Grantee Research Project Results

Environmental Justice and Environmental Decisionmaking

EPA Grant Number: U914973
Title: Environmental Justice and Environmental Decisionmaking
Investigators: Estrada, Torri J.
Institution: University of Michigan
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: January 1, 1996 through January 1, 1998
Project Amount: $68,000
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1996) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Fellowship - Sociology , Academic Fellowships , Environmental Justice , Tribal Environmental Health Research

Objective:

The objectives of this research project are to: (1) explore the theoretical and practical aspects of applying the science and techniques of ecological restoration as well as ecologically based urban planning and design in the urban context as part of local, state, and federal policies regarding Brownfields redevelopment; (2) conduct a community-based research and education project with the objectives of identifying the adverse environmental justice and health-related problems of subsistence-based communities in the San Francisco Bay and Delta; and (3) survey and interview a representative sample of Native reservations in the Southwestern United States (i.e., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9) approached to host waste facilities in the last decade.

Approach:

The first topic of this research project involves Brownfields policy and ecological restoration. My research will be edited and refined in partnership with the Urban Habitat Program to be published as a special report of Economic Conversion Project and in Race, Poverty, and Environment newsletter. The School of Natural Resources and Environment also has asked me to adapt this research for inclusion into a book they are publishing through Island Press on ecological restoration.

The second topic of this research project involves working in collaboration with Dr. Patrick West and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, and focuses on toxic fish consumption and water quality. I will promote their consideration in water policy and management decisionmaking, and provide the knowledge, skills, and expertise to these communities and their service organizations so that they can effectively and productively participate in water-related decisionmaking.

The third topic of this research project involves solid and hazardous waste management facilities in tribal lands. I will attempt to research and understand: (1) the types of Native communities that have been approached to host waste facilities; (2) the scope of environmental review and tribal participation undertaken in evaluating these proposed facilities; (3) the number of proposals rejected and accepted by Native communities; (4) the reasons why proposals were rejected and accepted; and (5) of those accepted, what economic, sociocultural, environmental, and other costs and benefits have resulted.

Supplemental Keywords:

fellowship, ecological restoration, urban planning, Brownfields redevelopment, environmental justice, decision making, water quality, host waste facilities, Native communities, hazardous waste., RFA, Scientific Discipline, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Waste, Economic, Social, & Behavioral Science Research Program, Economics & Decision Making, environmental justice, Environmental Policy, Economics, Brownfields, decision-making, Social Science, compensation, urban planning, Native American, neighborhood dynamics, political economy, poorer neighborhoods, redevelopment, community response to waste facility siting, geographic location, hazardous environmental exposures, ethnic groups, urban waste management, environmental values, property values, minorities, environmental degradation, decision analysis, environmental equity, socioeconomically disadvantaged, community participation, demographic, facility siting, siting patterns, house prices, political jurisdictions

Progress and Final Reports:

1996

Final