MEMORANDUM 

To: Portland Cement NESHAP Docket 

From: Keith Barnett, US EPA 

Date: July 28, 2010 

Subject: Review of Environmental Justice Impacts for National Emission Standards for 

Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP): Portland Cement 

1.0 INTRODUCTION 

Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994) establishes Federal 

executive policy on environmental justice (EJ). Its main provision directs Federal agencies, to 

the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their 

mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse 

human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority 

populations and low-income populations in the United States. 

EPA defines “Environmental Justice” to include meaningful involvement of all people 

regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, 

implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and polices. To promote 

meaningful involvement, EPA has developed a communication and outreach strategy to ensure 

that interested communities have access to this proposed rule, are aware of its content, and have 

an opportunity to comment during the comment period. During the comment period, EPA will 

publicize the rulemaking via EJ newsletters, Tribal newsletters, EJ listservs, and the internet, 

including the Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation’s (OPEI) Rulemaking Gateway 

website (http://yosemite.epa.gov/opei/RuleGate.nsf/). EPA will also provide general rulemaking 

fact sheets (e.g., why is this important for my community) for EJ community groups and conduct 

conference calls with interested communities. In addition, state and federal permitting 

requirements will provide state and local governments and members of affected communities the 

opportunity to provide comments on the permit conditions associated with permitting the sources 

affected by this rulemaking. 

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2.0 DEMOGRAPHICS 

EPA has determined that this proposed rule will not have disproportionately high and 

adverse human health or environmental effects on minority or low-income populations because it 

increases the level of environmental protection for all affected populations without having any 

disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on any population, 

including any minority or low-income populations. Additionally, the Agency has reviewed this 

proposed rule to determine if there were existing disproportionately high and adverse human 

health or environmental effects on minority or low-income populations that could be mitigated 

by this rulemaking. An analysis of demographic data, as shown in Table 2.1, shows that the 

average of populations in close proximity to the sources, and thus most likely to be effected by 

the sources, were similar in demographic composition to national averages. 

Table 2.1 Summary of Demographic Data Analysis 

Categories 

Miles 

Radius 

Total 

Population 

Minority 

Population 

Average 

of 

Percent 

Minority 

Population 

Living Below 

Poverty Level 

Average of 

Percent 

Population 

Below 

Poverty 

Level 

Population 

<18 Years 

Old 

Average of 

Percent 

Children 

<18 Years 

Old 

National - 

All 

categories 285,193,760 90,671,626 32 35,716,283 13 73,221,413 26 

Cement 0.5 4885115 1823423 37 681780 14 1251873 26

Cement 3 2414162 867823 36 355457 15 625917 26

Cement 5 369190 79803 22 39804 11 93076 25

In determining the aggregate demographic makeup of the communities near affected 

sources, EPA used census data at the block group level to identify demographics of the 

populations considered to be living near affected sources, such that they have notable exposures 

to current emissions from these sources. In this approach, EPA reviewed the distributions of 

different socio-demographic groups in the locations of the expected emission reductions from 

this rule. The review identified those census block groups within a circular distance of a half, 3, 

and 5 miles of affected sources and determined the demographic and socio-economic 

composition (race, income, age) of these census block groups. The radius of 3 miles (or 

approximately 5 kilometers) has been used in other demographic analyses focused on areas 

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around potential sources.1,2,3,4 Minority populations include American Indians, AfricanAmericans, Hispanics, Other and Multi-racial as indicated in census data. EPA’s demographic 

analysis has shown that these areas in aggregate have similar percentages of minority 

proportions, and similar percentages of families with incomes below the poverty level as the 

national average. 

1 U.S. GAO (Government Accountability Office). Demographics of People Living Near Waste Facilities. Washington

DC: Government Printing Office; 1995.

2 Mohai P, Saha R. “Reassessing Racial and Socio‐economic Disparities in Environmental Justice Research”.

Demography. 2006;43(2): 383–399.

3 Mennis J. “Using Geographic Information Systems to Create and Analyze Statistical Surfaces of Populations and

Risk for Environmental Justice Analysis”. Social Science Quarterly, 2002;83(1):281‐297.

4 Bullard RD, Mohai P, Wright B, Saha R, et al. Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty 1987‐2007. United Church of Christ.

March, 2007.