Arc Ecology has been an active member of the environmental justice movement from the very beginning. First articulated in a research report by the United Church of Christ in the early 1990’s, environmental justice became a rallying call for many poor communities and communities of color who were disproportionately impacted by polluting industries and governmental activities. For it’s part, Arc Ecology began providing technical support to poor communities and communities of color living near polluting military facilities in the early 1980’s. As a result, Arc Ecology has long been identified with this important environmental health and civil rights issue.

The Community Window on the Hunters Point Shipyard Cleanup began under an Environmental Justice Grant from the San Francisco Department of the Environment. Environmental justice is woven into all of the projects and activities conducted under the Community Window on the Shipyard whose purpose is:
1.) To provide the Bayview Hunters Point community with the resources it needs to become meaningfully involved in the cleanup of the Hunters Point Shipyard.
2.) To ensure that the community has the support it needs to express its concerns and interests in the cleanup of the Hunters Point Shipyard.
Below you'll find some general information on environmental justice, answers to frequently asked questions, and links to other sites for more information.

• What is Environmental Justice?
• Environmental Justice and the Bayview Hunters Point Community
• Federal Authority for Environmental Justice
• Federal Responsibilites
• Useful Links

The US Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
Fair treatment means that no group of people, including a racial, ethnic, or a socioeconomic group, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal programs and policies. Meaningful involvement means that: (1) potentially affected community residents have an appropriate opportunity to participate in decisions about a proposed activity that will affect their environment and/or health; (2) the public's contribution can influence the regulatory agency's decision; (3) the concerns of all participants involved will be considered in the decision making process; and (4) the decision makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected.

From http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/index.html

Bayview Hunters Point became an environmental justice community in 1938 as a direct result of San Francisco zoning policies and Federal and Navy practices.
During the war, the military imported African-American laborers from the South to work on the Shipyard. Aside from the environmental health impacts associated with working on the Navy shipyard, the close proximity of neighborhood housing to the Shipyard increased the health impacts to the neighboring community. Despite the introduction of federal environmental regulations in the 1970s, the military remained exempt from these regulations for nearly twenty years, allowing for a significant amount of additional pollution of the Shipyard compared to civilian facilities.
Between 1976 and 1986, the Navy leased the property to Triple A, a private ship repair company, and Astoria Metals. Contamination of the facility continued under the lessees, in part due to the poor oversight and management by the Navy as property manager.
The impacts of the military’s actions were further exacerbated by San Francisco zoning policies, which concentrated polluting industries in the southeast sector of the city away from the wealthier majority population centers.
Together, these policies and actions created the current environmental & social justice conditions that prevail in the Bayview Hunters Point community today.

On February 11, 1994, President Clinton signed Exectuive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations. The purpose of the order was to bring Federal agency attention to the issue of environmental justice. The Order states that each Federal agency should identify and address, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations. Emphasis is placed on providing minority communities and low-income communities access to public information on, and an opportunity for public participation in, matters relating to human health or the environment.

The following paragraphs, which outline Federal Agency responsibilities under Executive Order 12898, are taken directly from the Order.

Section 1-1.
Implementation.1-101. Agency Responsibilities. To the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, and consistent with the principles set forth in the report on the National Performance Review, each Federal agency shall make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations in the United States and its territories and possessions, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands.

1–103. Development of Agency Strategies. (a) Except as provided in section 6–605 of this order, each Federal agency shall develop an agency-wide environmental justice strategy [...] that identifies and addresses disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations. The environmental justice strategy shall list programs, policies, planning and public participation processes, enforcement, and/or rulemakings related to human health or the environment that should be revised to, at a minimum: (1) promote enforcement of all health and environmental statutes in areas with minority populations and low-income populations; (2) ensure greater public participation; (3) improve research and data collection relating to the health of and environment of minority populations and low-income populations; and (4) identify differential patterns of consumption of natural resources among minority populations and low-income populations. In addition, the environmental justice strategy shall include, where appropriate, a timetable for undertaking identified revisions and consideration of economic and social implications of the revisions.

US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/index.html

Executive Order 12898 - Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/executive_orders/pdf/12898.pdf

San Francisco Department of the Environment
http://www.sfenvironment.com

Scorecard, a project of Environmental Defense, profiles environmental burdens in every community in the U.S., identifying which groups experience disproportionate toxic chemical releases, cancer risks from hazardous air pollutants, or proximity to Superfund sites and polluting facilities emitting smog and particulates.
http://www.scorecard.org/community/ej-index.tcl