Today EDGI launched our Public Comments Initiative, a project that aims to help people and organizations understand and more effectively engage in the public commenting process when new rules are proposed by federal agencies. While federal agencies do take seriously the role of public comments in the regulatory process (e.g. GAO, 2020), public commenting remains … Read more
This comment stresses that the federal government should strive to increase the tangible impact of public participation in federal decision-making. To do this, EDGI recommends OMB design public participation processes that have the appropriate timing and depth to meaningfully influence government actions, and to develop standards for information management to ensure the public can easily learn about issues and opportunities for input.
Join the EDGI team! We’re looking to hire a a summer research intern to help coordinate a public online research project. This role will be investigating and making available federal environmental records from FOIA requests, helping build community-led resources (maps, info sheets, etc.), and assisting with online/digital humanities projects. Anticipated Start Date: Beginning of June, … Read more
The EPA released draft Guidelines for Cumulative Risk Assessment Planning and Problem Formulation last year. This is a crucial step for the agency to meaningfully examine and address compounding environmental risks as part of a larger picture on human health and environmental justice. Nonetheless, there are several major concerns. Below are key points addressed in … Read more
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 … Read more
Join us! We are looking to hire a new, collaborative team member to join EDGI to help with communications—network-wide and with the broader public.
A paradigmatic case of the “sacrifice zone,” West Port Arthur and similar neighborhoods in Beaumont also epitomize the cumulative impacts faced by America’s most environmentally burdened communities.
Forty years have passed, and the people of Sivuqaq are still fighting for a more thorough clean-up of military wastes remaining on Sivuqaq as they work hand in hand with the Anchorage-based organization Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT).
On September 30, 2023 FOIAonline—the government-wide online portal for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and case management—will be decommissioned. For more than a decade, FOIAonline has served as a critical transparency tool through which the public could not only file requests and receive records, but also browse and search through records released to others and by multiple agencies. Starting October 1st, FOIAonline will be taken down, and the 1.8 million public records it holds will be taken down with it.
Is it as safe to drink tap water in Paterson as it is in more affluent, whiter communities nearby, such as Wayne? EDGI’s new tool, available at sdwa-eew.streamlit.app, is designed for college students to answer questions such as this and explore the intersection of drinking water safety with social justice in New Jersey.