&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
Washington, DC 20460
OSWER 9200.3-16-1 DRAFT
PB94-963225
EPA540/R-94/004
April 25, 1994
OSWER
Environmental Justice
Task Force
Draft Final Report
Executive Summary
Presented to
Elliott P. Laws
Assistant Administrator
Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
-------
Ibis page is intentional left blank.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5, Library (PL-12J)
77 West Jackson [:• -^vard, 12th Floor
Chicago, IL 60G;j:, J590
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK
FORCE REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
O
INTRODUCTION y~^Vver the last decade, concern about the impact of environmental
pollution on particular population groups has been growing.
There is a widespread belief that minority populations and/or low-
income populations may bear disproportionately high and adverse human health
and environmental effects from pollution. This belief has resulted in a
movement to assure environmental justice for all populations.
Several studies have been conducted by a variety of organizations (e.g.,
National Law Journal, United Church of Christ) which conclude that certain
communities are at special risk from environmental threats. The authors of
these studies have concluded that the implementation of key environmental laws
have not historically provided protection to all citizens and that certain
populations are more vulnerable than others to health threats from environmental
pollution. These studies suggest that vulnerabilities may stem from multiple
exposure situations exacerbated by other socio-economic factors, such as poor
health care and lack of adequate nutrition. Many groups have concluded that the
government must take these issues into account in its decision-making processes,
research and data collection.
Early in her tenure as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
Administrator, Carol Browner designated the pursuit of environmental justice
as one of the Agency's top priorities. In response to concerns voiced by many
groups outside the Agency, the Assistant Administrator of the Office of Solid
Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), Elliott P. Laws, on November 29,
1993, directed the formation of a task force to analyze environmental justice
issues specific to waste programs and develop recommendations to address
these issues. President Clinton signed an Executive Order on Environmental
Justice (February 11,1994) ("Executive Order") which focused the attention
ofFederal agencies on environmental justice issues. EPA iscurrently developing
an Agency-wide strategy pursuant to the Executive Order. The requirements of
the Executive Order provide extra emphasis to the mission of the OSWER task
force.
Formation of Task Force
The Superfund Revitalization Office was vested with the lead responsibility for
the formation and administration of the OSWER Environmental Justice Task Force.
The membership of the Task Force included more than 60 people and had representatives
of all OSWER program areas (i.e., RCRA, Superftind, Chemical Emergency
Preparedness, Federal Facilities, Technology Innovation, Oil Pollution, Underground
Storage Tanks), the Regions and other EPA offices with an interest in waste programs
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
and environmental justice. In addition, three other Federal agencies participated (i.e.,
DOJ, ATSDR, NIEHS) and representatives of two professional associations of
employees with site response roles (i.e., National OSC Association and National
Association of RPMs) participated. Meetings were conducted on a regular basis to
identify and conduct an analysis of the major OSWER environmental justice issues, and
to discuss the Task Force's recommendations. It should be noted that the OSWER
Environmental Justice Task Force report does not focus on enforcement initiatives
since these will be addressed by the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
under the new EPA organization.
Outreach Efforts
The Task Force conducted a series of outreach meetings with entities inside and
outside the Agency to gain input from a spectrum of affected groups coping with
environmental justice issues. A variety of stakeholders were contacted via letters, their
comments were solicited and 17 letters were received with suggestions for the Task
Force to consider. In addition, meetings were held with these stakeholder groups to
explore their comments on the March 15,1994, draft of the strategy. The Task Force
also met with Congressional staff, State and local government representatives,
environmental and community group representatives, and labor and industry groups to
get their comments on the approach proposed in the March 15,1994 draft strategy.
The Task Force also traveled to four EPA Regions (3,4,6, and 9) to gain
insight on Regional activities regarding environmental justice. The Task Force
chairman also met with each Office Director of individual OSWER programs to ensure
that the recommendations under development would be supported by these program
managers. TheOSWERTaskForcedeterminedthat environmental justice stakeholders
included: community organizations, nonprofit organizations, environmental groups,
business, industry, academia, Federal, State and tribal governments and labor.
Final Executive Order on Environmental Justice
and Proposed Superfund Legislation
In February the Clinton administration proposed Superfund reauthorization
legislation and the President signed an Executive Order on environmental justice. Both
are relevant to the Task Force's activities.
