Integrating Environmental Justice Metrics into Baltimore’s Environmental Impact Assessments: Addressing Community-Level Risk Disparities

Baltimore’s environmental challenges, ranging from toxic air emissions to inequitable industrial zoning, disproportionately affect historically marginalized communities. Current Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) emphasize technical outcomes, but fail to capture disparities in exposure, health, and socioeconomic vulnerability. This paper proposes a systematic integration of environmental justice (EJ) metrics into Baltimore’s EIAs, drawing on national frameworks, comparative urban practices, and a case study of West Baltimore. By embedding EJ indicators into scoping, baseline analysis, prediction, and mitigation stages, Baltimore can align environmental policy with equity and justice goals.

Environmental justice, environmental impact assessment, Baltimore, West Baltimore, equity metrics, urban planning, sustainability

1. Baltimore City Department of Public Works, Regulatory Mandates, Plans and Reports, Baltimore, MD, 2025. https://shorturl.at/fUgNo [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Baltimore Office of Sustainability, Climate Action Plan Update, Balti- more, MD, 2024. https://shorturl.at/d06pF [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. L. Smith, “The Environmental Injustice of Industrial Storm water Pol- lution in Baltimore, Maryland,” Vermont Law Review, May 2024. https://shorturl.at/zB20e [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, Environmental Jus- tice Frameworks, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, 2023. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. New York City Environmental Protection, EJ Metrics in Urban Planning, New York, NY, 2024. https://shorturl.at/BSGwW [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Maryland Department of the Environment, MDEnviroScreen Technical Report, Baltimore, MD, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/yfbk7xfp [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Environmental Justice NYC Report and Mapping Tool, New York, NY, 2024. https://weact.org/ejnyc/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Maryland Department of the Environment, annual Storm water Moni- toring Report, Baltimore, MD, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/68f8r7ny [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Baltimore City Health Department, Health Equity Report, Baltimore, MD, 2025. https://health.baltimorecity.gov [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Esri, “How a New Mapping Tool Is Guiding New York City Toward Environmental Justice,” Sept. 2024. https://tinyurl.com/337ucyw3 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, About the National Environ- mental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), Washington, DC, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/8z3eufnb [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NEJAC Recommendation Re- ports, Washington, DC, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/bdfw845d [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Justice Lexicon, Washington, DC, 2013. https://tinyurl.com/4nyyrxhx [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Community Health Profiles: Environmental Justice Report, Los Angeles, CA, 2024. https://shorturl.at/LMPhq [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Los Angeles City Planning Department, Environmental Justice Policy Program, Los Angeles, CA, 2023. https://tinyurl.com/mv79p48a [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Los Angeles City Planning Department, Environmental Justice Policy Work Programs, Los Angeles, CA, 2024. https://tinyurl.com/45xzaur8 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Methane Emissions from Municipal Solid Waste - Case Study in Cai Rang District, Can Tho City, Vietnam
• Youth Activism, Intentional Integration of Policies to Raise Awareness on Climate Change Action among the Youth
• Breathing Spaces: Environmental & User Experience in Dhanmondi and Zigatola Multistoried Apartments, Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Effects of Solid Waste Disposal on Soil Quality in Makurdi Metropolis, Benue State, Nigeria
• Environmental Impact of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Borgu Local Government Area