Creating Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Communities:
Strategies for Advancing Smart Growth, Environmental Justice, and Equitable
Development

 Communities across the country are integrating smart growth and
environmental justice approaches to achieve development that is healthy,
environmentally and economically sustainable, and beneficial for all
residents, regardless of race, ethnicity, and income. *Creating Equitable,
Healthy, and Sustainable Communities: Strategies for Advancing Smart
Growth, Environmental Justice, and Equitable Development* aims to build on
past successes and help other low-income, minority, tribal, and
overburdened communities implement their own versions of equitable
development. It identifies strategies that bring together smart growth and
environmental justice principles and goals and can be used by
community-based organizations, local and regional decision-makers,
developers, and other stakeholders to shape land use decisions where they
live.

To ensure that this publication is as helpful as possible for communities, *EPA
is soliciting comments on the draft through July 6, 2012*. The draft report
is available at :
*
http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/pdf/creating-equitable-healthy-sustain...
*<http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/pdf/creating-equitable-healthy-sustain...>

EPA seeks input on the following questions. *Comments should focus solely
on these questions as they relate to the content of the publication*, and
should be labeled to indicate which topic they correspond to. Please note
the section or page number of the draft that your comments refer to, and
please be as brief as possible.

1.
Does this document accurately express the connections between environmental
justice, equitable development, and smart growth? If not, please elaborate.

2.
Does this document provide the most useful strategies for low-income,
minority, tribal, and overburdened communities seeking to create equitable,
healthy, and sustainable development? Are there other land use or planning
strategies the document should include? If so, please describe them.

3.
Please describe any other successful examples you are familiar with of
equitable, healthy, and environmentally sound development in low-income,
minority, tribal, and overburdened communities.*

Please submit your comments to
**Megan McConville* <mcconville.me...@epa.gov>* (mcconville.me...@epa.gov)
by 5 p.m. EST on July 6, 2012*. If you are affiliated with an organization
and wish to include its name and location, please provide this information.

We greatly appreciate your time in reviewing this draft. Where appropriate,
comments will be incorporated into the publication and will inform EPA's
work on smart growth and environmental justice. Please note that commenters
will not receive individualized responses.

The final publication will be posted on the *Smart Growth*<http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/>
 and *Environmental Justice* <http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/> sites
in summer/fall 2012. If you have questions about the draft or the review
process, contact *Megan McConville* <mcconville.me...@epa.gov> (
mcconville.me...@epa.gov).