🚨 Tool Status: STILL REMOVED

EJScreen remains completely removed from public access as confirmed by direct verification on July 27, 2025. The URL epa.gov/ejscreen returns a 404 "web page does not exist" error. Previous claims of restoration were inaccurate.

Current URL Status: 404 - Page Not Found

🔍 DNS Failure Evidence

Mapper Tool Status: ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/ - DNS failure confirmed with screenshot evidence

Screenshot shows: "Safari can't find the server 'ejscreen.epa.gov'" - Complete DNS resolution failure

What Is EJScreen?

EJScreen stands for Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool. It overlays pollution data with demographic indicators like income, race, and language proficiency to identify communities that may be:

  • Disproportionately burdened by environmental risks
  • Underserved in regulatory or public health responses
  • Historically excluded from decision-making

🔍 Why EJScreen Matters

1. Targets Inequity

EJScreen helps government agencies, activists, and researchers locate communities facing:

  • Higher exposure to pollutants (like diesel particles or ozone)
  • Greater social vulnerability (e.g. poverty, limited English)
  • Cumulative impacts from multiple sources (e.g. highways + industry)

▫ Example

A neighborhood near an industrial plant may also have low-income, majority-Black residents and poor access to healthcare. EJScreen flags this overlap.

2. Supports Environmental Justice

  • Executive Orders, especially EO 14008, prioritize "Justice40" initiatives—ensuring 40% of federal climate and clean energy investments benefit overburdened communities.
  • EJScreen is a core tool in identifying those communities.

3. Informs Policy and Enforcement

Federal and state regulators use EJScreen to:

  • Direct inspections, enforcement, and permits
  • Assess the cumulative impact of projects
  • Incorporate community input into environmental decisions

4. Empowers Communities

Anyone—journalists, organizers, local leaders—can search their ZIP code and see:

  • Air and water pollution indicators
  • Traffic and proximity to hazardous sites
  • Population demographics

It turns opaque data into accessible, visual information.

Impact of Removal

The removal of EJScreen has severely impacted:

  • Community advocates who relied on the tool to document environmental injustices
  • Researchers and journalists investigating environmental racism
  • Federal agencies tasked with implementing Justice40 initiatives
  • Local governments making zoning and permitting decisions
  • Legal teams building environmental justice cases

🔥 ALTERNATIVE RESOURCE FOUND

✅ Active EJScreen Alternative

Alternative Resource: EPA Environmental Justice Grants Screening Tool

This alternative tool provides environmental justice screening capabilities similar to the removed EJScreen. Community advocates and researchers can use this resource while pushing for official EPA tool restoration.

Status: Active and accessible as of January 2025

What You Can Do