Closing the Racial Gap in Toxic Waste Exposure in Chicago: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Federal and State Environmental Justice Policy from 1990-2020

This study addressed whether there was a relationship between toxic waste exposure and community racial demographics in Chicago between 1990 and 2020 and evaluated how Executive Order 12898 (1994) and the 2011 Illinois Environmental Justice Act impacted the strength of this relationship. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of past environmental justice policies and inform the development of new policies. I used data from the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory and U.S. Census demographic data to analyze the mean toxic releases in Chicago zip codes with varying community demographics. I found that non-White majority zip codes have consistently faced disproportionate levels of toxic releases since 1990. There is no evidence of past environmental justice policies in the toxic release data, and the racial gap in toxic waste exposure in Chicago shows no signs of closing. Future environmental justice policies need to include enforcement mechanisms and increased specificity. Further, disproportionate investment in non-White majority communities is needed. Communities of color are suffering and environmental justice policy cannot continue to consist of empty words.