Effective Methods for Environmental Justice Assessment

This guidebook is designed to enhance understanding and to facilitate consideration and incorporation of environmental justice into all elements of the transportation planning process, from long-range transportation systems planning through priority programming, project development, and policy decisions. It offers practitioners an analytical framework to facilitate comprehensive assessments of a proposed transportation project's impacts on affected populations and communities. This step-by-step and practical guide provides technical assistance, from selecting appropriate methods of analysis to calculating effects on air and water quality, drainage, and safety. It also addresses impacts of hazardous materials on affected persons residing in a given locale. The conclusion of each chapter provides valuable resources and references to supplement the reader's knowledge. This guidebook should be of particular interest to planning practitioners in state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, and local transportation planners, as well as other practitioners concerned with planning, programming, and implementing transportation projects. The guidebook will also be beneficial as an educational resource on the concepts, tools, and procedures currently employed for assessing environmental justice issues in the context of transportation planning decisions.