Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, geographic location or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
Table of Contents
IDEM Guide for Citizen Participation
The Guide for Citizen Participation will help you understand state and federal environmental laws, and how you can participate when IDEM proposes changes to environmental rules, or makes decisions regarding issuing permits or conducting cleanup actions. It can also point you to other government agencies that help to protect the environment, and that may have authority over activities which are not regulated by IDEM. IDEM's Guide for Citizen Participation is an integral part of IDEM's continuing Environmental Justice efforts.
Potential Areas of Environmental Justice Concern
These four maps were developed using 2000 U.S. Census data to illustrate areas in Indiana that IDEM has identified as potential areas of Environmental Justice concern based on racial minority, hispanic/latino minority, and income.
- Single File of all of the Maps [PDF] (This is a large file; we highly recommend that you save the file to your computer before viewing)
- The maps as individual downloads (if you have a slower internet connection)
To save the files to your computer, simply right-click on the links above with your mouse, and then, on the menu that appears, click on "Save Target As" (for Internet Explorer web browsers) or "Save Link As" (for Netscape web browsers), and navigate to the location on your computer where you'd like to save the file. You may then open the file by double-clicking on the icon where you saved it. Please note that these files will take a great deal of time to download over a dial-up connection.
Environmental Justice Documents
U.S. EPA Environmental Justice Links
- U.S. EPA's Office of Compliance and Enforcement, Environmental Justice
- U.S. EPA Environmental Justice Strategy [PDF]
- U.S. EPA Region V Environmental Justice Home Page
U.S. EPA Environmental Justice Grants and Outreach
U.S. EPA’s revised Environmental Justice Web site features information on working groups, awards, and funding opportunities so that communities always know the resources available.
Leadership Training
The Pew Partnership for Civic Change: LeadershipPlenty Program is a training program aimed at strengthening community leadership by equipping citizens to take effective civic action. Selected partner organizations are provided with the LeadershipPlenty Training Program, "train-the-trainer" instruction through an intensive training institute, limited technical assistance with implementation of the program, and involvement with other partners in the LeadershipPlenty Network to refine the program and share strategies. Groups eligible to apply for the program include national organizations with local affiliates, national foundations, community foundations or regional organizations, local community organizations, and universities and colleges. Applications are due December 31, annually.
National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC)
The National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) was established September 30, 1993. This council represents the first time that representatives of community, academia, industry, environmental, indigenous, as well as state/local/tribal government groups, were brought together in an effort to create a dialogue that can define and "reinvent" solutions to environmental justice problems. It is essential that such a dialogue occur. In addition, NEJAC provides a valuable forum for integrating environmental justice with other U.S. EPA priorities and initiatives.
See also:
- Regulations.gov: A U.S. Government web site that makes it easier for you to participate in rulemaking from EPA and other Federal agencies.
Stay Connected
