The Environmental Justice and Transportation workshops addressed a wide range of issues, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the FHWA NEPA, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, environmental justice guidance, equity analysis, performance measures, regional transportation planning and decision making, air quality and public health, transportation investments, public transit, and public involvement.

ABSTRACT

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) contracted with the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University to convene a national environmental justice steering committee to plan, develop, schedule, and conduct a series of regional and/or locally based transportation workshops comparable to the 1995 Environmental Justice and Transportation: Building Model Partnerships conference held in Atlanta, Georgia. A major goal of the workshops was to follow up the 1995 conference and bring community, business, and government (local, state, and federal) leaders to the table so that they might discuss the progress made in developing common strategies and workable partnerships. The workshops were also designed to assist the FHWA in integrating environmental justice principles into the FHWA National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and the implementation of the Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty First Century or TEA-21. The Community Workshops were held in Atlanta, Georgia, Harlem, New York, San Francisco, California, and the Tulalip Tribes reservation in Marysville-Snohomish County, Washington. The meetings were planned, coordinated, and conducted by community-based organizations and environmental justice groups in the respective host cities.

Workshop participants were charged with (1) assessing the progress made in meeting federal transportation directives, (2) delineating current plans, (3) defining new interagency approaches to foster greater public participation of impacted populations, (4) exploring strategies to ensure that transportation benefits accrue to all populations without regard to race, color, or national origin. The workshop brought together a broad array of nongovernmental organizations, civil rights groups, community leaders, government (local, state, and federal) officials, and private transportation stakeholders to the table to discuss common strategies and action plans to address transportation challenges facing low-income and minority communities.

Consistent with the 1995 transportation conference, the workshop had four broad objectives: (1) ensuring greater stakeholder participation and public involvement in transportation decision making; (2) directing resources to identify and address discriminatory outcomes, disproportionate impacts, inequitable distribution of transportation investments, and their civil rights implications; (3) improving research, data collection, and assessment techniques; and (4) promoting interagency cooperation in transportation planning, development, and program implementation to achieve livable, healthy, and sustainable communities. The workshop participants included grassroots environmental justice leaders, civil rights advocates, legal experts, planners, academicians, and government officials. Although each workshop was planned for 30 participants, a total of 208 individuals and group representatives attended the four meetings.

The workshops addressed a wide range of issues, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the FHWA NEPA, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, environmental justice guidance, equity analysis, performance measures, regional transportation planning and decision making, public involvement, air quality and public health, transportation investments, public transit, and public involvement.

Further Reading:

Environmental Justice and Transportation: Building Model Partnerships Community Workshop Proceedings (full text)