EJ Communities

An environmental stressor is defined as an indicator of environmental pollution. Environmental stressors included in this analysis are ground level ozone, fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), VPDES IP outfalls, Solid Waste facilities, and Hazardous Waste Facilities. The stressor screening compares the environmental stressors in an EJ community to the environmental stressors for comparable, non-EJ communities. The purpose is to identify whether that EJ community may experience a disproportionate share of negative environmental consequences. This is the standard under the Virginia Environmental Justice Act, § 2.2-234 and 2.2-235 of the Code of Virginia. For the stressor screening, “community” is defined at the census block group scale.