Tools
Data Sources

While our tool does provide useful EJ-related insights to your project location, there are many other data & screening tools available that can – and should – be used as well. We’ve done our best to put many of these tools into one place.

Tools and Data Sources

Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool

US Council on Environmental Quality

In Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, President Biden directed the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to create a Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. The purpose of the tool is to help Federal agencies identify disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. The current version of the tool provides socioeconomic, environmental, health and climate information to inform decisions that may affect these communities. The tool identifies disadvantaged communities through publicly-available, nationally-consistent datasets across seven key areas: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, clean transit, affordable and sustainable housing, training and workforce development, the remediation and reduction of legacy pollution, and the development of critical clean water infrastructure.

EJSCREEN

US EPA

EJSCREEN is an environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic indicators. EJSCREEN includes: 11 environmental indicators; 6 demographic indicators; and 11 EJ indexes.

EPA Envirofacts Widgets

US EPA

Type in your area of interest (e.g. zip code) to find useful information from the EPA regarding: Air; Land; Water; Waste, Toxics; Radiation; Facility; Compliance; and more.

Free SEED Evaluator Tool

SEED Network

The SEED Evaluator is a tool to help designers, project developers, community leaders and others who desire a common standard to guide, measure, evaluate and certify the social, economic and environmental impact of design projects. The SEED Evaluator is available on-line when you create an account. It consists of three parts, which are required for SEED Certification.

ParkScore ranking

Trust for Public Land

The Trust for Public Land's ParkScore index is the national gold-standard comparison of park systems across the 100 most populated cities in the United States. Published annually, the index measures park systems according to five categories: access, investment, amenities, acreage, and equity.

American Community Survey (ACS)

United States Census Bureau

The American Community Survey (ACS) helps local officials, community leaders, and businesses understand the changes taking place in their communities. It is the premier source for detailed population and housing information about our nation.

Low-Income Energy Affordability Data

United States Department of Energy

The Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD) Tool was created to help stakeholders understand housing and energy characteristics for low- and moderate-income households. Using data, maps, and graphs from the LEAD Tool, stakeholders can make data-driven decisions when planning for their energy goals.

Mapping Child Opportunity

Brandeis University, Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy

The Child Opportunity Index measures and maps the conditions children need: safe housing, good schools, access to healthy food, green spaces and clean air, among others. The interactive maps can help communities understand existing patterns of child opportunity and identify which neighborhoods already provide the conditions children need to thrive and which areas need additional investment.

Displacement Maps

Urban Displacement Project

Interactive maps that visualize where gentrification and displacement are happening, and identify neighborhoods that have a high risk of eviction, displacement, and long-term poverty.

National Equity Atlas

National Equity Atlas

The National Equity Atlas is a one-stop-shop for data and policy ideas to advance racial equity and shared prosperity. Our focus is providing equity metrics that are deeply disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, nativity, ancestry, and income for the largest 100 cities, 150 regions, all 50 states, and the United States as a whole.

Enforcement and Compliance History Online

US EPA

Use EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online website to search for facilities in your community to assess their compliance with environmental regulations. You can use ECHO to: Search for Facilities; Investigate Pollution Sources; Search for EPA Enforcement Cases; Examine and Create Enforcement-Related Maps; Analyze Trends in Compliance & Enforcement Data.

Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)

US EPA

TRI tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. U.S. facilities in different industry sectors must report annually how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery and treatment. (A "release" of a chemical means that it is emitted to the air or water or placed in some type of land disposal.) The information submitted by facilities is compiled in the Toxics Release Inventory.

Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI)

US EPA

The RSEI model is a computer-based screening tool developed by EPA that analyzes factors that may result in chronic human health risks. These factors include the amount of toxic chemical releases, the degree of toxicity and the size of the exposed population. RSEI analyzes these factors and calculates a numeric score. To give the score meaning, it must be ranked against other scores also produced by RSEI. The model highlights releases that pose the highest potential risk or potentially pose the highest risk. This way, RSEI helps policy makers and communities quickly identify situations that require further evaluation and set priorities for action.

