The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, & Energy (EGLE) has opened a 60-day public comment period on a newly developed draft interactive mapping tool to help identify Michigan communities disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards.
The draft Michigan Environmental Justice Mapping and Screening Tool (MiEJScreen) identifies Michigan communities that may be disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards. The map allows users to explore environmental, health, and socioeconomic conditions within a specific community, region, or across the entire state.
Datasets can be viewed individually or combined into a final MiEJScreen score that allows users to understand how communities experience environmental justice impacts relative to others. A census tract with a high score is one that experiences higher pollution burden and vulnerability than census tracts with low scores. MiEJScreen ranks census tracts based on data available from state and federal government sources.
EGLE is accepting public comments on the draft tool until May 16. More information on MiEJScreen and the comment process is available here.
