D.2.4 Environmental Justice in Minority and Low-Income Populations

DOE is committed, and required by law, to incorporate environmental justice principles into its operations. Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low Income Populations , requires Federal agencies to identify and address appropriately disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations. DOE is in the process of finalizing its Environmental Justice Strategy and issued its first document in April 1995, which provides a structured framework. This strategy will be finalized once stakeholders' comments, concerns, and opinions are received, reviewed, and incorporated as appropriate. Because DOE is still in the process of developing guidance, the approach taken in this analysis may depart somewhat from the guidance that is eventually issued.

Any disproportionately high and adverse human health effects on minority populations and low-income populations that could result from the alternatives being considered are assessed for an 80 km (50 mi) area surrounding each site. The shaded areas in figures D.2.4-1 through D.2.4-8 show Census tracts where racial or ethnic minorities comprise 50 percent or more (simple majority) of the total population, and where racial or ethnic minorities comprise less than 50 but greater than 25 percent of the total population in the Census tract.
[figure D.2.4-2]
[figure D.2.4-3]
[figure D.2.4-4]
[figure D.2.4-5]
[figure D.2.4-6, page 1 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-6, page 2 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-6, page 3 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-6, page 4 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-6, page 5 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-7]
Figures D.2.4-9 through D.2.4-16 show low income communities generally defined as those where 25 percent or more of the population is characterized as living in poverty (income of less than $8,076 for a family of two).
[figure D.2.4-10]
[figure D.2.4-11]
[figure D.2.4-12]
[figure D.2.4-13]
[figure D.2.4-14, page 1 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-14, page 2 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-14, page 3 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-14, page 4 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-14, page 5 of 5]
[figure D.2.4-15] Socioeconomic impacts are assessed for the ROI of each site, since the impacts result from economic linkages rather than geographic proximity. Selected demographic characteristics of the ROI for each of the seven candidates sites are presented in tables D.2.4-1 through D.2.4-8. An assessment of any potential disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority and low-income populations that could result from the alternatives being considered is presented in chapter 4.

Table D.2.4-1.-- Selected Demographic Characteristics for the Oak Ridge Reservation Region of Influence

					Total Region of Influence
Characteristic/Area	Anderson County (number)	Knox County (number)	Loudon County (number)	Roane County (number)	(number)	(percent)
Persons by Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic, White	64,320	300,040	30,668	45,274	440,302	91.3
Hispanic	381	2,067	83	212	2,743	0.6
Non-Hispanic, American Indian	236	775	52	95	1,158	0.2
Non-Hispanic, Black	2,753	29,483	400	1,456	34,092	7.1
Non-Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander	537	3,263	49	186	4,035	0.8
Non-Hispanic, Other	23	121	3	4	151	0.0
Total 1990 Population	68,250	335,749	31,255	47,227	482,481
Total Number of Households	27,384	133,639	12,155	18,453	191,631
1989 Low Income
Persons Below Poverty
Number	9,664	45,608	4,192	7,467	66,931
Percent1	14.3	14.1	13.6	16.0	14.3

Table D.2.4-2.-- Selected Demographic Characteristics for the Savannah River Site Region of Influence

	South Carolina		Georgia		Total Region of Influence
Characteristic/Area	Aiken County (number)	Barnwell County (number)	Columbia County (number)	Richmond County (number)	(number)	(percent)
Persons by Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic, White	90,130	11,421	56,141	103,009	270,727	63.6
Hispanic	867	146	962	3,707	5,918	1.4
Non-Hispanic, American Indian	213	31	150	491	918	0.2
Non-Hispanic, Black	29,176	8,677	7,239	79,221	142,608	33.5
Non-Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander	528	17	1,518	3,186	5,276	1.2
Non-Hispanic, Other	26	1	21	105	160	0.0
Total 1990 Population	120,940	20,293	66,031	189,719	425,607	99.9
Total Number of Households	44,883	7,100	21,841	68,675	151,877
1989 Low Income
Persons Below Poverty
Number	16,671	4,367	4,255	32,590	66,267
Percent1	14.0	21.8	6.6	18.2	17.3

Table D.2.4-3.--Selected Demographic Characteristics for the Kansas City Plant Region of Influence

	Missouri		Kansas		Total Region of Influence
Characteristic/Area	Cass County (number)	Jackson County (number)	Johnson County (number)	Wyandotte County (number)	(number)	(percent)
Persons by Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic, White	61,689	470,011	334,167	103,955	969,822	79.9
Hispanic	829	18,890	7,005	10,997	37,721	3.1
Non-Hispanic, American Indian	355	2,825	160	966	4,306	0.4
Non-Hispanic, Black	672	134,828	6,809	44,131	186,440	15.4
Non-Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander	251	6,145	5,739	787	12,922	1.1
Non-Hispanic, Other	12	533	174	157	876	0.1
Total 1990 Population	63,808	633,232	355,054	161,993	1,214,087	100
Total Number of Households	22,892	252,852	136,433	61,514	473,691
1989 Low Income
Persons Below Poverty
Number	5,164	81,142	12,667	27,371	126,344
Percent1	8.2	13.0	3.6	17.1	10.5

