Frequently Asked Questions: Environmental Justice Report Tool for Air Quality Regulation 3

Almost all air permit applicants must submit a complete Environmental Justice Summary prior to submitting their APEN permit application. As of July 15, 2024, permit applications submitted for the reasons listed in Regulation Number 3, Part B, Section III.B.5.e. and Part C, Section III.C.14.a. do not need to include an Environmental Justice Summary.

Permit applications submitted for the following reasons are exempt from the requirement to include a verified environmental justice summary with the application:

• Administrative permit amendments only (as defined in Section I.B.1.a. of Part A of this Regulation Number 3).
• The application requests an overall decrease or no change in the annual emissions limits of each Affected Pollutant across the facility.
• The application is for a modification at an existing source and a verified environmental justice summary has already been submitted with a permit application for the source using the most current version of the Disproportionately Impacted Community Layer of Colorado EnviroScreen incorporated into Regulation 3.
  • This exemption does not apply if the Disproportionately Impacted Community Layer of Colorado EnviroScreen incorporated into Regulation 3 has been updated since the last environmental justice summary was submitted for the source. 
    • Permit applicants relying on this exemption must state in their permit application that they have previously submitted an applicable summary and must identify the date the summary was verified by the Division.
  • For Title V operating permits only, a summary submitted and verified for a construction permit application may be used for an operating permit application if the following conditions apply:
    • The Disproportionately Impacted Community Layer of Colorado EnviroScreen incorporated into Regulation 3 has not been updated to a new version since the construction permit application was submitted;
    • The provisions of the construction permit are being incorporated into the operating permit.

The following sources are also exempt from Environmental Justice Summary requirements: 

• APEN exempt sources; and
• Permit exempt sources.

More information is provided in the submission guidance for Environmental Justice Summaries on the department’s Environmental Justice Report Tool for Air Quality Regulation 3 web page and the department’s guidance for small businesses web page.

• For detailed information, visit the CDPHE web page “What are Disproportionately Impacted Communities?”
• Disproportionately Impacted Communities are generally those that have more than their fair share of environmental exposures and may experience higher levels of environmental health harm. Many of these communities are home to people of color and low-income families. 
• Disproportionately Impacted Communities are defined in Colorado State law by HB23-1233, which amended the definition in the Colorado Environmental Justice Act HB-21-1266. The revised definition is based on the recommendation of the Environmental Justice Action Task Force.
• The Air Quality Control Commission designed the Disproportionately Impacted Community Permitting Rule to align with HB23-1233.

• The Environmental Justice Act (House Bill 23-1266) required the Air Quality Control Commission to adopt the Disproportionately Impacted Community Permitting Rule.
• The commission voted to adopt the new measures in May 2023 making Colorado one of the first states in the country to transform its air permitting process as more protective for Disproportionately Impacted Communities.
• The final rule meets and exceeds the requirements of the Colorado Environmental Justice Act. 
• The measures reflect feedback directly from impacted communities and input from many parties and commenters throughout the rulemaking.

• Socioeconomically Vulnerable Communities are a subset of Disproportionately Impacted Communities defined as a Census Block Group in which over: 
  • 40% of households are low-income (meaning they are below 200% of the federal poverty level), 
  • 40% of the population identifies as people of color, 
  • 50% of households are housing-cost burdened (meaning they spend more than 30% of household income on housing costs), or 
  • 20% of the population is linguistically isolated (meaning no adults in a household speak English well).

• Cumulatively Impacted Communities are a subset of Disproportionately Impacted Communities defined as a Census Block Group that has a Colorado EnviroScreen percentile score above 80. 
  • A Colorado EnviroScreen percentile score above 80 indicates that the Census Block Group bears more cumulative environmental, climate, and socioeconomic risks than other Census Block Groups in Colorado. 
  • Colorado EnviroScreen combines data from 35 different environmental, climate, socioeconomic, health, and demographic indicators to calculate the Colorado EnviroScreen percentile score. 
• The Disproportionately Impacted Community Permitting Rule prioritizes greater protections for communities that experience the greatest environmental health risks, which are Cumulatively Impacted Communities.

• Learn more about the specific requirements for Socioeconomically Vulnerable Communities and or Cumulatively Impacted Communities in the final rule (Regulation Number 3: Stationary Source Permitting and Air Pollutant Emission Notice Requirements).
• Visit the Air Pollution Control Division’s Environmental justice in air permitting web page, which includes a guidance document with detailed information. 
• Visit the Disproportionately impacted community permitting rule web page for more information about the rule.

• The commission chose to prioritize the strongest protections against pollution in the Disproportionately Impacted Community Permitting Rule for the communities that experience the greatest burden of pollution, which as Cumulatively Impacted Communities.
• By prioritizing emissions reductions and other requirements in Cumulatively Impacted Communities, the commission took its first step towards addressing cumulative impacts rather than considering only specific air pollutants one by one when establishing protections.
• The Disproportionately Impacted Community Permitting Rule prioritizes the strongest protections for Cumulatively Impacted Communities, and establishes important protections like monitoring and modeling requirements for Socioeconomically Vulnerable Communities.
• The new definition of Disproportionately Impacted Community in HB23-1233 allows entities like the commission to prioritize stronger protections for a subset of Disproportionately Impacted Communities, which is what the commission did in the Disproportionately Impacted Community Permitting Rule.
   

• The Environmental Justice Report Tool for Air Quality Regulation 3 generates a report that includes most of the information required in the Environmental Justice Summary for Air Quality Regulation 3.
• A complete Environmental Justice Summary includes:
  • Whether the facility is located in a Disproportionately Impacted Community. 
  • The Colorado EnviroScreen score. 
  • Environmental, health, and sociodemographic data for the census block group(s) in which the facility is located.
  • A satellite image of the facility, including a one mile radius of the surrounding area. 
• The division's Guidance for Incorporating Environmental Justice into Permitting Procedures provides more details for permit applicants. The guidance states they must submit the
• Environmental Justice Summary and the Environmental Justice Report to the division prior to submitting the permit application. More information about how to submit a complete
• Environmental Justice Summary is available on the Environmental justice in air permitting website.
  • The Environmental Justice Report generated by this tool does not provide all the information that must be included in a complete Environmental Justice Summary. Supplemental information must be submitted via the Air Pollution Control Division’s online form. For more details, visit the Environmental justice in air permitting website.
• The Environmental Justice Report generated by this tool provides detailed information that permit applicants can use to inform the facility’s community engagement and outreach to reduce pollution burdens on the surrounding community.

How does the Environmental Justice Report Tool for Air Quality Regulation 3 relate to Colorado EnviroScreen?

The data in the Environmental Justice Report Tool for Air Quality Regulation 3, and the reports generated by the tool, come from Colorado EnviroScreen version 1.0.

In 2022, CDPHE and Colorado State University created Colorado EnviroScreen, which shows the overlap of environmental exposures and effects, climate vulnerability, sensitive populations, and demographics to better understand environmental injustice and environmental health risks in Colorado. Colorado EnviroScreen combines data from 35 different indicators to calculate a Colorado EnviroScreen score. These scores are compared for census block groups across the state to calculate relative percentile scores.

The layers showing Socioeconomically Vulnerable Communities and Cumulatively Impacted Communities are also displayed in Colorado EnviroScreen 1.0. Cumulatively Impacted Communities are identified as census block groups with a Colorado EnviroScreen percentile score above 80.

• The applicable permit applicants must submit a complete Environmental Justice Summary prior to submitting their permit application. 
  • The summaries must provide environmental health data about the community where the air pollution source operates. The division includes the summaries in the public notice for the permit. The division reviews the summaries and uses them to shape meaningful protections for communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. 
• The Environmental Justice Report Tool for Air Quality Regulation 3 generates the environmental health data that must be included in the Environmental Justice Summary. Permit applicants can use the platform to generate reports that include the bulk of information needed to submit a complete Environmental Justice Summary.
• Environmental Justice Summaries are submitted via email and an online submission form. More information is available on the Environmental justice in air permitting website.

• Permit applicants must submit the complete Environmental Justice Summary, including the Environmental Justice Report, before submitting their permit application. The Environmental Justice in Permitting Team must verify to the applicant that the Environmental Justice Summary is complete before the applicant submits their permit application. 
• The permit applicant will receive a letter of concurrence from the division’s Environmental Justice in Permitting Team clarifying that the complete Environmental Justice Summary was reviewed and verified. 
• This letter of concurrence and Division-verified Environmental Justice Summary must be included with the complete air permit application. The Environmental Justice Summary, including the Environmental Justice Report, is part of the permit record.
• Permit applicants must submit the complete Environmental Justice Summary for division review and verification in the following way:
  • Email the required Environmental Justice Report a PDF to cdphe_apcd_ejreports@state.co.us with “EJ Summary” and the facility name in the subject line.
  • Submit the required online Environmental Justice Supplement Form.

The division reserves the right to require the applicant to resubmit required information or provide any missing required information if the Environmental Justice Summary is initially incomplete or provided in a format that the division is unable to open or access. Note that this may impact the Environmental Justice Summary review and verification process needed for a complete permit application.

Small businesses can contact the division’s Small Business Assistance Program for assistance: cdphe_apcd_sbap@state.co.us. For information about which businesses qualify for assistance as a small business, visit the Small Business Assistance Program web page.

Please note that the Environmental Justice Summary is only one of the requirements for a permit application. Applicants must adhere to all other requirements prior to submitting a complete permit application, including completing all necessary modeling. For more information about modeling requirements, please visit the division’s modeling guidance webpage.

