Primer on the Development of the
Draft Environmental Justice (EJ) Communities Map
Purpose and Definition
Environmental Justice (EJ) Communities (sometimes referred to as “disadvantaged communities” by the State) are the specific beneficiaries of focused funding and targeted environmental justice efforts.
In addition to being eligible for special considerations and investments, EJ Communities – and their existing community efforts and assets – should also be recognized and uplifted in order to equitably allocate resources for a healthy, fulfilled life.
Senate Bill (SB) 1000 requires jurisdictions to identify EJ Communities that are low-income areas and are disproportionately impacted by pollution, socioeconomic vulnerability, and ad verse health impacts. This can be as simple as identifying the census tracts that the State designates pursuant to SB 535 (2012), which relies on the CalEnviroScreen methodology developed by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s (CalEPA’s) Offic e of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). Alternatively, local jurisdictions have the option to refine this process using a more locally responsive methodology such as by including local and hyperlocal datasets. Oakland has chosen to use this se cond approach, resulting in the development of the EJ Communities screening analysis and draft map.
The screening analysis consists of a composite set of indicators (quantitative metrics of EJ issues) .
Each indicator is scored and then combined to identify the topmost cumulatively burdened communities. The map illustrates the geographic location of these communities and will be used to prioritize the needs of EJ Communities and to achieve environmental justice. Ultimately, the EJ Communities list and map wi ll help inform City investments, support community efforts, and allow other departmental plans and future General Plan elements to integrate EJ goals.
The Process So Far
The Environmental Justice (EJ) and Racial Equity Baseline (published March 2022) was an important first step in presenting a preliminary screening analysis methodology for identifying EJ Communities.
This began an iterative process of modifying and refining the methodology to ensure that the final EJ Communities Map in the EJ Element is representative of on -the-ground EJ conditions people experience in their daily lives. In addition, the methodology has been revised using the recommendations from the Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA). The REIA used the selection guidelines listed below to assess the indicators used in the preliminary methodology from the EJ and Racial Equity Baseline and made recommendations to revise the indicators, as summarized in the following table. A full list of indicators used in the revised methodology is included at the end of this document.
• How well does the indicator measure an SB 1000 topic, such as health disparities? • Does the indicator/metric reflect community priorities for change? • Is the indicator actionable, and can City policy directly or indirectly impact it? • Is the data currently available?
Attachment A
Table Summary of Changes
Replacement Minor Adjustment Addition Removal
• Low-Income Areas (State
definitions) with % of
households making <30%
HUD Area Median Family
Income (HAMFI)
• Pediatric Asthma
Attributable to NO
2 and
Adult Asthma Rate with
CalEnviroScreen Asthma
Emergency Department
Visits
• Urban Heat Island Index
(CalEPA 2015) with
Maximum Temperature
during Future Heat Health
Events projected by
California Heat Assessment
Tool
• Life Expectancy
(reversed to measure
negative outcomes)
• Median Household
Income (reversed)
• Active Commutes
(reversed)
• Community Facilities
(reversed)
• Park Access (reversed)
• Evictions per renters,
not per all residents
• Proximity to Industrial
Zones
• Farmers’ Markets
• Community Gardens
• Energy Cost Burden
• Extreme Commutes
(90+ minutes)
• Incomplete
Plumbing/Kitchen
Facilities
• Students receiving
Free or Reduced Price
Meals (FRPM)
• Distance to
Healthcare
Facilities
Inclusion of certain indicators over others does not preclude them as issues that should be considered in EJ. The EJ Element explores a robust range of topics that are all assessed in combination with the findings of the EJ Communities mapping process. For example, EJ Communities will be called out on all maps in the EJ Element, which allows for comparison of issues not included as indicators to the cumulatively identified EJ Communities. Similarly, the EJ Communities map will be used in tandem with individ ual EJ issue maps to show the extent to which the City experiences each issue (like illegal dumping) and then overlaying EJ Communities, which will receive priority for that specific issue.
