What is Environmental Justice?
Several elements appear to be missing in the existing state of the practice for integrating environmental justice fully and systematically in the regional transportation planning and decision-making process:
· Public Outreach: While agencies are doing a much better job of seeking out and engaging the public meaningfully in the planning process, there are still real questions as to how completely the four steps of public involvement articulated in the EPA’s policy statement are being realized. A means for confidently reaching, informing and involving the right population groups (stakeholders) with the right questions at the right time of the process is clearly needed.
· Documentation: Reliably hearing and accurately recording the issues and concerns gathered from these discussions, such that the process and responses are well documented for future reviewers.
· Consistent Performance Indicators: Developing a linkage between the issues and concerns raised and the impact or effectiveness of plans, projects or mitigation strategies through a consistent, meaningful and appropriately sensitive set of performance indicators.
The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation (BREJT) Project has been designed to develop a process that can do a better job of incorporating these key attributes. To accomplish this, BREJT has been structured into three sequential phases:
· Phase I – Community Outreach: Designed to determine what the key issues and concerns are to candidate subgroups, as well as identify methods for reaching the correct segments.
· Phase II – Develop Environmental Justice in Transportation Tool Kit: to develop an environmental justice in transportation planning guide that supports interactive exchanges between the MPO, community residents, and transportation agencies.
· Phase III – Dissemination of Findings and Possible New Tools: Encouraging the propagation and dissemination of the improved procedures through academic curriculum, technology transfer, and peer exchange.