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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 02/04
Models For Change: Efforts By Four States To Address Environmental Justice
Philip Rutledge, A. James Barnes, Jonathan Howes, Valerie Lemmie, David Mora, James Murley, Eddie Williams
June 2002
Summary
In October 2001, the Office of Environmental Justice at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked the National Academy of Public Administration (the Academy) to study a selected group of state environmental justice programs and identify opportunities for states to address environmental justice concerns more effectively. This study complements a prior Academy effort that analyzed how environmental justice could be incorporated into EPA’s permitting programs for air, waste, and water and contributed to EPA’s five-step strategy for integrating environmental justice into its permits.
The prior study recommended changes to EPA’s leadership, accountability, permitting programs, priority setting, and procedures for public participation to advance environmental justice. It determined that state environmental agencies are responsible for issuing the vast majority of air, waste, and water permits. By focusing on state programs, the current study expands the Academy’s earlier analysis and recognizes the key role that states play in protecting public health and the environment.
This study examines four states: Indiana, Florida, New Jersey, and California. These states have been selected because they have chosen to address environmental justice through:
- enacting new legislation
- proposing new regulations
- issuing executive orders, policies, or other directives
- convening advisory committees composed of diverse stakeholders
- implementing various management measures
