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Contents
^t^:t^sic^vFacilities, aind Communities . .
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Communities
. '
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ntroduction
ince a 1992 EPA report, Environmental Equity: Reducing Risk for All
Communities, revealed that minority and low-income communities
are exposed to higher levels of pollution in their neighborhoods
than the general population, the Agency has embarked on a number of
initiatives to help communities mitigate pollution damage in their
neighborhoods. These initiatives initially focused on acute and immedi-
ate problems faced by environmental justice committees. Recognizing
that preventing pollution at the source can help break cycles of repeated
degradation and injustice, EPA created the Environmental Justice
through Pollution Prevention (EJP2) grant program.
EPA established the EJP2 grant program in 1995 to support pollution
prevention approaches in environmental justice communities. In the first
five years of the program, EJP2 provided more than $15 million for a
total of 198 innovative projects identified by the communities to prevent
pollution. Pollution prevention—the reduction or elimination of pollu-
tants at the source—is our nation's first choice for protecting the envi-
ronment. EPA believes pollution prevention is the best method to
address environmental problems because it refocuses efforts from pollu-
tion control—cleaning up damaged environments—to preventing degra-
dation from happening in the first place.
Through EJP2, EPA funded a wide array of organizations and commu-
nities interested in environmental justice, including urban areas, rural
communities, tribes, different ethnic groups, and the poor. The agency
designed the program as a fund for innovation. Through EJP2, a wide
range of community groups, tribes, and local governments identified
environmental problems and potential approaches for their communities
within the general context of pollution prevention solutions.
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Distribution of EJP2
Grant Funds
rom 1995 through 1999, EPA provided more than $15 million in
'EJP2 funds and a total of 198 grants (see Figure 1). Throughout the
5 years of the grant program, EPA funded an average of 50 grants
per year across all 10 EPA Regions, including some projects that were
national in scope. In all, EPA awarded 192 grants to organizations1 with-
in a single state and 6 multi-state or national grants from 1995 through
1999. Community groups and other organizations in 46 states, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico received grant awards. On aver-
age, EPA awarded 4 grants per state. Organizations in New York,
Washington, California, and Massachusetts received the most grants—
13 or more each. Figure 2 shows the distribution of grants by state.
Targeted Sectors and Communities
Through the EJP2 grant program, EPA targeted many different sec-
tors ranging from agriculture, to small and large businesses, to youth
and community residents. EJP2 grantees also targeted communities of
different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. Targeted communijties
included immigrant Haitians and Cambodians and ethnic coqimunities
of African Americans, Native Americans, Latin Americans, arid
Korean Americans. Many projects involved communities that host a
mix of ethnic groups. For example, several EJP2 projects took; place in
the diverse Greenpoint-Williamsburg community of Brooklyn, New
York, which is home to Hasidic Jews, Latin Americans, African
Americans, Italians, and people of Polish origin. Figure 3 shows the
sectors targeted by EJP2 grantees.
In addition, EJP2 funded a range of organizations to work on projects
identified by the disadvantaged communities or developed in conjunction
1 Some organizations received more than one grant
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Figure 1. Distribution of EJP2 Grant Funds, 1995-1999
$4.0 million $4.0'million
(50 grants) (48 grants)
with these communi-
ties. Groups funded
by EJP2 include non-
profit organizations
(including both com-
munity organizations
and environmental
groups), tribes, and
local governments.
In nearly all cases,
grantees partnered
with other organiza-
tions to achieve proj-
ect goals. For
example, local gov-
ernment grantees
often partnered both
with local community groups, trade associations, and pollution prevention
technical assistance providers to deliver services to communities. In other
EJP2 partnerships, tribal and community-based organizations took the
O
£
_c
C/l
Ji
~o
Q
1999
Figure 2. Distribution of EJP2 Grants by State, 1995-1999
MD
DC
D 0 Grants
7 or More Grants
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lead and helped pollu- Figure 3. Sectors Targeted by EJP2 Grantees, 1995-1995
tion prevention techni-
cal assistance providers
and local government
officials gain access to
communities usually sep-
arated by linguistic and
cultural barriers.
