The United States Environmental Protection Agency's
Asian American & Pacific Islander
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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Administration
and Resource
Management (3204)
EPA-202-K-01-003
September 2001
Source: Cheryl Lynn Fajardo
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I able of (Contents
Introduction 2
Outreach Strategy 4
Community Partnerships 4
Economic Opportunities 6
Education Pipeline 7
Employment and Professional Advancement 8
Community Partnerships 10
Seafood Consumption in the Pacific Northwest 11 h»j
Mercury Action Plan 14
Environmental Justice for Philadelphia's Chinatown 15
Giving AAPI Communities a Voice 17
Reaching Out to Korean Dry Cleaners 19
Protecting Generations 20
Protecting Workers From Pesticide Hazards 23
Economic Opportunities 24 Hj
Resource Applications, Inc.: Professionalism Helps a Small Firm Win Big 25
EPA Procurement: Making the Perfect Match 26 C"i
Fund Tracking to Boost Opportunities for Minority-Owned Businesses 27 Q
JES: Providing Comprehensive Services to EPA 27
Education Pipeline 28 r*'
EPA Helps Reinvent a San Francisco School 29 &
Philadelphia Students Tackle Urban Environmental Issues 31 E3
Protecting Coral Reefs in the Pacific 32 pf
Raising Environmental Awareness in America's Island State 33 &
Employment and Professional Advancement 34
Asian Pacific American Organization Honors EPA 35
Tapping a Valuable Workforce 36
College Relations Program With University of Arizona 37
EPA Partners with ECO to Encourage Environmental Careers 37
Translations 38
EPA Regional Map 38
This map indicates the states and/or territories comprising each Region.
Summary of U.S. EPA Community Grant Programs 40
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ntrociuction
[Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders] are a people in constant
motion, a great work in progress, each stage more faceted and complex
than before. As we overcome adversity and take on new challenges, we
have evolved as a people. Our special dynamism is our gift to America.
As we transform ourselves, so we are transforming America.
—Helen Zla, Author
Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) represent a vast array of cultures. The term
"Asian Americans" refers to Americans with origins from one or more of the 28 Asian nations,
while the term "Pacific Islanders" refers to Native Hawai'ians and other natives living in the U.S.
protectorates of Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, or
Americans with origins from one or more of the 19 Pacific Island Nations (see box on page 3).
A Strategy for Reaching Out
EPA developed the National Asian American and Pacific Islander Outreach Strategy to create
a comprehensive framework for strengthening the Agency's relationship with the nation's diverse
and growing AAPI community. The strategy outlines approaches for managers to expand outreach
efforts both within and outside the Agency, and for increasing dialogue with the AAPI community.
The strategy rests on four pillars: 1) Community Partnerships; 2) Economic Opportunities;
3) Education Pipeline; and 4) Employment and Professional Advancement. Together, these pillars
provide a strong foundation for ensuring that EPA:
• Responds effectively to the environmental and public health needs of AAPIs, and encour-
ages public participation and informed decision-making.
• Provides economic opportunities for AAPI businesses.
• Encourages AAPI youth to be stewards of the environment and to consider the pursuit of
environmental careers.
• Enhances diversity and professional opportunity within the Agency's workplace.
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Listening to the Community
EPA engaged in a cooperative process to develop and shape this strategy. During the spring
and summer of 2000, senior Agency officials met with AAPI residents, community groups, acade-
mia, businesses, and state and local governments in five U.S. communities with diverse AAPI pop-
ulations. The purpose of these listening sessions was to gather community input on the strategy
and to raise awareness about the environment in which these people live.
The first listening session took place on May 10, 2000, in Seattle, Washington. Co-sponsored
by the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), the informal meeting gave attendees an
opportunity to speak to high-level EPA officials and to share their ideas for reaching out to AAPI
communities, both in the Seattle area and nationally. Attendees brought up a broad range of
issues, from environmental to socioeconomic, for EPA to consider in crafting the strategy.
Subsequent meetings were held in
Oakland, Jersey City, Houston, and Chicago.
These meetings were designed to provide
attendees with information about EPAs work
and mission at the national and regional lev-
els, and to encourage attendees to ask ques-
tions about environmental and health
concerns in their neighborhoods.
The voices and visions of these sessions
helped EPA shape the outreach strategy to
reflect environmental and health issues which
are high priorities for AAPI communities.
The strategy is a document that will evolve
and adapt to AAPIs' changing needs, issues,
and concerns.
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Asian Indian
Bangladeshi
Burmese
Cambodian
Chinese
Filipino
Hmong
Indonesian
Japanese
Asian
Tracing AAPI Roots
Native Hawai'ian or
Other Pacific Islander
Korean
Laotian
Malayan
Okinawan
Pakistani
Sri Lankan
Thai
Vietnamese
All other Asian
Chamorro
Fijian
Guamanian
Hawai'ian
Marshallese
Micronesian
Northern Mariana
Islander
Palauan
Samoan
Tahitian
Tongan
All other Pacific
Islander
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utreacn
Community Partnerships
Goal
For articles featuring EPA's
efforts to build partnerships
and raise environmental
awareness within AAPI
communities, see page 10.
00
Build effective partnerships with AAPI organizations and communities to
raise their environmental awareness and to increase EPA's responsiveness
to their environmental and public health priorities.
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Implementation Guidance.'
Enhance awareness of environmental and public health issues through community outreach
and dialogue to help families and communities make informed decisions concerning environmen-
tal exposures that may cause illnesses in themselves and their children.
• Increase dialogue with AAPI communities to identify environmental and health-related
outreach needs, and develop strategies to address these needs.
• Educate AAPI communities on the meaning and importance of environmental justice.
• Improve communication of cleanup activities in all areas affected by hazardous waste sites.
• Educate AAPI communities in a culturally sensitive manner regarding possible health risks
due to their lifestyle, occupation, dietary consumption patterns, and other practices.
• Develop an EPA compliance assistance outreach program to increase AAPI community and
business awareness and understanding of EPA regulations.
• Coordinate with other federal agencies to exchange and disseminate appropriate health
information to AAPI communities.
• Formulate strategies with AAPI communities to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers to
optimize the dissemination of information and building of partnerships within predomi-
nately immigrant populations.
2
Develop a partnership with AAPI communities to remove obstacles to the revitalization of
brownfield sites and properties.
• Investigate the degree and extent of site contamination (i.e., conduct an assessment) to
facilitate brownfields cleanup and encourage the mitigation of potential health risks.
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• Encourage community organizations, business developers, and local governments to form a part-
nership to revitalize existing properties that can directly benefit local AAPI communities.
/ Identify and promote research opportunities to collect data on environmentally induced health dis-
parities in AAPI communities.
• Coordinate and learn from other communities facing environmental justice and health-related
issues prevalent in their local area and the best means to address them.
• Identify existing grant mechanisms and encourage community-based organizations and businesses
to apply for grant funding to conduct AAPI-related health research projects.
.
Encourage AAPIs to participate in Federal Advisory Committees such as NEJAC (National
Environmental Justice Advisory Committee) involved in the Agency's environmental decision-making
process. f^
• Develop an AAPI Resource Directory of professional, environmental/health, community, business, g
and other organizations and make it available to the designated federal officials in charge of select- ^
ing members for Federal Advisory Committees. |—
• Actively recruit and recommend candidates to serve on EPA Federal Advisory Committees. fD
• Establish networks with AAPI professional organizations and other community-based organizations
to encourage technically competent individuals to become committee members.
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Effectively promote EPA program objectives and accomplishments, and maintain continuous dia-
logue with the AAPI community.
• Develop a National AAPI Outreach Strategy publication for distribution to communities, includ- QJ
ing strategies for community partnerships. _
• Develop and manage an AAPI Web site to serve as an information portal for AAPIs and as an out- CD
let for continuous feedback on EPA's AAPI strategies and activities. QTQ
6
Develop ways to improve access to environmental programs and information by individuals with
limited English proficiency.
