subscribe to this page
Malthus Lives in Anti-Immigrant Ads
Public Transport Needs of Minority, Ethnic and Faith Communities Guidance Pack
and
A review of existing research of relevance to Transport Direct
The "Highway to Nowhere"
This week, Mayor Bloomberg announced a revitalization program for the Bronx. Deemed the "South Bronx Initiative," the plan does not include the area around the Sheridan Expressway. Miquela Craytor, deputy director of Sustainble South Bronx, talks about the disconnect between city planning and community activism.
Current Article
Inside the Digital Dump
Page 1 of 11
May/June 2007
Technology drives the forces of globalization. But when we replace our computers and flat-screens with the newest in high-tech cool, what happens to the hardware we throw away? Welcome to the digital dumping ground, where the poor make a living off other people's spare parts.
Beatley, T. (Winter) 1989
JOURNAL OF PLANNING LITERATURE 4:1-32
Environmental Justice Database
Bibliographic entries on issues related to environmental justice.
Call # KF5698 .R63 - at circulation desk
Lib. has v.1-8 No longer updated as of 7/91
Author Rohan, Patrick J
Title Zoning and land use controls / by Patrick J. Rohan ; contributors, Gary I. Cohen ... [et al.]
Imprint New York : M. Bender, 1978-
| Call Number | HB72 .P62 2000 |
| Title | The political economy of inequality / edited by Frank Ackerman ... [et al.] |
| Imprint | Washington, DC : Island Press, c2000 |
Pt. VIII Categorical Inequality
What's Fairness Got To Do With It? Environmental Justice and the Siting of Locally Undesirable Land Uses / Vicki Been 255
Nondiscrimination
Nondiscrimination provisions apply to all programs and activities of Federal-aid recipients, sub-recipients, and contractors, regardless of tier. The obligation to not discriminate is based on the objective of Congress to not have funds, which were collected in a non-discriminatory manner used in ways that subsidize, promote, or perpetuate discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, or physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or retaliation. Primary recipients are responsible for determining and obtaining compliance by their sub-recipients and contractors. The recent passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the clarifications of the reach of Title VI in the arenas of Environmental Justice and the needs of Limited English Proficient populations have expanded jurisdiction, clients, and complexity.
ENVIRONMENT
COURSE NUMBER: FHWA-NHI-142042
COURSE TITLE: Fundamentals of Title VI/Environmental Justice
LENGTH: 2 Days CEU: 1.2 Units
FEE: $270 Per Participant
CLASS SIZE: Minimum:20; Maximum:30
DESCRIPTION:
Environmental justice and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to every stage of transportation decisionmaking. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and its partners are committed to integrating the nondiscrimination principles of environmental justice and Title VI into all Federal-aid programs. Through these and other transportation programs, many opportunities exist to establish partnerships with other public and private organizations to create livable communities that meet the needs of all people. This course presents participants with a framework for using a variety of approaches and tools for accomplishing environmental justice goals in Federal-aid programs and other transportation projects.
Volume 43, Number 2, May 2006
Reassessing Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Environmental Justice Research
[Access article in HTML] [Access article in PDF]
Subjects:
* Hazardous waste sites -- United States.
* Environmental justice -- United States.
Abstract:
The number of studies examining racial and socioeconomic disparities in the geographic distribution of environmental hazards and locally unwanted land uses has grown considerably over the past decade. Most studies have found statistically significant racial and socioeconomic disparities associated with hazardous sites. However, there is considerable variation in the magnitude of racial and socioeconomic disparities found; indeed, some studies have found none. Uncertainties also exist about the underlying causes of the disparities. Many of these uncertainties can be attributed to the failure of the most widely used method for assessing environmental disparities to adequately account for proximity between the hazard under investigation and nearby residential populations. In this article, we identify the reasons for and consequences of this failure and demonstrate ways of overcoming these shortcomings by using alternate, distance-based methods. Through the application of such methods, we show how assessments about the magnitude and causes of racial and socioeconomic disparities in the distribution of hazardous sites are changed. In addition to research on environmental inequality, we discuss how distance-based methods can be usefully applied to other areas of demographic research that explore the effects of neighborhood context on a range of social outcomes.
Professor of Natural Resources and Environment
Environmental Justice; Environmental Policy; Environmental Sociology
Since 1978, the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) has worked to show urban communities locally and all across the country how to develop more sustainably. With smarts, creativity and innovation, and before the term sustainable development was even widely used, CNT has been demonstrating its unique brand of sustainable development: development that is good for the economy and the environment; makes better use of existing resources and community assets; and improves the health of natural systems and the wealth of people-today and in the future.
