“Overburdened community” means any census block group, as determined in accordance with the most recent United States Census, in which: (1) at least 35 percent of the households qualify as low-income households; (2) at least 40 percent of the residents identify as a minority or as members of a State recognized tribal community; or (3) at least 40 percent of the households have limited English proficiency.

Areas of the state where people who are vulnerable to health, social, and environmental inequities are also highly impacted by criteria air pollution.Using multiple sources of air quality data and environmental justice information, Ecology identified 16 areas of the state containing multiple overburdened communities, neighborhoods, and towns that are highly impacted by criteria air pollution. The places are a mix of urban, suburban, and rural. They vary greatly in population, from about 1,500 to more than 200,000 people. They also range vastly in area, from less than 3 square miles to 173 square miles. Collectively, they represent more than 1.2 million people, or about 15.5% of Washington’s population. We heard from Tribes, the public, members of the Environmental Justice Council, and other environmental justice advocates about identifying the people and places in Washington that are overburdened and highly impacted by criteria air pollution. We have not yet included any communities on Tribal land. More information about how communities were identified can be found on our website: ecology.wa.gov/overburdenedDISCLAIMER: This is not a diagnostic tool. These are communities identified for a specific purpose under the Climate Commitment Act.

“Overburdened community” means any census block group, as determined in accordance with the most recent United States Census, in which: (1) at least 35 percent of the households qualify as low-income households; (2) at least 40 percent of the residents identify as a minority or as members of a State recognized tribal community; or (3) at least 40 percent of the households have limited English proficiency.

Overburdened Communities Census Tracts web layer configured in Map Viewer Classic for the EV Publicly Available application. (Current Version)This layer represents the overall ranking for Environmental Exposures, Environmental Effects, Socioeconomic Factors and Sensitive Populations. More information is available here https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/wtnibl/WTNIBL/.This layer uses 2010 Census Tracts based on the current version of the Washington Tracking Network's Environmental Health Disparities data.The source data is derived from the Environmental Health Disparities map displayed on WTN's Information by Location (IBL) tool. The data on the map include 19 indicators and are divided into four themes:Environmental Exposures (PM2.5-diesel emissions; ozone concentration; PM2.5 Concentration; proximity to heavy traffic roadways; toxic release from facilities (RSEI model))Environmental Effects (lead risk from housing; proximity to hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs); proximity to National Priorities List sites (Superfund Sites); proximity to Risk Management Plan (RMP) facilities; wastewater discharge)Sensitive Populations (death from cardiovascular disease; low birth weight)Socioeconomic Factors (limited English; no high school diploma; poverty; race - people of color; transportation expense; unaffordable housing; unemployed)Learn about how the Environmental Health Disparities map is being used to support Washington's clean energy transformation.Washington State Department of Health provides an index of Environmental Health Disparities for all the census tracts in Washington. Both deciles (ranks 1 - 10) and quintiles (ranks 1 - 5) have been calculated for cardiovascular disease, low birth weight, people without a high school diploma, people who speak English less than "very well" or "not at all", people living at or below 185% of federal poverty level, people of color, transportation costs, unemployment, housing costs, people exposed to air pollution near busy road ways, exposure to diesel emissions, exposure to average ozone, exposure to particulate matter, exposure to toxic releases, proximity to hazardous waste generators, exposure to lead, proximity to Superfund sites, proximity to facilities with highly toxic substances, proximity to wastewater discharge, general environmental exposure, general environmental effects, general sensitive populations, general socioeconomic factors, and overall environmental health disparities. Please see the Washington environmental health disparities page for more information: https://www.doh.wa.gov/DataandStatisticalReports/WashingtonTrackingNetworkWTN/InformationbyLocation/WashingtonEnvironmentalHealthDisparitiesMap The map was a collaborative project that took several years to develop. It went live to the public in January of 2019. Those involved in the initial collaboration include: University of Washington's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Front and Centered, Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Department of Ecology, and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. The effort included listening sessions with communities in Washington State. The communities gave input that informed development of the map. Since the map was published, several laws and rules highlight it as a resource. Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act, passed in 2021, led to the first dedicated, ongoing state funding to maintain and update the map. The HEAL Act (RCW 43.70.815) requires DOH to: Further develop the EHD map, engaging with communities, tribes, researcher, and EJ CouncilTrack changes in disparities over time Perform a comprehensive evaluation every three yearsExpand online video trainings and guidance on how to use the EHD mapProvide support and consultation to state agencies on how to use the EHD map\DOH continues to add data to the EHD map to reflect additional health risks. DOH is currently working with partners to develop indicators for: wildfire smoke, asthma, tree canopy and greenspace, water quality, pesticide exposure, redlining index, and a group of climate change indicators.The EHD map is a living tool. Developing and improving it is an ongoing process, incorporating feedback and new data. The map will never fully reflect communities’ experiences and should not be used to replace community engagement or tribal consultation. If you have feedback about how we could improve the map, please contact us at EHDmap@doh.wa.gov.