• Develop a Translation Protocol (guidance document) for translating general outreach materials into
foreign languages, including select AAPI languages.
• Develop alternative communication strategies for disseminating information (i.e., non-written
forms like symbols, pictures, audio/video, etc.).
• Encourage communication with other environmental justice communities regarding public partici-
pation and access to information activities.
• Provide Title VI (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) guidance to all federal funding recipients.
• Utilize the Translation and Interpretative Service contract available through GSA to better commu-
nicate environmental and health issues to individuals with limited English proficiency.
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Economic Opportunities
Broaden access to EPA financial and technical assistance for community
groups and other non-governmental organizations serving AAPI
communities.
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Implementation Guidance.'
Increase AAPI awareness of and access to Agencywide grant and contracting opportunities.
• Develop outreach materials for
AAPI businesses, community
groups, and other organizations
serving AAPI communities to
boost awareness of grant and con-
tracting opportunities.
• Hold a forum for AAPI business-
es and other organizations to raise
their awareness of contracting
opportunities (e.g., AAPI
Business Counseling Day).
• Widely announce the availability
of training/workshops on how to
write grant proposals or how to
bid for government contracts and
encourage the use of grant-writing tutorials as part of the
Grant Compliance Initiative.
• Sponsor AAPI business conferences.
• Develop tracking systems that monitor financial resources
going to AAPI concerns, and identify any barriers to
awarding contracts and grants.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive list of community
groups and other non-governmental organizations serving
the AAPI community to provide outreach on future pro-
curement opportunities with EPA.
For articles detailing EPA's
financial assistance pro-
grams and other efforts to
aid small, minority busi-
nesses, see page 24.
See also chart of EPA grants
programs, pages 40-41.
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Education Pipeline
Goal
Identify additional resources for institutions and programs serving AAPI
students at all educational levels.
Implementation Guidance.'
Promote and manage grant fellowship and scholarship programs to ensure equal access to and
fairness in the awarding of research funds.
• Help students become aware of these programs, and encourage them to apply for grant
funding.
• Evaluate the peer review process for proposals to ensure fairness in award selection.
• Provide guidance to recipients of federal
financial assistance who administer educa-
tion programs or activities and promote
consistent and adequate enforcement of
Title IX (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
by the federal agencies.
Adopt a local school in a diverse, urban area
with a significant AAPI student population.
• Develop a 2-year strategic work plan to
promote school participation in science-
based activities.
• Encourage EPA regional staff to participate
in developing environmental science
curricula.
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For articles highlighting
EPA's endeavors to reach out
to AAPI youth through part-
nerships with educational
institutions, see page 28.
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Employment and Professional Advancement
Goal
Demonstrate that EPA is an employer of choice that is committed to fair
and equal employment opportunity.
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Implementation Guidance.'
Develop effective outreach strategies to ensure current and future AAPI professionals will
consider public service as a viable employment option.
• Develop a program with local schools that puts students in contact with positive role
models working in the environmental field.
• Work with local schools to develop environmental curricula or environmental education
study materials.
• Establish contacts with AAPI professional organizations and sponsor conferences.
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Work with EPAs Office of Human Resources and
Organizational Services to ensure an effective Agency
presence at a wide variety of recruitment opportunities,
including AAPI conferences and events
• Coordinate local recruitment efforts with EPAs
national program and other Agency offices.
• Promote the understanding and better utilization of
all available federal hiring authorities to recruit AAPI
individuals for the EPA Intern Program, Presidential
Management Intern Program, and other Agency
vacancies.
• Attend and actively participate in recruitment events,
even when EPA is not in a hiring mode.
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Emphasize the recruitment of AAPI applicants for EPA's summer intern program and similar
entry-level trainee positions.
• Establish a network of contacts at various colleges, universities, and local AAPI organiza-
tions to disseminate information on environmental career opportunities and recruit
prospective AAPI employees.
• Encourage collaboration between colleges and universities serving AAPI students similar to
the currently established EPA network of contacts with the Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), and the
Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs).
• Optimize the use of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with educational institutions
and A API-serving organizations.
I*Remove barriers to AAPI employee participation in professional development and training
programs.
• Widely disseminate the criteria for hiring, promotions, awards, career development activi-
ties, and training.
• Review organizational Diversity Action Plans to ensure equal access to developmental
opportunities, including supervisory and managerial positions and special
assignments.
7 Adopt policies and procedures to make EPA managers and supervisors accountable for
upholding equal employment opportunity and fairness guidelines.
• Consider AAPI underrepresentation when developing
innovative approaches to implement the senior execu-
tive service accountability model.
• Evaluate manager and supervisor performance in using
tools authorized by the Affirmative Employment
Program Plan and Diversity Action Plans.
For articles outlining EPA's
efforts to attract AAPI pro-
fessionals to its workforce,
see page 34.
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(Community \ artnersnips
Seafood Consumption in the Pacific Northwest
Mercury Action Plan
Environmental Justice for Philadelphia's Chinatown
Giving AAPI Communities a Voice
Reaching Out to Korean Dry Cleaners
Protecting Generations
Protecting Workers From Pesticide Hazards
When building community relationships, it's
important to remember that there is no typical
Asian American or Pacific Islander. AAPIs come
from culturally and geographically diverse origins
and speak different languages and dialects. Many of
these individuals also come as refugees from war-
torn countries where there is an inherent distrust of
government.
Reaching out to this vast and disparate popu-
lation means that EPA must first and foremost lis-
ten to and address the specific issues facing
individual AAPI communities—ranging from
brownfields redevelopment to the consumption of
contaminated seafood. The Agency also must use
culturally appropriate media channels and translate
educational materials into AAPI languages.
EPA has demonstrated its commitment to
community partnerships by supporting the first-
ever seafood consumption study focusing on AAPIs
in King County, Washington. The Agency is also
working with AAPI communities to ensure envi-
ronmental justice, to protect workers, and to
improve children's health—especially those living
in urban areas—through education and training
on issues such as indoor air, lead, and pesticides.
The following articles illustrate some of the
ways EPA is working with AAPI communities to
build effective partnerships.
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Seafood Consumption in the Pacific Northwest
Seafood offers a host of nutritional benefits, from low fat to high protein. Many AAPI groups
consider the collection and consumption of seafood a healthy activity that reflects a traditional
way of life. Harvesting seafood is also an economic necessity for many AAPIs. But there are poten-
tial concerns associated with eating seafood. Contaminants that enter the water (through industrial
discharges and other means) can collect in the tissues of fish and shellfish, posing health risks to
the people who eat them. AAPIs are particularly at risk because seafood is a large part of their diet.
In the 1990s, EPA funded a study to examine seafood consumption patterns among AAPI
groups in King County, Washington. The study was significant in several ways. First, very few
seafood consumption studies have been done for ethnic groups, and the information collected
through this effort provides new insights into the consumption patterns and food preparation
practices among AAPIs. In addition, the study was culturally balanced and examined the practices
of many different ethnic groups, reflecting the great diversity of AAPI populations. Perhaps most
important, the study was designed by the community for the community, so it truly engaged and
involved the people most affected by the results.
Getting Started
In 1994, it became common knowl-
edge that AAPIs in King County were
being exposed to contaminants at haz-
ardous waste sites in the area. People were
seen collecting seaweed from the beaches
and harvesting seafood from the Puget
Sound.
Dr. Roseanne Lorenzana, a toxicologist
at EPAs Region 10 office, decided to go to
the area and talk firsthand to the AAPI
community. Dr. Lorenzana described her
attempts at communicating with the peo-
ple she encountered as "two magnets
opposing each other." The more she tried,
the further they stepped back.
Dr. Lorenzana realized that she needed
a different approach if she wanted to build
trust and communicate effectively with the AAPI community. First, she hired an intern who knew
leaders in both the Japanese and Filipino communities. Next, she enlisted the aid of the Refugee
Federation Service Center (RFSC), the largest social aid organization for recent immigrants and
refugees in King County. The agency's bilingual/bicultural staff and volunteers speak a variety of
Asian languages and maintain affiliations with several AAPI community groups.
