
AbstractOpen government data (OGD) are critical for environmental justice (EJ) policymaking, which is characterized by power and information asymmetries across government agencies, affected populations, and advocacy groups. We contend that not only should state governments provide OGD but also they should remove the burden associated with data access and use it to address the data divide and facilitate the participation of vulnerable populations in policymaking. Applying a user‐oriented approach, this article evaluates the completeness, usability, and accessibility of EJ‐OGD initiatives across the 50 US states. Results show that only one out of five states achieves at least half points on our EJ‐OGD Implementation Score, suggesting that most states do not provide OGD to answer two core EJ questions: “To what extent is my community exposed to environmental harm and health hazards? Is the exposure disproportionately high given my community's socioeconomic characteristics?” We discuss implications for equity and next steps for the government.
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| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 25 | |
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| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
