1

M E M ORANDUM

Da te : July 8 , 201 4

T O: Do c k e t No. E P A

- H Q

- O A R

- 2012

- 0510: N a tion a l Emissions S t a nd ar ds f or H a z ar dous Air P ollut a nts f or F l e x ible

P o l y u re th a n e F o a m P r odu c tion

F RO M : K a y e W hit f i e ld, E P A/OAQ PS / S P P D

S U B J E C T : Envi r onm e nt a l J usti c e R e vi e w: F l e x ible P o l y u re t h a ne F o a m P r odu c tion

O B J E C T IV E :

This re po r t a ids r ule w r it er s in d raf ti n g r e qui re d e nvi r onm e nt a l justi c e p re a mble l a n g u a g e f o r E.O. 1 2898, a s w e ll a s a d d re ss i ng the

Ag e n c y ’ s th r e e F in a l A g e n c y R e vi e w Envi r on m e nt a l J us t i c e ( E J ) qu e stions:

( 1) How did y our public p ar ti c ip a tion p r o c e ss p r o vide t ra nsp a r e n c y a nd m ea ni n g f ul p ar ti c i p a tion f

or mino r i t y , low

- in c om e

, a nd

indi g e nous popul a tions, a nd t r ib e s?

( 2) How did y ou id e nti f

y a nd a dd re ss e x isting a nd n e w disp r opo r tion a te e n vi r onm e nt a l a nd public h ea lth imp ac ts on mino r it y

, low

in c om e

, a nd indig e nous popul a tions, a nd t r ib e s?

( 3) How did a c tions t a k e n und e r #1 a nd #2 imp ac t the out c ome or f in a l d e c isio n ?

S CO PE

• Tot a l # of unique f a c ili t y lo ca tions = 1 2

• D a ta S ou rce s: C AA s ec t i on 114 R e qu e sts, N E I

, E I S , T R I

, a nd S t a te inv e nt or y d a ta2

E J A SS E SS M E NT

Me a n i n g f

u l I n volv e m e n t

A k e y e l e m e nt of e nvi r o n m e nt a l justi c e is e nsu r ing th a t a ll p e ople h a ve a n o ppo r tuni t y f or m e a ni n g f

u l involv e m e nt in d ec ision

m a kin g

. C er t a in g r oups m a y not h a v e p ar ti c i p a t e d in d ec ision m a king his t o r i ca l l y b e c a use of ec on o mic (e

. g ., in c om e) , s o c i a l (e

. g

., l a n g u a g e b a rr i er s, e du c a tion l e v e ls, dist r ust of g o v er nm e nt )

, a nd st r u c tu ra l r ea sons. A c r iti ca l c on c e r n is wh e th er

, a nd the e x t e nt to

whi c h, c ommuniti e s h a ve the a bili t y to in f lu e n c e the t y

p e s a nd numb e r of r e g ul a t e d a c tiviti e s t a king pl a c e in th e ir c ommun it y

, a s w e ll

a s the re qui r e m e nts, c on d itions, a nd p ara m e t er s b y whi c h th e y must op era te (e

. g ., p er mit c onditions )

.

The E P A a ims to noti f

y a nd e ng a g e the public in a v ar i e t y of w a y s. E ac h r u le is re vi e w e d to id e nti f y the a pp r op r i a t e m e thodolo g y a nd

m ea ning f ul involv e m e nt m a y c onsist of one or m o r e of the f ollowi n g : noti c e s on the E J Air w e bsit e

, c ommuni t y ca ll dis c ussi o ns, fact

sh ee ts, c ommuni t y m e e tin g s, a nd/or w e bin a r s.

D e m og r a ph ic R e s u l t s

Met h o d ( s)

• P r o x i m i t y

- to

- S ou r ce : C o mp ara tive a n a l y sis of 3 mile or 5 km ra dius d e mo g r a phi c s to n a tion a l a v e r a g e s.

