Addressing Community Concerns: How Environmental Justice Relates to Land Use Planning and Zoning

Addressing Community Concerns: How Environmental Justice Relates to Land Use Planning and Zoning is the Panel's third report on environmental justice. It focuses on low-income and people-of-color communities because it is generally recognized that their residents are exposed to significantly greater environmental and public health hazards. The study examines the relationship of planning and zoning decisions in five localities across the nation where residents have raised environmental justice concerns: Huntington Park, California; Austin, Texas; Chester, Pennsylvania; Altgeld Gardens in Chicago, Illinois; and St. James Parish, LouisianaThe report will help local, state and federal officials to improve their understanding of how they can use local and state land use planning and zoning laws for solving current environmental justice problems and preventing them in the future.