The draft benefit assessment tool is used to help decide if a project benefits a priority population. Administering agencies, applicants, and/or funding recipients use the tool. There are different draft benefit assessment tools for different types of projects. Each tool is designed to be used together with the resources available on this page. View the full list of draft benefit assessment tools by project type.

The resources on this page are designed to help you use the draft benefit assessment tools.

Step 1: Identify Priority Populations

Step 2: Data Tools

Step 1: Identify Priority Populations

Use the maps and lookup tools below to identify if a project, activity, resource, etc., is located within a disadvantaged community or low-income community, or directly benefit residents of a low-income household.

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Priority Populations Map

California Air Resources Board

This map shows disadvantaged communities and low-income communities as defined for California Climate Investments. To see if a particular location is within a disadvantaged community or low-income community, either navigate to the desired location on the map, search for the location by address, or enter a 10 digit census tract number in the search bar. Layers can be adjusted using the layer tool. Census tracts that are both disadvantaged and low-income blend to a color not represented in the legend if overlapping.

List of Priority Populations

California Air Resources Board

This spreadsheet can be used to identify if a census tract is as a Disadvantaged Community or Low-Income Community, if Tribal lands are present within the census tract, and buffer community claims may be available.

Low-Income Household Tool

California Air Resources Board

Use this lookup tool to identify the median income threshold by county and county average household size.

Revised State Income Limits for 2021

California Department of Housing and Community Development

Identify income limits for low-income communities and households. Low-income communities and households are defined as the census tracts and households, respectively, that are either at or below 80 percent of the statewide median income, or at or below the threshold designated as low-income by HCD.

Step 2: Data Tools

In the benefit assessment tool, Step 2 - Identify a Need, Option C, includes vetted data tools that can be used by any project to identify factors most impacting priority populations. Tools selected for inclusion on this page meet the following criteria:

Peer-reviewed and evidence-based
Provides census level data for California
Includes granular factors/indicators
Has defined thresholds for severity of impacts in comparison to other census tracts

Do you have a suggestion for another data tool for use in the benefit assessment tool? Submit your ideas for consideration using the form at the bottom of the page.

Directions: Refer to one of the following tools and confirm that the project will reduce the impacts of at least one of the factors or indicators. Note that while each tool has defined thresholds for severity of impacts in comparison to other census tracts, thresholds may differ from tool to tool. Instructions for each tool provide more detail below.

As of January 2025

CalEnviroScreen 4.0

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

About: A screening tool used to help identify communities disproportionately burdened by multiple sources of pollution and with population characteristics that make them more sensitive to pollution.

How to use in Step 2: Confirm that the project will reduce the impacts of at least one of the individual factors that are most impacting an identified disadvantaged or low-income community (i.e., factors that score at or above the 75th percentile).

California Healthy Places Index

Public Health Alliance of Southern California

About: Data and policy platform created to advance health equity through open and accessible data. Users can evaluate project areas for vulnerabilities or ways projects can benefit priority populations.

How to use in Step 2: Look at the individual indicators that are most impacting an identified priority population (i.e., indicators that score 25 or below on the Healthy Place Index Percentile Ranking) and confirm that the project will reduce the impacts of at least one of those indicators.

Transportation Equity Index

California Department of Transportation

About: Spatial screening tool designed to identify transportation burdened populations at the census block level. The EQI integrates transportation and socioeconomic indicators into three screens: Transportation-Based Priority Populations; Traffic Exposure; and Access to Destinations.

How to use in Step 2: Look at the individual indicators that are most impacting an identified priority population (i.e., indicators incorporated into at least one of the three screens) and confirm that the project will reduce the impacts of at least one of those indicators.

EJScreen

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

About: EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic socioeconomic indicators. All of the indicators are publicly-available data.

How to use in Step 2: Look at the

individual indicators that are most

impacting an identified priority

population (i.e., indicators that score

above the 80th percentile compared

to the rest of the state) and confirm

that the project will reduce the

impacts of at least one of those

indicators.

Do you have a suggestion for another data tool for use in the benefit assessment tool? Submit your ideas for consideration.