Use of Equity and Environmental Justice Data to Support Airport Decision Making

Environmental justice has historically focused on ensuring that vulnerable populations do not bear a disproportionate burden of the negative environmental impacts of policies, programs, and projects and that these communities are meaningfully included in planning and public outreach. There is increased emphasis on ensuring that airport activities and investments lead to a more sustainable and just economy that addresses historical racial injustices and enhances the quality of life for vulnerable populations. Yet airports do not have an established framework for incorporating environmental justice and equity into airport decision-making. These decisions often require the use of robust datasets that are frequently large and may come from disparate sources, and the thoughtful interpretation of the data through the lens of environmental justice may be difficult for airports. Research is needed to develop resources to educate and support airport practitioners in integrating environmental justice and equity into decision-making. This includes, but is not limited to, the collection, sharing, interpretation, and incorporation of equity and environmental justice data in a manner that enhances how development and operational decisions can positively affect the economic and social well-being of neighboring communities. The objective of this research is to prepare resources to educate and support airport practitioners in integrating environmental justice and equity into decision-making. The resources should include, at a minimum: (1) Primer providing the historical context of systemic racism in the transportation sector with specific focus on unique aspects relative to airports (e.g., siting, operations, organizational staffing, planning, balancing benefits and burdens, access) and present-day implications; (2) Toolkit consisting of guidance and techniques to: (a) Enable airports to assess: (i) The degree to which their organization's decision-making includes input from vulnerable populations, (ii) How their decision-making has affected equity and environmental justice outcomes, and how it might affect them in the future, and (iii) Their cultural competency and institutional capacity to address these issues and drive improved outcomes; (b) Identify and connect public and private stakeholders based on their needs, priorities, missions, responsibilities, and resources; (c) Solicit input from vulnerable populations throughout the decision-making process; (d) Identify data needs, sources (including proxies), and gaps; (e) Assess the relevancy and value of existing and emerging demographic and socioeconomic data; (f) Collect quantitative and qualitative data needed for decision-making; (g) Select and use the appropriate environmental justice tools (e.g., screening tools, mapping tools, and other analytical tools) for decision-making; (h) Mitigate cumulative adverse environmental justice and equity impacts in the decision-making; (i) Incorporate equity and environmental justice considerations into airport plans and actions in a holistic manner; (j) Communicate results to non-technical audiences; and (3) Case study examples demonstrating successful incorporation of equity and environmental justice into decision-making, or lessons learned (see Special Note B); (4) List of resources; and (5) Glossary of equity and environmental justice terms. The guidance and techniques should be consistent with FAA regulations, scalable and adaptable to the unique conditions of the airport, including airport type, size, governance, and resource availability.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5200

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 02-99

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Airport Cooperative Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20001

  Federal Aviation Administration

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Project Managers:

  Navarrete, Joseph

• Performing Organizations:

  HMMH

  Burlington, MA  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Nagy, Julia

• Start Date: 20220516
• Expected Completion Date: 20231115
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airport operations; Airport planning; Airports; Data collection; Decision making; Environmental justice; Equity
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Data and Information Technology; Environment; Planning and Forecasting; Society; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01779168
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 02-99
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Aug 17 2021 10:41PM