Abstract

MEJ aims to create easy-to-use, publicly-available maps that paint a holistic picture of intersecting environmental, social, and health impacts experienced by communities across the US.

With guidance from the residents of impacted communities, MEJ combines environmental, public health, and demographic data into an indicator of vulnerability for communities in every state. MEJ’s goal is to fill an existing data gap for individual states without environmental justice mapping tools, and to provide a valuable tool for advocates, scholars, students, lawyers, and policy makers.

Methodology

The negative effects of pollution depend on a combination of vulnerability and exposure. People living in poverty, for example, are more likely to develop asthma or die due to air pollution. The method MEJ uses, following the method developed for CalEnviroScreen, reflects this in the two overall components of a census tract’s final “Cumulative EJ Impact”: population characteristics and pollution burden. The CalEnviroScreen methodology was developed through an intensive, multi-year effort to develop a science-backed, peer-reviewed tool to assess environmental justice in a holistic way, and has since been replicated by several other states.

CalEnviroScreen Methodology:

• Population characteristics are a combination of socioeconomic data (often referred to as the social determinants of health) and health data that together reflect a populations' vulnerability to pollutants. Pollution burden is a combination of direct exposure to a pollutant and environmental effects, which are adverse environmental conditions caused by pollutants, such as toxic waste sites or wastewater releases. Together, population characteristics and pollution burden help describe the disproportionate impact that environmental pollution has on different communities.

• Every indicator is ranked as a percentile from 0 to 100 and averaged with the others of the same component to form an overall score for that component. Each component score is then percentile ranked to create a component percentile. The Sensitive Populations component score, for example, is the average of a census tract’s Asthma, Low Birthweight Infants, and Heart Disease indicator percentiles, and the Sensitive Populations component percentile is the percentile rank of the Sensitive Populations score.

• The Population Characteristics score is the average of the Sensitive Populations component score and the Socioeconomic Factors component score. The Population Characteristics percentile is the percentile rank of the Population Characteristics score.

• The Pollution Burden score is the average of the Pollution Exposure component score and one half of the Environmental Effects component score (Environmental Effects may have a smaller effect on health outcomes than the indicators included the Exposures component so are weighted half as much as Exposures). The Pollution Burden percentile is the percentile rank of the Pollution Burden score.

• The Populaton Characteristics and Pollution Burden scores are then multiplied to find the final Cumulative EJ Impact score for a census tract, and then this final score is percentile-ranked to find a census tract's final Cumulative EJ Impact percentile.

• Census tracts with no population aren't given a Population Characteristics score.

• Census tracts with an indicator score of zero are assigned a percentile rank of zero. Percentile rank is then only calculated for those census tracts with a score above zero.

• Census tracts that are missing data for more than two indicators don't receive a final Cumulative EJ Impact ranking.

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description: These data are from EJSCREEN, an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJSCREEN displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern.; abstract: These data are from EJSCREEN, an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJSCREEN displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern.

Abstract

Connecticut EJ communities maps is a collection of csv files downloaded from Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's ArcGIS website. The csv files contain data that was used to generate three main maps: Connecticut 2021 EJ communities, Connecticut: Environmental Justice Affecting Facilities, and Connecticut Demographics and Affecting Facilities. A link to each map is available under the Links section below.

EJSCREEN is an environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic indicators. EJSCREEN users choose a geographic area; the tool then provides demographic and environmental information for that area. All of the EJSCREEN indicators are publicly-available data. EJSCREEN simply provides a way to display this information and includes a method for combining environmental and demographic indicators into EJ indexes.

EJSCREEN includes:

11 environmental indicators 6 demographic indicators 11 EJ indexes

Link Downloaded here

Be certain to read the MassGIS methodology to fully understand how these areas are identified.

description: EJSCREEN is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJSCREEN displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern. The National-scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) environmental indicators and EJ indexes, which include cancer risk, respiratory hazard, neurodevelopment hazard, and diesel particulate matter will be added into EJSCREEN during the first full public update after the soon-to-be-released 2011 dataset is made available. All NATA associated indicator and index elements are currently set to "Null".; abstract: EJSCREEN is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJSCREEN displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern. The National-scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) environmental indicators and EJ indexes, which include cancer risk, respiratory hazard, neurodevelopment hazard, and diesel particulate matter will be added into EJSCREEN during the first full public update after the soon-to-be-released 2011 dataset is made available. All NATA associated indicator and index elements are currently set to "Null".

