Environmental
Justice Guidance, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)
Environmental Justice Training, EPA Office of
Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice Risk Assessment Procedure
Development and Analysis, U.S. EPA
Environmental Justice Strategy, U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE)
Technical Applications for Environmental Justice,
U.S. EPA
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Siting Workgroup
Human Health Risk Targeting
Technical Applications for Environmental Justice
CSX Environmental Justice—GIS
Analysis
Environmental Justice Analysis of New York City
Incineration Facilities
Environmental Justice Guidance, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
For the EPA Office of Environmental Justice,
ICF International assisted in preparing the "Toolkit
for Assessing Potential Allegations of Environmental
Injustice." The document provides
a framework for understanding the Agency’s
environmental justice program, including an
analysis of the program in the context of environmental
statutes and the agency’s implementing
programs and regulations. It also provides
a methodology for assessing the validity of
an allegation of environmental injustice; discusses
approaches for addressing apparent environmental
injustice situations, even those that center
around issues that are usually not considered
to be within EPA’s regulatory domain;
and establishes a framework for developing
and implementing a holistic approach for various
federal agencies to provide resources to affected
communities.
Environmental Justice Training, EPA Office
of Environmental Justice
ICF International developed training
modules to ensure implementation of environmental
justice principles into the permitting process
under the Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act. The training modules first
present an overview of policies and orders
regarding environmental justice in EPA programs,
discuss the specific statutory authorities
that support application of environmental
justice issues in the particular permitting
process, and identify the critical points in
the particular permit process where environmental
justice issues are addressed. Each course also
discusses how to prioritize permits in order
to determine which may require more of a detailed
examination for environmental justice issues,
what data to collect and from what sources
in order to assess the situation, how to address
public participation opportunities, and what
ranges of actions can be taken with respect
to the permitting outcome.
Environmental Justice Risk Assessment Procedure
Development and Analysis, U.S. EPA
ICF International provided
technical support for EPA’s Office of
Civil Rights by reviewing and evaluating complaints
submitted under Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act. We developed risk assessment procedures
and tools for exposure scenarios for which
violations may have occurred under the Act.
ICF International evaluated potential disparities
in risks of affected subpopulations, identified
key pollutants causing the risk, and potential
emission
reduction opportunities, and developed
recommendations for improved analyses of environmental
justice issues.
Environmental Justice Strategy, U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE)
ICF International assisted DOE's
Office of Fossil Energy (FE) in complying
with Executive Order 12898. We identified FE
program activities where environmental justice
issues apply and compiled baseline information
on all of FE's programs. ICF International also
developed a strategy to ensure that environmental
justice issues were addressed as part of program
planning and examined current National Environmental
Protection Agency (NEPA) procedures and contracting
practices.
Technical Applications for Environmental Justice,
U.S. EPA
On behalf of EPA’s Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards (OAQPS), ICF International
reviewed technical tools and guidance available
to states and regions for evaluation of possible
disproportionate impacts of air pollution,
recommended improvements to existing tools
and guidance, and recommended new tools and
that would be most useful—including air
dispersion models, Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), air
quality monitoring data, and data
analysis methods. We prepared a report for
OAQPS that reviewed technical tools, databases,
and guidance, and assessed the experiences
of states and regions in applying these tools
and guidance.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Siting Workgroup
ICF International provided
support for U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste's
(OSW) Siting Workgroup, which is an outgrowth
of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency
Response's (OSWER) environmental justice plan.
The workgroup considered options for addressing
siting issues for Subtitle C (i.e., hazardous
waste) facilities. It considered environmental
justice in the context of broader social concerns
and in addition to technical concerns about
siting. The workgroup worked closely with OSWER's
Environmental Justice Task Force. In addition
to providing meeting summaries, we reviewed
state siting regulations to identify and compare
provisions that address social issues such
as environmental justice and cultural and
historic preservation.
Human Health Risk Targeting
In support of
the EPA’s Office of Sustainable Ecosystems
and Communities, ICF International completed
a study of approaches in use or under development
for geographic targeting of areas with high
human health risk. The objective of the study
was to determine the extent to which human-health
risk targeting is being conducted in the ten
EPA Regions, and to document the methods and
data being used. This objective was accomplished
by interviewing EPA staff at headquarters and
at each of the ten regional offices. The results
of these interviews showed that much of the
agency’s geographic targeting is being
conducted to address issues of environmental
justice.
Technical Applications for Environmental Justice
ICF International assisted EPA’s Office
of Air Quality Planning and Standards to: (1)
review technical tools and guidance available
to states and regions for evaluation of possible
disproportionate impacts of air pollution,
(2) recommend improvements to existing tools
and guidance, and (3) recommend new tools
that would be most useful. Such tools include
air dispersion models, GIS, air
quality monitoring data, and data analysis
methods. As part of this project, ICF International
assessed the experiences of states and regions
in applying these tools and guidance.
CSX Environmental Justice—GIS Analysis
ICF International has
been involved in environmental justice analyses
for several railroad
projects. We
prepared an environmental justice analysis
for CSX Transportation, Inc., as part of the
CSX and Norfolk Southern acquisition of Conrail.
ICF International conducted a detailed demographic
analysis of 100 line segments, including an
evaluation to address whether a disproportionate
impact existed. We compiled and analyzed detailed
census data around rail lines to characterize
the population potentially affected by a railroad
merger. A series of GIS
maps were produced
that characterized the population by density,
income, and ethnic groups using different criteria
and approaches advocated by project opponents
and proponents. For the Surface Transportation
Board, ICF International was involved
in similar environmental justice analyses as
part of an Environmental Assessment for Canadian
National's
acquisition of Illinois Central.
Environmental Justice Analysis of New York
City Incineration Facilities
For EPA Region 2, ICF International
evaluated the distribution of carcinogenic
health risk resulting from incinerator emissions
among ethnic and income groups in the New
York City area. Both the current configuration
and a proposed future configuration of incineration
facilities were evaluated with the Human
Exposure Model, originally developed for EPA
by the Systems Applications division of ICF International. The study involved an innovative
application of the Human Exposure Model with
U.S. census data on ethnic populations and
household income.
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