Types of Projects
Funded by EJP2
EJP2 grantees helped
low-income and minori-
ty communities through
a variety of innovative
projects that have
enabled residents to pre-
vent pollution in their
homes, businesses, and
neighborhoods. EJP2 projects also have encouraged cooperation among
communities, businesses, industries, and governments to address commor
environmental goals. EPA grouped projects according to the following
categories (some grants focused on more than one area):
e Helping small businesses prevent pollution in communities.
® Fostering partnerships between industrial facilities and communities.
• Educating communities about pollution prevention.
• Promoting efficient resource use within communities.
• Fostering youth education and involvement.
* Demonstrating agricultural pollution prevention.
• Improving tribal environments.
The following sections describe each type of grant activity arid give
snapshots of some successful projects.
Sector
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IKiffiBKBtti*
Helping Small Businesses
Prevent Pollution in
Communities
mall businesses such as auto repair shops, dry cleaners, and printers
often generate small quantities of hazardous waste that may pose an
environmental and health hazard to residents and workers in some
communities. Many low-income and minority neighborhoods have a
large share of such facilities2 and, according to EJP2 grantees, they face
three major challenges when trying to prevent pollution from small busi-
nesses:
Small businesses have few employees and resources, which limits
how much time they can spend learning about environmental reg-
ulations, government technical assistance programs, and pollution
prevention measures.
• Small businesses have lim-
ited financial resources,
which makes them more
wary of purchasing new
pollution prevention
equipment.
* Small businesses are
often transient businesses
—they have high
employee turnover or
they temporarily close
due to economic difficulties—which limits the community's abili-
ty to establish working relationships with them.
EJP2 grantees addressed these challenges through four types of proj-
ects. First, grantees developed voluntary partnership programs where par-
"Because bfour>EJP2
project, entrepreneurs
began to look at their busi-
nesses differently and as a
result, implemented waste
reductionmeasures."
—Working Capital
2 Percival, Robert V, ed, Alan S. Miller, Christopher H. Schroeder. 1992. Environmental regulation:
law, science, and policy (Law school casebook series). Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Company.
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ticipating businesses identified and imple-
mented pollution prevention goals in
exchange for free technical assistance and
public recognition for their efforts.
Second, grantees carried out demonstra-
tion projects to show the cost-effective-
ness and environmental value of
pollution prevention technologies and
took additional measures to ensure the
adoption of the technology by small businesses. Third, grantees helped
small businesses finance new pollution prevention equipment purchases
through loan programs. Fourth, grantees carried out general technical
assistance and training programs that provided small businesses with the
skills they needed to safely handle and reduce the usage of hazardous '
materials and reduce harmful air and water emissions.
Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake, Virginia: Assisting
Businesses That Volunteer to Prevent Pollution
By expanding a voluntary program that encourages businesses to pre-
vent pollution, the Elizabeth River Project (ERP) helped businesses
reduce a significant amount of toxic emissions,
raised community awareness of the value of pollu-
tion prevention, and provided public recognition o
businesses that implemented pollution prevention
measures. Through the voluntary River Stars pro-
gram, ERP helped 60 businesses set pollution pre-
vention goals, leading the way for 12 of these
businesses to implement pollution prevention
measures that significantly reduced air and water
emissions in a low-income, African-American community in southern
Virginia. One business reduced hazardous waste by nearly 2 million
pounds, another reduced styrene emissions by 95 percent, and a third >
business reduced highly toxic chemicals by 85 percent.
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Los Angeles, California: Demonstrating the Effectiveness of
Pollution Prevention
By conducting demonstrations of water-based auto parts cleaning
technology at volunteer auto repair facilities in inner-city Los Angeles,
the Institute for Research and Technical Assistance (IRTA) proved
water-based parts cleaners are a feasible and cost-effective alternative
for cleaning auto parts. IRTA's carefully conducted study convinced the
South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) to promul-
gate a new regulation that requires repair and
maintenance cleaning operations in their jurisdic-
tion to adopt water-based cleaners. As a result of
the ruling, inner-city auto repair facilities through-
out Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San
Bernardino Counties significantly reduced the
amount of volatile organic compounds released in
their communities. Altogether, IRTA estimated
the ruling affected 40,000 cleaning units, reducing 10 tons of solvent
emissions each day in SCAQMD's jurisdiction, twice the level of emis-
sions from a large oil refinery.
