The Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Environmental Justice Office has published a guide for community organizers and decisionmakers on EPA’s environmental justice programs and resources. The Environmental Justice Resource Guide includes information on agency funding sources, training opportunities, and technical and program assistance for minority and low-income communities disproportionately affected by environmental and public health impacts. The guide also includes community success stories. For more information, link to the EPA Region 9 Environmental Justice Office website. (6-24-09)

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The Southern Transportation Civil Rights Executive Council will host at three-day Southern Transportation Civil Rights Training Symposium on Aug. 18-20, 2009, in Birmingham, Ala. The symposium will feature concurrent sessions on major Federal Highway Administration civil rights programs and will include guest speakers, training sessions, and a free full-day National Title VI Forum. For more information, link to the symposium website. (6-9-09)

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The Washington State Department of Transportation has developed a glossary of transportation terms translated from English to Spanish to assist in communicating with limited English proficiency populations. The document may be accessed on the WSDOT Limited English Proficiency Guidance website. For more information, link to the English-to-Spanish Transportation Terms Glossary. (6-4-09)

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The University of Southern California’s Center for Sustainable Cities has published a report on the “climate gap,” or the disparity in the way climate change affects people of color and the poor in the United States. The report focuses on California and includes an analysis of the state’s climate policy. The report finds that extreme weather events such as heat waves and droughts already impact minorities and the poor disproportionately and are expected to increase in the future. The report also finds that these groups will be subject to higher levels of air pollution associated with climate change. Solutions offered for narrowing the climate gap include: adopting technologies that identify neighborhoods most vulnerable to the climate gap, choosing an auction or fee-based system for capping greenhouse gas emissions to provide revenue for vulnerable communities, and reducing greenhouse gases from sources that also cause toxic air pollution in the most polluted neighborhoods. For more information, link to The Climate Gap: Inequalities in How Climate Change Hurts Americans & How to Close the Gap. (5-28-09)

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A new report documents a study sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund on equity issues associated with congestion pricing projects, which require motorists to pay higher tolls based on the level of traffic congestion. The study, conducted by Rand Corp., examined existing economic and planning literature on congestion pricing systems, including studies of regions where congestion pricing has been implemented and theoretical work on congestion pricing. The report includes an introduction to congestion pricing principles, defines the different notions of equity in the context of congestion pricing, evaluates the evidence of equity implications of congestion pricing, and offers recommendations for making congestion pricing more equitable. One key recommendation is for transportation planners to formally incorporate equity criteria into the early stages of the planning process for congestion pricing projects. Another recommendation is for equity concern to be monitored in the same way as environmental concerns, so that project goals are met over time. For more information, link to Equity and Congestion Pricing: A Review of the Evidence. (6-2-09)

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PolicyLink and the Transportation Equity Network have released a report intended to show advocates and journalists how nearly $50 billion in transportation funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is being distributed at the state and local level and how that funding can be directed to low-income communities. The report also highlights upcoming deadlines, reporting requirements, and policy targets for stimulus funding. For more information, link to An Engine of Opportunity: A User’s Guide to Advocate for Transportation Equity in the 2009 Recovery Act. (4-8-09)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded approximately $800,000 in grants to help local communities address environmental and public health issues. EPA is providing 40 grants of up to $20,000 each to community-based organizations and local and tribal governments in 28 states. For more information, including project descriptions, link to Environmental Justice Small Grants Program. (3-24-09)

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The Transportation Equity Network will host its first annual conference on March 10-11, 2009, in Washington, D.C., to address changing federal policies and successful efforts to ensure that the U.S. transportation system benefits its most vulnerable citizens. The conference will features sessions on increasing public transit investment; building safe, complete streets for bicycling and walking; linking affordable transportation and housing; ensuring transparency and representation in metropolitan planning organizations; and creating green jobs for low-income workers through transportation infrastructure investment. For more information, link to the First Annual Transportation Equity Conference. (2-10-09)

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