Open AccessSymposium on Integrating the Science of Environmental Justice into Decision-Making at the Environmental Protection Agency: An Overview
Author(s) -
Onyemaechi Nweke,
Devon Payne-Sturges,
Lisa Garcia,
Charles Lee,
Harold Zenick,
Peter Grevatt,
William H. Sanders,
Heather B. Case,
Irene DankwaMullan
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2011.300368
Subject(s) - environmental justice , agency (philosophy) , environmental health , political science , environmental planning , environmental ethics , engineering ethics , sociology , medicine , environmental science , law , engineering , social science , philosophy
In March 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collaborated with government and nongovernmental organizations to host a groundbreaking symposium, "Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts." The symposium provided a forum for discourse on the state of scientific knowledge about factors identified by EPA that may contribute to higher burdens of environmental exposure or risk in racial/ethnic minorities and low-income populations. Also featured were discussions on how environmental justice considerations may be integrated into EPA's analytical and decision-making frameworks and on research needs for advancing the integration of environmental justice into environmental policymaking. We summarize key discussions and conclusions from the symposium and briefly introduce the articles in this issue.