EPA awarded two grants to the RFSC to assess the seafood consumption patterns of 10 eth-
nic groups in King County: Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian,
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/ thought it was important for
the community to design the
study to the extent possible.
—Dr. Roseanne Lorenzana
EPA Region 10
Mien, Samoan, and Vietnamese. The study also would
examine seafood preparation and cooking methods and
develop culturally appropriate health messages. To ensure
the messages effectively reached the community, the study
also would determine how AAPIs prefer to receive informa-
tion.
Committee Involvement
To interest and involve AAPI leaders in the study,
RFSC set up three committees. The 15 members of the
Community Steering Committee each belonged to at least one of the ethnic groups being sur-
veyed and was affiliated with one or more community organizations. Having community contacts
was important for facilitating the networking and outreach efforts of the study's staff. This com-
mittee also oversaw every facet of the study and provided recommendations on specific cultural
issues, such as how to approach the community.
According to Dr. Lorenzana, "I learned that you couldn't just call up a person, or go to some-
one's home and hand them a survey to fill out." There are culturally appropriate ways to visit a
home and greet people to set the stage for appropriate communication, she noted.
The Community Steering Committee also would ensure that a culturally acceptable survey
instrument was developed. "I thought it was important for the community to design the study to
the extent possible," Dr. Lorenzana said.
The other two committees provided technical assistance
and helped ensure that the study was relevant and applicable
to different interested agencies and ethnic groups in King
County. A first-generation Chinese American was also brought
on board as a statistician. In addition, the University of
Washington's community outreach office got involved at this
point. "The university saw the study as something new and
innovative and wanted to participate," Dr. Lorenzana said.
Study Results
Based on the consumption patterns of 202 respondents,
the study found that:
• AAPIs generally consumed seafood at a very high rate,
even higher than some Native American tribes in the
area who maintain a traditional subsistence harvest from
local estuaries and rivers.
• AAPIs of all income and education levels ate about the
same amount of seafood, and there was no statistical
difference in consumption rates between men and
women.
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• Members of the Vietnamese and Japanese communities consumed the most seafood, while
Mien, Hmong, and Samoan community members consumed the least amount of seafood.
• Shellfish was eaten most often and in the highest amount. More than half of the AAPIs
surveyed ate fish skin and crab butter. This information was useful because toxins can
concentrate in higher levels in different parts of fish and shellfish.
• First-generation AAPIs and people older than 55 years old consumed the most seafood in
nearly all categories. Nonetheless, second-generation AAPIs still consumed more seafood
than the "average" American.
The amount of seafood harvested locally was relatively small, varying from 3 percent to 21
percent, depending on the seafood type. Dr.
Lorenzana was somewhat surprised that more peo-
ple were not harvesting seafood from local waters,
although the study indicated that individual small
groups did fish extensively from Puget Sound. She
noted that because the study was designed to sam-
ple so many groups, the insight into the behavior
of any one ethnicity was limited.
Based on the study's results, a brochure was
developed, translated into the 10 languages, and
tested with focus groups. The publication describes
risks from eating bad seafood, types of contami-
nants found in seafood, and populations most at
risk, such as the elderly and children. It also offers
suggestions to reduce potential risks, including
Getting the Word Out
The study found that the preferred
learning methods among the respon-
dents were:
Books and pamphlets (69 percent)
Verbal communication (55 percent)
3. Videos (35 percent)
The preferred information sources
were:
understanding which types of seafood are most
likely to cause problems, knowing where the
seafood comes from, and using safe preparation
and cooking practices.
Next Steps
1. AAPI community newspapers/
newsletters (75 percent)
2. Television (65 percent)
3. Word of mouth (60 percent)
The work is not over. The logical next step is
to test for contaminant types and amounts in the different seafood species being consumed by
AAPI groups in King County. Ultimately, Dr. Lorenzana hopes EPA can conduct a risk assessment
that would clarify the risks to these communities. But this study was a meaningful first step toward
engaging the community in an important local health issue and raising awareness of seafood safety.
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Mercury Action Plan
Recent studies have shown an increase in U.S. fish consumption, particularly
among AAPIs. According to EPA's 1997 Mercury Report to Congress, AAPIs
"consume fish more often than do other population members." This is a concern
for EPA because once mercury is released into the environment, it can reach a
body of water and contaminate fish at a level that is hazardous to humans.
In response to the high levels of mercury that are being produced, EPA is
drafting the Mercury Action Plan. The plan's purpose is to address voluntary and
regulatory actions that the Agency is taking to reduce mercury releases into the
environment, as well as help coordinate EPA mercury-related activities. In addi-
tion, the plan identifies industry sectors that the Agency and other interested
stakeholders, such as the AAPI community, can work with to reduce or eliminate
mercury in manufacturing processes and products.
Solid waste incineration and fossil fuel combustion contribute about 87 per-
cent of the mercury emissions in the United States. Mercury can also be
released into the environment through a variety of other ways, including mining
and smelting activities, and wastewater treatment facilities, which may release
mercury directly into water bodies.
EPA regulates air emissions from the leading major mercury sources, including
coal-fired electric utilities and municipal, medical, and hazardous waste incinerators.
Educating the public about mercury exposure is critical, particularly for groups
such as AAPIs, who ingest fish as a significant part of their diet. EPA has pub-
lished several documents that include Should I Eat the Fish I Catch, which was
translated into Hmong and Vietnamese, and the Seafood Consumption Study,
which was translated into Cambodian, Filipino, Laotian, Samoan, Korean, and
Vietnamese. Such materials are vital for communicating to AAPI communities the
potential health hazards of mercury.
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Environmental Justice for Philadelphia's
Chinatown
Redevelopment of blighted areas can provide obvious benefits to a community, particularly
when those areas include brownfields. In some cases, however, redevelopment efforts can adversely
impact a community, especially in areas comprised of low-income populations or people of color.
In Philadelphia's Chinatown district, a baseball sta-
dium development project proposed by the city
became a concern for the AAPI community, which
believed the stadium would hinder retail growth,
intensify traffic and air pollution, and contribute to
parking congestion.
The Philadelphia Chinatown Development
Corporation (PCDC) rallied local forces and out-
side support to persuade the city to reconsider its
proposal. The PCDC approached EPA's Region 3
office to tap the Agency's support in opposing the
construction of a stadium at 12th and Vine Streets.
Ensuring Environmental
Justice
Over the last decade, Americans
have become increasingly aware that
minority populations and/or low-income
populations bear a disproportionate
amount of adverse health and environ-
mental effects. EPA established an
Environmental Justice program to
ensure that communities comprised
mainly of people of color or low-income
populations receive equal protection
under environmental laws.
Primarily, the proposed stadium would have
"continued the stunting of Chinatown," said
Andrew Toy, a 10-year board member for the
PCDC, during a City Council hearing in 2000.
Chinatown is almost completely surrounded by
development, including the Vine Street Expressway,
Independence Mall, and the Convention Center.
The stadium's location would have dashed any hopes for expanding Chinatown northward.
According to the PCDC, Chinatown has lost 25 percent of its housing and businesses due to
urban renewal projects. Even so, Chinatown's population has quadrupled during the past decade,
said John Chin, the PCDC's executive director. The population surge has caused many residents
to live in substandard housing and overcrowded conditions, which leaves little choice but for
Chinatown to expand, Chin said. "The stadium
would have pinned us in from all sides," he added.
To aid the community in its effort, EPA
toured the site and provided the PCDC with a
geographic information system (GIS) map, which
detailed census and environmental data about the
site. Such information helped the PCDC clearly
identify what was at stake if a baseball stadium was
built.
We've worked hard with the state
DEP to build a strong awareness of
environmental justice issues—and I
think we've been successful.
—Samantha Fairchild
Director of the Office of Enforcement,
Compliance, and Environmental Justice
EPA Region 3
EPA also worked to involve the Pennsylvania
State Department of Environmental Protection
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(DEP). EPA toured the site again with the DEP,
and even took DEP officials to a local
Chinatown restaurant to further discuss the envi-
ronmental justice issues of the proposed stadium,
such as traffic and air pollution.
