Averting Environmental Justice Claims? The Role of Environmental Management Systems

Greater regulatory protections exist for low income minority populations that share a disproportionate amount of environmental harms. Recognized as communities of “environmental justice” (EJ), industrial facilities that are located in these areas bear greater legal liabilities and societal scrutiny for their environmental activities. In an effort to avoid regulator and societal claims that they are disproportionately harming minority and ethnic populations, these facilities may be motivated to adopt an environmental management system (EMS). This paper examines these issues. It offers evidence that facilities operating in EJ communities have a greater probability of adopting an EMS, and therefore may be acting to avert societal claims that they are disproportionately harming low income minority populations. These findings raise the question of whether facilities that are located in EJ communities actually improve the environment as a consequence of EMS adoption or whether EMSs are being used as means to subvert greater social scrutiny without reducing the facility’s environmental risk.