EPA has provided a layer to EJScreen that combines CEJST and EJScreen data to identify whether a community is disadvantaged for the purposes of implementing EPA programs under the Inflation Reduction Act, including the CPRG program. The EJScreen layer can be found on the EJscreen tool under the “Places” tab and by selecting “EPA IRA Disadvantaged”: https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/. The IRA disadvantaged database was downloaded from https://gaftp.epa.gov/EPA_IRA_Public/. All U.S. census tracts are listed and identifies which are designated as disadvantaged. EJScreen is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes and Supplemental which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJScreen displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern.

Background: Efforts to support disadvantaged communities have been prioritized through initiatives like Justice40, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Identifying disadvantaged communities involves several datasets with associated variables related to vulnerability indicators and scores. There are three key datasets:

1. Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
2. Energy Justice Mapping Tool from the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Economic Impact & Diversity.
3. Environmental Justice Screening Tool from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.

Problem:

1. Each dataset employs similar but distinct criteria and outcomes.
2. The unique IDs or GEOIDs differ across datasets. CEJST uses the 2010 census boundaries, while the Energy Justice Mapping Tool and the Environmental Justice Screening Tool are based on the 2019 and 2021 census boundaries, respectively.

To address these issues, this dataset consolidates information on disadvantaged communities and their associated variables by combining the three distinct datasets:

• CEJST: Provides binary data indicating whether a tract is a disadvantaged community. A community is classified as disadvantaged if it meets any of the following thresholds: 1) one or more indicators within categories such as climate change, energy, health, housing, pollution, transportation, and water & wastewater, coupled with low income; 2) one or more indicators in workforce development category and education; or 3) tribal lands. Environment and pollution indicators come from the EPA, while socio-demographic indicators are from the American Community Survey (ACS) for 2015-2019.

• Energy Justice Mapping Tool: Offers a DAC score, a continuous variable representing the sum of the 36 indicator percentiles. It includes environment, pollution, and socio-demographic indicators from the EPA and ACS (2015-2019).

• Environmental Justice Screening Tool: Includes the 13 Environmental Justice (EJ) Index and Supplemental Index. These continuous variables are weighted with socio-demographic indicators from ACS (2017-2021).

Data Descriptions

• Unit of Analysis: Census tract
• Geometry: 2021 census boundaries
• Columns:
  • Socio-demographic indicators
  • 13 Environmental Justice (EJ) index values
  • 13 Supplemental index values
  • Binary indicator for disadvantaged community classification
  • Disadvantaged Community (DAC) scores
• Datasets:
  • results/DAC.csv: Contains all columns from the three datasets.
  • results/DAC_s.csv: A shorter version, including socio-demographic indicators and EJ and Supplemental indices (Environmental Justice Screening Tool), disadvantaged community classification (CEJST), and DAC scores (Energy Justice Mapping Tool).
• Code:
  • syntax/code.R: This script illustrates the methodology for merging the three datasets, culminating in the creation of the two CSV files located in the results directory.

Purpose:

The dataset aims to help researchers identify overall disadvantaged communities or determine which specific communities are classified as disadvantaged. By consolidating these datasets, researchers can more effectively analyze and compare the various criteria used to define disadvantaged communities, enhancing the comprehensiveness of their studies.

Note

For complete data descriptions and sources, please refer to the original datasets.

• Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST)
• Energy Justice Mapping Tool
• Environmental Justice Screening Tool

EJScreen is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes and Supplemental which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJScreen displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern.

EJSCREEN is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJSCREEN displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern. Download data: ftp://newftp.epa.gov/EJSCREEN

EJSCREEN is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJSCREEN displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern.