"We've worked hard with the state DEP to
build a strong awareness of environmental justice
issues—and I think we've been successful," said
Samantha Fairchild, Director of the Office of
Enforcement, Compliance, and Environmental
Justice for EPA Region 3.
The city's mayor eventually rescinded the
proposal, citing financial factors, not environ-
mental justice. However, because of the efforts of
EPA and the PCDC, environmental justice
issues faced by communities such as Chinatown
gained significant attention by local and state
authorities. In addition, this scenario helped
demonstrate the power of public participation in
achieving environmental equity.
What Is a Brownfield?
A brownfield is an abandoned, idled, or
underused industrial and commercial facili-
ty at which expansion or redevelopment is
complicated by real or perceived environ-
mental contamination. Examples of
brownfields include abandoned factories,
lots, gas stations, and warehouses.
Lowell, Massachusetts, where the AAPI
community makes up a significant portion
of the population, has targeted 17 brown-
field sites for redevelopment. Lowell's
redevelopment efforts have leveraged
more than $100 million in funding.
Seattle and King County, Washington,
which also have a significant AAPI popula-
tion, are looking for ways to clean up and
redevelop the 8,500-acre Duwamish
industrial corridor, with more than 200
contaminated properties.
Ignatius Wang, a board member of the PCDC, addresses attendees at a
Stadium Out of Chinatown meeting. To Wangs immediate left is PCDC
executive director John Chin; at left are councilman Frank DiCicco and
Cecila Yep.
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Giving AAPI Communities a Voice
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 48 percent of AAPIs have lived in this country for 20
years or less, and certain groups—such as Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Hmong, Samoans,
and Tongans—have immigrated to the United States mainly within the past 30 years. These newer
immigrants face greater environmental hazards as a result of high unemployment, low education
levels, and language barriers.
The Asian Pacific Environmental Network
(APEN) is working to organize community
leaders and to build grassroots organizations in
these and other AAPI communities. These
groups or leaders can then act as partners with
APEN and collaborate with other organizations
working on environmental justice issues.
"Environmental justice" is the term used to
describe efforts made toward addressing the dis-
proportionate environmental hazards that
minority and low-income communities often
face.
For AAPI communities, environmental
justice is about improving our overall
quality of life. To do this, we need to
develop mechanisms to promote mean-
ingful community participation.
—Joselito Laudencia, executive director of the
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
APEN has worked closely with EPA in recent years to augment AAPIs' voice on environmen-
tal issues. The group helped the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC)
develop a document that outlined a model for public participation, which was distributed to gov-
ernment agencies at all levels. (NEJAC is a Federal Advisory Committee established in 1993 to
provide independent consultation and recommendations to the Administrator of EPA on matters
related to environmental justice.) APEN also mobilized AAPIs to participate in public forums
regarding issues affecting
their communities and
facilitated a meeting in
1998 in Oakland for
NEJAC to hear firsthand
the issues faced by a local
Southeast Asian commu-
nity.
To date, most of
APEN's work has centered
on San Francisco, where
the organization is based,
and the Bay Area. For
example, APEN launched
the Laotian Organizing
Project (LOP), which aims
to build a democratic
infrastructure within the
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Laotian community in the Richmond area of West Contra Costa County to help it resolve envi-
ronmental justice issues. The LOP effort has led to a number of improvements, including the for-
mation of a teacher advisory program at Richmond High School, where students faced a lack of
counseling resources. In the pilot program, at least one adult provides guidance to each student. In
addition, the LOP persuaded Contra Costa County to implement a multilingual emergency
phone alert system to boost awareness of environmental and health hazards among non-English-
speaking community members.
APEN is also working to build networks beyond the Bay Area and California. APEN's ulti-
mate goal is to create a national network through which AAPIs and other minority communities
can voice their concerns
and effectively enhance
their quality of life.
•.ml ifil '
Toward that end,
J S+. J APEN collaborated with
five other environmental
justice networks to create
the Environmental Justice
Fund, which provides a
forum for environmental
justice groups to develop
resources. The fund is also
designed to distribute
resources equitably to
environmental justice
groups.
APENs Laotian Organizing Project has successfully mobilized the community to participate in a
variety of environmental issues.
18
-------
Reaching Out to Korean Dry Cleaners
Approximately 30 percent of dry cleaning businesses in the United States are owned by first-
generation Koreans. Because of the potential health and environmental concerns associated with
perchloroethylene, or "perc," a chemical solvent used by most dry cleaners and a suspected car-
cinogen, EPA and stakeholders from the dry cleaning industry and public interest groups have
been working together to evaluate new technologies, process controls, and chemical substitutions.
To reach these key stakeholders, EPAs Design for the Environments Garment and Textile
Care Program (GTCP) translated several educa-
tional and informational publications into
Korean. GTCP has also been working with the
Federation of Korean Dry Cleaners Associations
and the International Fabricare Institute to
inform Korean business owners about alternative
technologies that can improve their operations
and profit while contributing to a cleaner envi-
ronment and safer workplace.
Peer Training in Oakland
In 1999, the Korean Community Center of
the East Bay in Oakland, California, received an
EPA grant to fund the Peer Leadership Program,
which enlisted and trained peer leaders to pro-
vide community-based outreach to Korean
American dry cleaners, who constitute nearly
60 percent of all dry cleaner owners and opera-
tors in California.
Peer leaders shared information on the potential health
risks associated with the use of perchloroethylene. They
also discussed alternative technologies such as wet clean-
ing, which uses controlled applications of soap and water
and washer speeds to clean clothes without solvents. The
peer leaders also facilitated voluntary compliance with both
federal and local environmental regulations and conducted
comprehensive facility inspections covering air quality,
chemicals, pollution prevention, and record-keeping.
Under the EPA grant, the program trained 15 peer lead-
ers and evaluated 60 dry cleaners in the Bay Area.
-------
Protecting Generations
In recent years, EPA has worked to improve its understanding of how environmental hazards
pose risks to sensitive populations, particularly children. AAPI youth, like other children in
America, face a wide array of hazards, including:
• Lead poisoning from lead-based paint and
dust found in older buildings, soil, water
pipes, and other sources.
• Direct and indirect exposures to pesticides
used in homes, schools, farms, and elsewhere,
as well as to pesticide residues on certain
foods.
• Exposures to indoor and outdoor air pollu-
tants, including secondhand smoke, that can
result in respiratory illnesses and asthma.
• Exposures to mercury, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), and other chemical and
microbial contaminants from swimming in
polluted surface waters, drinking contaminat-
ed water, and eating certain fish and shellfish.
• Exposure to toxic waste from abandoned
industrial sites located near communities.
• Overexposure to the sun's harmful ultraviolet
rays, which can cause skin cancer, cataracts,
and other medical problems in adulthood.
EPA is working with schools, parents, communities, medical professionals, and other groups
to educate AAPIs about environmental threats to children and preventive actions. The Agency also
is encouraging community-right-to-know efforts and public participation through a variety of
grants and EPA regional projects.
Educating Families About Lead Poisoning
Lead poisoning crosses all socioeconomic, geographic, and racial boundaries, but the burden
falls disproportionately on low-income and minority families. In the mid-1990s, EPA provided
funding to launch an ongoing lead education program in ethnic communities in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. The program has been successful in raising awareness of lead poisoning among the
city's Southeast Asian—primarily Hmong and Laotian—and Hispanic communities and in
identifying homes with high lead levels.
The program's goal was to reach out to families served by the Sixteenth Street Community
Health Center and teach them about lead hazards in the home to prevent their children from
-------
Peeling, chipping, and cracking lead-based paints are
hazardous to children.
being lead-poisoned. Many children in these families had
elevated levels of lead in their blood but were not being
routinely tested.