The Executive Order on Environmental Justice calls for all Federal agencies
to make environmental justice a part of their mission and to develop their own
environmental justice strategies. All agency strategies must consider enforcement of
statutes in areas withminority populations andlow-incomepopulations.greaterpublic
participation, improvement of research and identification of differential patterns of
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
GOALS FOR OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
subsistence use of natural resources. In addition, EPA is to convene an Interagency
Federal Working Group on environmental justice. The group's responsibilities will
include: identifying disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental
effects on minority populations and low-income populations; ensuring consistency of
Federal implementation of the executive order; assisting in research and coordination
of research efforts; coordinating data collection; and developing interagency model
projects. The Executive Order requires that agencies conduct activities that
substantially effect human health or the environment in a nondiscriminatory manner.
Finally, the Executive Order requires better data collection and research and declares
that whenever practicable and appropriate, future human health research must look at
diverse segments of population and must identify multiple and cumulative exposures.
The Executive Order also applies equally to Native American programs.
OnFebruary 3,1994, the Clinton Administration provided proposedlegislation
to amend and to reauthorize the Superfund law. Several key provisions in the bill
impactingenvironmentaljusticeinclude: l)arequirementthatstandardsbepromulgated
and procedures for assessing risks from multiple sources be developed, 2) a requirement
multiple sources of risk be taken into account when determining cleanup priorities, 3)
a requirement that demonstration projects be conducted related to multiple sources of
risk at designated facilities, 4) under certain circumstances, provision of health benefits
to communities surrounding facilities that are subject of demonstration projects be
considered and 5) a requirement that an offer be made to form Community Working
Groups for factoring stakeholder input into specific site cleanup activities.
GOALS FOR OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
The Task Force examined a variety of goals suggested by the participants and
focused on the two goals developed by the Agency-wide Environmental Justice Task
Force. The Agency-wide goals as currently drafted are:
Goal 1: Achieve environmental protection for all, so that no segmentof
the population, regardless of race, national origin or income, bears disproportionately
high and adverse effects of environmental pollution and that all peoples benefit from
clean and sustainable communities.
Goal 2: Educate and empower affected communities, community and
other nonprofit organizations, federal agencies, tribal, state and local governments,
academic institutions, business and industry to ensure earlyparticipationinenvironmental
issues, form partnerships, to achieve environmental justice and to help promote
sustainable communities.
No conflicts were seen by the OSWER Task Force members between the
Agency-wide goals and those being examined by OSWER. Out of this examination,
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
REPORT CONTENTS
the Task Force began to develop an overall OSWER strategy and to identify major
OSWER environmental justice issues. Six key areas were the focus of the TaskForce's
recommendations. They were:
1) Empowering communities, Improving OSWER programs'
communications with these communities, and establishing trust of
EPA in the communities;
2) Incorporating environmental justice concerns Into all OSWER
decision-making and eliminating any potential for discrimination;
3) Increasing the priority of consideration of environmental justice
Issues on a national and Regional basis and in our relationships
with States;
4) Incorporating environmental justice Issues Into OSWER risk
assessment and risk management processes, including
consideration of multiple/cumulative risk;
5) Integrating consideration of economic redevelopment and job
creation with environmental justice;
6) Developing employees and new job candidates who are well-
trained and sensitive to environmental justice Issues.
REPORT CONTENTS
The OSWER Environmental Justice Task Force Report describes the
recommendations of the members which form a strategy for addressing the key
environmental justice issues raised by the many studies and evaluations conducted over
the last decade. The Task Force made a conceited effort to identify, in detail, explicit
actions, both OSWER-wide and program-specific, which can be takenby Headquarters
and the Regions. In addition to changes in policies or development of new guidance
documents, specific projects to be undertaken by the Regions are also described.
SUMMARY OF KEY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
TheTask Force found that the issues and recommendations fell into two main
divisions: those which cut across all waste programs and those which primarily were
directed to a specific program. OSWER-wide issues/recommendations fell into the
following categories: guidelines for environmental justice, Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act, communications/outreach/training, economic redevelopment, cumulative risk,
contracts/grants/labor issues, Federal interagency cooperation issues, internal
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OSWER-WiDE RECOMMENDATIONS
organizational issues and program implementation, and Native American/tribal issues.
