Describe methods used to overcome potential outreach barriers such as use of interpreters, materials in other languages, and specific outreach due to cultural differences.
Summarize any changes to outreach to improve participation.

Effects and Benefits Analysis

Document the effects of each alternative, including No-Build.
Describe any disproportionately high and adverse effects.
Discuss alternatives that avoid, minimize, or mitigate such effects.
Describe any offsetting benefits.
Describe appropriate avoidance, minimization, mitigation and enhancement measures.

Determination and conclusion

State effects on EJ population with supporting evidence.
Summarize practicability determination, using supporting evidence, if disproportionately high and adverse effects on minority populations or low-income populations cannot be avoided, minimized or mitigated.

Also, refer to the EJ decision matrix (pdf 64 k) and discipline report template (pdf 65 k). Although you will find some slight differences between the above list and the decision matrix and template, they are consistent with each other. These differences reflect that this is guidance rather than a mandate. Adjust each right sized report for the particular project and its effects as well as any controversy. The adjustment may change your discipline report outline.

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