Table D.2.4-4.-- Selected Demographic Characteristics for the Pantex Plant Region of Influence

					Total Region of Influence
Characteristic/Area	Armstrong County (number)	Carson County (number)	Potter County (number)	Randall County (number)	(number)	(percent)
Persons by Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic, White	1,951	6,158	66,877	81,364	156,350	79.7
Hispanic	55	354	19,246	6,144	25,799	13.1
Non-Hispanic, American Indian	9	41	709	414	1,173	0.6
Non-Hispanic, Black	0	11	8,460	1,082	9,553	4.9
Non-Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander	5	9	2,431	626	3,071	1.6
Non-Hispanic, Other	1	3	151	43	198	0.1
Total 1990 Population	2,021	6,576	97,874	89,673	196,144	100.0
Total Number of Households	768	2,402	37,344	34,553	75,067
1989 Low Income
Persons Below Poverty
Number	232	583	21,619	7,819	30,253
Percent1	11.8	9.0	22.5	8.9	15.7

Table D.2.4-5.-- Selected Demographic Characteristics for the Los Alamos National Laboratory Region of Influence

				Total Region of Influence
Characteristic/Area	Los Alamos County (number)	Rio Arriba County (number)	Santa Fe County (number)	(number)	(percent)
Persons by Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic, White	15,467	4,375	46,450	66,292	43.8
Hispanic	2,008	24,955	48,939	75,902	50.1
Non-Hispanic, American Indian	112	4,830	2,284	7,226	4.8
Non-Hispanic, Black	88	117	505	710	0.5
Non-Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander	421	40	439	900	0.6
Non-Hispanic, Other	19	48	311	378	0.2
Total 1990 Population	18,115	34,365	98,928	151,408	100
Total Number of Households	7,213	11,461	37,840	56,514
1989 Low Income
Persons Below Poverty
Number	433	9,372	12,564	22,369
Percent1	2.4	27.5	13	15.0

Table D.2.4-6.-- Selected Demographic Characteristics for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Region of Influence

				Total Region of Influence
Characteristic/Area	Alameda County (number)	Contra Costa County (number)	San Joaquin County (number)	(number)	(percent)
Persons by Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic, White	680,017	560,146	282,766	1,522,929	59.4
Hispanic	181,805	91,282	112,673	385,760	15
Non-Hispanic, American Indian	6,763	4,441	3,807	15,011	0.6
Non-Hispanic, Black	222,873	72,799	24,791	320,463	12.5
Non-Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander	184,813	73,810	55,774	314,397	12.3
Non-Hispanic, Other	2,911	1,254	817	4,982	0.2
Total 1990 Population	1,279,182	803,732	480,628	2,563,542	100
Total Number of Households	479,518	300,288	158,156	937,962
1989 Low Income
Persons Below Poverty
Number	132,011	57,867	73,163	263,041
Percent1	10.6	7.3	15.7	10.5

Table D.2.4-7.--Selected Demographic Characteristics for the Sandia National Laboratories Region of Influence

				Total Region of Influence
Characteristic/Area	Bernalillo County (number)	Sandoval County (number)	Valencia County (number)	(number)	(percent)
Persons by Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic, White	267,965	32,390	20,659	321,014	54.5
Hispanic	178,310	17,372	22,733	218,415	37.1
Non-Hispanic, American Indian	14,191	12,176	1,169	27,536	4.7
Non-Hispanic, Black	11,862	844	448	13,154	2.2
Non-Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander	6,692	455	139	7,286	1.2
Non-Hispanic, Other	1,557	82	87	1,726	0.3
Total 1990 Population	480,577	63,319	45,235	589,131	100
Total Number of Households	185,582	20,867	15,170	221,619
1989 Low Income
Persons Below Poverty
Number	68,845	9,852	8,288	86,985
Percent1	14.6	15.6	19	15.0

Table D.2.4-8.--Selected Demographic Characteristics for the Nevada Test Site Region of Influence

			Total Region of Influence
Characteristic/Area	Clark County (number)	Nye County (number)	(number)	(percent)
Persons by Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic, White	558,875	15,635	574,510	75.7
Hispanic	82,904	1,237	84,141	11.1
Non-Hispanic, American Indian	5,514	475	5,989	0.8
Non-Hispanic, Black	68,858	274	69,132	9.1
Non-Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander	24,483	148	24,631	3.2
Non-Hispanic, Other	825	12	837	0.1
Total 1990 Population	741,459	17,781	759,240	100.0
Total Number of Households	287,025	6,664	293,689
1989 Low Income
Persons Below Poverty
Number	76,737	1,840	78,577
Percent1	10.5	10.5	10.5

1

In calculating percentages, certain categories of individuals are not included as part of the county population including: inmates of institutions, armed forces members, and unrelated individuals under 15 years of age.

Census 1993s; Census 1994o.