Resource Conservationand Recovery Act (RCRA) issues focused on: siting, permitting,
State programs and corrective action. Superfund issues/recommendations were
primarily concerned with meaningful community involvement, site assessment, risk
assessment/risk management, and Native American/tribal issues. The oil, preparedness,
underground storage tank, training, technology innovation and Federal facilities
programs all had critical outreach issues/recommendations, as well as more specific
items.
The following sections briefly summarize the major recommendations forboth
OSWER-wide and program-specific areas.
OSWER-Wide Recommendations
Guidelines for Environmental Justice
Task Force participants, including the EPA Regions, felt that there was a need
to keep a flexible working definition with regard to sites/areas with environmental
justice concerns. This flexibility allows the specific circumstances to determine
whether OSWER programs have a need to address environmental justice issues at those
particular sites/areas. Therefore, the Task Force recommended the development of
guidelines for identifying communities that either raise or would be likely to raise
environmental justice issues.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
Several environmental justice advocates are currently exploring the use of Title
VI to achieve environmental justice. Title VI requires that any program or activity
receiving Federal funding be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner. In those
instances where Title VI complaints arise linked to permitting of new facilities and a
careful review of EPA and State standards have been conducted to ensure that standards
have been followed, the Task Force has recommended that mediation, possibly
including discussion of alternate sites for the facility(ies), be used to settle disputes. In
certain cases, the Task Force has suggested that it may be appropriate to consider
performing a risk assessment if one has not already been conducted. The OSWER Task
Force also recommended that the possibility be explored of using public health
assessments as screening tools in circumstances deemed appropriate by OSWER.
Other recommendations regarding Title VI issues are that OSWER work closely with
the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the Office of General Counsel and other affected
offices to develop a strategy to respond effectively to Title VI complaints affecting
waste programs and in addition, to evaluate where possible, ways in which to prevent
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OSWER-WiDE RECOMMENDATIONS
further complaints. These may include routine communication with OCR with regard
to RCRA permit and Superfund issues and review of State programs using RCRA or
Superfund authorities to ensure that implementation is not discriminatory. The
Department of Justice is another valuable source to assist OSWER in these matters.
Outreach, Communications and Partnerships
As pointed out in the analysis of the goals and objectives of the OSWER Task
Force, Task Force members wanted to find ways to improve communications, develop
trust and involve the affected communities. To that end, the OSWER Task Force
recommended that OSWER should establish a Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA) subcommittee as part of the Agency's first National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council to specifically provide advice and consultation to OSWER on
environmental justice issues with regard to waste programs and in conjunction with
efforts of the Agency-wide efforts to examine environmental justice issues under the
National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. The Task Force also recommends
that a directive be issued by the Assistant Administrator that requires all OSWER
policies and regulations to consider environmental justice implications. In the area of
training, OSWER will focus on internal and external areas to be strengthened. This will
include training of Headquarters and Regional personnel on cultural diversity and
environmental justice. It will also include the exploration of methods to provide funds
for training of outside groups to educate them on the specifics of the OSWER programs
so they can be effective participants in the waste programs processes. Regions are to
conduct, on an annual basis, public forum meetings for outreach on environmental
justice issues. The Task Force has also recommended that OSWER and the Regions
explore the creation of business and industry, stakeholder and other types of public/
private partnerships to address environmental justice concerns. Finally, OSWER
Headquarters and the Regions are to be proactive in the use of the Geographic
Information System (GlS)program to identify potentialgeographic areas of environmental
justice concern, i.e., define potential patterns of inequity.
Economic Redevelopment
Several studies have asserted that communities with minority populations and
low-income populations may bear a disproportionate share of economic distress due to
the fact that these populations may be concentrated in older urban areas or rural areas
where pollution has taken place over a number of years. The OSWER Environmental
Justice Task Force concluded that there were a number of recommendations which
could be implemented to assist in economic redevelopment One recommendation is that
the current brownfields redevelopment pilot effort with Cleveland, Ohio, to assess
potential contamination and encourage voluntary cleanup activities, be expanded.
