AIR QUALITY AND EQUITY

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AIR QUALITY AND EQUITY

• Dr. Gordon Mitchell
• The School of Geography and
• Institute for Transport Studies,
• The University of Leeds
• g.mitchell_at_leeds.ac.uk

Leeds Air Quality and Health Interest Group 27th
Jan 2004
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The Presentation

• An Introduction to Environmental Equity
• Environmental (air quality) equity examples
• UK
• Leeds
• Emerging Policy responses
• Issues in Environmental Equity Analysis

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AN INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY
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Sustainable Development Trade-Offs
Equity vs. Growth
EQUITY vs. ENVIRONMENT
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Environmental equity a global issue.
and a growing local concern...
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Environmental Equity in the USA

• Environmental equity concerns grew from civil
  rights movement
• Concern over siting of hazardous facilities
• Very strong protests over race/poverty bias
• Inadequate empirical evidence of bias

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ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY EXAMPLE 1 AIR QUALITY
IN BRITAIN
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Air Quality and Equity

• Prior UK studies
• Stevenson 1998 (NO2, wards, London, income)
• McLeod 2000 (3 pollutants, LA districts, social
  class ethnicity)
• NETCEN 2000 (2 pollutants, 5 UK cities, IMD)
• NETCEN 2001 (2 pollutants, 4 UK cities, IMD)
• Pennycook 2001 (2 pollutants, Bradford wards,
  IMD)
• Lyons 2002 (NO2, W.Glamorgan, social class)
• Brainard 2002 (2 pollutants, Birmingham EDs, IMD)
• Small body of research with conflicting
  conclusions due to heterogeneity (pollutants,
  scales, study areas, methods, target populations)

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Study Objectives

• To address conflicting results of past UK studies
  through small area - national analyses
• To test two common assumptions
• Disadvantaged groups are resident in areas with
  highest pollutant concentrations
• The poor largely bear the pollution costs of the
  affluent (Higman, 1999)

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Data and Methods

• Study Area - All 10,444 wards in Britain
• Air quality - Mean annual NO2 per ward centroid
  from NETCEN 1999 1 km grid map
• Disadvantaged groups
• The Poor
• Non-car owners
• Children (not discussed here)

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Poverty Analysis
Most deprived AND least deprived experience above
average NO2 exposure
Poor wards
Affluent wards
1999 annual mean NO2 ug/m3
1027 wards per poverty decilebars denote 5- 95
percentile
Households in poverty (BB Index)
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Car Ownership Analysis
Wards with few cars are most polluted, hence
Traffic pollution is caused by the better off,
but the poor feel its effects (Higman, 1999).
True?
1999 annual mean NO2 ug/m3
Many cars wards
Few cars wards
1027 wards per no car decile Bars denote 95 CI
Households with no car
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The affluent pollute the poor?

• Annual NOx emission from vehicles estimated
  (crudely) for all GB wards
• DVLA postcoded vehicle data
• 35 vehicle groups (age / cc / fuel type)
• MEET NOx emission factors at 55 kph (older
  cars emit more)
• MEET UK age-distance correction
  (older cars travel less)

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Emission Analysis

• Less cars and car use in poor wards is
  balanced by use of older more polluting vehicles
• Deprived wards make significant contributions to
  vehicle emissions

Vehicle NOx emission (tonnes / yr / ward)
households in poverty
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But inequality does occur....
Wards of worst air quality emit least AND are the
most deprived
10,270 wards
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Exceedence wards (NO2, Eng.)
Mitchell and Walker forthcoming (Env Agency) Of
2.5 million people in ward with mean annual NO2 gt
40ug/m3, gt50 are in the most deprived 20 of
population.
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Temporal Change (NO2 exceedence)
Mitchell and Walker forthcoming (Env Agency)
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Pollution-Poverty Hot spots

