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Chicago Looks to Overhaul Its Zoning and Land Use Policies to Address Environmental Discrimination

Summary

The City of Chicago is working to address environmental justice issues by overhauling its zoning and land use policies. The city is consulting with communities affected by industrial pollution to create a new plan aimed at alleviating the disproportionate burdens on Black and Hispanic residents. Environmental justice activists have played a pivotal role in shaping this plan. Chicago faces the risk of losing federal housing funds if it fails to implement measures to address racial discrimination in its policies by the fall. The city's plan involves creating governance systems for promoting environmental justice, considering environmental and health factors in decision-making, and ensuring that residents of environmental justice neighborhoods benefit from local development. The city aims to use findings from this initiative to create a map identifying environmental justice communities and to inform updates to its policies and permitting processes.

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