Environmental Justice

To follow federal environmental justice requirements, the TPB must identify and address, as appropriate, disproportionately high or adverse effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations.

The TPB has a two-pronged approach to ensuring nondiscrimination and meeting Environmental Justice requirements: by analyzing current conditions and forecasting impacts of the long-range plan on traditionally-disadvantaged populations, and by engaging potentially vulnerable populations in the planning process. Both play an important role. Quantitative analysis can provide information about current conditions for these populations, but forecasting conditions in the distant future is complex and includes many caveats. However, input from communities struggling with poverty, poor transit service, getting access to jobs and opportunities can be the check and balance to the quantitative data. The input received from community leaders from the Access for All Advisory Committee on unmet transportation needs in the region is highly valuable and must be considered in the planning process along with quantitative data on how the long-range transportation plan performs.