Alongside community feedback on the preliminary screening methodol ogy, the REIA also made recommendations on the thresholds for identifying EJ Communities. Instead of only identifying the top 25 census tracts with the highest composite screening score, the new methodology identifies 38 census tracts that meet at least one of the following conditions, in order of consideration:
1. Census tracts scoring 0.75 or greater (top 25%) for the overall composite score;
2. Census tract scoring 0.90 or greater (top 10%) for Race/Low Income, Pollution Burden, Sensitive Population, or Built Environment category scores (any of these); or
3. Census tracts within the West Oakland AB 617 Community boundary.
Note: The Air District, in partnership with Communities for a Better Environment and the East Oakland community, initiated the first Comm unity Steering Committee meeting for the East Oakland AB 617 Community Emissions Reduction Plan (CERP) process on September 15
th, 2022. The committee will meet monthly to develop a CERP to improve air quality and public health in the impacted communities of East Oakland.
Once the community boundary for the East Oakland CERP is defined by the committee, the EJ Communities Map will be updated to include it.
Arriving at a Threshold
As summarized in the following table, there are 38 total census tracts that have been identified as EJ Communities: 29 are in the top 25th percentile by composite score, four additional census tracts are in the top 10th percentile of any one of the categor y scores, and five additional census tracts are located within the West Oakland AB 617 Community boundary. These census tracts are generally the darker-colored (higher-scoring) census tracts mapped on the Draft EJ Communities Map , which shows the results of the EJ Community screening analysis by the composite score. All tracts in pink hatch are considered EJ Communities, in addition to those within the West Oakland AB 617 Community boundary (in orange) . Once the community boundary for the AB 617 CERP process in East Oakland is defined by the Community Steering C ommittee, the Draft EJ Communities Map will be updated to include it.
Table Summary of Draft EJ Communities
Category Score
Census Tract Name EJ Community Criteria1
Composite
Score
Race/Low
Income
Pollution
Burden
Sensitive
Population Built Environment
Fitchburg Top 25% Composite 1.00 0.88 0.88 0.98 0.97
Lockwood/ Coliseum/Rudsdale Top 25% Composite 0.99 0.99 0.97 1.00 0.63 Brookfield Village/ Hegenberger Top 25% Composite 0.98 0.96 0.98 0.99 0.61 New Highland Top 25% Composite 0.97 0.96 0.82 0.96 0.78 Elmhurst Top 25% Composite 0.96 0.90 0.65 0.95 0.98
Fremont District Top 25% Composite 0.96 0.87 0.85 0.85 0.88 Seminary Top 25% Composite 0.95 1.00 0.57 0.89 0.96
Acorn Top 25% Composite 0.94 0.88 0.74 0.97 0.78
Stonehurst Top 25% Composite 0.92 0.95 0.59 0.94 0.87
Chinatown Top 25% Composite 0.92 0.91 0.75 0.96 0.71
Melrose Top 25% Composite 0.90 0.75 1.00 0.56 1.00
Brookfield Village Top 25% Composite 0.90 0.78 0.81 0.88 0.84 DeFremery/Oak Center Top 25% Composite 0.89 0.79 0.95 0.91 0.65 Jingletown/ Kennedy Top 25% Composite 0.88 0.69 0.99 0.66 0.91 Fruitvale Top 25% Composite 0.88 0.82 0.90 0.76 0.75
Lower San Antonio East Top 25% Composite 0.87 0.91 0.78 0.68 0.86 Bancroft/ Havenscourt East Top 25% Composite 0.85 0.95 0.42 0.90 0.95 Oakland Estuary Top 25% Composite 0.85 0.65 0.96 0.71 0.90 Reservoir Hill/ Meadow Brook Top 25% Composite 0.84 0.91 0.76 0.80 0.62 Fruitvale/Hawthorne Top 25% Composite 0.83 0.83 0.84 0.86 0.55 Jack London Gateway Top 25% Composite 0.82 0.83 0.64 0.83 0.76 Castlemont Top 25% Composite 0.81 0.98 0.32 0.78 0.96
