Environmental and Economic Justice
The Middle Rio Grande/Albuquerque Urban Waters Federal Partnership will act in accordance with the environmental justice goals outlined below:
- Ensure people of color, low-income, and native nations are provided with early and ongoing opportunities to engage in meaningful involvement in Partnership decision-making processes.
- In collaboration with partners, identify and support efforts to address environmental and economic impacts that may result in disproportionately high and adverse human health, economic or environmental effects on people of color, and low-income communities.
- Use existing and develop, as needed, funding opportunities, training, and educational opportunities to aid and strengthen people of color, low-income, and native nations in their efforts to build and sustain environmentally and economically sound communities.
- These goals are derived from The Principles of Environmental Justice (EJ) and the EEJ work happening in the MRG Partnership.
- Executive Order 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (January 27, 2021).
Environmental and Economic Justice Tools
- Social Vulnerability Index (SVI): This tool helps people better prepare for and respond to emergency events with the goal of decreasing human suffering, economic loss, and health inequities. Elizabeth Pembleton provided an overview and demo of this tool, and provided the following email for questions and feedback on SVI: svi_coordinator@cdc.gov
- Environmental Justice Index (EJI): This tool compiles data from various federal agencies to rank the cumulative impacts of environmental injustice on health for every census tract. Ben McKenzie provided an overview and demo of this tool and listed the following email for questions and feedback on SVI: eji_coordinator@cdc.gov
- National Environmental Health Tracking Network's Data Tracker: This tool collects, integrates, analyzes, and disseminates non-infectious disease, environmental, and socio-economic data from various sources to provide information on environments and hazards, health effects, and population health. Mitra Kashani provided an overview and demo of this tool and listed the following email for questions and feedback on the Data Tracker: qng4@cdc.gov
- EJScreen (EJScreen 2.3): EPA has completed its annual update to EJScreen, the EPA’s publicly available environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool. Watch the YouTube video on updates here: https://youtu.be/HZp3AWDJt5A
Justice40 Funding Finder
The Justice40 Initiative is designed to implement President Joe Biden’s historic commitment to deliver at least 40 percent of federal climate and infrastructure investment benefits to disadvantaged communities. Find funding for your community or state by utilizing the Justice40 Funding Finder: https://ajustclimate.org/justice40_funding.html
Technical Assistance Centers Ready to Support your Work!
The recently established Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (TCTACs) are hubs that provide training and assistance to support grassroots environmental justice organizations navigate federal and local grant systems, develop strong proposals, and manage grant funding effectively. If you're leading environmental justice work in under-resourced and rural communities, connect with them to learn how they can support your important work! Every EJ community in the U.S. has access to this support – there is one TCTAC hub in every EPA Region. Find your TCTAC provider and learn more here!
“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.”White House Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (January 27, 2021)