Appendix 7 - Environmental Justice Report

The EPA’s Environmental Justice Community Report provides environmental and socioeconomic information for user-defined areas and combines that data into environmental justice and supplemental indexes. The EJScreen tool produced the report below on August 30, 2024.

Environmental Justice Indicators from the EPA

To explore these Environmental Justice indicators on your own, including maps depicting where these indicators are concentrated in Washoe County and elsewhere, visit the EPA's Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool. (Note: in early February, 2025, the Trump Administration removed the EPA's EJ Screen tool. If you are interested in exploring the data, the Public Environmental Data Project, the Open Environmental Data Project and others are working to keep these publicly funded data available.)

County Statistics: Washoe County has a population of 486,674 people over 6,540.84 square miles.

Community Information
Low income	26%
People of color	40%
Less than high school education	12%
Limited English households	3%
Unemployment	5%
Persons with disabilities	12%
Male / Female	51% / 49%
Average Life Expectancy	78 years
Per capita income	$44,448
Number of households	192,420
Owner occupied households	59%

Breakdown by Race: White (60%), Hispanic (25%), Asian (5%), Black (2%), American Indian (1%), Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (1%), Other race (0%), Two or more races (4%)

Breakdown by Age: From ages 1 to 4 (6%), from ages 1 to 18 (21%), from ages 18 and up (79%), from ages 65 and up (17%).

Limited English Speaking Breakdown: Speak Spanish (69%), Speak other Indo-European Languages (11%), Speak Asian-Pacific Island Languages (17%), Speak Other Languages (3%).

Languages Spoken at Home: English (78%), Spanish (16%), Other Indo-European (1%), Chinese (including Mandarin, Cantonese) (1%), Tagalog (including Filipino) (2%), Other Asian and Pacific Island (1%), Other and Unspecified (1%), Total Non-English (22%).

EJ Indexes The EJ indexes help users screen for potential EJ concerns. To do this, the EJ index combines data on low income and people of color populations with a single environmental indicator.

Supplemental Indexes The supplemental indexes offer a different perspective on community-level vulnerability. They combine data on percent low income, percent persons with disabilities, percent less than high school education, percent limited English speaking, and percent low life expectancy with a single environmental indicator.

Environmental & Supplemental Indexes
Environmental Indicator	EJ State Percentile	EJ National Percentile	Sup. State Percentile	Sup. National Percentile
Particulate Matter 2.5	71	76	71	81
Ozone	27	75	25	80
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)	51	71	55	75
Diesel Particulate Matter	29	60	31	59
Toxic Releases to Air	72	78	73	80
Traffic Proximity	49	65	53	68
Lead Paint	62	35	61	27
Superfund Proximity	90	56	90	56
RMP Facility Proximity	59	66	61	64
Hazardous Waste Proximity	45	66	48	67
Underground Storage Tanks	48	64	51	58
Wastewater Discharge	47	67	49	65
Drinking Water Non-Compliance	94	73	94	73

EJ Screen Environmental Indicators Data
Selected Variables	Value	State Average	Percentile in State	USA Average	Percentile in USA
Particulate Matter 2.5 (m/m³)	9.95	8.15	90	8.45	87
Ozone (ppb)	68.1	69.2	25	61.8	81
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) (ppbv)	11	10	41	7.8	78
Diesel Particulate Matter (m/m³)	0.156	0.388	23	0.191	49
Toxic Releases to Air (toxicity-weighted concentration)	5,700	1,400	93	4,600	87
Traffic Proximity (daily traffic count / distance to road)	1,500,000	1,800,000	46	1,700,000	65
Lead Paint (% Pre-1960 Housing)	0.091	0.063	82	0.3	34
Superfund Proximity (site count / km distance	0.057	0.11	90	0.39	56
RMP Facility Proximity (facility count / km distance)	0.49	0.4	67	0.57	63
Hazardous Waste Proximity (Facility count / km distance)	2.7	3.3	36	3.5	65
Underground Storage Tanks (count / km²)	2.5	3.2	59	3.6	66
Wastewater Discharge (toxicity-weighted concentration / m distance)	1000	30,000	57	700,000	73
Drinking Water Non-Compliance (points)	0.71	0.39	95	2.2	76

EJ Screen Socioeconomic Indicators Data
Selected Variables	Value	State Average	Percentile in State	USA Average	Percentile in USA
Demographic Index USA	1.25	N/A	N/A	1.34	54
Supplemental Demographic Index USA	1.54	N/A	N/A	1.64	50
Demographic Index State	1.43	1.81	37	N/A	N/A
Supplemental Demographic Index State	1.18	1.44	41	N/A	N/A
People of Color	40%	51%	36	40%	57
Low Income	26%	32%	45	30%	49
Unemployment Rate	5%	7%	45	6%	59
Limited English Speaking Households	3%	6%	54	5%	68
Less Than High School Education	12%	14%	54	11%	63
Under Age 5	6%	5%	58	5%	58
Over Age 64	17%	18%	59	18%	53

Health Indicators
Indicator	Value	State Average	Percentile in State	USA Average	Percentile in USA
Low Life Expectancy	17%	20%	17	20%	28
Heart Disease	5.1	5.7	39	5.8	37
Asthma	10.2	10.1	58	10.3	49
Cancer	6.2	6	58	6.4	42
Persons with Disabilities	12%	13.7%	40	13.7%	44

Climate Indicators
Indicator	Value	State Average	Percentile in State	USA Average	Percentile in USA
Flood Risk	9%	6%	81	12%	61
Wildfire Risk	70%	33%	68	14%	87

Critical Service Gaps
Indicator	Value	State Average	Percentile in State	USA Average	Percentile in USA
Broadband Internet	11%	12%	55	13%	53
Lack of Health Insurance	10%	12%	46	9%	68
Housing Burden	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Transportation Access Burden	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Food Desert	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Back: Appendix 6 - Cost of Living Data Next: Appendix 8 - Washoe County Temperatures