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SUSTAINABILITY: THE SOCIAL PILLAR

Questions for EPA, NACEPT

These are initial questions for discussion. After further consideration, a formal charge will be developed. 

 What should EPA’s role be vis-à-vis the social pillar of sustainability? 

- Sustainability is generally understood to include three interlocking “pillars”: 

environmental, economic and social. EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the 

environment. What is EPA’s proper role relating to the social pillar? What are the pros 

and cons of different roles? How should EPA avoid the appearance of “mission creep”? 

What else should EPA avoid? 

 What should the social pillar include for EPA? 

- What should EPA’s key points of focus be and how (if at all) should EPA consider them in 

an integrated manner?

- Should EPA’s focus be domestic only or international as well? 

- How should EPA use social science to understand impacts? 

- How would EPA know if it was succeeding? 

 How well is EPA doing now vis-à-vis the social pillar and how ought the agency to improve? 

- Is EPA’s current involvement appropriate and effective? What are its current 

capabilities, strengths and weaknesses? Are there any important gaps ? 

- Should EPA support and/or rely on what others (e.g., companies, NGOs) are doing and if 

so how?

- What should EPA be doing with other agencies of Federal, state and local government? 

EPA’s Principal Current Involvement in the Social Pillar of Sustainability

 Environmental justice OEJ, programs, regions

 Tribal affairs OITA, programs, regions

 Sustainable communities OP/OSC, ORD, Brownfields & Superfund, CARE, regions

 Working conditions* Programs (esp. OCSPP), regions, ORD

 Children’s health* OCH, programs, regions

 Environmental education OEAEE, regions

 Teleworking OARM

 Information, transparency, OEI, OEAEE, OP/OSEM, programs, regions

civic engagement

 Public knowledge and attitudes OEI, OEAEE

 International development and OIA, OGC, programs

international rule of law

*EPA generally considers health to be part of the environmental pillar, while some others consider it a 

part of the social pillar. Under either perspective, worker and children’s health have aspects that should 

probably be considered under the social pillar. 
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Outside Points of Reference 

1. ISO 26000 – “Guidance on Social Responsibility” 

Includes the following elements (a rough checklist for the social pillar): 

 Principles of social responsibility: 

- Accountability

- Transparency 

- Ethical behavior

- Respect for stakeholder interests

- Respect for the rule of law

- Respect for international norms of behavior

- Respect for human rights

 Social responsibility core subjects

- Human rights

- Labor practices

- The environment

- Fair operating practices

- Consumer issues

- Community involvement and development 

2. U.S. Department of Transportation

Transportation Planning for Sustainability Guidebook, January 2011, excerpt from p. 18

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/climate_change/sustainability/resources_and_publication

s/guidebook/sustain.pdf

Social Sustainability Assessment

Of the three major objectives of sustainability, transportation agencies both in the US and abroad

struggle most with assessing social sustainability. This may be due to difficulty in defining social 

sustainability or to a lack of appropriate data to conduct the analyses that provide meaningful 

information for decision-making. In terms of definitions, socially sustainable (urban) transportation 

(SSUT) has been defined as transportation that provides equitable access to opportunities, minimizes 

social exclusion, and improves (or does not diminish) an individual’s quality of life (25). The literature 

seems to indicate that sustainability efforts have tended to include system performance and 

environmental criteria, less of economic criteria, and much less of social criteria. Social sustainability 

research includes three aspects: social equity, social exclusion and quality of life, with a common thread 

as the fair distribution of society’s benefits and burdens. Equity refers to the fairness of distribution of 

resources based on need, which can be in conflict with total system efficiency. Exclusion is the result of 

spatial, temporal, financial or personal obstacles, and quality of life (more of a subjective measure) is a 

multidimensional construct measuring the ability to seek happiness and fulfill needs (25).

There have been several efforts to translate those definitions into social sustainability indicators. Steg 

and Gifford (2005) present a list of 22 quality of life indicators adapted from Poortinga et al. (26,27). The 

Swiss Government’s Sustainable Development Initiative (28), Sustainable Seattle Coalition’s community 

sustainability indicators, and PROSPECTS (Europe) are good sources of SSUT indicators. However, there 

is often difficulty in identifying appropriate data sources for desirable indicators. In this case, developing

indicators requires creative use of available data. For example, several variables can be combined into a 
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quality of life index; when considered alone the data may indicate one condition state, but when 

considered jointly the data may suggest trade-offs that occur.

The UK experience suggests that disaggregating traditional transportation statistics by geography or 

socioeconomic group could be an effective method for analyzing social equity (29). Such an analysis 

would require census data (demographics, geopolitical 19 boundaries) and available transportation 

statistics. A Geographic Information System (GIS) could also aid in such an analysis.

Environmental Justice (EJ) and Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) policies are the most common ways that 

US agencies address social equity, through consideration of the local context and an extensive public 

involvement process. More comprehensive assessment methodologies are needed. Health Impact 

Assessment (HIA) (described in detail in Chapter 5) is an example of such a method, and is starting to be 

used for transportation planning efforts in both the US and abroad.