Bilingual workers living in the community went door-
to-door, talking with parents about potential lead hazards
in their homes and ways to protect their children. The
workers conducted "finger-stick" blood lead tests on
residents. When lead was detected in the home, workers
provided additional information on managing and abating
the problem. Educational materials were translated into
Hmong, and further outreach was conducted via commu-
nity groups and festivals.
As a result of the project, the AAPI community in
Milwaukee is more aware of lead hazards and how to pro-
tect their children from lead poisoning. In fact, lead poi-
soning of children identified through the study has
dropped by 60 percent.
Taking Actions to Reduce "Chinese Chalk" Use
"Chinese Chalk" is an illegal and dangerous pesticide that is often marketed to AAPIs.
Applied on floors and baseboards to control crawling insects, the chalk contains chemicals that can
cause health effects and allergic reactions. This product is imported form China, but because it is
unregistered in the United States, its ingredients and packaging are unregulated.
Chinese Chalk is particularly hazardous to children. Once removed from the package, this
pesticide product is easily confused with blackboard chalk. The colorful boxes used to package
these products also have been found to contain high levels of lead and other heavy metals, which
can be a problem because of children's hand-to-mouth behavior. In addition, because Chinese
Chalk is powder-based, its poisonous properties
can become airborne.
EPA Regions 5 and 9 have issued warnings to
alert AAPIs of the dangers of this product and to
recommend safer alternatives to manage pests. The
Agency is also taking enforcement actions to stop
the product's distribution. In 1998, EPA ordered
one of the chalk's distributors to stop selling the
product; the company had actively marketed the
product to schools and consumers on the Internet
and in newspaper advertisements. This is a signifi-
cant accomplishment given that it is difficult to
stop the sale of the products, which are typically
marketed at flea markets, swap meets, and small
retail Venues. Chinese chalk is an illegal and dangerous pesticide.
-------
Raising Awareness of Indoor Air Pollutants
It's no mystery that childhood asthma is on the rise. Asthma is the most prevalent chronic ill-
ness in our nation's children. Each year, nearly 300 children die from this condition, and approxi-
mately 150,000 children are hospitalized. The problem affects American youth of all races and
ethnic groups, but it is most severe among low-
income, inner-city, and minority children.
AAPCHO is very proud of the work
we've done with these projects, for
we were able to further raise aware-
ness about indoor air issues within
AAPI communities that were not
adequately being reached.
—Jeff Caballero,
Executive Director of AAPCHO
Many pollutants can cause or contribute to
asthma, but some of the most common triggers are
indoor air pollutants such as dust and molds. In
1999, the Association of Asian Pacific Community
Health Organizations (AAPCHO) received an EPA
grant to help raise awareness of asthma and indoor
air quality issues in AAPI communities. AAPCHO is
an association of 14 community health centers
around the country.
The organization translated several EPA educa-
tional brochures on asthma triggers, radon, and car-
bon monoxide into Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean and
distributed them through their member centers in
Washington, Massachusetts, New York, California, and
Hawai'i. AAPCHO also sent the documents to organiza-
tions that requested them.
According to Jeff Caballero, Executive Director of
AAPCHO, the materials have been well received by the
AAPI communities, particularly in Worcester,
Massachusetts, Boston, and Seattle, and have been instru-
mental in detecting several cases of asthma and radon.
The association also examined AAPIs' knowledge and
attitudes toward indoor air quality issues in several cities
and provided training to health care workers serving AAPI
communities.
Through these projects, AAPCHO is providing
resources and skills to community-based organizations that
serve AAPIs and is helping these organizations collaborate
with local partners working on indoor air issues. The proj-
ects also are empowering individuals to make changes in
their homes to reduce the prevalence of asthma among
AAPI children and upgrade the quality of life of families.
-------
Protecting Workers From
Pesticide Hazards
EPA's Worker Protection Standard (WPS) seeks to pro-
tect the more than 3.5 million U.S. agricultural workers and
pesticide handlers who work with these potentially hazardous
chemicals. The standard requires employers to provide person-
al protective equipment, safety training, and access to emer-
gency assistance. They also must adhere to a number of other
guidelines.
In order to reach AAPI populations that would be affect-
ed by the standard, EPA has translated an informational pam-
phlet on the WPS into eight languages, including Laotian,
Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Mandarin Chinese. EPA is
also working with state extension agents and state agricultural
agencies to reach small farm groups who may be unaware of
the dangers of pesticides.
EPA also is assessing its efforts in reaching out to AAPIs
and other non-English-speaking workers to determine if the
program is meeting its goals and to break down remaining
language and cultural barriers.
-------
Resource Applications, Inc.: Professionalism
Helps a Small Firm Win Big
EPA Procurement: Making the Perfect Match .
Fund Tracking to Boost Opportunities for
Minority-Owned Businesses
JES: Providing Comprehensive Services to EPA
Opportunities
EPA is committed to assist small, minority-
owned businesses through grants, contracts, and
other means of economical support. Unfortunately,
many AAPI organizations and AAPI-owned busi-
nesses are unaware of such opportunities or don't
fully understand how to take advantage of these
economic benefits.
To improve access to and awareness of its
financial assistance programs, EPA must continue
to build bridges with AAPI community groups
and organizations and strengthen collaborative
procurement planning within the Agency.
EPA is reaching out to AAPI-owned business-
es through partnerships with trade associations and
through public workshops. Additionally, EPA plans
to track its resource allocations to minority busi-
nesses, allowing the Agency to focus future out-
reach efforts where minorities such as AAPIs are
underrepresented. Through these and other
efforts—such as an AAPI Business Counseling Day
and other conferences—EPA will continue to pro-
vide economic support and education to AAPI-
owned businesses.
The following articles illuminate how EPA is
working to ensure that AAPIs have equal access to
economical and business opportunities. For more
information, see the Summary of U.S. EPA
Community Grant Programs on pages 40-41.
24
-------
Resource Applications, Inc.:
Professionalism Helps a Small Firm Win Big
Resource Applications, Inc., (RAI) is a small, Indian-owned environmental consulting firm
based in Burke, Virginia, that has been a contractor for EPA for the past 15 years. In 2000, RAI
was awarded a $ 17 million dollar contract with the
Agency, one of the largest contracts EPA has ever
awarded to a small business.
You have to be a professional
Under the contract, RAI will provide emergency ,,.
response services to support EPAs mid-Atlantic region
in the investigation and cleanup of hazardous waste committed to the program and the
sites and oil spills, primarily in Virginia. The 5-year growth of the company to succeed.
contract also covers work in Delaware, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the District of
Columbia. RAI won the contract in direct competi-
tion with other small business firms.
—Dr. Tara Singh,
Founder of RAI
Dr. Tara Singh founded RAI in 1979. Dr. Singh
is an environmental engineer with more than 30 years of experience in regulatory compliance,
investigations planning, and design and construction oversight. Before starting his own firm, he
worked for a number of large organizations, including Bell Atlantic, Lockheed Martin, and the
U.S. Department of Defense.
Dr. Singh said he believes his firm has become a successful government contractor primarily
because of its talented, dedicated staff and its commitment to excellence. "You have to be a profes-
sional organization first," he said. "You have to be committed to the program and the growth of
the company to succeed."
RAI has approximately 75 employees,
including engineers, scientists, support personnel,
and specialists, in several offices along the East
Coast. The firm consults with both private and
public sector entities and provides services in
comprehensive environmental management, sani-
tary engineering, transportation infrastructure,
construction oversight, and information systems.
By setting aside large funds for small business
contracting, EPA ensures that small and minority-
owned businesses benefit from contracting oppor-
tunities within the Agency. Through this con-
Dr. Tara Singh, seated at right, of RAI at the contract award signing tracting approach, both the Agency and the
ceremony. To date, the contract is the largest that EPA has awarded businesses enjoy Substantial awards.
a small business.
-------
EPA Procurement: Making the Perfect Match
In dialogues with Asian American communities, EPA discovered that many minority-owned
businesses are not aware of contracting and grant opportunities with the Agency. In 2000, EPAs
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) joined the Asian American
Suppliers Council (AASC) in an effort to reach out to Asian American businesses and increase its
representation in EPA procurement activities.
