Community Involvement and Demolition

EPA's goal is to provide an environment where all people enjoy the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and have equal access to the decision-making process to maintain a healthy environment. Community relations should be part of any planned demolition activity. Community engagement is important for residential demolitions because they can involve management of harmful materials and they also present opportunities for site reuse. 

Demolition Stakeholder Engagement

Governments, businesses, non-profits and others involved with demolitions can engage with communities to ensure citizens are aware of demolitions and take note of any necessary health and safety precautions. To highlight some community best practices related to potential community involvement issues, EPA hosted the webinar, Effective Blight Elimination Communication Strategies. In this webinar, midwest communities and the National Demolition Association discussed strategies to promote engagement directly with demolition industry/program stakeholders and community focused blight elimination best practices.

The following links exit the site Presentations:

• Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership (Warren, OH (PDF) (18 pp, 1.68 MB)
• St. Louis Development Corporation (PDF) (18pp, 3.69 MB)
• Detroit Land Bank Authority (PDF) (16 pp, 3.15 MB)
• National Demolition Association  (18 pp, 1.68 MB)

Background resources:

• National Demolition Association
• Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership Lead-Safe Portal
• St. Louis Vacancy Collaborative Demolition Tracker
• St. Louis Peace Park Planning
• City of Detroit Demolition Portal
• Detroit Land Bank Authority

Environmental Justice and Demolition

Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental and commercial operations or policies.

You are not obligated to follow EPA’s environmental justice practices. However, you may want to look to EPA’s commitment to environmental justice when you address community involvement in the demolition process. The approach you choose should suit your community's unique needs.

• EPA’s Environmental Justice Program
• Public Participation Guide
• Demolition (from the Center for Community Progress)
• Remaking America for the 21st Century - Reclaiming Vacant Properties - June 2012 conference
  Managing the Message (PDF) (35 pp, 1.9 MB, About PDF) 
• Columbus Area Commissions- Columbus, OH uses area commissions to act as a liaison between neighborhood groups, property owners, residents, developers and city officials.