• Application
• Can guide remediation strategies or further
  analysis
• Requires agreement on variables thresholds
  applied
• Selection criteria (example)
• AQ Index gt 1.5 (c. 800 wards, 7.5 M people) AND
  most deprived wards (decile 1, with 10 of pop.)
• Hot-spots identified
• MAJOR (gt 5 wards) London, Liverpool, Manchester,
  Nottingham, Sheffield.
• MINOR (1- 5 wards) Bristol, Derby, Thurrock,
  Leeds, Leicester, Luton, Tyneside, W. Midlands,
  Huddersfield

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Conclusions from UK analysis

• The most and least deprived experience above
  average NO2, but the poor experience the worst AQ
  of all, bearing a highly disproportionate burden
  of peak concentrations, including exceedences (X
  10)
• The poor experience the worst air quality, but
  also contribute significantly to emissions (i.e.
  EJ requires careful interpretation)
• Air quality policy to tackle injustice could
  focus on hotspots - but how should they be
  defined - e.g.
• High deprivation and high concentration, or
• High deprivation, high concentration and low
  emission?

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AIR QUALITY EQUITY EXAMPLE 2 Responses to
transport strategies in Leeds
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The Leeds Study

• EPSRC-DETR project with Leeds CC
• Air quality impact of transport strategies
• Cordon charging (Single and Double)
• Distance charging (Charges at 2-20 p/km)
• Network development (Do-All, Do-Min)
• Clean fuel promotion
• Do-nothing, business as usual 1993-2015
• Modelling method
• Traffic modelling using SATURN inc. SATTAX
• Air quality modelled using TEMMS ADMS

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The Env. Equity Analysis

• Data on a 200m grid
• - modelled annual NO2
• - deprivation index
• Analysis to assess
• - environmental equity
• - env equity responses
• to transport options

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Env. Equity under Do-nothing
N1851
Annual mean NO2 ug/m3
Affluent
Deprivation Index
Poor
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Env Equity Under Road Pricing
N1851
2005 annual mean NO2 ug/m3
Affluent
Deprivation Index
Poor
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Disease burden from NO2, 1993
Total NO2 DB in Leeds 96 RHA / yr

• Equity pattern consistent with that seen for NO2

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Leeds Case Study Conclusions

• The poor in Leeds suffer significantly greater
  NO2 concentrations than people of average or
  above average means
• Change in inequality is (predicted to be)
  strongly proportional to change in city-wide air
  quality
• All transport options that improve city-wide air
  quality reduce inequality, including road
  pricing, but design details are important (e.g.
  network development vs. RUC).

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Recommendations (Air Quality)

• Support efforts to understand the nature
  significance of env. inequalities, measures to
  reduce unacceptable inequalities
• Support LAs seeking to meet NAQS objectives
• Identify 'poverty-pollution hotspots and focus
  efforts to improve air quality in these areas
• Investigate the equity implications of AQMAs and
  LTPs
• Develop technical guidance on equity appraisal
  (new devt.)
• Work to ensure that equity appraisal is adopted
  in the environmental assessment process (EIA and
  SEA)

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RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL INEQUITY
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USA

• Clintons 1994 Executive Order Federal
  actions to address environmental justice in
  minority and low income populations.
• Must address disproportionately high and
  adverse human health or environmental
  effects of policies, programs and activities
  on minority and low income populations

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US guidance emerging via

• Federal working groups and enforcement actions
  (e.g. EPA TWG on EJ assessment of actions
  proposed re Clean Air Act compliance)
• Public participation (e.g. in NEPA process)
• Litigation and class actions

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Europe

• UN ECE Aarhus Convention on the Environment
  (adopted 1998, ratified Oct 2001)
• Public access to environmental information
  (Directive proposed June 2001)
• Public participation in environmental plans and
  programmes (Directive proposed Jan 2001)
• Access to justice in environmental matters
  (Directive proposals under discussion)

