Is environmental quality improving for environmental justice communities? An examination of trends in toxic pollution levels in Texas

The environmental justice movement has focused national attention on the relationships between race, income, and environmental quality. With the signing of Executive Order 12898, one would expect to see improvements in the environmental quality in minority and low-income communities. Using information available through the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) as the measure of environmental quality, this paper empirically examines trends in toxic chemical release levels within the state of Texas for the years before and after the signing of the Executive Order. The primary hypotheses to be tested are: (1) minority and low-income populations are more likely to live in areas with TRI facilities; (2) minority and low-income populations are more likely to live in areas with higher concentrations of toxic chemical pollution, and (3) environmental quality is improving in these areas as a result of the increased political attention towards environmental justice in recent years. The results indicate that minorities and the poor are in fact more likely to live in areas with TRI facilities and higher concentrations of TRI releases, with some preliminary indications that environmental quality is improving in minority communities.