6 State of Iowa Analysis of Environmental Justice

Achieving environmental justice is crucial to ensuring all individuals have equitable access to overall health and wellbeing. The state of Iowa House File 49 defines environmental justice as “…the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people… which is achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a health environment in which to live, learn, and work”. Iowa has many vulnerable populations across the state; rural areas, low-income individuals, BIPOC, those in high-risk zones for flooding, and low-quality water source areas. This means that these groups of people need extra assistance and support to safeguard them from hazards. Environmental justice is an important public health issue in Iowa because there are environmental health disparities that burden residents and prevent all from having the same right to strong healthy communities to inhabit. Across the state burdens of energy, flood risk, air quality, agricultural loss, and poor quality of water are faced on the daily. A major contributor to some poor environmental conditions that are faced is agricultural practices, with use of harsh fertilizers and pesticides, and agricultural production takes place in many areas of the state as it is a high economic contributor for Iowa.