Environmental Justice Analysis of Minority and Low-Income Populations Adjacent to Goods Movement Corridors in Southern California

摘要

Southern California is the largest international trade gateway in the U.S., and the region also generatesenormous local and domestic goods movement activity. Given the expected growth in international tradeand domestic goods movement in the future, significant growth in truck volumes and rail traffic areanticipated in the region to facilitate reliable goods movement and to support economic growth. As goodsmovement is a major contributor to local and regional environmental issues, such as air pollution andhealth risk, it is a regional priority not only to mitigate the environmental impacts of the goods movementsystem, but also to ensure that there is equity in distribution of environmental benefits and burdens fromfederally funded goods movement programs and projects pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.Therefore, in order to prevent disproportionately high and adverse environmental effects andhealth risks on minority and low-income populations from the goods movement system, the SouthernCalifornia Association of Governments conducted Environmental Justice analyses for the goodsmovement system included in the Regional Transportation Plan. The objective of this paper is to identifyminority and low-income populations, to analyze their spatial distributions along major truck corridorsand freight rail corridors, and to address the Environmental Justice implications of the goods movementsystem in Southern California.