🚨 Tool Status: REMOVED

EJScreen was completely removed from public access as part of the federal information purge. This critical environmental justice tool is no longer available to communities, researchers, or advocates.

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)

â–« 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

What You Can Do