Filling the Gap: Environmental Justice in Transportation Toolkit

11/3/2007

Task I-3B, Case Study Work Group

Filling the Gap:Environmental Justice in Transportation Toolkit

Prepared for:Federal Transit AdministrationU.S Department of TransportationIn conjunction with:Cooperative Agreement MD-26-8001-00Transportation Equity Cooperative Research Program

11/3/2007

Lead Author:

Glenn Robinson, MA. MM., Morgan State University

Filling the Gap: Environmental Justice in Transportation Toolkit

Abstract

Subject to task I-3B of the Transportation Cooperative Equity Research Program this technicalmemorandum is a companion document to Task I-2. It describes a general framework for the collaborative public participation activities that were previously presented. Because of the practical, community-basednature of this Toolkit project, a team of community representatives and stakeholders will be identified toengage in working with the technical analysis team on case studies. This is the same structure used in theBaltimore Region Environmental Justice and Transportation Project (BREJTP)

,except that in this casethe study content will have been identified in advance of the group’s formation. Nevertheless, thecommunity members will be given an opportunity to influence the case study. Once convened, thecommunity case study team will work along with the technical analysis team to frame key issues, provideinsights into community objectives, and review alternatives. The case study team will have at least fivecommunity representatives, who will meet up to five times during the course of the study. They will playa vital role in shaping the analysis and case study.This technical memorandum provides examples of public participation approaches, offers a framework for addressing issues and discusses potential strategies for effective public participation. Particular attentionis directed to presenting an environmental justice transportation (EJT) framework with a triage-typefunction, multiple entry points to the process, including explicit provision for feedback. What is usefulabout this framework is that it identifies a point of convergence between public participation and the EJT planning process. Insights and examples gleaned from the national examples and the ongoing BREJTProject case studies are provided in the summary section of this memo. At the conclusion of this task, thestudy team will brief the Oversight Committee on findings, and communicate the suggestions developed by the community members.Table of ContentsI. Introduction3II. Environmental Justice and Public Participation3

III. Public Participation Strategies and Collaboration7

IV. A Framework for Public Participation 9V. Summary13Staffing 13Tables and FiguresFigure 1: Model Framework For Public Participation11

See the BREJTP website at http://www.brejtp.org/ for more background and details about the project. 2

Filling the Gap: Environmental Justice in Transportation Toolkit

I. Introduction

This memo highlights a number of EJT case studies, identified in the Literature Review (TERP, LiteratureReview Filling the Gap)

, with specific attention to the public involvement components. Drawing upon theongoing research being performed in Task I-2, the I-95 West Corridor community case study group willcontinue to discuss the aspects of public involvement and participation in relation to the selected casestudy topics. The first activity will be to review the findings from the research in Task I-2 related to whatother areas have attempted in terms of public participation, followed by a discussion of theappropriateness and effectiveness of each example. The team will also draw upon its experience from theBaltimore Region Environmental Justice and Transportation Project (BREJT) and information found insuch existing publications as the 2003 Citizens EJT Handbook developed by the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley.These examples can be used to evaluate the mechanisms for local involvement and to review which procedures they are currently aware of, their level of participation, and their assessment of those methods.Particular focus will be on discussion of where in the planning, funding, or operations chain public input ismost needed or where access is currently least effective for the community. Alternative methods will also be described.The following guidance suggests the importance of exploring the institutional structure through which thekey decisions that affect outcomes are made. Limited authority of a given agency to address particular issues will be discussed, with suggestions developed for possible ways to overcome these obstacles.Similarly, the issue of projects or conditions occurring as a result of planning or funding decisions at ahigher political level will be discussed, and suggestions made for intervening in that process.

II. Environmental Justice and Public Participation

Listed below the summary profiles from the public participation section of the TERP Literature Review(Task I – 2)

for which summary profiles are supplied that briefly relate what issue was at hand, the public participation mechanism that was applied, and a summary of the outcomes. These case studies offer insight to those seeking increase public access to the planning and decision-making process, or for publicagencies who want to improve their efforts to involve the support of the community. When one readsthrough these brief examples, it becomes clear that key segments of the population have historically beenoverlooked, marginalized and unfairly treated by the planning process, particularly in transportation policyand funding decisions. When “urban redevelopment” was occurring in the 1960s, accompanied in manycases with highway-building activity, whole communities were destroyed. To this day the scars remain,such as West Baltimore’s “Highway to Nowhere”. Several communities have not yet healed; the areasremain abandoned and are a place of last resort for poverty, indigence, crime and despair.The following briefly discusses the two primary components of EJT public participation process, 1) thecommunity and 2) public agency. While public involvement can be administered by private agencies suchas transportation planning consultants, the purpose of the intended involvement or feedback is typically part of a publicly sponsored project. We then provide several examples of EJT public participationactivities that will inform the analytical tool-building process.

The Community

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