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OSWER-WiDE RECOMMENDATIONS
OSWER will expand the pilot effort to a minimum of seven other cities. In addition,
OSWER currently has also targeted the Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland
as a pilot for development of a curriculum to train students on environmental issues and
prepare them to take their place in the workplace in hazardous materials cleanup
activities. This pilot effort will also be expanded through the Hazardous Materials
Training and Research Institute toothercommunity colleges in areas with environmental
justice concerns. The Task Force also recommended that OSWER explore additional
options to expand these training efforts (e.g., working with labor unions and the
Department of Labor). OSWER will also focus redevelopment efforts in coordination
with the pre-established Housing and Urban Development (HUD) empowermentzones.
Cumulative Risk
As a result of the many studies and concerns expressed regarding populations
exposed to multiple sources or contaminants, the OSWER TaskForce also recommended
that OSWER support Agency-wide efforts to develop scientifically valid standards to
measure cumulative risk.
Federal Inter-Agency Cooperation
Several of the OSWER programs involve extensive interaction with other
Federal agencies, such as the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
(ATSDR) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NTEHS).
OSWER will be a participant in the Federal Interagency Working Group and will
coordinate its efforts with those of the larger group. Both ATSDR and NIEHS had
participants on the OSWER Task Force and all Task Force members agreed that
OSWER would coordinate efforts on environmental justice activities with these
agencies. In addition, the OSWER Task Force recommended that OSWER work with
the Department of Justice and other Federal agencies on appropriate projects. A need
to expand partnerships with other Federal agencies was identified by the Task Force
members. Specific recommendations included: continuing to participate in the
minority health program of ATSDR (e.g., Mississippi Delta Project), coordination of
training efforts, working with NIEHS on outreach pilots for training of local waste
workers, working to improve communications between workers and communities to
enhance safety and protection, and working together with other Federal agencies to
address issues raised at specific sites or areas with environmental justice concerns.
Contracts/Grants/Labor
In exploring contracts, grants and labor issues, the OSWER Task Force found
many limitations imposed by existing regulations for both grants and procurement
linked to existing requirements forthe competitive processes forbothFederal and State
contracting. However, there were still some areas which OSWER can strengthen.
These include encouraging our contractors to hire persons in "labor surplus" areas
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OSWER-WiDE RECOMMENDATIONS
(usually areas ofhigh unemployment) and establishing monetary incentives to encourage
subcontracting to small disadvantaged businesses. OSWER will work with the Office
of Acquisition Management and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business
Utilization to expand the use of the contractor mentor/protege program. In addition,
OSWER may engage in outreach efforts to our contractor community to stress the
importance of environmental justice and the need for reemployment in areas with
environmental justice concerns. In the longer term, OSWER will also explore the need
for regulatory change in coordination with other Agency efforts to expand employment
of local labor in affected communities. OSWER will also explore opportunities to
cooperate with other Federal agencies with regard to the development of a skilled labor
force in disadvantaged areas.
Internal Training, Organization, and Program Implementation
The OSWER Task Force also considered changes to the structure of OSWER
and how it currently operates in the context of environmental justice. It was clear that
coordination between various program areas needed to be strengthened. The
recommendation by the OSWER Task Force was to establish a clear focal point with
access to senior management to coordinate issues related to environmental justice,
community outreach, State/local/tribal government and economic redevelopment issues
and to establish an OSWER environmental justice workgroup with representatives
across all programs to focus on these issues. One of the OSWER Deputy Assistant
Administrators should be designated as the senior organizational focal point for
environmental justice issues and activities. It was also recommended that a single
person be designated as an Environmental Justice coordinator for the Assistant
Administrator. Other recommendations included the development of a hotline for
OSWER-specific environmental justice issues and for OSWER to educate its employees
on environmental justice.
In addition, changes to implementation of the programs in the Regions were
also considered. One key recommendation was that each Region should look across
their waste programs and select one additional project to pilot creative new ideas for
addressing environmental justice concerns in a specific geographic area. Regions will
nominate what will be the most appropriate project within their Region.
Native Americans/Tribes
The Task Force also found that Native American/Tribal issues were unique.
OS WER-wide recommendations included: the need to examine ways to increase EPA
and other Federal agency technical assistance to tribal governments; initiation of pilots
to implement environmental program activities with other Federal agencies on tribal
lands; and cosponsoring the second National Tribal Conference on Environmental
Management.