Minority and Low-Income Communities in Washington State:
Helping Businesses Finance Pollution Prevention
Cascadia Revolving Fund (CRF) created the Pollution Prevention
Lending Program and provided four loans to Korean-owned dry cleaning
businesses to help them purchase pollution prevention equipment. The
$120,000 worth of loan money is expected to reduce the dry cleaners' air
emissions by 70 percent every year. In addition to awarding loans, CRF
reached out to small businesses from many different sectors, providing
them with advice on financial strategies for preventing pollution and
achieving environmental compliance. The funding from the EJP2 pro-
gram served as a loan loss reserve. Businesses could apply for loans using
the reserve fund as collateral. As businesses paid back the loans, CRF
made new loans.
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Fostering Partnerships
Between Industrial
Facilities and
Communities
JP2 grantees helped communities define their environmental con-
cerns and communicate them to local industries while providing
technical assistance to local industrial facilities to facilitate
changes. EJP2 projects supported collaborative efforts such as Good
Neighbor Dialogues among communities and local industries and helped
residents gather and interpret Toxic Release Inventory and other data to
identify industrial pollution concerns and support local pollution preven
tion efforts.
Midwest Cities: Good Neighbor Dialogues Give Voice to
Community Concerns
Citizens for a Better Environment (CBE) provided technical and
financial support to local grassroots organizations to help facilitate con-
structive partnerships among communities and local industries. In
Chicago and Minneapolis, CBE helped communities establish Good
Neighbor Dialogues that provided residents with the opportunity to mee
directly with plant managers to discuss environmental concerns and pol-
lution prevention opportunities. CBE also helped
community groups in Chicago by ensuring their
concerns were included in a Supplemental
Environmental Project (SEP) undertaken by a
local company in response to its violation of an
environmental law. As part of its settlement
agreement, the company agreed to clean up an
abandoned industrial site and restore a local wet-
land. Partly due to CBE's efforts, EPA revised its
SEP guidelines to reflect the potential for citizen
involvement in developing SEP ideas.
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Jefferson County, Kentucky: Forging Constructive Partnerships
Between Industry and the Community
In the West End neighborhood, a low-
income community in Jefferson County,
Kentucky, the University of Louisville
provided technical assistance to the West
County Task Force to open a dialogue
with 12 local industries in a local syn-
thetic rubber complex and collaborative-
ly develop an air toxics monitoring
program for their community. As a result:of its technical assistance, the
University of Louisville helped the West End community obtain an
additional $550,000 in grants from the state; and federal government to
set up a local air pollution control district, establish a community air
pollution information center, and develop an air toxics monitoring pro-
gram to track more than 70 chemicals using EPA methods. To imple-
ment the air toxics monitoring
program, the University of
Louisville facilitated meetings
between local industry and the
community to select 13 moni-
toring sites throughout the
neighborhood. The meetings
also led to the identification of
four additional air pollutants
that are released by local indus-
try but not covered by the EPA
methods.
continue to build solid
relatioriships'betuteen tfie
community and local busi-
nesses through, our.. Good
Neighborhood Dialogues."
i •"- -" £-~
—Citizens for a Better Environment
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Educating Communitie
About Pollution
Prevention
hrough EJP2 outreach and technical assistance projects, communi-
ty members learned valuable skills needed to make informed envi-
ronmental decisions and press for environmental change in their
communities. Community workshops, television broadcasts, brochures,
and newsletters are some of the methods EJP2 grantees used to teach resi-
dents about the importance of implementing pollution prevention meas-
ures in their homes and communities. To ensure the effectiveness of
outreach campaigns in communities where language and cultural differ-
ences exist, such as immigrant communities, EJP2 grantees developed
bilingual and culturally appropriate educational materials and programs.
New York, New York: Pollution Prevention Education for
Harlem Residents
The Harlem Environmental Impact Project (HEIP) educated low-
income residents of Harlem on environmental issues, enabling them to
make informed decisions about the environmental quality of their neigh-
borhood and address local environmental justice issues. HEIP held six
workshops that provided approximately 100 attendees with information
on local environmental issues such as air pollution, sewage treatment
plants, brownfields, and childhood lead poisoning.
