Environmental Justice Publications and Resources

Highlights:

Updated Disadvantaged Communities Designation (May 3, 2022)

CalEPA finalized in May 2022 the updated Designation of Disadvantaged Communities.  CalEPA formally designates four categories of geographic areas as disadvantaged: 

  1. Census tracts receiving the highest 25 percent of overall scores in CalEnviroScreen 4.0
  2. Census tracts lacking overall scores in CalEnviroScreen 4.0 due to data gaps, but receiving the highest 5 percent of CalEnviroScreen 4.0 cumulative pollution burden scores 
  3. Census tracts identified in the 2017 DAC designation, regardless of their scores in CalEnviroScreen 4.0
  4. Lands under the control of federally recognized Tribes

For detailed explanation of each of the categories, please read the document:

Community Engagement and Equity during the COVID-19 Crisis

The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) and the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) partnered to produce a series of online sessions The Building Our Skills Together Online Conference, on community engagement and equity during the COVID-19 crisis. Held in 2020 and still relevant today, the three day conference was composed of free online sessions to hear from state, local, tribal and community leaders as well as international experts in the field of public participation and engagement. Integrated simultaneous interpretation in Spanish was made available. The conference focused on many of the topics including using digital engagement tools effectively to plan and participate in virtual online meetings, how organizations are adapting engagement practices during the COVID-19 crisis, and what it all means for equity and environmental justice. The Building Our Skills Together Conference was rooted in the experience that many people are going through during this crisis—the struggle to maintain connection in the face of the COVID-19 crisis and the even more pressing challenge to do better when it comes to authentic engagement. The crisis has highlighted once again, the pattern of deepening racial and ethnic inequities across health, the environment and the economy.

Pollution Burden Map – CalEnviroScreen 4.0

CalEnviroScreen (CES) is the state’s environmental health screening tool that can has been used to help identify and address California communities that are disproportionately burdened by multiple sources of pollution. Developed by CalEPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), it is an important tool in meeting CalEPA’s commitment to environmental justice for all. This latest version was released on October 13, 2021. You can read more about CES 4.0 in the press release, visit OEHHA’s CalEnviroScreen webpage or scroll down to explore the maps.

CalEPA Environmental Justice Efforts

To learn more about what CalEPA and its boards, departments and offices are doing to address environmental justice, please visit the summary report below:

 


Additional Publications (EJ documents and reports prepared by or for CalEPA):

 

CalEPA Intra-Agency EJ Strategy

CalEPA Intra-Agency EJ Strategy, 2004 (.pdf) | Estrategia de Justicia Ambiental de CalEPA, 2004 (.pdf)

Background

CalEPA EJ Program Update Reports

CalEPA is mandated to report to the Governor and Legislature every three years on its progress in achieving the objectives of the Intra-Agency Environmental Justice Strategy, adopted in 2004.The following update reports detail the accomplishments CalEPA and its Boards, Departments and Office have made during the specified time periods:

CalEPA Environmental Justice Task Force Initiative Reports

CalEnviroScreen Tool: Results Report and Data

  • CalEnviroScreen (CES) is the state’s environmental health screening tool that can has been used to help identify and address California communities that are disproportionately burdened by multiple sources of pollution. Developed by CalEPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), it is an important tool in meeting CalEPA’s commitment to environmental justice for all. This latest version was released on October 13, 2021. You can read more about CES 4.0 in the press release, visit OEHHA’s CalEnviroScreen webpage or scroll down to explore the maps.
  • En espanol: Puede leer más sobre esto en el comunicado de prensa, visite la página web de OEHHA CalEnviroScreen, o explorar los resultados de CalEnviroScreen por tramo censal individual o por indicador.
  • In this update:
    • All indicators contain the most recent available data.
    • There are improvements in the way some indicators are calculated to better reflect environmental conditions or population vulnerability to pollution.
    • One new indicator, Children’s Lead Risk from Housing, accounts for possible lead exposure from paint and other sources in or around the home.

Map of CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Indicators

CES Additional Background Documents:

For questions regarding CalEnviroScreen, the above documents or the web application, please contact John Faust at (510) 622-3200 or CalEnviroScreen@oehha.ca.gov.