Environmental Justice
What is Environmental Justice?Environmental Justice embraces the principle that all people and communities are entitled to equal protection under our environmental, health, employment, housing, transportation and civil rights laws. On February 11, 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations. This order augments Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by providing that federal agencies make achieving environmental justice part of their mission by identifying and addressing disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies and activities on the targeted populations, minority and low-income groups.
How MORPC Supports Environmental Justice: MORPC’s Initial Environmental Justice Tasks:• Ensures that the Public Involvement Process includes targeted populations in transportation decision making.
• Gauges regional burdens and benefits of transportation system investments on the targeted populations.
• Recommends strategies to improve or mitigate any negative impacts on targeted populations.
• Conducts environmental justice analysis for each Transportation Improvement Program and Transportation Plan.
Locations Involved:
• Franklin County
• Delaware County
• Etna Township and Pataskala, part of former Lima Township, in Licking County
• Bloom and Violet Townships in Fairfield County
MORPC Environmental Justice Reports and Information:
• April 2000 Preliminary Assessment (5.7 MB)
• FY 2006-2009 Transportation Improvement Program Environmental Justice Technical Analysis
• 2030 Transportation Plan Environmental Justice Technical Analysis (4.5 MB)
Contact Information at MORPC:
For additional information on Environmental Justice, please call or e-mail Bernice Cage at 614-233-4157 or bcage@morpc.org.
Other Sources on Environmental Justice:Please see the Federal Highway Administration website for information on:
• Environmental Justice
• Public Involvement