CNT's organizational model is part think tank, part incubator. While the organization carries out complex research and analysis, it's the application of that research for the benefit of real neighborhoods and real people, especially those most in need, that really drives the organization to excel. Sometimes this application is about changing markets, and other times public policies. Sometimes it requires changing both.
Over the years, CNT's work, especially in the areas of energy, transportation, materials conservation and housing preservation, has paid off by fueling a generation of community development institutions and learning, garnering CNT a reputation as an economic innovator and leader in the field of creative sustainable development.
Civil Action No. 88-1275
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10895
August 9, 1990, Decided
August 14, 1990, Filed
COUNSEL: [*1]
Deborah Harris, Esq., Irv Acklesberg, Esq., COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES, INC., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
ALL DEFTS EXCEPT ROBERT J. THOMPSON, David P. Bruton, Esq., Michael Kubacki, Esq., DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
JUDGES: Daniel H. Huyett, 3rd, United States District Judge.
OPINION BY: HUYETT
OPINION: MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
In this civil action, plaintiffs n1 allege that the means utilized by defendants n2 to allocate federal subsidies received pursuant to the Urban Mass Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. §§ 1601-13, has a discriminatory impact upon the black community of Philadelphia in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d. SEPTA has filed a motion for summary judgment, and oral argument was held on October 3, 1989. At the time of oral argument, it appeared that the parties wished to discuss an amicable resolution of this dispute. Therefore, I stayed disposition of SEPTA's motion for summary judgment pending the outcome of settlement negotiations. After several months, the parties advised that negotiations had proved unfruitful and sought disposition of the instant motion. For the reasons stated below, I will now grant SEPTA's motion for summary judgment. [*2]
No. 90-1656
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
935 F.2d 1280; 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 12485
February 1, 1991, Argued
May 29, 1991, Filed
NOTICE:
[*1]
RULES OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS MAY LIMIT CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS. PLEASE REFER TO THE RULES OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THIS CIRCUIT.
PRIOR HISTORY:
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA; (D.C. Civil No. 88-01275); District Judge: Hon. Daniel H. Huyett, 3rd.
JUDGES: Sloviter, Chief Judge, Nygaard, Circuit Judge, and Barry, District Judge. *
* Honorable Maryanne Trump Barry, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey, sitting by designation.
OPINION: Affirmed
Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration
LEGAL RESEARCH DIGEST
June 1997--Number 7
Subject Areas: IA Planning and Administration and IC Transportation Law
The Impact of Civil Rights Litigation Under Title VI and
Related Laws on Transit Decision Making
This report was prepared under TCRP Project J-5, "Legal Aspects of Transit and Intermodal Transportation
Programs," for which the Transportation Research Board is the agency coordinating the research. The report was
prepared by Sandra Van De Walle. James B. McDaniel, TRB Counsel for Legal Research Projects,
was the principal investigator and content editor.
The Impact of Civil Rights Litigation Under Title VI and Related Laws on Transit
Decision Making
By Sandra Van de Walle
New York, New York
Elizabeth Deakin - University of California, Berkeley
STELLA -Athens
June 2004
FOR DISCUSSION AT THE CONFERENCE
Abstract - In this paper I present a theoretical and legal framework for consideration of equity and environmental justice (EJ) and identify key issues in EJ as they are raised by low income and minority groups in the United States. I begin with a review of alternate theories of justice as well as the main theoretical arguments made in favor of public participation in government decision-making - both basic elements of the equity and environmental justice debate. I then review the development of EJ as a political movement in the United States, with roots in civil rights law, protests against hazardous waste sites and urban freeways, and advocacy planning. I discuss the current status of EJ as a legal and regulatory mandate and identify its implications for planning approaches, public participation practices, and analysis and evaluation methods. Drawing upon my work in the San Francisco Bay Area, I show that the agendas of low income and minority communities are substantially different from those of the overall population, and these differences raise important questions about the responsiveness of transportation programs and decision processes to EJ communities. I then identify a preliminary list of research needs, including research into procedures, methods, and outcomes. As planning practices in Europe expand opportunities for public participation in transportation decisions and the diversity of European populations increases, many of the issues illustrated by the US experience are likely to be seen in Europe as well. Similar issues also may arise in the countries of the South and East as planning agencies seek to accommodate differences of opinion and preference.
By Joe Grengs
No other governmental program comes close to influencing the divided geographic patterns of our metropolitan regions like that of federal transportation. Yet most citizens would be hard-pressed to name who decides how and where transportation dollars are spent. Metropolitan planning organizations, or MPOs, are the bodies through which billions of federal dollars are distributed to state and local governments each year in support of transportation projects. Nearly every transportation project you see-new roads, fixed roads, interchanges, bus lines-has federal transportation dollars behind it. MPOs decide which projects get funded and which do not. These projects, in turn, influence where homes, jobs and stores are located. Yet the people who make up these MPOs, and the manner in which they arrive at their decisive choices, are mysterious to all but the most dedicated citizen activists.