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UK

• Major Political commitment
• EW - Prime Minister and M Beckett (DEFRA)
• Scotland McConnell, First Minister
• Government response
• ODPM - NRU policy mapping Env in IMD
• DEFRA - co-ordinating cross dept. EE agenda
• Scottish Executive (Programme EJ in SEA)
• SD commission (Key theme)
• Environment Agency (Programme)

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UK evidence base

• Some empirical analyses
• Air quality (mostly cities by ward)
• Landfill sites and health impacts
• Hazardous industrial facilities
• Extending the evidence base
• Environment Agency study (Walker Mitchell)
• SNIFFER (2004 - 2005)
• Others - e.g. FoE, JRF, OECD studies

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ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY ANALYSIS
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Measuring Inequality

• Technical Issues
• Which env. issues? (positive and negative)
• Environmental justice for who?
• What is the appropriate spatial unit of analysis?
  
• How large should the study area be?
• Env. metrics exposure or adverse effect?
• Multiple, cumulative and indirect impacts
• Assessing not just facilities, but plans
  policies
• i.e - need for agreed assessment methods

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Identifying Injustice

• Understanding causation
• Inequalities as a product of neighbourhood
  transition processes (e.g. chicken and egg), or
  discrimination?
• Is inequality unjust?
• How unequal is unfair?
• Which justice theory (Rawlsian, Utilitarian etc.)
  should be used to interpret the inequality

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Addressing Injustice

• Building environmental equity / justice
  assessments into policy and plan evaluation (i.e.
  all SD trade-offs)
• Ensure public involvement in equity issues
• Scoping (e.g. identifying target groups / issues)
  
• Reviewing appraisals
• Agreeing mitigation measures

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Publications

• Mitchell, G. and Dorling, D. (2003). An
  Environmental Justice Analysis of British Air
  Quality, Environment and Planning A, 35, 909-929
• Mitchell, G. (forthcoming). The Response of Urban
  Air Quality to Strategic Road Transport
  Initiatives An Environmental Justice Analysis of
  Leeds, UK. Transportation Research Part D
• Mitchell, G., Namdeo, A., May, A.D. and Milne, D.
  (forthcoming). Road User Charging and Urban Air
  Quality An Empirical Analysis of Leeds, UK.
  Transportation Research Part D
• Mitchell, G., Namdeo, A., May, A.D. and Milne, D.
  (2003). The Air Quality Implications of Urban
  Road User Charging. Transport Engineering and
  Control, Feb, 352-357.

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Publications

• Mitchell, G and Walker, G. (In press)
  Environmental Quality and Social Deprivation. RD
  Technical Report E2-067/1/TR, The Environment
  Agency, Bristol, 61pp, ISBN 1 8443 221 9
• Walker, G., Mitchell, G., Fairburn, J. and Smith,
  G. (In press) Environmental Quality and Social
  Deprivation. Phase II National Analysis of Flood
  Hazard, IPC Industries and Air Quality. RD
  Project Record E2-067/1/PR1, The Environment
  Agency, Bristol, 133pp, ISBN 1 8443 222X
• Mitchell, G. and Walker, G. (In press)
  Environmental Quality and Social Deprivation.
  Phase I A Review of Research and Analytical
  Methods. RD Project Record E2-067/1/PR2, The
  Environment Agency, Bristol, 107pp, ISBN 1 8443
  22 246
• Mitchell, G. and Walker, G. (Forthcoming)
  Methodological Issues in the Assessment of
  Environmental Equity and Environmental Justice.
  In Deakin et al., (Eds.) Sustainable
  development the assessment methods, E F Spon.

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Thank you for listening..for more
information contact Dr Gordon
Mitchell School of Geography The University of
Leeds, UK, LS2 9JT g.mitchell_at_leeds.ac.uk www
.geog.leeds.ac.uk/airqual
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All wards (NO2, England)
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Age Analysis
1999 annual mean NO2 ug/m3
Few of age group in ward
Many of age group in ward
Age decile
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Age Analysis 2
Inequality but probably not injustice
Ratio NO2 in upper lower age decile
Above average NO2 Below average NO2
Age