EJSCREEN is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJSCREEN displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern.

EPA has provided a layer to EJScreen that combines CEJST and EJScreen data to identify whether a community is disadvantaged for the purposes of implementing EPA programs under the Inflation Reduction Act, including the CPRG program. The EJScreen layer can be found on the EJscreen tool under the “Places” tab and by selecting “EPA IRA Disadvantaged”: https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/. The IRA disadvantaged database was downloaded from https://gaftp.epa.gov/EPA_IRA_Public/. All U.S. census tracts are listed and identifies which are designated as disadvantaged. EJScreen is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes and Supplemental which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJScreen displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern.

EJSCREEN is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The tool provides both summary and detailed information at the Census block group level or a user-defined area for both demographic and environmental indicators. The summary information is in the form of EJ Indexes which combine demographic information with a single environmental indicator (such as proximity to traffic) that can help identify communities living in areas with greater potential for environmental and health impacts. The tool also provides additional detailed demographic and environmental information to supplement screening analyses. EJSCREEN displays this information in color-coded maps, bar charts, and standard reports. Users should keep in mind that screening tools are subject to substantial uncertainty in their demographic and environmental data, particularly when looking at small geographic areas, such as Census block groups. Data on the full range of environmental impacts and demographic factors in any given location are almost certainly not available directly through this tool, and its initial results should be supplemented with additional information and local knowledge before making any judgments about potential areas of EJ concern. The National-scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) environmental indicators and EJ indexes, which include cancer risk, respiratory hazard, neurodevelopment hazard, and diesel particulate matter will be added into EJSCREEN during the first full public update after the soon-to-be-released 2011 dataset is made available. All NATA associated indicator and index elements are currently set to "Null".

EJSCREEN is an environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic indicators. This map service contains EJ indexes or scores calculated for each block group in the United States which is what the EPA uses to screen for areas that may be candidates for additional consideration, analysis or outreach as EPA develops programs, policies and activities that may affect communities. The scores here reflect the 2015 public release version of the EJSCREEN tool (https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/).

Check out the metadata link for the details: https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/rest/document?id=%7BB6FE56EE-3D28-4B5C-ABF0-D3B0B9E9DF87%7D&xsl=metadata_to_html_full

Data shows polygon locations of Potential Environmental Justice Areas (PEJA) and is defined in the PEJA field. PEJA's have been identified based on data from the 2014-2018 5-year American Community Survey (ACS), conducted by the US Census Bureau. Environmental justice efforts focus on improving the environment in communities, specifically minority and low-income communities, and addressing disproportionate adverse environmental impacts that may exist in those communities. The information balloon for each census block group area displays the census block group ID, population, percent minority, percent below poverty level, county, municipality, and a link to more information on the Department of Environmental Conservation's website https://www.dec.ny.gov/public/333.html The data was collected by the US Census Bureau as part of the American Community Survey. Reported income and race/ethnicity data were analyzed by OEJ to determine the presence of Potential Environmental Justice Areas. The designated areas are then considered for additional outreach within the permitting process, for grant eligibility, and for targeted enforcement of Environmental Conservation Law violations. Utilized established methods as originally detailed in the Interim Environmental Justice Policy, US EPA Region 2, December 2000, and recommended by the Environmental Justice Advisory Group, Recommendations for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Justice Program, January 2, 2002. Individual thresholds for low-income populations (statewide), minority populations (rural communities), and minority populations (urban communities) were determined by using ArcGIS 10.3 (used to indicate if census block groups overlapped Census designated urban areas) and IBM SPSS Statistics 26 (to conduct a K-means clustering algorithm on ACS data for the three categories). More detail is provided under processing steps. Service updated annually. For more information or to download layer see https://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/inventories/details.cfm?DSID=1273Download the metadata to learn more information about how the data was created and details about the attributes. Use the links within the metadata document to expand the sections of interest see http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/metadata/nysdec.PEJA.xml