S o u rce( s)

• 2010 decennial c e n sus

Proximit y

- to

- S o u r ce

The s ec tor a n a l y sis of n e a r sou r c e popul a tions ( T a ble 1) re v ea ls th a t the f o l lowing d e m o g r a phic c a t e g o r y e x cee ds 20 p e rce nt of the

c o rre spondi n g n a tion a l a v er a g e :

• A fr i ca n Am er i c a n = + 6 p erce n t a g e points or + 53%3

T a b le 1

A fac ili t y

- l e v e l r e vi e w o f n ea r sou r c e popul a tions shows th a t the ar e a su rr oundi n g the F l e xi b le F o a m P r o du ct s, I n c

. h a s a n A fr i ca n

Am e r i ca n popul a tion of 8,09 8

, ( 49% of the popul a tion within 3 mil e s )

, P r e m i e r F o a m , I n c

. h a s a n A fr i c an Am er i ca n popul a tion of

7,878

, ( 41% of the popul a tion within 3 mil e s) US D e p t of En er gy K a n sas Ci t y P la n t h a s a n A f r i c a n Am er i ca n popul a tion of 22,746

, ( 36% of the popul a tion within 3 mil e s )

. T he th re e ar e a s c ombin e d m a ke up 70 % of the s ec t o r’ s tot al A fr i ca n Am er i c a n popul a tion

( 38,722 of the tot a l 5 5,665 ) . Addition a l l y , the F l e xi b le F o a m P r o du ct s , I n c a lso h a s 4 5 % of its n ear

- sou rc e popul a tion as low

income (2 times the n a tion a l pov er t y line ) ( 7,407 / 16,390 )

. I n the s ec tor summ a r y ( t a ble 2) we h i g hli g ht the t o p th ree r e g ions a nd

st a t e s b y n u mb e r of f

a c iliti e s, a nd the top th re e f ac iliti e s with the hi g h e st n e a r sou r c e p opul a tion tot a ls.4 T a b le 2

S e c t o r Su mma r y T o ta l s

# o f F a c ili t i e s N e ar Sou r c e ( 3 m i )

P opul a t io n

12 288,884

T

o

p

T

h re

e R eg ion s

5 4 102,114

4 4 87,396

7 1 63,006

S tat e s

O H 2 63

, 772

MO 1 63

, 006

N C 1 42,765

F a c i li t i e s

MO US D e p t. E ne r g y Ka n s as City 63

, 006

O H I n va c are C o rp 56

, 770

N C F o am e x I n t e r n ati o n al I n c

. 42

, 765

T h i s t a bl e sho ws f a c il i t y le v e l t o t a l s w her e popul a tion s m ay b e cou n te d m or e th an onc e i f in

pro x i m it y t o m or e th an on e f a cil i ty

.

To e v a lu a te pot e nti a l ar e a s of e nvi r onm e nt a l just i c e c o n cer n, the E P A hi g h li g hts the n e a r sou r c e a r e a s th a t ar e e qu a l to or e x c ee d a

th re shold fac tor o f 1.2 tim e s n a tion a l a v e r a g e s f o r ra c e

, e thni c i t y a nd/or low income d e m o g ra ph i c ca t e g o r i e s

. 1 ( The E P A

ac kn o wl e dg es th a t area s with e nvi r onm e nt a l justi c e c on c er ns m a y e x ist in area s b e low th i s th re shold.) An a l y sis of this d a ta shows

1 0 f a c ili t i e s ar e e qu a l to, or e x cee d, this i n crea s e d th re shold in a t l ea st one c a t e g o r y . T h e f a c ili t y with the l a r g e st n ea r sou rc e

popu l a tion in th i s sub g r oup is US D e p t of En er gy K a n sas Ci t y P l a n t with a tot a l of 63,006.

1 T h e d e m

o g r a p h ic cat e g or ies e v al u a ted o n w h e t h er t h e y m eet o r e x ceed t h e t h r e s h o ld a r e: M i n or i t y O n l y ; H i s p a n ic O n l y ; P o v e r ty O n l y ; M i n or i t y & H i s p a n ic;

M i n or i t y & P o v e r t y ; H i s p a n ic & P o v e r t y ; M i n or i t y

, H i s p a n ic & P o v e r t y

.5

Althou g h N a tive Am er i c a n popul a tions ar e f ac to r e d into the mino r i t y d e m o g r a phi c , the E P A r e vi e ws n ea r sou r c e fac ili t y d a ta

to id e nti f y N a tive Am er i ca n popul a tions th a t e x cee d the 1.2 th re shold f a c to r

. A n a l y sis of this d a ta shows 0 f a c ili t i e s with a

c ombin ed m ee t or e x ce e d this th re shold f or the FP UF P r odu c tion s ec to r

. T he l a r g e st N a tive Am er i c a n popul a tion ( 2 43 ) is n ea r

t he US D e p t of En er gy K a n sas Ci t y P la n t

.

S t a t is t i c al Su m m a r y

The U. S . E P A p r ovid e s the f ollowing st a tisti ca l s umm a r y in t a bl e s 3, 4 a n d 5 :67