The problem with MPOs is that most of them are biased against central cities in their voting structure. By allotting votes on a "one government-one vote" basis instead of a "one person-one vote" basis, MPOs grant outlying suburban jurisdictions considerably more political power in the decision-making process compared with center cities. Scholars and activists contend that this bias exacerbates sprawling urban development and further disadvantages poor households and people of color in the urban core. Whether this bias leads to worsening social equity remains an open question, but on a procedural basis a highly skewed representational scheme within an MPO may be in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause, thus making such a structure unconstitutional.
Should the actions of transportation officials be subject to democratic accountability? Not in the state of Michigan, according to a judge's ruling in August 2004. A civil rights lawsuit alleged that transportation officials in the Detroit metropolitan region choose projects and spend public dollars in a way that favors the largely white and wealthy suburbs and unfairly ignores the needs of the central city and its inner suburbs. At issue was the voting structure of the MPO. The judge found that voting strength of an MPO need not be in proportion to population because an MPO has limited responsibility as a special-purpose government. Unfortunately, as a result of the ruling, Detroit's famously segregated metropolis will continue to develop under the influence of a skewed procedure that builds in a bias toward building roads for suburban commuters over strengthening transit service for inner-city bus riders. But the case does offer important lessons that planners elsewhere can learn from to mount challenges against undemocratic practices in transportation funding.
...Wrong Complexion for Protection
by Robert Bullard
In the real world, all communities are not created equal. If a community happens to be poor, black, or located on the "wrong side of the tracks," it receives less protection than communities inhabited largely by affluent whites in the suburbs. Generally, rich people tend to take the higher land, leaving the poor and working class more vulnerable to flooding and environmental pestilence. Race maps closely with social vulnerability and the geography of environmental risks.
...
Call#: Fine Arts Library TE7 .N25 no.532
TASKS (1.) Review recent and ongoing research and literature on consideration of environmental justice in transportation systems, corridor, and project planning. Highlight innovative procedures and the findings of recent research and report on their effectiveness in improving transportation decision making. (2.) Review existing practices and procedures of federal, state, and regional transportation and nontransportation agencies that assess and consider environmental justice implications in plans and programs. (3.) Review significant federal and state environmental-justice-related regulations and guidelines that can be expected to affect transportation planning and decision making. (4.) Review and analyze statutes and case law and provide a synthesis of what is legally required by existing environmental justice requirements. (5.) Identify best practices and deficiencies of procedures, practices, and analytic methods for considering environmental justice effects in plans and programs. Identify ways that federal and state administrative processes and regulatory reviews can be improved from an efficiency standpoint. (6.) Prepare an interim report covering Tasks 1 through 5 for NCHRP review and comment. Meet with the project panel to discuss feedback and gain approval for the remaining tasks. (7.) Develop new and improved qualitative and quantitative measures for identifying the environmental justice populations and the positive and negative effects of transportation plans, programs, and projects. (8.) Develop a draft guidebook that includes the measures developed in Task 7 and provides updated reference information on environmental justice and its integration into transportation planning and decision making. The guidebook is intended to improve the practice of assessing environmental justice effects and to provide perspectives on the tools and procedures available to practitioners. The guidebook should include practical illustrations and examples of effective environmental justice applications, methods, tools, and analyses at the systems, corridor, and project levels. (9.) Present the draft guidebook for review by NCHRP. (10.) Develop a plan to present and obtain feedback on the guidebook, reference information, and key research findings to selected focus groups comprised of practitioners representing various national transportation organizations and environmental justice stakeholders. (11.) Develop recommendations and guidance for disseminating the research findings and the guidebook to appropriate federal, state, and local practitioners. Recommend appropriate training approaches or opportunities to encourage widespread guidebook use. Identify other research needs emanating from this project. (12.) Prepare a final report that documents the entire project. The guidebook should be the primary product of the final report and is intended as a reference document for practitioners, containing best practices, methodologies, issues, and implementation approaches. The study design, methods, and Task 11 recommendations should be included as appendixes.
Environmental Justice & Transportation:
A Citizen's Handbook
By Shannon Cairns, Jessica Greig, and Martin Wachs 32 pp., January 2003
...
Although there is no substitute for the knowledge that can be gained over time through experience, this handbook will help those who are new to transportation decision processes influence how environmental justice is incorporated into decisions about transportation policy and projects. Various approaches to environmental justice are discussed, along with steps in the planning process when citizen involvement is particularly effective, suggestions for how environmental justice can be incorporated into a project, and legal requirements for environmental justice.