CEQ’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool Needs to Consider How Burdens Add Up

The World Resources Institute analyzes CEJST 1.0, finding that while it identifies more disadvantaged populations than the beta version, it lacks a mechanism to prioritize communities facing multiple overlapping burdens. The analysis reveals that non-white populations are disproportionately exposed to higher cumulative burdens, yet the tool treats all disadvantaged communities as equal for funding purposes. The authors recommend incorporating cumulative burden metrics, adjusting low-income eligibility for severely burdened areas, and establishing a rigorous monitoring framework for the Justice40 Initiative.

• CEJST 1.0 has expanded the number of people identified as living in disadvantaged communities to 109.1 million (33% of the U.S. population), an increase from the 93.5 million (29%) identified in the beta version.
• The increase in identified disadvantaged populations is driven by new indicators including projected flood and wildfire risks, transportation barriers, lack of indoor plumbing, and access to greenspace. Specifically, 11.8 million people meet the flood risk threshold and 9.8 million meet the wildfire risk threshold, with over half of these individuals residing in Florida, Texas, and California.
• While the share of the white population in disadvantaged communities rose from 36% in the beta version to 40% in CEJST 1.0, this is attributed to new indicators like abandoned mines and defense sites which are more prominent in predominantly white states such as West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky.
• CEJST 1.0 does not measure cumulative burden, meaning communities meeting 18 indicator thresholds are treated the same as those meeting only one for funding prioritization. Analysis shows that non-white residents are more likely to live in these highly burdened areas; for example, in communities meeting 10 indicators, 76% of residents are Black or Hispanic/Latino, compared to only 43% in communities meeting three indicators.
• The tool's requirement that a community must meet a low-income threshold (65th percentile) to be designated as disadvantaged excludes approximately 10 million people who meet five or more other burden indicators, including 3.8 million people in majority non-white census tracts.

APA

World Resources Institute (2023). CEQ’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool Needs to Consider How Burdens Add Up. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/ceq-climate-and-economic-justice-screening-tool-cumulative-burdens

Chicago

World Resources Institute. CEQ’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool Needs to Consider How Burdens Add Up. 2023. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/ceq-climate-and-economic-justice-screening-tool-cumulative-burdens.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=CEQ’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool Needs to Consider How Burdens Add Up |date=15 March 2023 |url=https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/ceq-climate-and-economic-justice-screening-tool-cumulative-burdens |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2023ceqs, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{CEQ’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool Needs to Consider How Burdens Add Up}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/ceq-climate-and-economic-justice-screening-tool-cumulative-burdens}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }