Formal public-notice rules structurally exclude low-literacy communities

Evidence

In Pennsylvania, as in other states, permit applicants must publish formal notice of their proposed facility in local newspapers to give the public an opportunity to comment on and learn about the facility. … However, this form of notice often proves inadequate for low-income communities, where literacy levels are low and it is unlikely that many citizens will become aware of or read the official notice. For instance, as happened in Chester, it is not uncommon for notice of a permit application to be placed in a minuscule space at the back of the local newspaper. On the other hand, “local [officials] are given a separate, formal opportunity to comment on municipal waste facility permit applications.” — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 243

Categorization

• XREF: Cross-course bridge to Legal Systems: statutory ‘notice and comment’ participation that fails its stated purpose in low-income communities; also directly extends the earlier ch0 claim about technically-satisfied public notice being invisible. — connects to: Public-notice laws can be technically satisfied while remaining invisible to affected communities — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 55; Misrecognition and political exclusion structurally block poor communities’ participation in environmental decisions — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice:…, 248; Agencies now adopt language, size, and plain-writing rules to fix participation barriers — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 1100

Broader Connections

• Misrecognition and political exclusion structurally block poor communities’ participation in environmental decisions #complicates (0.75) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 248