EJ and Transportation Planning

1. How will the public participation process reach low-income and minority communities? Specifically:
1. How and where will information be disseminated?
2. What information will be disseminated?
3. Where and when will public meetings be held?
4. At what point in the planning process do the meetings take place?
5. Are other avenues being used to reach minority/low-income communities (e.g., contacts with community leadership, community advisory boards, focus groups, surveys, etc.)?
6. How will the process elicit issues of particular concern to low-income and minority communities?
   
   
2. What statistics are being collected about minority/low-income communities, and how are they used to assess possible inequities? Actions to take include:
1. Evaluating what information is already being collected.
2. Identifying what further information can and should be collected.
3. Analyzing the data to identify potential inequities.
4. Developing measures to verify whether there is equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of transportation services.
   
   
3. How are information and data incorporated into decision-making? Questions to ask include:
1. How is Title VI/environmental justice considered in creating the transportation plan?
2. How is Title VI/environmental justice information collected by the MPO and relayed to officials?
3. Is additional information needed to adequately consider the impacts of transportation decisions on low-income and minority communities?
4. How are the specific interests of minority and low-income populations addressed in transportation policies, plans, and projects?

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• Make better transportation decisions that meet the needs of all people.
• Design transportation facilities that fit more harmoniously into communities.
• Enhance the public-involvement process, strengthen community-based partnerships, and provide minority and low-income populations with opportunities to learn about and improve the quality and usefulness of transportation in their lives.
• Improve data collection, monitoring, and analysis tools that assess the needs of, and analyze the potential impacts on minority and low-income populations.
• Partner with other public and private programs to leverage transportation-agency resources to achieve a common vision for communities.
• Avoid disproportionately high and adverse impacts on minority and low-income populations.
• Minimize and/or ease unavoidable impacts by identifying concerns early in the planning phase and providing offsetting initiatives and enhancement measures to benefit affected communities and neighborhoods.

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The legal foundation for environmental justice considerations is Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in any program receiving federal assistance.

In addition, the FHWA and the FTA have jointly issued policy guidance on how Title VI and environmental justice concerns can be incorporated into metropolitan transportation planning.

In 1994, Presidential Executive Order 12898 directed every Federal agency to make environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing the effects of all programs, policies, and activities on “minority populations and low-income populations.”

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1967 (NEPA) established the requirement that particular care should be taken prior to undertaking any major federal action likely to have “significant” impact on the environment.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) mandates that public facilities be made accessible to people with disabilities and has been the basis for requiring that transit buses and street curbs be retrofitted or reconstructed with appropriate equipment and design details.

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For more information:
Monica Haines Benkhedda, mhaines@baltometro.org or 410-732-0500 x1047.

Last Updated on Friday, 05 June 2009 11:11