The Overburdened Communities of Washington State dataset merges several critical and currently available data sources to identify census tracts where vulnerable populations face cumulative environmental and health impacts. This dataset integrates 2010 census tracts ranked 9 or 10 by the Washington Environmental Health Disparities (EHD) Map, tracts identified as "disadvantaged" by the federal Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), and tracts overlapping with Tribal reservations (as recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs). The dataset covers urban, suburban, and rural areas, and varying in population and area size. These data support the identification of fund allocation under the CCA and HEAL Act, aiming to ensure equitable expenditures of funds towards environmental benefits and reduction of burdens in these critical areas. The dataset will be updated annually but is static between updates.

“Overburdened community” means any census block group, as determined in accordance with the most recent United States Census, in which: (1) at least 35 percent of the households qualify as low-income households; (2) at least 40 percent of the residents identify as a minority or as members of a State recognized tribal community; or (3) at least 40 percent of the households have limited English proficiency.

The goal of this tool is to provide users with demographic and socioeconomic data coupled with Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) specific elements such as proximity to dams or wastewater treatment facilities. MDE will be using this tool to inform siting, permitting, enforcement and infrastructure improvements to help underserved and overburdened communities in Maryland. This tool was developed in relation to the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 and the Biden Administration's Justice40 initiative.

This map uses an archive of Version 1.0 of the CEJST data as a fully functional GIS layer. See an archive of the latest version of the CEJST tool using Version 2.0 of the data released in December 2024 here.Note: A new version of this data was released November 22, 2022 and is available here. There are significant changes, see the Justice40 Initiative criteria for details.This layer assesses and identifies communities that are disadvantaged according to Justice40 Initiative criteria. Census tracts in the U.S. and its territories that meet the Version 0.1 criteria are shaded in a semi-transparent blue to work with a variety of basemaps.Details of the assessment are provided in the popup for every census tract in the United States and its territories American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This map uses 2010 census tracts from Version 0.1 of the source data downloaded May 30, 2022.Use this layer to help plan for grant applications, to perform spatial analysis, and to create informative dashboards and web applications. See this blog post for more information.From the source:"Census tract geographical boundaries are determined by the U.S. Census Bureau once every ten years. This tool utilizes the census tract boundaries from 2010 because they match the datasets used in the tool. The U.S. Census Bureau will update these tract boundaries in 2020.Under the current formula, a census tract will be identified as disadvantaged in one or more categories of criteria:IF the tract is above the threshold for one or more environmental or climate indicators AND the tract is above the threshold for the socioeconomic indicatorsCommunities are identified as disadvantaged by the current version of the tool for the purposes of the Justice40 Initiative if they are located in census tracts that are at or above the combined thresholds in one or more of eight categories of criteria.The goal of the Justice40 Initiative is to provide 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments in [eight] key areas to disadvantaged communities. These [eight] key areas are: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, clean transit, affordable and sustainable housing, training and workforce development, the remediation and reduction of legacy pollution, [health burdens] and the development of critical clean water infrastructure." Source: Climate and Economic Justice Screening toolPurpose"Sec. 219. Policy. To secure an equitable economic future, the United States must ensure that environmental and economic justice are key considerations in how we govern. That means investing and building a clean energy economy that creates well‑paying union jobs, turning disadvantaged communities — historically marginalized and overburdened — into healthy, thriving communities, and undertaking robust actions to mitigate climate change while preparing for the impacts of climate change across rural, urban, and Tribal areas. Agencies shall make achieving environmental justice part of their missions by developing programs, policies, and activities to address the disproportionately high and adverse human health, environmental, climate-related and other cumulative impacts on disadvantaged communities, as well as the accompanying economic challenges of such impacts. It is therefore the policy of my Administration to secure environmental justice and spur economic opportunity for disadvantaged communities that have been historically marginalized and overburdened by pollution and underinvestment in housing, transportation, water and wastewater infrastructure, and health care." Source: Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and AbroadUse of this Data"The pilot identifies 21 priority programs to immediately begin enhancing benefits for disadvantaged communities. These priority programs will provide a blueprint for other agencies to help inform their work to implement the Justice40 Initiative across government." Source: The Path to Achieving Justice 40The layer has some transparency applied to allow it to work sufficiently well on top of many basemaps. For optimum map display where streets and labels are clearly shown on top of this layer, try one of the Human Geography basemaps and set transparency to 0%, as is done in this example web map.Browse the DataView the Data tab in the top right of this page to browse the data in a table and view the metadata available for each field, including field name, field alias, and a field description explaining what the field represents.