AASC is a program of the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce. AASC offers a
matchmaking service between purchasers and Asian American suppliers, providing a unique
national forum for the two groups to develop mutually beneficial business relationships. It also
coordinates business partnerships between suppliers to help small companies improve their qualifi-
cations to bid on larger contracts. In addition, AASC provides purchasers with marketing services
tailored to the Asian American community, such as advertising, direct marketing, translation, and
polling.
OSDBU is the EPA office desig-
nated to stimulate and improve the
involvement of small, minority, and
women-owned businesses in the overall
EPA procurement process. Other
OSDBU outreach efforts targeted
toward the AAPI community include
one-on-one counseling sessions and an
Asian American Business Counseling
Day.
For More Information
For more information about doing busi-
ness with EPA, visit
or contact EPA's Office of Acquisition
Management, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Washington, DC,
20460, Mail Code 3801 R.
For more information on OSDBU, visit
or write to
OSDBU, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
(1230A), Washington, DC, 20460; or call
202 564-4100.
The U.S. Small Business Administration
(SBA) provides financial, technical, and
management assistance to more than one
million small-business owners each year.
Local SBA offices are located in each U.S.
state, Guam, and Puerto Rico. For more
information, write to SBA Headquarters,
409 3rd St., SW., Washington, DC, 20416;
call 800 U-ASK-SBA, or visit .
See also chart of EPA grants
programs, pages 40-41.
-------
Fund Tracking to Boost Opportunities for
Minority-Owned Businesses
In 2001, EPA started asking new contract
awardees to voluntarily identify the specific
racial or ethnic category that best describes their
business ownership. The data will be treated as
confidential business information and will be
used only internally for general statistical pur-
poses or to help focus future outreach initiatives
to minority-owned businesses unaware of EPA
contracting opportunities.
"Working in conjunction with EPAs
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business
Utilization, we will evaluate the data and com-
pare it to data from the U.S. Census Bureau to
try and determine which minority groups are
underrepresented in EPA procurement," said Leigh Pomponio of EPA. The Agency will collect
this information for 2 years, after which the program will be reevaluated. The program is expected
to continue for as long as the collected data remains useful to EPA.
Possible outreach initiatives that might result from this effort include nationwide workshops,
seminars, and conferences, as well as presentations on how to do business with EPA and how the
government contracting process works. Although these initiatives will be tailored to identified tar-
get audiences, they will be open to the general public.
JES: Providing Comprehensive Services to EPA
Joyo Environmental Services (JES), an Asian-American, woman-owned environmental con-
sulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia, has been an EPA contractor since it was founded in
1995. The firm has managed several EPA contracts as part of a mentor/protege subcontracting
program with a larger consulting firm in the area.
JES s work under these contracts has focused on analytical, technical, and management sup-
port for EPAs Superfund and brownfields programs. The company has produced EPA guidance
documents, analyzed technological case studies, developed databases, and planned conferences.
JES has also provided EPA with comprehensive services in areas such as risk assessment and man-
agement, pollution prevention, and health and safety evaluation.
For other small, disadvantaged firms wishing to enter the federal market, JES president Dr.
Josephine Huang advises them to be capable in marketing and finance. "Also, remember that there
are peaks and valleys in the consulting business," she said, "You can succeed if you learn to face
disappointments with courage."
-------
EPA Helps Reinvent a San Francisco School
Philadelphia Students Tackle Urban
Environmental Issues
Protecting Coral Reefs in the Pacific
Raising Environmental Awareness in
America's Island State
33
ii
eine
AAPIs have been termed the "model minority"
because of their success, as a group, in attaining
high levels of education and career success. But this
label is misleading. Many young Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders live below the poverty line
and struggle with cultural and language barriers in
their schools. Educators are concerned that there is
a significantly higher drop-out rate among Pacific
Islanders and Southeast Asians.
EPA is committed to working with education-
al institutions at all levels to reinforce the "educa-
tion pipeline" and to help elementary, secondary,
and postsecondary students become tomorrow's
environmental leaders.
One of EPA's methods for reaching out to
AAPIs is to enhance access to and fairness in the
awarding of grants and research funds; another is
to work with schools and educational institutions
to provide job, internship, and fellowship opportu-
nities. The Agency has "adopted" schools with
large AAPI populations to raise awareness of envi-
ronmental issues and to strengthen science curricu-
la. EPA staff also serve as role models and mentors
for these students.
The articles that follow describe some of the
ways that EPA is working to extend educational,
research, and environmental career opportunities
for AAPI youth.
-------
EPA recognizes the need to help
train the next generation of environ-
mental professionals and is commit-
ted to a diverse workforce that
reflects the population of the region.
—Willard Chin
EPA Region 9
EPA Helps Reinvent a
San Francisco School
EPA is helping Galileo Academy redefine its
curriculum and image. Sixty percent of the students
at this San Francisco school are from AAPI commu-
nities. In the past, the school was plagued by high
dropout and low graduation rates, as well as interra-
cial tension. But with the help of organizations such
as EPA, students are finding hope and value in edu-
cation and preparing for careers in the sciences.
In 1995, a community-based grassroots effort led by the nonprofit group, Chinese for
Affirmative Action (CAA), transformed Galileo High School into the Galileo Academy of Science
& Technology. With the name change came modifications in the curriculum. Students now can
choose from five career pathways:
• Biological science
• Environmental science EPA Supports WALC in the City
• Space science/aeronautics The Ga|Neo Academy of Science & Technology
• Computer science/engineering is one of three high schools involved in the
technology
• Creative media technology
Through CAAs Applied Learning
and Linkages (ALL) program, EPA
partnered with Galileo to help the
school strengthen its curriculum. The
ALL program identifies volunteers and
mentors from the business, labor, and
technology communities and higher
education groups to provide academic
and career-building support.
Enriching Classroom
Experience
EPAs activities are designed to
supplement and enrich the classroom
experience. By involving whole-class
case study/interactive sessions, such as
environmental role-playing simulation,
students gain critical thinking skills
Wilderness Arts and Literacy Collaboration (WALC),
a consortium of academic programs in the San
Francisco Unified School District. In 2000, WALC
received an EPA environmental education grant to
help expand the program's inspiring work.
WALC introduces disadvantaged, inner-city
students to environmental issues through hands-on
lessons, field trips, and camping expeditions. The
program encourages students to examine environ-
mental issues in their communities, help raise
awareness of these issues, and take actions to
address them. WALC integrates science, English,
social studies, art, and technology.
EPA's Office of Environmental Education sup-
ports environmental education projects that
enhance the public's awareness, knowledge, and
skills to make informed decisions that affect envi-
ronmental quality. See pages 40 to 41 for more
information.
-------
Reaching Out to Students in
Kansas
For the past four years, EPA Region 7
office's Asian Pacific American Special
Emphasis Program has worked to improve
environmental knowledge among AAPI com-
munities. The Kansas City, Kansas, area has
attracted a growing AAPI population, thus
EPA has participated in a number of area
outreach activities focusing on young AAPIs.
For example, EPA is a partner in the
Community Garden Project, run by the local
group YouthFriends. Taking place at four
Kansas City, Kansas, elementary schools,
the program teaches fundamental ecological
and environmental concepts through hands-
on activities. Students plant and harvest
their own gardens, and EPA volunteers train
the students on topics such as native plants
and composting. EPA is also working to
establish a relationship with the Garden City
Community College—where most area AAPI
college-age students enroll—to recruit co-op
students and interns.
surrounding environmental issues. Hands-on
projects are also arranged in cooperation with
community-based organizations.
EPA organizes student field trips to rele-
vant sites, such as facilities, community organ-
izations, and the Regional EPA office, and
introduces the students to methods and tech-
nology such as geographic information sys-
tems. According to EPA's Willard Chin, the
Agency hopes this partnership will encourage
students to be aware of the environmental
problems around them and to pursue careers
in the environmental field.
