Building community capacity? Mapping the scope and impacts of EPA’S environmental justice small grants program

Abstract

Purpose – State and national environmental justice (EJ) programs have expanded in recent years to address new risks and challenges. Several programs including the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) program have helped to facilitate this growth. Since 1994, more than 1,000 small grants have been awarded through the EJSG to support communities in developing solutions to local environmental and public health problems. This chapter evaluates the collective impact of these investments.

Design/methodology/approach – Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map the locations of EJSG funds relative to data from the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), this chapter addresses two main questions. First, are grants being awarded to the types of communities (low-income, minority areas facing major environmental hazards) intended to be served by the program? Second, have there been any significant environmental changes in EJSG areas since the start of the program?

Findings – Results of county-level spatial analysis reveal that EJ grants are only in part being awarded to minority or low-income counties facing higher than the national average TRI releases and that average toxic releases have increased significantly in EJSG counties in some EPA regions relative to non-EJSG counties.

Originality/value – These results and the novel application of mapping methods to tracking small grants allocations highlight the need for systematic EJ program evaluation and coordination.

Citation

Vajjhala, S.P. (2010), "Building community capacity? Mapping the scope and impacts of EPA’S environmental justice small grants program", Taylor, D.E. (Ed.) Environment and Social Justice: An International Perspective (Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, Vol. 18), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 353-381. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0196-1152(2010)0000018014