Additionally, HEIP produced broadcast-quality
videos of the workshops, which were aired on pub-
lic access television, reaching an estimated 20,000
people.
HEIP established the Harlem P2 .Council
(HPPC), including leaders from local community
organizations, city government officials, commu-
nity centers, and schools. HPPC developed strate-
gies for providing pollution prevention outreach
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to the community and made recommendations to government officials at
the local and state level concerning environmental justice issues in
Harlem. As a result of HEIP's efforts, the City Council of New York City
authorized a $3,000 allocation to HPPC to continue community out-
reach efforts.
Lowell, Massachusetts: Hazardous Waste Disposal Education
for Cambodians ';;•-; ;'
The Waste Watch Center (WWC), located in Lowell, Massachusetts,
partnered with the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA)
to provide information to Cambodian residents on appropriate disposal
of used motor oil and other household hazardous wastes. Together, the
WWC and CMAA sponsored activi-
ties that promoted the proper dispos- t"~i~" "TTV-)'
al of used motor oil. A "Change Your The EJE2 grant
Oil Day" offering free oil changes to helped~US develop a
interested parties attracted more successful, Culturally
than 200 individuals. Additionally, . _, , . , .
W7W71^ j ^, A A j t i appropriate program to
WWC and CMAA developed a i. " 71 ' •
bilingual automotive wastes brochure teach pollution preven-
and distributed it to Cambodians via tion to Cambodian
* £-• IX I" f>-
community retailers and social serv- drivers who change
ice agencies. In order to deter indi- T . .f „
., , r j .1 i their own oil.
viduals from dumping hazardous
wastes into city storm drains and to ' —Waste.Watch Center
raise awareness about water quality
issues, the grantee placed 425 storm
drain markers throughout Cambodian neighborhoods. CMAA held a
Southeast Asian Water Festival at which WWC handed out water quali-
ty and household hazardous waste information to attendees. An informal
survey of 32 festival attendees determined that 26 individuals recognized
the storm drain markers and understood their purpose.
The grantee noted that aside from attaining the project objectives, out-
reach efforts stimulated considerable activity within the Cambodian com-
munity of Lowell. Residents of the Cambodian community improved or
established relationships with a number of city agencies. In addition, the
community enhanced its visibility and prominence in Lowell by demon-
strating its commitment to a cleaner environment.
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Promoting Efficient
Resource Use Within
Communities
JP2 grantees focused on making communities more resource effi-
cient through pollution prevention by demonstrating energy effi-
ciency in housing, promoting alternative transportation, and
creating urban gardens. Demonstration projects coupled with education
enabled grantees to supply essential pollution prevention and environ-
mental quality information to residents while providing them with bene-
ficial services. ;
Grantees worked with communities to improve housing in low-income
neighborhoods and to provide energy-saving options in improved struc-,
tures. In addition to weatherization and other services, grantees provided
educational materials on energy reduction, household hazardous waste,
and other pollution pre-
vention measures to mem- ~ -,-„,-- > ' '- '" " -* -
bers of targeted ' "Becdus& oft/ie B/P2 grant, we
communities. Partnering i -*- "~~'TI*J -"77. 7
vi 11. . nave been able to establish, a
with public transportation . „ -- ~ * X; ¥ 2- X
agencies enabled a num- permanent poll^tionffieyention
her of grantees to improve program in the county."
the quality of service to
i . . . —Escambig. County, Florida
low-income, minority
neighborhoods. One
grantee convinced a local transportation agency to purchase more fuel-
efficient buses. A number of communities wanting to improve resource
efficiency used EJP2 funds to establish urban gardening centers in low-
income neighborhoods. These centers united residents and involved them
in community improvement projects. Urban garden projects prevented
pollution by giving community residents the opportunity to learn and
practice organic farming techniques that eliminate the use of pesticides
and other chemicals that can pollute groundwater or contaminate food.
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Atlanta, Georgia: Energizing Atlanta Neighborhoods About
Pollution Prevention ,
The EJP2 grant project conducted by the Southface Energy Institute
focused on helping affordable housing providers in the Atlanta
Empowerment Zone cut energy waste.
