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State pilots Mass and Virus Screen to identify burdened communities in Eco One Stop scoring
Summary
OEJE and EEA previewed a draft GIS-based screening tool that combines pollution, climate risk and social-vulnerability indicators into a cumulative score; block groups above the 75th percentile or with median income ≤65% of statewide median will be designated burdened areas for scoring in this round.
The Office of Environmental Justice and Equity (OEJE) presented a draft statewide screening tool — repeatedly referred to in the webinar as the "Mass and Virus Screen" — that the Executive Office for Energy and Environmental Affairs will pilot within the Eco One Stop grant evaluation process to identify communities facing overlapping pollution, climate and social vulnerabilities.
Syena Mashmis Army, environmental justice liaison with OEJE, said the tool uses 30 indicators grouped into pollution/climate burden and population characteristics to produce standardized percentiles and a cumulative burden score for each census block group. "Higher scores will indicate communities experiencing greater pollution burden, climate risk, and social vulnerability," Syena said.
The tool translates each indicator into a percentile and combines those percentiles into a cumulative score. Syena said a block group will be considered a burdened area for the RFR if it meets one or both criteria: a Mass and Virus Screen cumulative score at or above the 75th percentile, or an annual median household income for that block group at 65% or less of the statewide median. "For the purposes of this RFR, the draft version of Mass and Virus Screen that is available online will be used to identify burden areas," she said.
Syena walked through the web interface and technical documentation, showing a Pittsfield block group designated as burdened and a Provincetown example that is not designated overall but has elevated indicator percentiles (e.g., adult high blood pressure at the 96th percentile). She emphasized the value of inspecting indicator-level data because a block group not selected as a burdened area overall may nonetheless show elevated vulnerabilities on particular metrics that applicants could address in their narratives.
Panelists emphasized the tool is draft for this procurement round, that designations in effect at the RFR release will be respected throughout evaluation, and that applicants are encouraged to attend office hours and provide feedback. The webinar directed attendees with technical questions to OEJE's inquiries e-mail.
The presentation cited the 2024 Climate Act as the legislative impetus for developing the screening approach and listed office hours and documentation as next steps. The tool will be used in scoring "the same way that was previously done for the EJ map," but the team invited input as the tool is finalized.