8
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OSWER PROGRAM-SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS
OSWER Program-Specific Recommendations
In its deliberations, the Task Force discovered that each program area also
presented unique issues and opportunities to develop recommendations to address
environmental justice issues. The following sections address the recommendations on
a program-specific basis that will be implemented by the individual OSWER program
offices in cooperation with the EPA Regions.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) program issues/
recommendations focused on six major areas. These included siting, permitting, public
involvement, corrective action, disproportionate impacts and Native American/Tribal
issues. Forsiting. the primary recommendations included the development of technical
assistance guidance for States and local governments to use when considering the
location of RCRA facilities. This guidance would assist these entities in determining
criteria to consider with regard to environmental justice issues when making a
determination with regard to siting a facility. The Office of Solid Waste (OS W) will
also hold a meeting with State and local governments to inform them of EPA's
environmental justice concerns in conjunction with siting and discuss potential
solutions. A national summary will be compiled of existing State and local government
requirements for siting with regard to environmental justice. The Office of Solid Waste
(OSW) will, most importantly, form a workgroup to evaluate location standards,
environmental justice issues and setback distances in relation to siting of facilities.
Forpennitting. OSW will examine means to factor environmental justice into
its public health considerations and will also find ways to expand public involvement
on siting (in conjunction with workgroup efforts on location standards) and permitting
issues. With regard to Title VI complaints, the Task Force also has suggested that
OSWER explore the possibility of using risk assessments, where they have not already
been developed, to provide additional information on threats to public health and the
environment. In addition, OSW and the Regions will interpret existing authority to
require EPA to fully consider the nature of environmental justice complaints prior to
final permit determinations. In the public involvement area, OSW will determine
methods to incorporate environmental justice into the annual RCRA Implementation
Plan development process and into the State capacity assurance plan guidance.
Methods will also be established to create interaction at an early stage with States and
communities. OSW will also performdemographics research to examine populations
and income around various combustion sites.
For the RCRA corrective action program, OSW will examine whether its
current priority setting method adequately addresses environmental justice concerns
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OSWER PROGRAM-SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS
and will also ensure that future activities undertaken regarding environmental justice are
consistent with similar activities undertaken by the Superfund program.
For Native Americans/Tribes. the RCRA program will pursue a pilot project
to provide access to States and Regional programs on the Tribal IndianNet Access
bulletin board. A key recommendation is also for OSW to draft a rule that would allow
tribes to be authorized to run programs as States.
Superfund
The Superfund program focused on several areas of concern. One of the most
significant areas was that of community involvement/outreach. One of the major
recommendations which also parallels provisions of the Administration proposal to
amend Superfund is the establishment of Community Advisory Groups for selected sites
with environmental justice concerns. Regions will identify ten sites for establishment
of Community Advisory Groups by the end of this fiscal year and will implement
Community Advisory Group activities at these sites by the end of FY1995. The Office
of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR) will develop guidance describing the
membership, functions, objectives and scope of authority for Community Advisory
Groups at Superfund sites. In addition, Regions will work with other Federal agencies
to establish, for sites with several issues beyond the scope of Superfund, interagency
working groups to address these issues (e.g., employment, housing, health clinics) to
provide a forum for especially endangered communities to discuss issues which EPA
cannot address.
To address concerns regarding early identification of sites in areas of
environmental justice concern, OERR will work with the Regions to pilot proactive site
assessment efforts during the site assessment phase of the Superfund process. Also in
concert with Administration proposals to amend Superfund and requirements of the
Executive Order, OSWER will work with other EPA programs, and with health
agencies to examine currentrisk assessment approaches. After this effort is complete,
OSWER will develop tools for the site manager to factor in multiple exposures and
unique risk scenarios in coordination with overall Agency efforts with regard to risk
assessment.
The last major set of recommendations concern the Superfundriskmanagement
process. OERR, in cooperation with the Regions, will evaluate the remedy selection
process and the speed of cleanup to determine the effects on areas with minority
populations and low-income populations. This analysis will assist Regions in early
identification of potential areas of concern before the major environmental justice issues
arise at the individual sites. In addition, OSWER will work with the Office of
Enforcement to encourage potentially responsible parties and other Federal agencies to
find a means to address problems associated with multiple sources of environmental
risk, including lead contamination resulting from lead paint use inside of buildings.
