A Ten Year Retrospective on Environmental Justice: What Have We Learned?
Beginning in 1994, Executive Order 12898 has directed federal executive agencies to identify and address, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority and low income populations. The policy behind the Executive Order was to prevent minority and low income groups from bearing disproportionate adverse environmental consequences of federal actions. During the last ten years, federal agencies have implemented Executive Order 12898, and some also have developed explicit procedures or guidance for the steps that need to be taken during the preparation of environmental impact statements. Based on the authors’ experience, the paper examines how environmental justice practice has evolved in the ten years since the original Executive Order was issued. This evolution has been both procedural and substantive. The paper examines how the actual practice of environmental justice analysis has progressed in federal agencies that deal with waste management issues. Reference is made to changes in case law and agency practice. The 2000 Census of Population and the ongoing development of geographic information systems in particular have made it easier to identify minority and low-income populations at risk. At the same time, a number of stakeholder groups have taken positions over specific federal actions that have given rise to novel issues and challenges for analysts. The paper discusses how NEPA practice is evolving to deal with these issues and challenges.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 900546
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-43942; TRN: US0702286
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Proceedings, Waste Management 2005, February 27 – March 3, 2005, Tucson, Arizona."Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management: Cost-Effectiveness, Risk Reduction, and Technology Implementation"
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
BEARINGS
CASE LAW
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS
EXECUTIVE ORDERS
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
IMPLEMENTATION
INCOME
LOW INCOME GROUPS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE MANAGEMENT