Providing Role Models
In addition to providing academic sup-
port, the partnership provides students with
role models who are from their cultural or eth-
nic heritage. "EPA recognizes the need to help
train the next generation of environmental
professionals and is committed to a diverse
workforce that reflects the population of the
region," Chin said. With the help of EPA and
employee groups such as the Asian Pacific
American Council, role models representing
the diversity of the student population are
available.
The overall result of EPA's involvement in
the program is an opportunity for students to
interact with professionals who share their aca-
demic and career interests as well as their cultural background. According to Chin, "Since its
transformation into an academy, Galileo is motivated to perform well; EPA remains on-call to
assist Galileo in any capacity."
-------
Philadelphia Students Tackle Urban
Environmental Issues
To raise awareness of environmental issues among AAPI communities, EPA has supported
and encouraged environmental education activities since 1996 at Holy Redeemer School in
Philadelphia's Chinatown. The Agency helped the school organize river cleanups and conduct a
community campaign against dumping waste in storm drains. Holy Redeemer students also have
attended an EPA summer program that teaches environmental lessons to urban youths.
River Cleanup
In 2000, EPA arranged for two classes from the school to participate in Earth Day outdoor
educational activities. Twenty-five seventh graders sailed on a commercial-size sailboat, the Jolly 2
Rover, from which the students took water samples from the Delaware River. In addition, 25
eighth graders joined EPAs Operation Clean Below, a river cleanup of Philadelphia's Schuylkill
River. While the school transported the students to the sites, EPA volunteers arranged, paid for,
and hosted the day's activities.
Chinatown Stenciling Project
EPA sponsored a stenciling project at Holy
Redeemer that aimed to reduce waste dumping in storm
drains. The graduating class of eighth graders stenciled
the words "Dump No Waste—Drains to River" in both
English and Chinese on sidewalks adjacent to storm
drains in the Chinatown district. "While other kids are
misusing spray paint, our students have the opportunity
to leave a positive message," said Lisa Canceiliere, princi-
pal of Holy Redeemer. A major concern in the communi-
ty was the dumping of hazardous materials such as paint,
motor oil, and pesticides into these storm drains, which
lead directly to the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers. Other
sponsors of the project included the Philadelphia
Environmental Council and the Philadelphia Water
Department.
Summer Environmental Development
Program
For the past three years, EPAs summer program for
middle school students included four Asian American stu-
dents from Holy Redeemer. The program is an environmental leadership effort that uses a holistic
approach to teach inner-city students about environmental issues prevalent in urban communities.
The program's goal is for students to take back what they have learned and impart these lessons to
other members of the community, particularly elementary schoolchildren.
-------
Protecting Coral Reefs in the Pacific
In the Pacific Islands, coral reef ecosystems are ecologically and economically important to
coastal and island inhabitants. Recent grants from EPA's Science to Achieve Results (STAR)
Program are providing scientists at the University of Guam and the University of Hawai'i with the
opportunity to study the health of coral reef ecosystems in these Pacific Island communities.
Coral reefs buffer the shore against wave damage and erosion, support a variety of fish and
plant species, and provide income from recreational and tourist dollars. These ecosystems also sus-
tain fisheries that supply food and employment to Pacific Islanders.
The new STAR grant, worth nearly $800,000, will enable the universities to assess pollutants
coming from land- and watershed-based activities and study the human influences affecting the
health of coral reefs. The research also
will examine the societal costs of pollu-
tion to Pacific Island communities in
terms of water quality and protection
of marine resources. The results will
provide information to help EPA and
Pacific Island communities develop
more sustainable watershed manage-
ment policies.
Dr. Robert Richmond of the
University of Guam has received previ-
ous grants to study the effects of
human-made disturbances on coral
reefs and related marine resources. The STAR grant awarded to Dr. Richmond and Dr. Michael
Hamnett, Director of the Social Science Research Institute at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa,
along with Dr. Eric Wolanski of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, will build upon results
from Dr. Richmond's previous work. The competitively awarded, peer-reviewed grants are admin-
istered by EPA's National Center for Environmental Research and Quality Assurance.
Protection of coral reefs and marine areas, specifically the Northwest Hawai'ian coral reef, are
mandated under Executive Orders (EO) 13089, 13158, and 13178. EO 13089, Coral Reef
Protection, was signed in June 1998 and directs federal agencies to protect and enhance the condi-
tions of coral reef ecosystems. EO 13158, Marine Protected Areas, was signed in May 2000 and
authorizes the creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and dedicates federal agencies to protect
resources in the marine environment. EO 13178, Northwestern Hawai'ian Islands Coral Reef
Ecosystem Reserve, establishes a reserve in the Northwestern Hawai'ian Islands to preserve the
integrity of the coral reef ecosystem. This EO is amended by EO 13196, which finalizes the
reserve rules. EPA's grants to the University of Hawai'i and the University of Guam are helping
promote the goals of these EOs and develop sustainable policies to foster healthy reef ecosystems
in Hawai'i and Guam.
-------
Raising Environmental Awareness
in America's Island State
An EPA field office in Hawai'i is helping kindergartners to college kids learn more about local
and international environmental issues. The Pacific Islands Contact Office (PICO), in existence
since EPA was formed, provides a variety of public affairs services to Hawai'ian residents, includ-
ing environmental education.
According to Dean Higuchi of PICO, "we play a part in creating an environmental aware-
ness, in fostering environmental education in the schools and colleges, and in educating the gener-
al public about EPAs programs and activities."
America's only island state possess-
es a diverse but fragile natural environ-
ment, ranging from sandy beaches to
mountain tops. The island is also
home to a multitude of plant and
wildlife species, including endangered
species and species found no where else
in the world. PICO staff help students
learn about local environmental stresses
and what they can do to protect the
natural resources in their communities.
PICO also helps students learn
about national and global issues. PICO
staff distribute EPA educational materials on a variety of subjects, from solid waste to clean air.
They also visit schools personally to talk about EPA and what can be done to protect the environ-
ment. Participating in school environmental projects and fairs is another key activity.
In addition to native Hawai'ians, people from a variety of Asian groups live in the island
state. According to 2000 U.S. Census Bureau data, counties in Hawai'i garnered the top four
spots in the United States in terms of percentage of Asian Americans in the population. Asian
Americans made up 58 to 64 percent of the total population in these counties.
-------
T—"~
Ljnplotjment an
I rofessiona! /\avancernent
Asian Pacific American Organization Honors EPA ... .35
Tapping a Valuable Workforce 36
College Relations Program With
University of Arizona 37
EPA Partners with ECO to Encourage
Environmental Careers . . .37
AAPIs remain underrepresented in many pro-
fessions and job series. EPA is evaluating its diversi-
ty profile to determine how to address this issue in
its own workplace.
EPA believes that maintaining a diverse work-
force is the best way for the Agency to achieve its
mission. EPA is committed to hiring and support-
ing talented and committed professionals who
understand the Agency's mission and will work to
achieve it.
The Agency has made significant progress in
attracting AAPI professionals through a variety of
outreach efforts. For example, in recognition of its
achievements, EPA received the Federal Asian
Pacific American Council's Outstanding Agency of
the Year Award in 2000 for nurturing and promot-
ing the AAPI component of its workforce (see page
35).
To continue its progress in developing the
AAPI segment of its workforce, EPA has several
initiatives under way. For example, the Agency's
Senior Environmental Employment (SEE)
Program works with the National Asian Pacific
Center on Aging, which recruits, screens, hires, and
pays workers in EPA Regions 5 and 10. EPA also is
strengthening its college recruitment and profes-
sional development efforts for AAPIs.
The following articles demonstrate EPA's
efforts to nurture the professional development of
AAPIs in its workforce.
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Asian Pacific American Organization
Honors EPA
In 2000, EPA was one of two agencies to receive the Federal Asian Pacific American Council's
(FAPAC's) Outstanding Agency of the Year Award. The award recognizes the work of federal agen-
cies to improve representation, promotion, and recognition of Asian Pacific Americans (APA). For
many years, FAPAC has given a similar award to recognize individual contributions to the APA
community, but this is the first year an award was pre-
sented to honor the management achievements of
agencies.
