In August 2022, the ECOS Environmental Justice (EJ) Workgroup welcomed California’s Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) and Washington’s Department of Ecology (Ecology) to discuss the agencies’ utilization of mapping tools for disadvantaged communities and environmental concerns. The meeting recordings are available below:
CalEPA’s CalEnviroScreen analyses pollution burdens and population vulnerability in communities across California using 21 indicators, helping to identify the communities most affected by visualizing the results on a public, user-friendly map. Version 4.0 was released in 2021, and regular updates will continue to be informed by stakeholder and community feedback. CalEnviroScreen is used across California’s state and local governments.
In Washington, the Washington Tracking Network (WTN) Environmental Health Disparities (EHD) Map was constructed with input from disadvantaged groups and communities, and is used to effectively target state resources where they are needed most. The EHD Map was influenced by the existing CalEPA CalEnviroScreen, compiling many similar indicators into an overall rank, and has been used in energy, health, and climate legislation at the state level.
Thank you to Walker Wieland and Laura August of CalEPA and Alli Ertl and Millie Piazza of Washington Ecology for sharing their experiences and lessons learned with the ECOS EJ Workgroup.