NEPAssist

US EPA

NEPAssist is a tool that facilitates the environmental review process and project planning in relation to environmental considerations. The web-based application draws environmental data dynamically from EPA's Geographic Information System databases and web services and provides immediate screening of environmental assessment indicators for a user-defined area of interest. These features contribute to a streamlined review process that potentially raises important environmental issues at the earliest stages of project development.

Cleanups in My Community (CIMC)

US EPA

CIMC enables you to map and list hazardous waste cleanup locations and grant areas, and drill down to details about those cleanups and grants and other, related information.

Flood Factor

First Street Foundation

This tool quantifies localized flood risk from rain, rivers, tides, and storm surges and incorporates how risks change over time due to climate change.

Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) Neighborhood Redlining Grade

ESRI

Using archived Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps/rankings, this map shows redlining practices.

Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America

University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab

Using archived Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps/rankings, this map shows redlining practices. HOLC staff members, using data and evaluations organized by local real estate professionals—lenders, developers, and real estate appraisers—in each city, assigned grades to residential neighborhoods that reflected their "mortgage security" that would then be visualized on color-coded maps. Neighborhoods receiving the highest grade of "A"—colored green on the maps—were deemed minimal risks for banks and other mortgage lenders when they were determining who should received loans and which areas in the city were safe investments. Those receiving the lowest grade of "D," colored red, were considered "hazardous."

Power Plants and Neighboring Communities Map and Graphs

US EPA

There are over 3,400 fossil fuel-fired power plants in the United States. For each plant, EPA summarized population percentages of six key demographics and demographic index for the neighboring communities located within three miles of each plant.

EnviroAtlas

US EPA

EnviroAtlas is an interactive web-based tool that decision-makers can use to inform policy and planning in the places where people live, learn, work and play. Human health and well-being are closely tied to the environment, which provides benefits such as clean water, clean air, and protection from natural hazards, also known as ecosystem goods and services. EnviroAtlas provides geospatial data, easy-to-use tools, and other resources related to ecosystem services, their chemical and non-chemical stressors, and human health.

Autocase

Autocase

Autocase is an online sustainability business case tool that quantifies and values in dollars the financial, social, and environmental impacts of green buildings – ranging from carbon & air pollution from energy efficiencies, health and productivity to building occupants from better indoor environments, urban heat island & carbon sequestration from landscaping, and more.

BenMAP-CE

US EPA

BenMAP-CE is an open-source computer program that calculates the number and economic value of air pollution-related deaths and illnesses. The software incorporates a database that includes many of the concentration-response relationships, population files, and health and economic data needed to quantify these impacts.

The Opportunity Atlas

United States Census Bureau

Which neighborhoods in America offer children the best chance to rise out of poverty? The Opportunity Atlas answers this question using anonymous data following 20 million Americans from childhood to their mid-30s. Now you can trace the roots of today's affluence and poverty back to the neighborhoods where people grew up. See where and for whom opportunity has been missing, and develop local solutions to help more children rise out of poverty.

Tree Equity Score

American Forests

American Forests has developed the Tree Equity Score Analyzer (TESA) for cities and states that want to dive deep into decision-making around Tree Equity Scores. Using the platform you can discover how targeted tree plantings can improve health and well-being in neighborhoods and communities.

Opportunity360

Enterprise

Opportunity360 measures five foundational criteria shown to have the greatest impact on how we live: Housing Stability, Education, Health & Well-Being, Mobility and Economic Security. The information provided by each neighborhood-level dashboard can help you better understand the resources needed to make communities more inclusive, equitable and connected to opportunity.

Racial Equity GIS Hub

ESRI

Esri’s Racial Equity GIS Hub is an ongoing, continuously expanding resource hub to assist organizations working to address racial inequities. The Racial Equity GIS Hub includes data layers, maps, applications, training resources, articles on best practices, solutions, and examples of how Esri users from around the world are leveraging GIS to address racial inequities.

