Environmental Justice

Overview

Environmental Justice is about equal and fair access to a healthy environment, with the goal of protecting underrepresented and poorer communities from incurring disproportionate environmental impacts. The SCAG region is demographically and economically diverse, and displays the extremes in household income. The region includes heavily urban and entirely rural areas, as well as terrain that in some instances make achieving air quality goals challenging.

Considerations of Environmental Justice are both good planning practices as well as to meet the federal and state requirements. The federal requirements originated from Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI). Title VI establishes the need for transportation agencies to disclose to the public the benefits and burdens of proposed projects on minority populations. The understanding of civil rights has then been expanded to include low-income communities, in addition to minority populations. In addition to federal requirements, SCAG must comply with California requirements for Environmental Justice.

SCAG’s ongoing equity efforts directly inform and intersect with the Environmental Justice program. For more information, visit the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Awareness (IDEA) webpage.

Contact

Help us keep our contact information updated. If you have any questions, comments or would like to join the Environmental Justice mailing list, please contact:

Ms. Anita Au
(213) 236-1874
environmentaljustice@scag.ca.gov​

Resources & Links

Policies and Guidance
Tools
Post

Equity Working Group (EWG)

As part of the Regional Planning Working Groups (RPWG), the Equity Working Group (EWG) started in June 2021 as a combination of the former Environmental Justice and Public Health Working Groups. The purpose of the EWG is to engage stakeholders on SCAG’s regional and local planning activities as well as share efforts across the region to eliminate racial bias and barriers in land-use and transportation planning. National best practices will also be highlighted. Discussions focus on equity-related plans, programs, projects, tools, resources, and best practices. Because equity is intersectional, the EWG addresses multiple planning areas, including Environmental Justice (EJ), Public Health, and others.

EWG meetings are typically held quarterly. To be notified about resources and upcoming meetings, subscribe to updates for the Equity Working Group.

Agendas and presentations for all RPWGs can be found on the RPWG webpage. A summary of topics covered by the EWG since June 2021 are available here: Equity Working Group History.

For more information, please contact Anita Au at environmentaljustice@scag.ca.gov.