• If a modeling determination (form APCD-114) is required for the emission source, submit the modeling determination request at the same time as the Environmental Justice Summary by following the instructions on form APCD-114. 
  • If you are unsure whether a modeling determination is required for the emission source, please consult the division’s Air Quality Modeling Guidance for Permits website.

• The division works to process Environmental Justice Summary submissions as quickly as possible. The division generally completes this process within 5-10 business days. For information about how to submit a complete Environmental JusticeSummary, visit the Environmental justice in air permitting web page. 
• Once the full Environmental Justice Summary materials are received, they will be reviewed by the Air Pollution Control Division’s Environmental Justice in Permitting team. Once reviewed, the Environmental Justice in Permitting team will send the facility a letter of concurrence confirming the Environmental Justice Summary was received and approved.

• The division works to process Environmental Justice Summary submissions as quickly as possible. The division generally completes this process within 14 days. For information about how to submit a complete Environmental Justice Summary, visit the Environmental justice in air permitting web page. 
• Once the full Environmental Justice Summary materials are received, they are reviewed by the Air Pollution Control Division’s Environmental Justice in Permitting team. Once reviewed, the Environmental Justice in Permitting team sends the facility a letter of concurrence confirming the Environmental Justice Summary was received and verified.

• Community engagement is encouraged but not currently mandated under Air Quality Regulation 3. The Statement of Basis and Purpose for Air Quality Regulation 3 states: 
  • “Sources are encouraged to engage with communities throughout the permitting process to ensure that public concerns are understood and considered, and to provide feedback to both communities and the Division on how public input influenced the proposed project. Community engagement may include holding listening sessions to better understand the concerns of community members, distributing information on the proposed project in plain-language in nearby communities, working with community groups to distribute relevant information, and/or promoting and providing multiple methods for community members to provide input. Potential community groups that applicants should consider contacting include, but are not limited to: neighborhood organizations, schools, clinics, social and activity clubs, libraries, civic associations, businesses, nonprofits, faith-based and secular organizations, and local government(s). And while sources are encouraged to engage in the efforts outlined in Section III.C.5.d. to promote fair treatment and meaningful involvement of Disproportionately Impacted Community members and to provide the Division with documentation of any such efforts undertaken by the source, at this time these components are not substantive application requirements.”
• Early outreach provides many benefits to both the facility and local community such as open dialogue and awareness about proposed changes, project timelines, community concerns, requested mitigation measures, and other important considerations.
• If a facility is located in a Disproportionately Impacted Community, community outreach is even more important. Community engagement in disproportionately impacted communities should ensure fair, accessible, and equitable access to information; opportunities to learn more; and a variety of ways to provide feedback. 
• Outreach should also take into account language barriers and cultural competencies.
• Disproportionately Impacted Community members are more likely than other Coloradans to face barriers to engaging with traditional engagement techniques, and these barriers should be taken into account when planning outreach.
• Early outreach can help keep local communities informed about an upcoming project and help to clarify the scope and purpose of the project early on, which can help build trust. 
  • Learning about community concerns earlier in the process creates opportunities for permit applicants to make changes and address those concerns early on. 
• For tips on how to conduct effective community engagement, visit CDPHE’s community engagement, outreach, and public participation best practices web page.
• Provide documentation as an email attachment for any community engagement efforts conducted when you submit the Environmental Justice Summary and/or permit application.
• If you have questions or would like to discuss specific community engagement efforts that your facility could conduct for a particular permit and community, email cdphe_apcd_ejreports@state.co.us with the facility name in the subject line.

• No. The State of Colorado does not have air permitting authority for areas under Tribal jurisdiction in Colorado. The State also respects Tribal sovereignty and the expressed interests of Tribal partners in Colorado. Accordingly, the State does not share data about areas under Tribal jurisdiction without Tribal consent. 
• Data for areas under Tribal jurisdiction is therefore not displayed on the map or provided in the reports for the Environmental Justice Report Tool for Air Quality Regulation 3. Data for areas under Tribal Jurisdiction would not be displayed unless or until authorized by Tribal government partners. 
• For questions about air permits on Southern Ute Indian Tribe lands, please contact the Tribal Government or U.S. EPA.
• For questions about air permits on Ute Mountain Ute lands, please contact the U.S. EPA.

To generate a report, please follow the steps below:

1. Use the map address search for an address or coordinates, or manually zoom into the map to locate the area where your facility is located.
2. Once you navigate to the desired location on the map, look for the Environmental Justice Report tool button on the left side of the screen.
3. Click on the Environmental Justice report tool button to initiate the report generation process.

For more detailed instructions and guidance, refer to the user guide, which provides comprehensive step-by-step instructions on how to generate a report.

For the best user experience, use the Environmental Justice Report Tool on a desktop or laptop computer. Some functions are not compatible with a smaller screen size.
 

Please email cdphe_apcd_ejreports@state.co.us with “Environmental Justice Summary” and the facility name in the subject line. If possible, attach a screenshot of the issue and a detailed description.