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Section A: The Environmental Justice Primer for Ports

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Defining Environmental Justice

The Environmental Justice Primer for Ports: Defining Environmental Justice  page provides information on the origins of the environmental justice movement, defines environmental justice and social equity, and discusses social equity in public policy and planning.

Impacts of Port Operations and Goods Movement

The Environmental Justice Primer for Ports: Impacts of Port Operations and Goods Movement page describes common health and quality-of-life impacts on near-port communities that ports agencies can begin to remedy through more equitable decision-making over time.

Considering Near-Port Communities in Port Decisions

The Considering Near-Port Communities in Port Decisions - Community Engagement Benefits and Regulatory Requirements  page summarizes the following:

  • Benefits of community engagement;
  • The federal statutes, regulations and executive orders that require public participation;
  • Community Engagement as a potential risk management strategy; and
  • Increased resilience and innovation through a collaborative approach to community engagement.

Effective Community Engagement Methods

The Environmental Justice Primer for Ports: Effective Community Engagement Methods  page describes stakeholder groups, effective community engagement tips, building relationships with near-port communities and considerations for selecting the appropriate level of community engagement.

Collaborative Problem-Solving

The Environmental Justice Primer for Ports: Collaborative Problem-Solving page details the steps of the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model, which describes related approaches such as consensus building, dispute resolution, and community benefits agreements, and offers tools to support collaborative problem solving.

Planning and Decision-Making Tools

The Environmental Justice Primer for Ports: Planning and Decision-Making Tools  page shares tools that can help port decision-makers maximize the value of community engagement throughout planning and decision-making processes.

How are Ports Engaging Communities?

The Environmental Justice Primer for Ports: How are Ports Engaging Communities? page presents a series of brief examples of policies, programs, initiatives, partnerships and agreements that ports have used to engage with near-port communities.

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