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Experts urge using environmental‑justice screening to guide siting of electric‑bus charging infrastructure
Summary
University and state mapping tools can identify overburdened census tracts where charging infrastructure and electric-bus deployment would provide restorative benefits, presenters told the PGCPS work group; they recommended a 70–75th percentile cutoff and county‑specific subtools plus air monitoring to track change.
Experts at the Prince George's County electric school-bus work group recommended using environmental-justice screening tools to prioritize where charging infrastructure and electric buses should be sited to reduce pollution burdens and provide restorative benefits.
Dr. Sakobe Wilson, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, demonstrated a university-developed EJ mapping tool and said it integrates five domains — environmental exposures, population characteristics, climate, health and social factors — into an overall percentile score. "If your neighborhood has an EJ score of 85.23, this means residents here face a greater overall environmental and social burden than 85 percent of communities across Maryland," Dr. Wilson said, recommending a 70–75th percentile threshold to microtarget interventions.
Noble Smith of the Maryland Department of the Environment explained MDEnviroscreen, the state's statutory screening tool required by the Climate Solutions Now Act. He noted a design distinction: "the EJ score that this tool creates doesn't include race, ethnicity, or language proficiency in its EJ score calculation," though those layers are available for decision-making. Smith said MDE's tool is structured to support permitting and other regulatory decisions and includes specific indicators listed in statute.
Panelists urged pairing screening results with local monitoring. Dr. Wilson and PGCPS representatives said the county has deployed PurpleAir sensors at some high schools and that near‑real‑time monitoring can produce baselines to measure air-quality change after electrification. "Once you bring the buses in, you change the routes ... and we can track over time," a presenter said.
Speakers also discussed tailoring tools for county decision-making: Dr. Wilson suggested a Prince George's County subtool to add local data layers missing from statewide or federal tools so maps could be fit-for-purpose when siting chargers and evaluating equity. Panelists recommended using both the university tool for granular community context and MDEnviroscreen for regulatory and permitting uses.
The work group did not make a formal site decision at the meeting; presenters agreed to pursue county-level data integration and more localized monitoring ahead of future siting choices.