Environmental Justice Block Groups 2022 was created from Connecticut block group boundary data located in the Census Bureau's 2020 TIGER/Line Shapefiles. The poverty data used to determine which block groups qualified as EJ communities (see CT State statute 22a-20a) was based on the Census Bureau's 2020 ACS 5-year estimate. This poverty data was joined with the block group boundaries in ArcPro. Block groups in which the percent of the population below 200% of the federal poverty level was greater than or equal to 30.0 were selected and the resulting selection was exported as a new shapefile. The block groups were then clipped so that only those block groups outside of distressed municipalities were displayed. Maintenance – This layer will be updated annually and will coincide with the annual distressed municipalities update (around August/September). The latest ACS 5-year estimate data should be used to update this layer. Environmental Justice Distressed Municipalities 2020 was created from Connecticut town boundary data located in the Census Bureau's 2020 TIGER/Line Shapefiles (County Subdivisions).

From this shapefile, "select by attribute" was used to select the distressed municipalities by town name (note: the list of 2022 distressed municipalities was provided by the CT Department of Economic and Community Development). The selection was then exported a new shapefile. The “Union” tool was used to unite the new shapefile with tribal lands (American Indian Area Geography) boundary data from the 2020 TIGER/Line files. In the resulting layer, the tribal lands were deleted so only the distressed municipalities remained. Maintenance – This layer will be updated annually when the DECD produces its new list of distressed municipalities (around August/September).

Note: A distressed municipality, as designated by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, includes municipalities that no longer meet the threshold requirements but are still in a 5-year grace period. (See definition at CGS Sec. 32-9p(b).) Fitting into that grace period, eight towns continue to be eligible for distressed municipality benefits because they dropped off the list within the last five years. Those are Enfield, Killingly, Naugatuck, Plymouth, New Haven, Preston, Stratford, and Voluntown.

description: The States table provides percentile breaks of important EJSCREEN elements (demographic indicators and indexes, environmental indicators and indexes) at the state summary level. This table provides support to the EJSCREEN reporting tools. EJSCREEN is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The National-scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) environmental indicators and EJ indexes, which include cancer risk, respiratory hazard, neurodevelopment hazard, and diesel particulate matter will be added into EJSCREEN during the first full public update after the soon-to-be-released 2011 dataset is made available. All NATA associated indicator and index elements are currently set to "Null".; abstract: The States table provides percentile breaks of important EJSCREEN elements (demographic indicators and indexes, environmental indicators and indexes) at the state summary level. This table provides support to the EJSCREEN reporting tools. EJSCREEN is an environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and methodology for calculating "EJ indexes," which can be used for highlighting places that may be candidates for further review, analysis, or outreach as the agency develops programs, policies and other activities. The National-scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) environmental indicators and EJ indexes, which include cancer risk, respiratory hazard, neurodevelopment hazard, and diesel particulate matter will be added into EJSCREEN during the first full public update after the soon-to-be-released 2011 dataset is made available. All NATA associated indicator and index elements are currently set to "Null".

All residents of the State of New Jersey have a right to live, learn, work, and recreate in a clean and healthy environment. Environmental justice requires fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, in the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. This goal can only be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and has equal access to the decision-making processes in the places they live, learn, and work, and recreate.Historically, New Jersey’s low-income communities and communities of color historically have been subjected to a disproportionately high number of environmental and public health stressors—including mobile sources of pollution, and numerous industrial, commercial, and governmental stationary sources of pollution. Further compounding this inequity, New Jersey’s overburdened communities (OBCs) often lack important environmental benefits, such as quality green and open spaces, sufficient tree canopy, or adequate stormwater management.

It has been 10 years since CalEPA and OEHHA released the first version of CalEnviroScreen, a groundbreaking environmental justice (EJ) mapping tool that identifies areas most affected by multiple forms of pollution. We would like to acknowledge the work that went into the project and celebrate the many people that informed the direction of CalEnviroScreen.

Over the past decade, the tool has focused environmental protection and enforcement actions by combining a variety of data sources to highlight communities living at the intersection of pollution and poverty. It has become a powerful way for EJ communities to bring data-driven attention to issues they face and has helped direct over 6 billion dollars in California climate investments.