An environmental justice analysis was added as an appendix to the Houston-Galveston Area Council's 2040 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The RTP aims to identify the region's transportation needs, goals, and policies, to create a a guide to improving transportation systems and identifying priority transportation investments The environmental justice analysis was included to ensure the plan meets all federal environmental justice goals, described in Executive Order 12898: Federal Action to Address Environmental Justice (EJ) in MinorityPopulations and Low‐Income Populations. This order requires federal agencies to take the necessary steps to identify and address disproportionately high and adverse effects of Federal projects on the health or environment of minority and low‐income populations.
2. Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
The plan, along with the Environmental Justice Analysis, are produced by H-GAC, but no specific authors are cited.
Many of the organization's efforts focus on transportation and air quality. H-GAC serves as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the region, making them responsible for transportation conformity, which ensures the measures outlined in the state's SIP are executed through regional roadway planning.
3. What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
Several proposed projects may affect EJ populations, some providing negative affects and others providing benefits.
Public transportation is a high priority for EJ populations. Public transportation projects would increase access to employment and other centers of activity, and possibly relieve congestion. New technologies like hybrid buses could mitigate any adverse air quality impacts. However, this high priority for transportation is not reflected in the proposed public transportation expenditures.
The number of miles of highway projects proposed for census tracts with higher than average minority populations and census tracts with average and lower than average concentrations of non‐minorities are comparable. Because there is an anticipated improvement of air quality for the entire region, it is possible that neither group will suffer from adverse effects. Highway improvements are likely to be well received.
4. Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
Cites specific projects to demonstrate how they will increase mobility to the EJ populations.
i.e. US 90A Commuter Rail will increase access for high minority and low income areas traveling to the Texas Medical Center and Downtown Houston, which are major employment centers.
However, the report fails to properly address potential negative impacts. A list of highway improvement projects is included that could potentially affect EJ populations, but all that is said of them is, "These projects have the potential to increase mobility, enhance access to employment centers and community facilities, improve connectivity, and relieve congestion for EJ populations."
Uses a survey of EJ populations to assess priorities.
H-GAC held meeting with EJ communities to give them a forum to provide input on the region's transportation systems. At one, a survey was completed by 170 individuals on transportation priorities.
Because "Fix existing roads and highways" was ranked highly, this was used to justify that highway improvements would be well received.
One sense in which the arguments are not well supported is the dismissal of air quality impacts. The report states, "Moreover, this assessment does not take into account impacts that are not possible to definitively ascertain prior to final design. Such impacts might include displacements and land use, air quality, and environmental effects. The assessment does take into account mobility and access to employment centers, hospitals, and institutions of higher education, along with congestion mitigation and connectivity, as relates to EJ populations." Also, when discussing highway projects, the report claims that without an identification of land use in areas near the highway projects that will increase capacity, it is not possible to pin point air quality impacts.
5. What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
"The foregoing assessment demonstrates that a number of proposed projects may affect EJ populations, with potentially beneficial and potentially adverse impacts. Although this assessment is informed by data, to a significant extent, it is qualitative."
"However, proposed public transportation expenditures are not in alignment with the high priority placed on public transportation by EJ populations. Proposed expenditures for highways and roads outpace proposed expenditures for public transportation."
"EJ populations would likely experience benefitsfrom the proposed transportation improvementsincluded herein. Enhanced accessto employment centers, community centers, colleges and universities, and health care facilities are among the benefits that can be anticipated. It is possible that adverse impacts to air quality and land uses would also occur, but these impacts may not be disproportionate, given the distribution of proposed projects."
6. What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
Primary and secondary indicators were used to identify environmental justice concentrations.
The two primary indicators are outlined in Executive Order 12989. One indicator is being part of a minority group, and the other is persons of low income households.
Five secondary indicators were selected: eldery, limited educational attainments, zero automobile ownership, females heads of household, and limited English language proficiency.
To identify concentrations for populations of these categories, U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data was used. For each indicator, the mean (expressed as a percentage of the region's population) and standard deviation were calculated. Then, a high concentration threshold was determined for each indicator, meaning the necessary percent of population to meet the requirement to consider it an EJ population. This threshold was determined by adding the regional average plus one standard deviation from the regional average. The only indicator this approach was not used for was the minority population threshold, because that method yielding an unreasonably high percentage of 87.88%.
To assess potential impacts on EJ communities, maps were created that displayed transportation improvements that add capacity along select major roadways, signature express bus routes, commuter and light rail transit, and major investment projects, and also concentrations of the EJ populations for the different indicator categories. H‐GAC’s database was used to locate and overlay community centers, universities and colleges, and hospitals, to assess how proposed projects may affect access to these institutions.
7. How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
The aim of the report is to identify potential equity issues, but overall the report determined that overall EJ communities would benefit from the proposed transportation projects.
Besides determining the communities' access to hospitals, health disparities were not addressed. The report also did not compare the number of health care institutions in different areas, and only considered the available roadways to existing hospitals.
8. Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
While the specific appendix focused on environmental justice is not referenced in any sources, the 2040 RTP as a whole is referenced in many news sources.
Houston Public Media discussed the plan, focusing on the inconvenience of congestion on commuters.
9. Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
The only outside sources in the analysis are the reference of Executive Order 12898 and data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
This demonstrates that the production of the EJ analysis depended primarily on the information gathered by H-GAC and the conclusions they were able to draw. Had they used more references, they may have been able to more meaningfully address potential affects of air quality, instead of dismissing it as outside the realm of this research.
10. What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
In 1994, Executive Order 12898 was ordered by President Clinton. This was the first major federal action pertaining to environmental justice.
In 2005, under the administration of Stephen Johnson, the EPA attempted to redefine the order by eliminating race as a factor, arguing that all communities should be treated equally regardless of their race or socioeconomic status. Fortunately, this ultimately failed. Source
Followed up on claims to have high public engagement at meeting and support comments. However, no section of the report or any part of the H-GAC website included public comments. Many organizations, like the EPA, compile comments and make them available online.
11. Does the article provide information or perspective on any of the thematics already identified as important for the 6Cities project?
There continues to be considerable distance between air quality sciences and health sciences, and between government agencies responsible for environment, health, transportation, education, and other elements of the air pollution calculus. Stakeholders often refer to the problem as one of “stove-pipes” and “research silos.”
Despite H-GAC's involvement and support of air quality initiatives, the organization has only produced a handful of studies pertinent to air quality, either on fuel economy, the methodology of estimating greenhouse gas emissions, and one study that compares emission modeling to an observed urban traffic junction. source
This lack of expertise in air quality translated into the studies inability to make a meaningful analysis of the effects on environmental justice communities, since air quality effects were considered to be too difficult to ascertain and beyond the depth of the study.
2. Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
3. What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
4. Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
5. What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
6. What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
7. How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
8. Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
9. Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
10. What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
11. Does the article provide information or perspective on any of the thematics already identified as important for the 6Cities project?