Walk Score

Walk Score

This hub calculates 3 transit related scores based on a variety of criteria to determine the accessibility of a neighborhood. Walk Score is available for any address in the United States and Canada.

Map My Community

Community Action Partnership

Using Maps and Data to Support the Community Needs Assessment Process. This Hub acts as your entry into an online tool with multiple features that allow for the efficient use of data and mapping as part of a larger Community Needs Assessment process. Here, you can measure and visually represent the fundamental drivers of poverty in your community through an array of census data sets, a report generator, and a mapping tool.

WeatherShift

Arup

This tool forecasts a variety of climate/weather related data based on emission scenarios up to 2100.

ECOSTRESS (ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station)

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

ECOSTRESS is addressing three overarching science questions: 1) How is the terrestrial biosphere responding to changes in water availability?; 2) How do changes in diurnal vegetation water stress impact the global carbon cycle?; 3) Can agricultural vulnerability be reduced through advanced monitoring of agricultural water consumptive use and improved drought estimation?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

CDC

The CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (CDC/ATSDR SVI) uses 15 U.S. census variables to help local officials identify communities that may need support before, during, or after disasters.

EIA Atlas Energy Disruptions Maps

Organization: US Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Maps to help identify potential threats to energy infrastructure from significant natural disaster events

All Energy Infrastructure and Resources Maps

US Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Maps include locations of energy infrastructure and resources.

Community Lattice – Environmental Risk Model for Revitalization

Organization: Community Lattice

Community Lattice proposes incorporating historical brownfields clean-up data in the US with environmental and economic data to create a site cleanup cost model to address the risks associated with brownfield redevelopment. This data and the predictive model would then be available to the public through an online platform. By accurately predicting the cost and risk of brownfield redevelopment projects using machine learning methods, the team seeks to transform a community’s ability to secure redevelopment funding, improve community health, and create economic opportunities.

Addressing the Climate Crisis (ESRI)

ESRI

An interactive Story Map outlining the intersection of climate change and extreme weather, national security, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, and climate justice.

Opportunity Zone Eligibility Tool

Enterprise

Created in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Opportunity Zones are designed to drive long-term capital into low-income communities across the nation, using tax incentives to encourage private investment into designated census tracts through privately- or publicly-managed investment funds. The Opportunity360 team created the Opportunity Zone Explorer below to help those interested in opportunity zones to determine which tracts in their state or region have been designated and how they relate to other federal programs and designations.

Pharos

Pharos

Pharos provides hazard, use, and exposure information on 177,389 chemicals and 218 different kinds of building products.

The National Risk Index

FEMA

Use the interactive National Risk Index Map to visually explore natural hazard risk data across the United States. It looks at hazard risk, expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience in map interface.

City Health Dashboard

NYU

Our goal is to provide communities and city leaders with an array of regularly updated data specific to neighborhood and/or city boundaries – such as life expectancy, park access, and children in poverty -- to improve the health and well-being of everyone in the community. The Dashboard now offers data on over 40 measures of health and drivers of health for over 900 cities across the U.S.

EWG's Tap Water Database

EWG

Since 2013, water utilities' testing has found pollutants in Americans' tap water, according to an EWG drinking water quality analysis of more than 31 million state water records. Find out more about local water quality here.

Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps

CDC

The CDC 2021 Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps for 49 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 U.S. territories show self-reported adult obesity prevalence by race, ethnicity, and location. The data comes from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an on-going state-based, telephone interview survey conducted by CDC and state health departments. The 2021 maps show that obesity impacts some groups more than others. There are notable differences by race and ethnicity, as shown by combined data from 2019–2021.

Support for the tool

We would like to thank HOK, Stantec, Jacobs, Quinn Evans, and the Large Firm Roundtable for their generous support. Thanks also to our steering committee – made up of members from NAACP’s Centering Equity in the Sustainable Building Sector, National Organization for Minority Architect, and the large firm roundtable – for their vision, guidance, and feedback throughout the tool’s development.

The Building EJ Tool was developed by the team at Autocase, with the help of a steering committee guiding the process.

Learn more about why we made this tool