Prescott/Mandela Peralta Top 25% Composite 0.80 0.48 0.92 0.59 0.99 Hoover/Foster Top 25% Composite 0.79 0.62 0.92 0.51 0.93 Arroyo Viejo Top 25% Composite 0.79 0.88 0.44 0.84 0.81 McClymonds Top 25% Composite 0.78 0.56 0.94 0.61 0.81
Clawson/Dogtown Top 25% Composite 0.77 0.45 0.96 0.75 0.72 Bancroft/ Havenscourt West Top 25% Composite 0.76 0.73 0.51 0.92 0.70 Downtown Top 25% Composite 0.75 0.74 0.63 0.87 0.57
Cox/Elmhurst Top 10% Category 0.74 0.94 0.34 0.82 0.71
Webster Top 10% Category 0.72 0.86 0.30 0.93 0.66
Bunche/ Oak Center AB 617 Community 0.71 0.65 0.79 0.79 0.49 Eastmont Top 10% Category 0.71 0.76 0.24 0.78 0.92
Prescott AB 617 Community 0.63 0.44 0.80 0.71 0.53
Bunche/MLK Jr AB 617 Community 0.58 0.51 0.70 0.46 0.76 Port Upper Top 10% Category 0.57 0.23 0.91 0.34 0.93
Acorn Industrial AB 617 Community 0.51 0.54 0.79 0.35 0.52 Port Lower AB 617 Community 0.30 0.00 0.58 0.13 0.59
1. Some census tracts may meet more than one criterion, but table shows only the first one met, in order of: (1) Top 25% Composite, (2) Top 10% Category, and (3) AB 617 Community.
Map: Draft Environmental Justice Communities
Map: Neighborhoods
Table of All EJ Communities Screening Indicators
Indicator Description Source
Race and Low Income
People of Color
People of Color1 Percentage of non-white, non-Hispanic/Latinx population in tract
2019 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year
Estimates Table DP05
Very Low Income
Very-Low-Income
Households1
Percentage of households in a tract that make 30%
or less than the HUD Area Median Family Income
(HAMFI).
US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS)
2015-2019
Pollution Burden
Air Quality
PM 2.5 Concentration of Particulate Matter 2.5 (2018),
average of 1-km grid cell centers within the tract
Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD)
2021, Dyett & Bhatia (D&B)
Diesel Particulate
Matter
Concentration of Diesel Particulate Matter (2018),
average of 1-km grid cell centers within the tract
BAAQMD 2021, D&B
Traffic Density CES 4.0 raw score for Traffic Density CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Lead CES 4.0 raw score for Children's Lead Risk from
Housing
CalEnviroScreen 4.0
Water
Groundwater
Threats
CES 4.0 raw score for Groundwater Threats CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Impaired Water
Bodies
CES 4.0 raw score for Impaired Water Bodies CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Hazardous Materials
Cleanup Sites CES 4.0 raw score for Cleanup Sites CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Hazardous Waste CES 4.0 raw score for Hazardous Waste CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Toxic Releases CES 4.0 raw score for Toxic Releases CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Solid Waste CES 4.0 raw score for Solid Waste CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Industrial Zones Average proximity (in meters) to the nearest industrial zoning district, population-weighted
City of Oakland 2021, D&B
Climate Change
Heat Health Events
Max Temperature
Projected average maximum temperature during
future Heat Health Events (HHEs) occurring
between September and October, 2021-2040
California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) California
Heat Assessment Tool (CHAT) 2015
Energy Cost Burden Tract average of total energy costs (including electricity, gas, and other fuel) as a ratio of
household income, population weighted
US Dept. of Energy 2018, D&B
Sea Level Rise Percent of population living in 100-year flood zone and 66 inches of sea level rise.