10
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OSWER PROGRAM-SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS
Finally with respect to Narivq American/Tribal issues, OERR will continue efforts to
provide technical assistance and build response capacity with tribal entities.
Oil Pollution Act
The magnitude of the totalnumber of oil storage facilities is enormous and quite
difficult to quantify. A comprehensive list of these facilities does not exist at this time.
OERR will work with the Regions to identify major oil storage facilities existing in
communities with environmental justice concerns that are under EPA purview. Based
upon this assessment, OERR will develop anoutreach and education strategy to ensure
that communities recognize the potential risk for releases within their communities and
OERR will also work with the Regions to target inspections of facilities in these
communities and take necessary enforcement actions to address potential risks of
releases.
Underground Storage Tanks
The recommendations with regard to the Underground Storage Tank (UST)
program highlighted a variety of areas. With regard to outreach, the Office of
Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) plans to issue a brochure to States and regulated
facilities regarding consideration of environmental justice issues. In addition, OUST
will explore ways to incorporate environmental justice concerns into thegrants process
with States and will attempt to find methods ofprovidingfiinds and technical assistance
to tribal governments. They will also provide guidance on considering environmental
justice as a qualitative factor in priority ranking systems for State-lead cleanup and
enforcement actions. Finally, OUST will pursue award of a grant (from funds other
than the Trust Fund) to the National Association of Minority Contractors to support
training and certification of local hires by States in UST programs.
Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention
The Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO)
evaluated issues and recommendations which primarily focused onoutreach. CEPPO
will develop a letter for the Administrator's signature which will be sent to Governors
of all 50 States which will discuss the need for Local Emergency Planning Committees
and Tribal Emergency Response Commissions to be truly representative of the
communities, especially in areas with environmental justice concerns. CEPPO will also
work with communities with environmental justice concerns to fully explain the
provisions of "community-right-to-know" legislation and how it may benefit their
communities. CEPPO has also developed a LandView computer system which
11
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
provides information on an ordinary personal computer or Macintosh regarding
potential risks on a geographic basis. CEPPO intends to expand the availability of this
system, particularly to communities with environmental justice concerns.
Training and Technology Innovation
The Technology Innovation Office has the lead responsibility for training new
Regional remedial projectmanagers and on-scene coordinators in the basic tenetsofthe
Superfund program. As part of the need to sensitize employees to environmental justice
issues, TIO has committed to develop a training module on these issues for the
CERCLA Education Center.
Regarding development and use of innovative technologies, TIO will work
with the Small Business Administration to promote development in the use of
innovative technologies by small businesses. In addition, TIO will conduct an analysis
of thedemograpnicsofarepresentativesampleofthe263SuperfundNational Priorities
List sites where innovative technologies have been used to determine whether there are
trends of interest with regard to environmental justice.
Federal Facilities
The major issues examined with regard to Federal facilities issues concerned
outreach. The current Federal facilities program has a legally constituted FACA
organization named the Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue
Committee (FFERDQ. A new focus of the mission of the FFERDC will be the
integration of environmental justice considerations into the current Site-specific
Advisory Boards and funding priorities. In addition, OSWER will evaluate closing
bases for any potential effects on communities with environmental justice concerns.
Base closings are well suited forthis analysis because one of the main goals of the base
closure program is the expeditious return of these properties to economic reuse in the
community.
RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
The OSWER Task Force Draft Final Report contains many wide-ranging
recommendations on ways for OSWER and the Regions to address environmental
justice concerns. However, in the current times of economic and fiscal constraint in the
Federal government, it is not possible for the program to implement all of the report's
recommendations for all sites, facilities or areas. OSWER recognizes that, given
Regional resource constraints.itwillnot be possible to implement these recommendations
in all circumstances. Each program area and each Regionmust now perform a resource
12
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK
analysis focusing on the major recommendations discussed in the preceding sections to
determine the extent to which these recommendations can be adopted and the necessity
for tradeoffs in other activities in order to implement these activities.
IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK
Each Headquarters program office and Region, consistent with the
recommendations in this draft final report, will be tasked with the responsibility of
developing draft implementation plans for the OSWER Environmental Justice
recommendations in their programs. The goal of these plans will be to detail the most
feasible and extensive implementation of these recommendations within current
resources over the next 17 months (by the end of FY 1995).
