Late last fall, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) sought to gather information and feedback for developing a coordinated Federal strategy to identify and address gaps in science, data, and research related to environmental justice. EDGI submitted a public comment responding to OSTP’s questions.
Below are key points addressed in EDGI’s response:
- The current gross lack of environmental and social justice data remains an enormous barrier to addressing historical and ongoing environmental discrimination and bias. EDGI advocates for supporting research to address these data gaps.
- The biggest opportunities for advancing EJ related decision-making within federal research and grant programs are studying cumulative exposures and cumulative impacts.
- Several areas of research opportunities we mention include studies with real-time and aggregate measured emissions and ambient air quality data; studies that take into account social constructs such as racism, classism, and criminalization; long-term intergenerational studies conducted on a national scale; and studies that focus on the compounding impacts of chemical and non-chemical stressors over time.
- EDGI calls for a paradigm shift with respect to community data. The Federal government should support community-derived data collection and treat it with at least the same level of respect as industry self-reported data and estimates.
- EDGI strongly recommends the inclusion of environmental enforcement and compliance data, industrial sector data, and historical data in the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST).
- EDGI recommends developing stringent guidelines for agencies to ensure proper data collection, usage, and analyses for broad and effective environmental enforcement and compliance.
- When considering public engagement in the research process, EDGI suggests involving communities early on and creating processes in which the public can meaningfully participate and influence decision-making.
CONTACT: Members of EDGI are available to answer media, academic, or community questions about their public comment. Please contact EDGI Communications Coordinator Kelly Wilkins-Steinrueck at kelly.wilkins@envirodatagov.org with any inquiries.