The goal of this tool is to provide users with demographic and socioeconomic data coupled with Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) specific elements such as proximity to dams or wastewater treatment facilities. MDE will be using this tool to inform siting, permitting, enforcement and infrastructure improvements to help underserved and overburdened communities in Maryland. This tool was developed in relation to the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 and the Biden Administration's Justice40 initiative.

As policymakers increasingly focus on environmental justice, a key question is whether emissions reductions aimed at addressing air quality or climate change can also ameliorate persistent air pollution exposure disparities. We model exposures to California’s aggressive vehicle emissions control policy from 2000-2019. We find a 65% reduction in statewide average exposure to PM2.5 from on-road vehicles, yet for people of color and overburdened community residents, relative exposure disparities increased. Light-duty vehicle emissions are the main driver of the exposure and exposure disparity, although smaller contributions from heavy-duty vehicles especially impact some overburdened groups. Our findings suggest that a continued trend of emissions reductions will likely reduce concentrations and absolute disparity but may not reduce relative disparities without greater attention to the systemic factors leading to this disparity., , , # Data to support: PM2.5 exposure disparities persist despite strict vehicle emissions controls in California

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.t76hdr87t

Description of the data and file structure

For this work, we developed and used an open-source Python-based pipeline that streamlines exposure concentration and health impact analyses called Estimating Concentrations and Health Outcomes – Automated ISRM Resource (ECHO-AIR). The files contained in this repository are organized into two sections: Output Files from ECHO-AIR and Supporting Jurisdictional Files.

ECHO-AIR Output Files

We have provided two different concentration outputs from ECHO-AIR for 2000 through 2019 and for four fleets (all, LDV, MDV, and HDV).

Detailed Concentration

The detailed concentration outputs are uploaded as shapefiles with the following title scheme: '[**fleet**]_cy[**year**]_detailed_concentration.shp'.

The detai...

