Defining environmental justice communities: Evaluating digital infrastructure in Southeastern states for Justice40 benefits allocation

Abstract

Evaluating the impact of the Justice40 Initiative requires clearly defining and publicly disclosing both the “benefits” of the clean energy transition and the “disadvantaged communities” who should receive these benefits. Robust digital infrastructure at the state level is necessary to ensure that federal clean energy and climate funding intended for disadvantaged communities reaches those communities. This paper evaluates the digital environmental infrastructure capabilities of southeastern U.S. states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) using accessibility, timeliness, methodology, and usefulness metrics drawn from the open government data and environmental data justice literature. The results of this evaluation are compared to each state's environmental justice policies. Southeastern states' environmental digital infrastructure tends to exclude qualitative information, data collected by non-governmental actors, and multi-media information. The states that have developed clear definitions and mapping tools relating to EJ communities (Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia) tend to score well across the evaluation metrics. Policy recommendations to advance environmental justice policy in southeastern states include developing EJ mapping tools, advocating for a Justice40 oversight committee at the state level, defining EJ communities, and ensuring transparency in reporting the expenditures of federal funds.