City of Oakland 2021, D&B
Sensitive Populations
Health
Asthma Emergency
Department Visits
CES 4.0 raw score for Asthma CalEnviroScreen 4.0
Life Expectancy at
Birth
Life expectancy at birth in months, as a negative
value
Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD)
2021
Indicator Description Source
Low Birth Weight CES 4.0 raw score for Low Birth Weights CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Mortality, NO2
Attributable
Percentage of annual deaths attributable to
exposure to NO2, population-weighted tract
average of census block groups
EDF 2021
Cardiovascular
Disease
CES 4.0 raw score for Cardiovascular Disease CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Cancer Prevalence of adults diagnosed with cancer (except skin)
CDC PLACES 2020
Health Insurance Percentage of adults <65 who do not have health insurance
CDC PLACES 2020
Socioeconomic
Linguistic Isolation CES 4.0 raw score for Linguistic Isolation CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Educational
Attainment
CES 4.0 raw score for Educational Attainment CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Population with
Disability
Percentage of population with one or more
disabilities
2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table C18108
Young Children Percent of population who are 5 years of age or younger
2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table B01001
Older Adult
Population
Percentage of population who are 65 years or older 2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table B01001 Median Household
Income
Tract median household income, as a negative
value
2 2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table B19013
Unemployment CES 4.0 raw score for Unemployment CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Disconnected Youth Percentage of population ages 16-24 not enrolled in school
2019 ACS 5-Year estimates tables B14003 and B14005
Internet Access Percentage of households without internet subscription
2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table B28002
Built Environment
Transportation
Road Safety Number of crashes (traffic accidents, all modes and including both fatal/severe and non-severe) from
2016-2020 per mile of streets
SafeTREC Transportation Injury Mapping System
(TIMS) 2022, D&B
Vehicle Ownership Percentage of households that do not own 2+ vehicles
2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table B25044
Active Commutes Percentage of workers who do not commute by biking or walking
2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table B08301
Extreme Commutes Percentage of workers who commute 90+ minutes to work
2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table B08303
Transit Access Frequency of Peak Hour (weekday 4-7pm) Transit Service per capita, population-weighted tract
average
EPA SmartLocation Database 3.0 2021
Food
SNAP Food
Assistance
Percentage of households receiving SNAP food
assistance
US Department of Agriculture Food Access Research
Atlas 2019
Low Food Access Percentage of population living beyond 1/2 mile of a supermarket/supercenter/large grocery store
City of Oakland 2021, D&B
Farmers Markets Average distance (in meters) to nearest farmers market, population-weighted
California Dept. of Food and Agriculture 2022, D&B
Community
Gardens
Average distance (in meters) to nearest community
garden, population-weighted
City of Oakland 2021, D&B
Indicator Description Source
Free or Reduced
Price Meal
Percentage of enrolled students receiving free or
reduced price meals (FRPM), averaged over 2017-
2021 school years. Calculated based on the nearest
school and weighted by number of enrolled
students per census block group.
California Dept. of Education 2022, D&B
Housing
Housing Habitability Code enforcement complaints (zoning, blight, housing habitability, 2020) per 1,000 tract residents
City of Oakland 2021, D&B
Incomplete
Facilities
Percentage of households in a census tract that lack
complete kitchen or plumbing facilities
HUD CHAS 2015-2019
House Heating Percentage of households without heating fuel 2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table B25040 Overcrowding Percentage of households with more than one occupant per room
2019 ACS 5-Year estimates Table B25014
Housing Burden CES 4.0 raw score for Housing Burden CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Evictions Total number of evictions between 2000-2016 per renter, renter-weighted tract average
Eviction Lab 2018, D&B
Neighborhood
Redlining Score based on HOLC redlining map grades: A=1, B=2, C=3, D (redlined)=4, population-weighted tract
average
HCD Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Data and
Mapping Resources Database 2021
Community
Facilities
Number of community facilities (libraries, senior
centers, daycare centers, schools, recreation
centers) per 1,000 population, as a negative value2
City of Oakland 2021, D&B
Tree Canopy Lack of tree canopy coverage (percent area without tree canopy), population-weighted tract average
NLCD 2019 (Tree Canopy Coverage 2016), D&B
Park Access Percentage of population that is not within 10- minute (half-mile) walk of a park
City of Oakland 2021, D&B
Public Safety Number of violent crimes (aggravated assault, homicide, rape, and other sex offenses) between
2016-2020 per 1,000 population
Oakland Police Department (OPD) CrimeWatch 2020,
D&B
Illegal Dumping OAK 311 Service calls for illegal dumping per 1,000 tract residents
City of Oakland 2021, D&B
1. These indicators are both topics and individual indicators (same scores) because there is only one indicator for these topics.
2. “As a negative value” means that the raw score was multiplied by -1 to reverse the ordering of the values so that the higher values (in this case, closer to zero) correspond with more burden/impact, which is consistent across all indicators.