The action plans developed in this session on environmental justice echo those in the first session. Providing information to disenfranchised communities and creating a structure to support the efforts of community members to empower themselves are central to proposed efforts to achieve environmental justice. Participants in this session did not express as much frustration with government as did those in the prior session.
 

The moderators redirected the discussion toward the idea that environmental justice signifies that a "disproportionate burden is being born by a segment of our population. It is about fairness," one moderator said, "that there is equity."

A participant said, "We continue to site the most dangerous facilities in the lowest income neighborhoods. Often, people of color receive the burden in the United States. Maybe it is less deliberate now, but it continues and is on a global level." Another added, "the way money controls government is the problem." One example this person offered is that there are more trashcans along Thayer Street in the East Side, with predominately white high-income residents, than on Broad Street in Providence's South Side where residents are racially diverse and generally have lower income levels. He said that environmental justice is the "uneven provision of city services depending on the economic level of the neighborhood."
 

A session participant said that along Broad Street the city government is involved with the neighborhood in efforts to build up the economic base, repair and improve the street. Other efforts mentioned that the city government has undertaken to combat environmental justice issues include the $1 buy-a-lot program for neighbors and the vacant lot task force. Participants also pointed out the existence of the Lead-Safe Center and city efforts to demolish abandoned houses.

One moderator asked the group if the city was incorporating environmental justice concerns into the permitting and citing processes. The sole response was that while the possibility may be written into city code, no one has witnessed any action in that regard.

"Communities need to be empowered to recognize the issues, mobilize around them and to do something about them. They need to have access to resources and information to realize that they can do something about it," a participant told the group. Specific steps that group members felt would help empower the community included creating better access to information and to governmental leaders.

"A lot of folks in the community might benefit from the information in this conference, but might not be able to because of language barriers," one participant said.. He stressed that there is a need for a "real, concerted effort to make information and meetings accessible to multiple languages."

"If you are going to improve the health of the environment," one participant said, "you have to end poverty." Building upon that thought, another participant warned that efforts to revitalize communities have to be careful not to drive current residents out through gentrification of the neighborhoods. "The issue is how to raise standards and quality of life for people who already live here," she said.

A participant said that one way to reach those ends is through building more relationships within the city around environmental justice issues. Several participants felt that the impetus to improve will occur at the grassroots level. "We need to start talking on the community level and in the community's language," one participant said. "There has never been a really good campaign to talk to people in small groups throughout the city and make it accessible so people can come forward with action steps. This (conference) isn't a community dialogue, this is the agencies talking."

Explaining an area where there is a need for government to act, one participant said, "there is nothing to force landlords to systematically remove lead." Another action suggested of city government is that the creation of a regular report series that outlines what problems are present and what efforts are trying to address those problems.

Creating a position for an environmental justice contact person within city government could help "prioritize and direct resources to local community-based organizations working on environmental justice issues with an emphasis on continuing to build neighborhood coalitions and empowering local citizens to work on these issues," one participant suggested.

Another person suggested that the city should prevent real estate speculation leading to the problem of vacant and unused properties. This action was especially deemed necessary in light of the proposed Three Cities Plan. One possible method suggested to accomplish this end is to encourage home ownership by occupants.