Written by Negar Vahidi and Irene Kaufman
November 2, 2026
Environmental justice has been an important consideration in infrastructure planning throughout California. As California state and local agencies plan transportation, utility, water, energy, and public works projects, environmental justice considerations play a larger role in community engagement.
What is Environmental Justice?
Environmental justice is rooted in the fair and equitable treatment of all people and their meaningful involvement in decisions that affect their environment, health, and quality of life. Historically, some communities in California have experienced disproportionate environmental burdens due to factors such as proximity to industrial facilities, transportation corridors, and other sources of pollution. California and local environmental justice policies seek to ensure that affected communities are considered during project planning and decision-making.
Environmental justice is defined by California law as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of people of all races, cultures, incomes, and national origins, with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies” (Gov. Code, § 65040.12, subd. (e)). In keeping with its commitment to environmental sustainability and access to all, California was one of the first states to codify the concept of environmental justice in its statutes. For projects subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), however, no California agencies have provided specific guidance, directives, or requirements on how to conduct environmental justice analyses in environmental review documents.
In 2012, the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) was directed by Senate Bill (SB) 535 to develop a more comprehensive approach to identifying disadvantaged communities within the State through the use of public health and environmental hazard criteria in addition to socioeconomic data. Through this refined approach, the State’s definition of disadvantaged communities was expanded to include areas that are disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution and negative public health effects. To provide a tool to State agencies for identifying disadvantaged communities within California, CalEPA and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment developed a comprehensive screening methodology in 2013 known as the “California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool” (CalEnviroScreen). CalEPA released an updated designation for disadvantaged communities in May 2022 for the purposes of SB 535. The most recent version of the CalEnviroScreen 5.0 model was released in draft form in January 2026. Many State and local agencies use this tool to identify affected communities and the potential environmental and health burdens in those communities to help guide their decisions. The tool is particularly effective for statewide or regional screening applications, such as allocating resources under SB 535, prioritizing enforcement or cleanup activities, or providing communities with a transparent way to understand how their local conditions compare to other areas of the state. CES is not designed to replace analyses that rely on statutory definitions or pollutant-specific risk information, such as CEQA cumulative impact determinations or health risk assessments. These analyses require more specialized datasets and analytical methods beyond the current scope of CES.
State agencies such as the California Energy Commission (CEC), California State Lands Commission (CSLC), and the California Coastal Commission (CCC) have environmental justice policies that help direct the agencies’ processes, programs, and decisions. For example, the CEC has been conducting environmental justice analyses in their project Staff Assessments and environmental review documents since 2001. The CSLC commits to the principle that past environmental injustices will not define California’s future and supports the ideal that all communities equitably share in the environmental benefits and burdens resulting from its decisions. The CSLC Environmental Justice Policy includes goals to identify and engage with impacted communities, solicit indigenous perspectives, educate staff, analyze environmental justice impacts of proposed projects and/or plans, reduce impacts, promote equity, and improve public engagement and transparency. The CCC’s environmental justice policy focuses on engagement with affected communities, staff training and support, and public participation.
Why Environmental Justice Matters During the Environmental Review Process
As the California Bureau of Environmental Justice states, “…[e]very Californian should have the opportunity to live in a community that is healthy and safe. This is especially true for low-income communities and communities of color, who suffer disproportionate exposure to pollution and the resulting health impacts.” Environmental justice considerations can influence multiple aspects of project development, including:
Community outreach strategies
Impact analysis methodologies
Evaluation of project alternatives
Development of mitigation strategies
Project design decisions
Evaluation of impacts on disadvantaged communities should consider project effects that may be borne disproportionately for the following issue areas:
Air quality
Noise
Traffic
Visual
Public health
Water resources
Other important considerations include the potential for cumulative burdens on the community, and effects on access to community resources.
Meaningful Community Engagement and Integration of Environmental Justice Considerations
One of the most effective ways to address environmental justice concerns is through early and transparent communication. Communities often have valuable local knowledge that can help inform the project existing conditions and environmental analysis. Also, early engagement can improve project transparency and help agencies identify opportunities to reduce burdens and environmental impacts on the affected communities. Successful and meaningful community outreach requires engagement that occurs early and often starting with the project planning process and ideally ending with successful project design features that reflect the affected communities’ environmental and public health concerns related to the project.
Helpful steps to integrate environmental justice concerns into project planning efforts include:
Identification of affected populations within the project area
Identification of potential community concerns
Development of siting considerations based on location of affected populations and potential environmental impacts
Consideration of project design refinements
Development of project alternatives
Development of targeted mitigation strategies
Aspen Experience
Aspen’s extensive experience in conducting environmental justice analyses has been gained over many years of working on large-scale multi-jurisdictional infrastructure projects, starting with two of our first projects, Pacific Pipeline and Alturas Transmission Line Projects. In 1994, Aspen developed and conducted a pioneering approach for environmental justice analysis in compliance with Executive Order 12898. These analyses were the first of their kind in the western United States for large-scale linear infrastructure projects traversing multiple jurisdictions with varying population characteristics. Using GIS mapping and US Census Data, Aspen categorized Census tract and Census Block Group data for over 500 miles of linear routes (proposed and alternative routes) for each project based on the minority population and low-income population characteristics to help discern any potential for disproportionate impacts resulting from a crude oil pipeline (Pacific Pipeline) or a high voltage transmission line (Alturas Transmission Line). Then, mitigation strategies were developed to help offset these impacts. The approach/methodology for these environmental justice analyses have been used by many of Aspen’s federal agency and State clients on large scale linear infrastructure projects. Currently, Aspen is working on environmental justice analyses for the California Energy Commission Opt-In Certification Program (under AB 205) for Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects.
Aspen’s planners have a thorough understanding of the potentially complex environmental justice, social, economic, and direct fiscal impacts associated with projects of various types and magnitudes. This has been demonstrated through Aspen’s consistently successful completion of complex impact analyses for federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and USDA Forest Service as well as State agencies including the CEC, California Public Utilities Commission, California Department of Water Resources, and California State Lands Commission. Aspen’s team of specialists work closely with agency management and staff to develop all necessary aspects of socioeconomic impact assessments, including but not limited to the following: public scoping for highly contested and sensitive projects; pioneering and innovative methodologies for impact analysis; coordination with affected permitting and regulatory agencies; and formulation of mitigation to offset any potentially significant impacts related to socioeconomics, as well as environmental justice and equity issues associated with development.