Year of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Name

Environmental Studies

Department or School/College

Environmental Studies

Committee Chair

Robin Saha

Commitee Members

Kyle Bocinsky, Sarah Halvorson

Keywords

environmental justice, drought, equity, hazard mitigation

Subject Categories

Environmental Studies

Abstract

Drought is a natural phenomenon that has long been a part of the climate regime in the Northern Great Plains. However, as climate change intensifies, drought across the region will worsen. This worsening drought will harm vulnerable communities more than their less vulnerable counterparts. Understanding how current policies either reinforce existing systems of marginalization or work to counter them is vital when determining what kind of policy will be needed in times of worsening drought. The first analysis sought to answer the following question: how are states incorporating key concepts of social vulnerability, procedural justice and climate change into their state drought plans and FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plans (HMP)? The findings from this analysis were that in general the HMPs tended to have more robust public considerations of procedural justice than in state drought plans and that the HMP requirements were met through public engagement and collaborative approaches to plan development. Additionally, the federal guidelines led to all the states including considerations of vulnerable communities and climate change through the funding requirements tied to having an approved HMP on file. The second analysis used the USDA Livestock Forage Disaster Program and CDC Social Vulnerability Index to determine if federal drought relief is equitably distributed across the Northern Great Plains using a distributional justice framework across three severe drought years, 2012, 2017, and 2022. The findings from this analysis were that there was a statistically significant positive correlation between payment amount per county and social vulnerability. Additionally, many of the counties distributed payments above the federal limit set by the USDA raising questions about misappropriations of funds and who exactly is benefitting most directly from LFP and programs like it. When taken together, the sum of these research shows that the strong federal push to integrate environmental justice into agencies has led to more equitable drought planning regime, but the ways that state and local agencies integrate these guidelines are widely varied.

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© Copyright 2025 Amishi Singh