Partnering with a number of affordable
housing organizations and networks,
Southface helped Habitat for Humanity
design 20 houses that exhibited energy
efficiency; provided technical assistance
on energy efficiency to the Historic
District Development Corporation,
located in the Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Historic District; worked in cooperation
with the Community Housing Resource
Center in an effort to provide energy-
efficient tools and materials at whole-
sale cost to contractors; developed a
training program on resource efficiency
and environmentally sound, affordable housing; and provided onsite ener-
gy-efficiency inspections for a number of homes.
Through the grant project, Southface trained more then 300 housing
and policy professionals, provided more than 1,000 hours of direct tech-
nical assistance, worked with more than one dozen affordable housing
groups, and improved more than 330 homes. As a result of the project,
Southface estimates reductions of 1,237 tons of carbon dioxide, 25,099
pounds of sulfur dioxide, and 9,095 pounds of nitrogen oxides.
Boston, Massachusetts: Improving Transportation, Decreasing
Pollution
Neighborhoods Against Urban Pollution (NAUP) is a collaborative
effort of six Boston-based neighborhood organizations and environmental
nonprofits. NAUP developed a grant project that addressed citizens'
concerns about environmental health hazards resulting from emissions
from diesel fuel buses. The grantee encourage^ the Massachusetts Bay
Transportation Authority (MBTA) to reduce diesel emissions from MBTA
buses and to improve transit service overall to underserved neighborhoods.
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Additionally, NAUP raised community awareness on the hazards of diesel
exhaust and the potential for preventing pollution by replacing diesel
buses with cleaner, alternative-fuel buses. As a result of NAUP's work,
MBTA committed to cease buying additional conventional diesel buses
and brought four alternative-fuel prototype buses into service.
Los Angeles, California: Greening Communities Through
Gardening
The Los Angeles Conservation Corps' (LACC's) Greening Exchange
Project helped low-income areas of Los Angeles develop community gar-
dens that were used as tools to educate residents about how to develop
productive gardens without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, anc
herbicides. Through this project, LACC established the Los Angeles
Community Garden Council, which advocates for community gardens
throughout Los Angeles. In addition, LACC
gathered and distributed donated gardening
materials, supplies, tools, and equipment, !
and trained community gardeners in organic
gardening, i.;' •• . j
The Greening Exchange Project was
extremely successful and popular among the
residents of the targeted communities. The
project resulted in the creation of 18 com-
munity gardens that are now growing fruits,
vegetables, and herbs organically in under-
served areas of Los Angeles. It secured
approximately $88,000 in donated materials, supplies, tools, and equip-
ment for use in the community gardens and provided training for
approximately 300 community gardeners in organic intensive gardening.
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Fostering Youth
Ed u cation-and
nvolvement
JP2 youth education programs taught students about a variety of envi-
' ronmental issues, including industrial pollution and household haz-
.ardous waste; trained students to become effective community
advocates; and linked them to local environmental professionals, who pro-
vided mentorship and potential internship opportunities. According to EJP2
grantees, students often brought home what they learned in youth education
programs by encouraging their families to implement pollution prevention
measures and informing them of community environmental concerns.
New York, New York:
Teaching Students to Become
Environmental Advocates
Through the Training Student
Organizers (TSO) Program, the
Council on the Environment (COE)
helped students in the heavily pollut-
ed Greenpoint and Williamsburg
communities of New York City to
address environmental concerns in
their neighborhood. COE developed
and used its Greenpoint/
Williamsburg Environmental
Education project curriculum to train
students to become community advo-
cates. COE involved students from
eight area schools in weekly classes and environmental projects on a vari-
ety of issues, including water quality, community toxics, source reduction,
energy conservation, air quality, and sustainable development. Over 2
years, COE trained 1,307 students who completed more than 20 environ-
mental improvement projects in their communities.
