Document Type

Dataset

Publication Date

11-7-2018

Keywords

environmental inequality, environmental policy, environmental justice, state politics

Abstract

The Disaggreated RSEI model data (also known as RSEI-GM, or Geographic Microdata) version 2.3.4 was downloaded from the Amazon Web Service created by EPA. The RSEI-GM provides detailed air model results from EPA’s Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) model. The results include chemical concentration, toxicity-weighted concentration and score, calculated for each 810 meter square grid cell in a 49-km circle around the emitting facility, for every year from 1988 through 2014. The data can be used to examine trends in air pollution from industrial facilities over time and across geographies. In order to allow for evaluation of toxic-weighted concentration over time, we used only the core chemicals and industries that have been consistently required to report since 1988. Thus we filtered the RSEI-GM disaggregated dataset to exclude additional chemicals and industries added after 1988. Crosswalks to translate data from the RSEI grid cell system to U.S. census block geographies, provided by EPA, were used to combine RSEI results with census data and aggregate the results to the census tract level. We used the Longitudinal Tract Database created by Brown University, which adjusts data from previous years to 2010 census tract boundaries, to combine census demographic information for years 1989 through 2004. We used the 2006-2010 American Community Survey (ACS) for years 2005 through 2009 and the 2010-2014 ACS for years 2010 through 2014. This data were then used to calculate measures of environmental inequality.

The ZIP file with the dataset is available below under additional files.

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Environmental justice; Air--Pollution; Factory and trade waste--Environmental aspects

EID.zip (164 kB)

Genre/Form

environmental impact statements

Type

Dataset

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Language

English

Format

application/text

COinS