Environment, Health and Equity (Cutter, 1995)

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Environment, Health and Equity(Cutter, 1995)
Geography 361bEnvironment and Health
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Discussion

• What is environmental equity?

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Definitions

• environmental justice
• general, but more political than equity, born
  in USA
• emphasis on remedial action to correct inequities
• arose out of environmental racism movement
• principles
• protection from environmental degradation
• prevention of adverse health effects
• culpability ability to hold polluters
  responsible
• burden of proof guilty until proven innocent
• remedial action in cases of identified injustice

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Definitions

• environmental equity
• sharing of benefits and burdens of production
• two forms
• equal sharing (typical)
• sharing proportional to consumption

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Definitions

• procedural equity
• emphasis on causal mechanisms for inequitable
  outcomes
• extent to which governmental rules/regulations,
  enforcement, treaties, and sanctions applied in a
  nondiscriminatory way
• e.g., environmental assessment process

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Definitions

• outcome equity
• distribution of benefits and burdens
• spatial
• temporal (generational equity)

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Definitions

• social equity
• underpins environmental equity
• social and economic factors that typically
  coincide with environmental equity issues
• e.g., class, race, gender, political power
• often environmental equity solutions are social
  equity solutions (e.g., income assistance)

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Context

• 1970s-80s environmental movement and civil rights
  movement merged pressure on US federal
  government emphasis on waste
• 1990 USEPA Environmental Equity Workgroup
• 1992 EEW report released inequities exist
• 1994 Clinton Executive Order address human
  health and environmental effects of all federal
  agency programs
• no similar legislation in Canada or Ontario

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Discussion

• How would you test for spatial equity?
• what challenges?
• How would you test for process equity?
• what challenges?

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Research Issues forAssessing Outcome Equity

• environmental threat
• often single exposure type (e.g., MSW)
• increasing emphasis on multi-exposure
• distance - plume modeling, wind direction etc
  rare
• geographic scale/unit
• this has proven critical, results often flip flop
  depending on scale
• e.g., census tract, dissemination area
  (enumeration area), county

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Research Issues forAssessing Outcome Equity

• subpopulation
• race, ethnicity, income, gender
• research may reflect homogeneity local
  subpopulations
• e.g., study in the South only, potential false
  negatives high proportion people of colour
• time
• most studies cross-sectional
• more longitudinal research needed

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What constitutes equity?

• Is it procedurally equitable if
• all qualifying sites have equal chance of being
  selected
• AND/OR
• some acceptable amount of benefit accrues to
  local community
• AND/OR
• outcome is equitable?

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What constitutes inequity?

• outcome is equitable if
• hazardous sites are located in disadvantaged
  communities no more frequently than other
  communities
• What are some implications of each requirement?

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(Example) Evidence for Outcome Equity
Inequities Exist Inequities Exist Inequities Exist Inequities Exist Inequities Exist
Author Exposure Subpopn Finding Limitations
USGAO (1983) large hazardous waste facilities in the South - race - 3 of 4 sites 52, 66, and 90 AA - only 4 sites - indicative of problem
UCCCRJ (1987) commercial hazardous waste facilities and uncontrolled waste sites race national, zip code - communities with 1 facilities 2 times AA or His popn vs no facility - use zip codes for spatial unit may be too large
Mohai and Bryant (1992) commercial hazardous waste facilities - race, SES - - Detroit and surrounding counties 48 AA within 1 mile, 39 1-1.5 miles, 18 1.5 miles not SES case study Detroit predominantly AA, esp. in area studied (74)
USGAO- US Government Accounting Office UCCCRJ
United Church of Christ Committee for Racial
Justice AA African American His - Hispanic
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Evidence for Outcome Equity
Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes
Author Exposure Subpopn Finding Limitations
Aderton et al. (1994) treatment storage and disposal facilities (TSDF) - race, SES - national, census tract no inequity within tracts inequity increases with scale (AA, His, poverty) employed and industrial much better predictors of TSDFs - only waste facilities - funded by Waste Management Incorporated may biased interpretation
Hird (1993) Superfund NPL sites -SES - national, county - no inequities by SES - county may be too large
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Evidence for Outcome Equity
Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes Inequities Exist, Only Sometimes
Author Exposure Subpopn Finding Limitations
Zimmerman (1993) Superfund NPS sites race, ethnicity national, county minorities overrepresented in cities, underrepresented outside cities fewer AA communities had remedial action plans - superfund sites only
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Inequity ExistsSometimesAnderton et al (1994)

• differences not as predicted for AA, yes for
  dwelling value, almost for His
• Controls industrial employment, employment, ,
  older dwelling also significant male employed
  opposite of predicted

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Inequity ExistsSometimesAnderton et al (1994)

• differences not as predicted for AA, yes for His
  and dwelling value
• industrial employment, employment, , older
  dwelling also significant

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Measuring Exposure is Key GIS Helps!

• proportional assignment through buffering
• 80 0.8 of a facility 20 0.2 of a facility

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Which Came First

• which came first, disadvantaged or the facility?
• only two significant, and in the opposite
  direction expected (South Carolina, TRI)

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Which Came First?

• which came first, disadvantaged or the facility?
• 4 significant in the opposite of expected
  direction, 2 in expected (both rural)

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Which Came First?

• by 1990 all significant except rural minority
• few inequities to start and grown over time

• Does it matter which came first if the resultant
  pattern is inequitable?

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Canadian Example Hamilton

• Jerrett et al (2001)
• air quality, exposure measure through local
  monitoring stations NOT distance from facility!
• SES inequities as predicted
• how you model matters
• SAR drops low income and adds unemployment
• dwelling value most consistent predictor (more
  stable than income as a measure of SES)

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Canadian Example Hamilton
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Canadian Example Ethnicity and Pollution in
Hamilton
Source Buzzelli and Jerrett, 2004
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Canadian Example Vancouver TSP Over Time
Source Buzzelli et al. 2006
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Canadian Example Vancouver TSP Over Time
Source Buzzelli et al. 2006
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Procedural Equity

• far fewer studies of procedural equity
• What types of methods might be used to assess
  procedural equity?

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Procedural Equity and Scale

• not in my back yard (NIMBY)
• process of opposition whereby facilities are
  placed where resistance is least often
  disadvantaged
• build absolutely nothing, anywhere, near anybody
  (BANANA)
• NIMBY on a larger scale movement to developing
  world

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ImplicationsTriple Jeopardy for the Disadvantaged

• increased risks from social and behavioural
  determinants of health (e.g. smoking)
• higher risks from high ambient pollution
  exposure
• an effect modification that makes exposure to
  ambient pollutants exert disproportionately large
  health effects on them compared with advantaged
  groups.

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Addressing Inequities

• To what extent should concerns about
  environmental equity guide environmental (or
  other) policy?
• How might we address the issue of environmental
  equity in policy at all three levels (national,
  state/provincial, municipal)?

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END OF LECTURE
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Inequity ExistsSometimesAnderton et al (1994)

• same as above but poverty now joins list of
  significant variables
• significance depends on scale

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Inequity ExistsSometimesAnderton et al (1994)