Disparities in Distribution of Particulate Matter Emissions from US Coal-Fired Power Plants by Race and Poverty Status After Accounting for Reductions in Operations Between 2015 and 2017

To investigate how burden from PM2.5-emitting facilities has potentially changed since 2014 among racial/ethnic and economic groups following the closure of 191 coal-fired electricity-generating units (EGUcfs) in the U.S. using the following methods: PM2.5 burdens calculated from 2014 National Emissions Inventory (NEI) data and 2012-2016 American Community Survey (ACS) population data were recalculated after removing emissions from 191 partially- or fully-closed EGUcfs. Monte Carlo (MC) analysis was conducted with removal of 191 facilities for comparison. The results are removal of the 191 retired EGUcfs decreased absolute burden (AB) of PM2.5 by as much as 1.8% for the entire population, and included reductions for every observed population subgroup. AB dropped by 2.8% for the White subgroup and by 0.84% and 0.72% for the Black and Hispanic subgroups, respectively. Only the White subgroup had AB below the range predicted by MC simulations, while the Black and Hispanic subgroups had AB towards the upper end of this range. In conclusion, facility closures have not been equitably distributed. The prioritization of certain EGUcfs for closure from 2015-2017 resulted in bias with greater reductions in emissions for the White subgroup.

Impact/Purpose

The objective of this paper is to investigate how burden from PM2.5-emitting facilities has potentially changed since 2014 among racial/ethnic and economic groups following the closure of 191 coal-fired electricity-generating units (EGUcfs) in the U.S. There are documented negative health effects related to residential proximity to environmental hazards. Any closure of EGUcfs reduces PM2.5 emissions, which is beneficial to public health. However, the results of this study suggest that the White subgroup benefited more from recent closures than any other subgroup and that inequities in burden are not being reduced. These findings are consistent with other studies examining the role of race and ethnicity in disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards. Our results indicate that communities most burdened by PM2.5 point-source emissions continue to be non-White. Without consideration of race and ethnicity in facility closure decisions, disparities may continue to grow.

Citation

Richmond-Bryant, J., I. Mikati, A. Benson, Tom Luben, AND J. Sacks. Disparities in Distribution of Particulate Matter Emissions from US Coal-Fired Power Plants by Race and Poverty Status After Accounting for Reductions in Operations Between 2015 and 2017. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, 110(5):655-661, (2020). [DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305558]

DOI: Disparities in Distribution of Particulate Matter Emissions from US Coal-Fired Power Plants by Race and Poverty Status After Accounting for Reductions in Operations Between 2015 and 2017