Hans will contain milestones, descriptions of activities planned for each of the
major recommendations (those contained in this Executive Summary and others to the
extent practicable), the timeframe for implementation and the extent to which
recommendations are being applied (e.g., demonstration project or application to all
sites orfacilities). Each program area and Region must also designate a point of contact
for coordination of the plans' development and implementation. It is expected that
Regions will coordinate their environmental justice activities in response to the
OSWER strategy with those ongoing within the Region. Regions are requested to
consult with their States as they develop their plans to continue partnershipefforts with
State counterparts. The program areas and Regions will have until June 1,1994, to
submit draft plans for implementing the Task Force recommendations. OSWER will
track the proposed actions contained in the implementation plans against the major
milestones described in this Executive Summary. Implementation of these milestones
will be expected to be reported on by each Region and Headquarters program office
every six months. OSWER will coordinate implementation of these milestones with the
ongoing Agency-wide efforts.
NEXT STEPS
The remaining major milestones are as follows:
Discuss Regional Implementation at
Waste Management Directors Meetin April 27, 1994
Issue Final Draft Task Force Report April 28,1994
Regions and Programs Submit Draft
Implementation Plans June 1,1994
Series of Meetings with Industry,
State/Local Governments, Labor Unions
and other Representatives Regarding
Potential EPA Partnerships June 1994
13
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SCHEDULE FOR MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS
SCHEDULE FOR MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS
The following pages describe in tabular format the major recommendations,
both OSWER-wide and program-specific, and the general timeframes for their
implementation. OSWER believes thatthe implementation of these recommendations
will result in substantial human health and environmental benefits for populations in
proximity to OS WER-regulated facilities.
14
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Summary of OSWER-Wide Recommendations
AREA
FY94
FY95
Guidelines for Environmental
Justice
HQ develop guidelines for
identifying communities with EJ
concerns
Title VI - Civil Rights Act
HQ Develop strategy to respond to
discrimination complaints with
OCR. OGC. DOJ. etc.
Internal and External
Outreach, Communications
and Partnerships
HQ Establish EJ waste
subcommittee to first EJ Federal
Advisory Council
HQ issue directive to require EJ be
addressed in all OSWER policies
and regulations
HQ and Regions use CIS and
Landview to identify potential
areas of environmental justice
concern
HQ to explore creation of
public/private partnerships to
address EJ concerns
HQ and Regions to fund training of
outside groups on waste programs
and public participation
Regions to hold annual public
forum meetings on environmental
justice
Economic Redevelopment
HQ and Regions work together to
identify total of 7 additional pilots
Coordinate redevelopment efforts
with HUD empowerment zones
HQ continue work with HMTRI to
expand training and curriculum
development to other community
colleges
HQ and Regions initiate activities
at 7 brownfields pilots
Cumulative Risk
HQ to support Agency-wide efforts
to develop scientifically valid
standards to measure cumulative
risk
15
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Summary of OSWER-Wide Recommendations
AREA
FY94
FY95
Federal Interagency
Cooperation
HQ and Regions continue work
with ATSDR to expand minority
health program
HQ and Regions work with
ATSDR and NffiHS to address
issues of mutual concern at specific
sites
HQ work with NIEHS on pilot
efforts to train local waste workers
Develop pilot efforts with other
Federal agencies to address EJ
concerns
Grants/Contracts/
Labor
HQ and Regions encourage
contractors to hire workers uTlabor
surplus" areas
HQ and Regions expand efforts of
contractor mentor-protege
program
HQ meet with contractor trade
associations to stress importance of
EJ
HQ evaluate need for regulatory-
statutory changes
HQ and Regions establish
monetary incentives to hire small
disadvantaged businesses
Internal Training, Organization
and Program Implementation
HQ designate EJ coordinator
HQ create focal point for
EJ/outreach/State/-local and tribal
issues/economic redevelopment
HQ (OSWER) establish EJ
workgroup
Regions select 10 additional pilots
for EJ concerns
HO (OSWER) establish EJ hotline
Regions implement new ideas at 10
additional EJ pilots
HQ and Regions train all waste
programs personnel in
environmental justice
Native Americans/Tribes
HQ and Regions identify ways to
increase technical assistance to
tribal governments
Sponsor second National Tribal
Conference on Environmental
Management
HQ and Regions initiate pilots with
other Federal agencies to
implement environmental
programs and activities on tribal
lands
16
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Summary of Program-Specific Recommendations
PROGRAM
RCRA
RCRA (cont'd.)