This analysis scores Census Block Groups in Washington based on their degree of equity and environmental justice need for the purpose of identifying and prioritizing investment locations for the Connecting Communities Pilot Program. Each Block Group receives a score based on several factors related to vulnerable populations and environmentally burdened communities, and these scores are added together to create the final score. See the accompanying methodology word document for a full list of factors. Original data sources are the U.S. Census 2016-2020 American Community Survey (ACS) and the Washington Environmental Health Disparities (EHD) Map.Individual scores are calculated for each measure, which then sum up to aggregate scores for vulnerable populations and overburdened communities as well as a combined final score. Block Group scores based on demographic measures from the ACS data are calculated relative to other Block Groups in similarly sized population centers or in tribal areas. If a Block Group’s value for a given demographic measure is at or above the 80th percentile within its population center size category, it is given 2 points for that factor. If its value is at or above the 60th percentile within its population center size category, it is given 1 point. All other Block Groups receive 0 points for that factor. Block groups that overlap with or touch multiple population centers that have different sizes are assigned the highest possible point value based on all overlapping population centers. For the health and environmental measures sourced from the EHD map, scores are applied based on the measure’s rank value. Block Groups with a rank of 9 or 10 are given 2 points, and Block Groups with a rank of 7 or 8 are given 1 point. This is applied statewide without any scaling within population center sizes, as is performed for the demographic metrics, to ensure that Block Groups with similar environmental or health burdens across the state are scored evenly. Here is a list of measures (included in attribute table), used to calculate the final score: 1. Population less than 18 years of age; 2. Population age 65 or older; 3. Housing cost-burdened households (spending over 30% of income on housing); 4. Black, Indigenous, People of color; 5. Households with 1 or more persons with a disability; 6. Ability to speak English – less than very well; 7. Household income below 200% of the federal poverty level; 8. Zero to one car households; 9. Unemployment; 10. Transportation expense (%) for moderate income families; 11. Limited access to healthy food; 12. Low birthweight (<2500 grams); 13. High rate of hospitalization, based on the maximum rank value from the following variables; (a) Death from cardiovascular disease, (b) Cancer deaths, (c) Lower life expectancy at birth, (d) Premature death; 14. Environmental exposures; 15. Environmental effects; 16. Diesel pollution burdenFinally, 1 additional point is given to Block Groups that fall within or touch a tribal area to give a slight priority to areas serving tribal populations. This score, along with the demographic measures from the ACS as well as the transportation expense, limited access to healthy food, low birthweight, and high rate of hospitalization measures from the EHD Map are summed together to create the total vulnerable population score. The three environmental measures from the EHD Map are summed together to create the total overburdened communities score. These two totals are summed to create the Block Group’s final score.

The District of Columbia has greatly improved its air quality over the recent decades.In the 1960s, the District established one of the nation's first ambient air monitoring stations. Today, the District’s ambient air monitoring network consists of six stations: McMillan Reservoir, River Terrace, Takoma Recreation Center, King Greenleaf Recreation Center, the Anacostia Freeway Near-road Monitor, and Bald Eagle Recreation Center. Hains Point was temporarily closed in 2016 for building renovations and permanently in 2017 due to site inaccessibility. The Verizon Center monitor was shut down at the end of December 2016. King Greenleaf Recreation Center officially became part of the ambient air monitoring network in January 2018. In March 2024, DOEE added its sixth station at Bald Eagle Recreation Center, located in an overburdened environmental justice (EJ) community in Ward 8. This EJ station is funded by the federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) Direct Award Air Monitoring grant.

1. DataS1_Xu.csv: Soil physiochemical properties and N2O emission of soils measured.
2. DataS2_Xu.xls: The prokaryotic ASVs (1–40 pos) with positive coefficients (positively correlated with N2O emissions) and fungal ASVs (1–75 neg) with negative coefficients (negatively correlated with N2O emissions) were identified by the GLLVMs model.
3. DataS3_Fungi_Xu.fas: Representative sequence of fungal ASVs.
4. DataS3_Prokaryotes_Xu.fas: Representative sequence of prokaryotic ASVs.

Studies of the remanence and rock magnetic properties of host-rock Early Tertiary Hanna Formation at the Hanna II, Phases 2 and 3 underground coal gasification (UCG) experiment, Hanna, Wyoming, have determined the nature of the remanent magnetism of unaltered Hanna Formation and changes in the remanence and magnetic mineralogy attending the ucg tests.

Hundreds of mineralogic and geochemical tests were done under US Department of Energy contracts on core samples taken from the Hanna underground coal gasification site. These tests included x-ray diffraction studies of minerals in coal ash, overburden rocks, and heat-altered rocks; x-ray fluorescence analyses of oxides in coal ash and heat-altered rocks; semi-quantitative spectrographic analyses of elements in coal, overburden, and heat-altered rocks; chemical analyses of elements and compounds in coal, overburden, and heat-altered rocks and ASTM proximate and ultimate analyses of coal and heat-altered coal. These data sets were grouped, averaged, and analyzed to provide preburn and postburn mineralogic and geochemical characteristics of rock units at the site. Where possible, the changes in characteristics from the preburn to the postburn state are related to underground coal gasification processes. 11 references, 13 figures, 8 tables.