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With assistance from COE, students learned how to: promote pollu-
tion prevention in their community (through presentations, demonstra-
tions, and events at school); access government technical assistance
programs; contact environmental experts; hold public meetings; write
letters and press releases; conduct environmental surveys in their neigh-
borhoods and homes; develop environmental outreach materials (includ
ing fact sheets, advertisements, and educational posters); and
communicate with local businesses. Over 2 years, TSO students reached
more than 3,300 local residents and 2,800 students through pollution
prevention outreach and training activities.
Somervilie, Massachusetts: Preventing
Pollution While Teaching Youth Valuable
Job Skills ; *'
Through an internship program, the
Community Action Agency of Somervilie
(CAAS) trained 12 Haitian and Latin
American youth as peer leaders who conducted
pollution prevention technical assistance to 10
auto repair shops in low-income communities
in Somervilie, Massachusetts. Peer leaders ; •
developed a checklist for completing hour-long
onsite visits and worked directly with auto-
related businesses, performing detailed pollution prevention assessments
After each assessment, the peer leaders prepared a report that rated eact
business' environmental performance and provided pollution prevention
recommendations specific to that business. The internship program cre-
ated a level of cooperation not generally found by the Somervilie
Environmental Protection Office when providing nonregulatory techni-
cal assistance through workshops or onsite assistance conducted by city
workers. The peer leaders quickly learned the pollution prevention and
skills development material, which improved their confidence and raisec
their sights for jobs and future educational opportunities. The Somervill
Board of Alderman awarded citations to the peer,leaders for demonstrat-
ing leadership, intelligence, and hard work during the training and proj-
ects they completed under the internship program.
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Demonstrating
Agricultural Pollution
Prevention
|esticides, fertilizers, and soil erosion from farms can cause water pol-
lution problems in low-income, rural communities. In addition, con-
ventional agricultural practices can put the health of farm workers at
risk. To encourage farmers and ranchers to prevent pollution, EJP2
grantees demonstrated innovative farming methods and provided tools and
education on best management practices. In addition, to promote worker
safety, a number of grantees secured funding to help immigrant farm work-
ers initiate changes in farming practices.
Northwest Ohio: Reducing Pesticides, Increasing Worker Health
Protecting People through Pesticide Pollution Prevention, a program
undertaken by the WSOS (Wood, Sandusky, Ottawa, and Seneca:coun-
ties) Community Action Commission in northwest Ohio, focused on
protecting the health of migrant and seasonal farm workers and their
families by providing financial incentives to growers to adopt IPM meth-
ods. Under the EJP2 grant, the WSOS
Commission developed a cost-share pro-
gram that provided funding for 11 growers
to invest in pesticide pollution prevention
techniques. It designed, in partnership
with the Farm Labor Research Project, a
bilingual training curriculum for migrant
workers on the basics of IPM, which was
attended by 67 individuals.
The cost-share program raised more than $40,000, which was then
redistributed to growers to purchase equipment and implement pesticide
pollution prevention techniques. As a result, farmers managed 444 acres
of land using IPM techniques, conserving approximately 37,810 gallons
of chemical pesticides. i
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Adams, Cedar, and Custer Counties, Nebraska: Making an
IMPACT on Nebraska's Farmers
The Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society (NSAS) developed the
Nebraska IMPACT project, which provided financial and technical
assistance to small agricultural groups in low-income rural areas to pro-
mote pollution prevention methods. These IMPACT groups designed ar
monitored on-farm pollution prevention experiments; provided outreacr
to more than 200 other farmers through educational workshops, site toui
and field days; and gave presentations on their IMPACT activities at
meetings and cooperative extension events, reaching an additional 180
, „ . < ^ .»- farmers and extension personnel.
*j£4 p-Tpo""" ->^^e NS^S herped the groups develop
yV_l n£ EtJJ. Z grant^ ^ ~ materials, prepare presentations, an<
„ allqwe^US to address „ ^ advertise their demonstrations and
f the social barriers to " wbricshops in the NSAS newsletter.
' pollution prevention as *' ^H^ °f ^farm experiments
^" • ~ , i included raising chickens in mov-
as provide techni^ ^ _ able, bottomless pens on pasturelan<
assistance.-, which^ to' diffuse the impact of chicken
, Was crucial to the SUC- " W^st4 usin£ g°ats to control weeds
^ess Of the project."' ' - ^ eliminate the need for herbicides
«. ^ , M *. -, and practicing a management-
„ " " \ - —Nebraska Sustainable interisive cattle grazing method tor
1 - " " ^ Agncult^ Society reduce the ne£^ for chemical fertiliz
,. "" ~ * " ers oh pastureland.
