Region 8
Serving Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 27 Tribal Nations
Brownfields and Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice
Environmental justice, by definition, means no community should be subject to a disproportionate amount of environmental hazards such as toxic emissions or excessive noise from factories, airports, highways, and other facilities. In other words, being poor or a minority shouldn't justify one having to live in a dangerous environment. The environmental justice movement's goal is to promote awareness and public dialogue so communities can be players in the cleanup and development process. If communities know what is going on, then they can make informed decisions about whether they want a facility in their neighborhood.For more information on environmental justice and numerous related links, visit the Region 8 Environmental Justice Web site.
Environmental Justice and Brownfields Redevelopment
Environmental justice is also becoming an increasingly important component of brownfields redevelopment. Since Brownfields are generally concentrated in communities of color and other low-income areas, stakeholder involvement in such projects is inherently an environmental justice issue. As cities become aware of the effect that abandoned industrial sites have had on the residential communities in which they are located, brownfields redevelopment offers the city and the community a chance to reverse patterns of neglect in inner city neighborhoods. It is important to remember that redevelopment does not happen in a vacuum. Site plans should reflect the community's opinion of the impact of development on the community. The bottom line is to give the people who will be most impacted by future land uses the chance to reach a majority consensus on how those land uses will affect the community.Enhanced Stakeholder Involvement
Former EPA Administrator Carol Browner characterizes the initiative as one that . . . "bring[s] all the people to the table and give[s] them an opportunity to shape the decisions that will affect the community they live in." In order for the Brownfields projects to be responsive to communities, it is important that the affected community be informed and consulted throughout the process. It is also important to look for creative uses for existing resources in order to maximize the effect achieved. These resources provide a vehicle to provide information and education to the pertinent stakeholders resulting in more effective community input into the process, and tools which may allow the lead agency to address community concerns. EPA is not only interested in bringing in the environmental activists to the table -- everyone should be involved.Enhanced stakeholder involvement, in the oversight of both cleanup and development, is imperative, both to ensure that Brownfields revitalization serves affected neighborhoods and to reduce the likelihood that projects will face serious health, economic, legal, and political obstacles after significant decisions and investments have been made. These communities see brownfields as providing an opportunity to get involved early in the process and address problems in the city, an opportunity for jobs and a chance to reverse the fiscal deterioration that has drained resources from their neighborhoods.
Furthering environmental justice goes hand in hand with brownfield redevelopment. By ensuring that environmental justice has to be considered in the permitting process and bringing affected communities to the table, residents are learning that they can take over their own communities and bring in clean industries.
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