Cal/EPA's Vision and Plans to Achieve Environmental Justice

Shankar Prasad
Deputy Secretary for Science & Environmental Justice
California Environmental Protection Agency

Monday, November 13, 2006  |  4 - 6 pm

242 Asmundson Hall
University of California, Davis

Dr. Shankar Prasad reviewed his progress as head of a group of 17 individuals charged with improving environmental justice policies and funding state projects. Prasad estimated that about 50 percent of environment injustice is the result of poor decision making in land use. A prime example is the proximity of low income housing to railways and freeways, exposing communities to high levels of diesel-fuel particulates. Prasad facilitated an agency debate of the “precautionary principle,” a prescription for action when “reasonable” health risks are presented that cannot be proven by undisputable scientific evidence. Discomfort with the meaning of the word reasonable is a primary point of contention for this policy, which is more accepted in European nations. The trend toward precaution is partly due to widespread increases in the incidence of cancer, now estimated at one in four within developed nations. These risks are seldom attributed to single sources of toxins. Prasad acknowledged that estimating “cumulative risks” from exposure to multiple sources, rather than a single source, is not well understood. While the US EPA and other government agencies are beginning to fund research in cumulative risks, chemical regulation is still mainly based on isolating single levels of specific carcinogens. Another political disadvantage of precautionary programs is that they pose considerable challenges for estimating the value of environmental justice research. It is difficult to estimate the value of protection until the risks are well documented. These challenges keep the budget small for environmental justice projects.