Neighborhood Assessment Program Background This page last
reviewed October 21, 2010 Representatives from some communities
and environmental groups have for sometime maintained that
minority communities and communities of lower economic status
are more impacted by environmental pollution than other
communities. They argue that current regulatory protocols
continue to promote disproportionate impacts by allowing greater
air pollution exposures in some communities compared to others,
and that government agencies must pay attention to environmental
equity (in terms of health protection) when drafting
regulations. There is growing acceptance for this argument by
many public interest groups, but no clear guidance exists as to
how to assess air pollution impacts at the neighborhood-scale.
Efforts are underway to address this issue at local, state, and
federal levels. Pursuant to the President's Executive Order, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has recently set
up an environmental justice (EJ) Prog