AREA
Siting
Permitting
Public involvement
Corrective action
Disproportionate Impacts
Research
Native Americans
FY94
HQ hold meeting with
State/local officials on El
concerns and potential
solutions
HQ form siting
workgroup to evaluate
location standards policy
options
HQ begin development of
method to expand public
involvement in siting and
permitting
HQ begin to determine
method to incorporate EJ
into RCRA
Implementation Plans
and into State CAP
guidance
HQ begin to examine
priority setting to see if
EJ is adequately
addressed
FY95
HQ develop technical
assistance guidance for
state/local/tri-bal
governments
HQ develop national
summary of existing
state/local/tri-bal
government siting
requirements
HQ develop method to
factor EJ into public
health considerations
HQ and Regions to fully
consider EJ complaints
before final permit
considerations
HQ to establish methods
for State/local interaction
on EJ issues
HQ to coordinate
approaches with
Superfund
HQ to evaluate
demographics of
combustion sites
HQ to pilot access for
States/Regions on Tribal
IndianNet Bulletin Board
HQ to draft rule to
consider treating tribes
like States for purposes of
hazardous waste program
authorization
17
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Summary of Program-Specific Recommendations
PROGRAM
Superfund
Oil Pollution
AREA
Community Involvement
and Outreach
Site Assessment
Risk Assessment
Risk Management
Indoor Lead Paint
Native Americans/
Tribes
Outreach
Inspections
FY94
Regions establish
Community Advisory
Groups at 10 selected
sites
HQ develop guidance for
Community Advisory
Groups
HQ and Regions identify
pilot proactive site
assessment efforts
HQ begin to examine
priority setting to see if
EJ is adequately
addressed.
HQ begin examination of
tools to allow site
managers to factor in
multiple exposures
HQ begin examination of
remedy selection process
and speed of cleanup
effects on areas of EJ
concern
Work with PRPs and
other Federal agencies to
pursue removal
HQ and Regions continue
to work with Tribes to
build response capacity
HQ begin identification
of facilities in areas of EJ
concern
FY95
Regions establish
interagency working
groups for sites with
problem areas beyond
scope of Superfund
HQ to coordinate
approaches with RCRA
on priority setting
HQ work with other
Federal agencies/PRPs to
address problems
associated with multiple
risks
HQ develop education
and outreach strategy to
communities
HQ and Regions target
inspections and
enforcement actions to
areas of EJ concern
18
-------
OSWER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE DRAFT FINAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Summary of Program-Specific Recommendations
PROGRAM
Underground Storage
Tanks
Chemical Emergency
Preparedness and
Prevention
Training and
Technology
Innovation
Federal Facilities
AREA
Outreach
Grants and Technical
Assistance
Priorities
Outreach
Training
Technology
Stakeholder Involvement
FY94
HQ to issue brochure to
States and regulated
facilities on consideration
ofEJ
HQ begin to explore
methods to incorporate
EJ concerns into grants
process
HQ pursue award of grant
to Natl. Assoc. of
Minority Contractors for
training and certification
HQ begin to develop
guidance on EJ and
priority ranking systems
for State leads
HQ to develop letter to
Governors from
Administrator re: LEPCs
andTERCs
representation
HQ and Regions expand
use of Landview with
communities
HQ begin development of
training module on EJ for
CEC
HQ begin analysis of
sample of 263 NPL sites
and demographics re: use
of innovative
technologies
HQ and Regions
incorporate EJ in Federal
facilities priority-setting
and stakeholder
involvement
FY95
HQ to find methods to
provide funds and
technical assistance to
tribal governments
HQ and Regions begin
process to explain
"community-right-to-
know" to areas with EJ
concerns
HQ work with SBA to
promote use of
innovative technologies
by small businesses
HQ evaluate base
closings for impacts on
communities with EJ
concerns
19
-------
This page it intentional left blank.
-------
U.S. En.J1: v-'.' :. -'-.;-,;- / .^j
-------
------- |