“Overburdened community” means any census block group, as determined in accordance with the most recent United States Census, in which: (1) at least 35 percent of the households qualify as low-income households; (2) at least 40 percent of the residents identify as minority or as members of a State recognized tribal community; or (3) at least 40 percent of the households have limited English proficiency. Section 3 of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law N.J.S.A. 13:1D-159 requires the NJDEP to “notify a municipality if any part of the municipality has been designated an overburdened community pursuant to this act”. This data identifies municipalities that have a block group or Tribal Area meeting the census criteria for an Overburdened Community. This dataset is the most current version of the Municipalities with Overburdened Communities under the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law.

New Jersey’s Environmental Justice (EJ) Law identifies 7 specific categories of “environmental or public health stressors”. Sites that manufacture, process, store or use hazardous substances are in the category of conditions that may cause potential public health impacts as accidental releases of substances stored at these sites could impact public health in the community. Under the EJ Law a regulated facility prepares an environmental justice impact statement that assesses the potential environmental and public health stressors associated with the proposed new or expanded facility, or with the existing major source, as applicable, including any adverse environmental or public health stressors that cannot be avoided if the permit is granted, and the environmental or public health stressors already borne by the overburdened community as a result of existing conditions located in or affecting the overburdened community. Emergency Planning Environmental Stressors contribute to existing conditions. The sites included in this file are required to prepare emergency or preparedness plans due to the types and quantities of substances manufactured, processed, stored or used. These plans are required under three laws: the Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act (TCPA), the Community and Worker Right to Know Act (CWRTK), and the Spill Compensation and Control Act. The overall goal of planning is to reduce the possibility of discharges or releases of hazardous substances to the environment and minimize the consequences if they do occur.

This dataset provides information on Environmental and Public Health Stressors for each block group in New Jersey to help implement the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law codified at N.J.S.A. 13:1D-157 et seq (EJ Law). Under the EJ Law “Environmental or public health stressors” means sources of environmental pollution, including, but not limited to, concentrated areas of air pollution, mobile sources of air pollution, contaminated sites, transfer stations or other solid waste facilities, recycling facilities, scrap yards, and point-sources of water pollution including, but not limited to, water pollution from facilities or combined sewer overflows; or conditions that may cause potential public health impacts, including, but not limited to, asthma, cancer, elevated blood lead levels, cardiovascular disease, and developmental problems in the overburdened community (OBC). The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (Department) has developed data for 26 individual stressors within these categories and a Combined Stressor Total, which is the sum of adverse stressors in each block group.

This dataset provides information on Environmental and Public Health Stressors for each block group in New Jersey to help implement the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law codified at N.J.S.A. 13:1D-157 et seq (EJ Law). Under the EJ Law “Environmental or public health stressors” means sources of environmental pollution, including, but not limited to, concentrated areas of air pollution, mobile sources of air pollution, contaminated sites, transfer stations or other solid waste facilities, recycling facilities, scrap yards, and point-sources of water pollution including, but not limited to, water pollution from facilities or combined sewer overflows; or conditions that may cause potential public health impacts, including, but not limited to, asthma, cancer, elevated blood lead levels, cardiovascular disease, and developmental problems in the overburdened community (OBC). The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (Department) has developed data for 26 individual stressors within these categories and a Combined Stressor Total, which is the sum of adverse stressors in each block group.

New Jersey’s Environmental Justice (EJ) Law identifies 7 specific categories of “environmental or public health stressors”. Sites that manufacture, process, store or use hazardous substances are in the category of conditions that may cause potential public health impacts as accidental releases of substances stored at these sites could impact public health in the community. Under the EJ Law a regulated facility prepares an environmental justice impact statement that assesses the potential environmental and public health stressors associated with the proposed new or expanded facility, or with the existing major source, as applicable, including any adverse environmental or public health stressors that cannot be avoided if the permit is granted, and the environmental or public health stressors already borne by the overburdened community as a result of existing conditions located in or affecting the overburdened community. Emergency Planning Environmental Stressors contribute to existing conditions. The sites included in this file are required to prepare emergency or preparedness plans due to the types and quantities of substances manufactured, processed, stored or used. These plans are required under three laws: the Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act (TCPA), the Community and Worker Right to Know Act (CWRTK), and the Spill Compensation and Control Act. The overall goal of planning is to reduce the possibility of discharges or releases of hazardous substances to the environment and minimize the consequences if they do occur.