Environmental Justice

Abstract

Numerous studies reveal that low-income persons and people of color have borne greater health and environmental risk burdens than the society at large. Environmental justice is defined as 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, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal programs, and policies. The grassroots environmental justice movement challenged the dominant environmental protection paradigm—a framework that manages, regulates, and distributes risks. On the other hand, the environmental justice paradigm embraces a holistic approach to formulating health policies and regulations, developing risk reduction strategies for multiple, cumulative and synergistic risks, ensuring public health, enhancing of public participation in environmental decision-making, promoting community empowerment, building infrastructure for achieving environmental justice and sustainable communities, ensuring interagency cooperation and coordination, developing innovative public/private partnerships and collaboratives, enhancing community-based pollution prevention strategies, ensuring community-based sustainable economic development, and developing geographically-oriented community-wide programming.