IMPACT outreach activities increased interest in pollution preventio
among farmers and cooperative extension personnel. Membership in
IMPACT groups increased, and more farmers contacted the groups for
technical assistance. Cooperative extension personnel also increased
their level of support to farmers interested in using pollution prevention
methods. In addition to preventing pollution, many farmers discovered
sustainable agriculture methods increased their profits because consume]
were willing to pay a premium price for products grown in this fashion.
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Improving HTribai
Environments
Iribes face a number of unique challenges when addressing environ-
mental problems in their communities. These include air and
water pollution caused by off-reservation activities, a lack ofi tribal
environmental infrastructure such as legislation and enforcement meas-
ures, limited tribal financial resources, and difficulty gaining access to
state and federal technical assistance programs due to typically remote
tribal locations. EJP2 provided funding for outreach to tribal communities
and provided technical assistance to tribal businesses. EJP2 also helped
tribes develop overall strategies to address environmental concerns :and .
promoted the development of tribal environmental legislation and other
environmental infrastructure essential for pollution prevention.
Grantees conducted two types of trib-
al projects: demonstration projects and
general outreach and education.
Demonstration projects combined pollu-
tion prevention and environmental edu-
cation with hands-on experience. The
scope of demonstration projects varied
from resource/energy-efficient housing
designs to developing integrated pest management systems. General tribal
outreach projects focused on supplying tribes with pollution prevention
and general environmental education to enable them to make informed
decisions and assist in the improvement of their communities.
Rosebud Sioux and Blackfeet Indian Tribes: Integrating Cultural
Design and Resource Efficiency ,, ;
To combat the housing crisis facing the Rosebud Sioux and Blackfeet
Indian Tribes (located in South Dakota and Northwest Montana), the Waste
Reduction Institute for Training and Applications Research (WRITAR)
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secured EJP2 grant funds to create housing1 designs that would be not only
resource- and energy-efficient, but also reflective of Native American cultui
values and traditions. Energy-efficient housing prevents pollution by reducii
the demand for fossil fuel energy and the air pollution associated with it.
Community-based housing design workshops allowed WRITAR to ascertaii
the needs of the communities as well as involve tribal members in the desig
and construction of the housing. Additionally, WRITAR collaborated with
the Center for Resourceful Building Technology, the University of Oklahon
College of Architecture, and the American Indian Council of Architects ar
Engineers to develop an affordable, sustainable housing model—the Rosebu
Design. This energy-efficient model, a single-family home that can be modi
fied to meet owner specifications, cost less than $11,000 for materials. The
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recognized the proje
through its Building Innovation for Home Ownership Award Program.
Through open communication with tribal members on their housing
needs and economic means, WRITAR developed a culturally and envi-
ronmentally responsive building design that is affordable to those resid-
ing in low-income areas. l|
Lower Sioux Tribe: Energizing the Community About
Alternative Power Sources ;
The Lower Sioux community, located in Minnesota, sought to find
environmentally friendly sources of energy to support tribal economic
development and maintain community stability. EJP2 grant funds '
enabled the Tribe to conduct a wind feasibility study, provide education
and outreach materials for community members, and establish a wind
energy demonstration project. The grantee faced challenges such as flue
tuations in wind energy and problems with the contractor. The obstacle
however, did not cause the Lower Sioux to waver in their pursuit of an
alternative energy source.
Through determination and perseverance, the Lower Sioux successful
ly constructed a fully operational demonstration unit, created education
al materials for the public, and distributed energy-savings information tc
450 members of the community. .
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For more information on the
EJP2 grant program, including
an upcoming report dpcu-**
v 'V*1 «x^»*& '""&{ Jd; *** * ^ Jl •
menting grantee activjties~and
results, visit our Web site at
w^ "
or
call thejEJ^Z information li
.at 703 841-0483
will include more, snapshots
EJP2 projects as
^©ilaSters contributing
to grantee success.
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