Nominations are reviewed by a FAPAC selection
committee that picks one or more winners based on
their achievements in workforce diversity. EPA was
nominated by the Agency's National Asian Pacific
American Council, a group of employees representing
the APA special emphasis program.
"In large part, EPA won because the selection
committee was very impressed with the AAPI pro-
gram," said Mike Maroof, FAPAC's chair. "Through
this program, the Agency has shown continual
improvement in its efforts to recruit and advance
APAs." Other EPA efforts that impressed the commit-
tee included hiring the first
National Special Emphasis
Program manager for AAPI
employees and conducting
an AAPI quality of work-
life survey. FAPAC also
chose EPA because of an 83 percent increase in the number of APAs
holding higher-level positions at the Agency during a 7-year period.
In large part, EPA
won because the
selection committee
was very impressed
with the AAPI pro-
gram. Through this
program, the Agency
has shown continual
improvement in its
efforts to recruit and
advance APAs.
—Mike Maroof,
FAPAC chair
Mike Maroof, FAPAC chair, presents the Outstanding Agency
of the Year Award to EPA. Joan Fidler, director of manage-
ment operations for EPAs Office of International Activities,
accepts the award on the Agency's behalf.
FAPAC at a Glance...
Founded in 1985, FAPAC is an interagency organization of
APA employees representing more than 100 federal agencies
and the District of Columbia (DC) government. The council pro-
motes equal opportunity and cultural diversity for APAs and pur-
sues their interests and representation in both the federal and
DC governments.
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Tapping a Valuable Workforce
There's never been a better time for an older adult who's looking for a full- or part-time job.
For the past 2 decades, EPA's Senior Environmental Employee (SEE) program has been working
to harness the talent, experience, and skills possessed by individuals 55 years and older to help the
Agency efficiently respond to emergency situations and short-term projects.
"More than ever, employers are recognizing the value of older workers of all nationalities,"
according to Clayton Fong, Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging
(NAPCA). "We have positions opening up all the time in the senior employment programs—such
as SEE—that we administer, and I don't expect that to change."
SEE functions through a series of grants awarded to six national aging organizations, includ-
ing NAPCA. Through employment programs, multilingual community forums, and health care
education, NAPCA has accumulated more than 20 years of experience helping senior citizens
remain productive members of their communities.
Under the SEE program, NAPCA recruits, screens, hires, and pays salaries to the workers in
EPA Regions 5 and 10. SEE workers are not federal employees, nor are they employees of the
grantee organization, rather they are Enrollees in the SEE program.
Hundreds of SEE Enrollees cur-
rently work in EPA offices nationwide
at part- and full-time assignments,
depending on their interests and the
needs of the EPA office. Assignments
range from clerical and secretarial
support to highly technical positions
such as chemical engineers, public
SEE Enrollee Receives Award
In 1999, Tseh Lin Tsen, one of NAPCA's SEE
Enrollees, received the "Claude D. Pepper
Distinguished Service Award" during Chicago's 18th
Annual Older Workers Awards ceremony. This
award is presented annually to distinguished older
workers in the Chicago area, and NAPCA was
thrilled to have Tsen chosen as one of six finalists.
Tsen started at NAPCA as a participant in another
employment program. He later attended classes at
Harold Washington College, earning certifications in
Accounting and Computer Information systems and
subsequently became involved in EPA's SEE pro-
gram. According to Project Director Mei Lin, who
nominated Tsen for the award, he has helped others
with computer technology and played an important
role in upgrading the computer system at the EPA
Safe Water Drinking Branch.
relations specialists, and environmen-
tal investigators.
NAPCA's Region 5 Project
Director Mei Lin said the program
provides workers with benefits aside
from employment. "When you work
in the environmental field, you
become aware of the environmental
issues affecting your area, and you
bring this knowledge back and share
it with your community," Lin said.
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College Relations Program With University of
Arizona
Attracting skilled workers from diverse backgrounds is a challenge EPA takes very seriously.
For a little more than 10 years, EPA has worked with the University of Arizona, an institution at
which 1,800 students are AAPIs, to recruit qualified and culturally diverse people into the
Agency's workforce.
EPAs Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) works in partnership with
the University of Arizona under the College Relations Program, which includes a summer intern-
ship program funded through an EPA cooperative agreement. The EPA/University of Arizona
internship program is entering its seventh year; EPA has funded internships for 66 undergraduate
and graduate students, of which 14 percent have been AAPIs.
Typically, OSWER's interns work in EPA Headquarters and regional hazardous waste man-
agement program offices. The internship program provides students with an opportunity to apply
their academic skills and knowledge in a professional environment. Students receive academic
credit for participating in the program.
EPA Partners with ECO to Encourage
Environmental Careers
Although the number of job opportunities in the environmental field is steadily increasing,
the workforce still lacks cultural diversity—and AAPIs are among those underrepresented. To
address this issue, EPA has partnered with the Environmental Careers Organization (ECO),
a national nonprofit educational organization. ECO recently launched its Diversity Initiative,
which matches qualified individuals from minority populations with paid environmental intern-
ships. Through this effort, ECO has successfully placed interns at organizations across the country,
including EPA.
For example, EPA offered a variety of internships through ECO, including positions entailing
research, analysis, economics, data sampling and monitoring, marketing, outreach, budget and
financing, and database management.
At EPA, interns work in all branches of the Agency and at regional offices nationwide. EPA
hopes the internships will encourage students to pursue environmental careers after graduation.
According to Linda Smith at EPA, one of the advantages of the partnership with ECO is that
it allows EPA managers to experience working with people of different backgrounds. "I think this
is a great program—it's really made a difference in the diversity of ideas and solutions to environ-
mental issues," Smith said.
EPA and ECO are also working together to support professional training for students pursu-
ing advanced degrees in environmentally related fields. Through this effort, students majoring in
technical disciplines at minority academic institutions are eligible to receive full tuition, a stipend,
and a 12-week internship at organizations such as EPA.
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translations
One of EPA's goals is to promote environmental awareness among non-English-speaking pop-
ulations in the United States. U.S. Census Bureau estimates indicate that of the top 10 ethnic
groups in the U.S. that characterize their abilities to speak English as "less than very well," 5 are of
Asian/Pacific Islander descent. As an organization committed to serving this nations citizens, EPA
recognizes the need to reach the vast Asian American and Pacific Islander community through
documents, correspondence, and outreach materials written in the appropriate AAPI language.
EPA currently lists more than 30 outreach materials that have been translated into numerous
AAPI languages. Topics include environmental justice, indoor-air quality, fish consumption, lead
contamination in the home, pesticides, and pollution prevention. EPA also encourages more pro-
grams to identify informational materials for translation into Asian languages.
For a selection of EPA publications written in AAPI languages, visit the Asian American and
Pacific Islander Initiative Web site at .
EPA Regions
Each EPA Regional Office is responsible within its selected states for carrying out the
Agency's programs, incorporating regional needs into decision-making, and implementing federal
environmental laws.
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Summary of U.S. EPA
Grant Program
Purpose
Eligible
Applicants
Award Amounts Fiscal
Year 2001
Approximate
Application Period
Fiscal Year 2002
Contact
Information
Environmenta
I Justice
Small
Grants
To provide finan-
cial assistance
to eligible com-
munity groups
and federally
recognized tribal
governments
that are working
on or plan to
carry out proj-
ects that
address environ-
mental justice
issues.
Any affected
community
group, nonprofit
organization, uni-
versity, or tribal
government.
Organizations
must be incorpo-
rated to receive
funds.
Up to $20,000
each
Varies
Delta Valente,
Office of
Environmental
Justice,
202 564-2594
Solid Waste
Management
Assistance
To promote use
of integrated
solid waste
management
systems to
solve municipal
solid waste
generations
and manage-
ment problems
at the local,
regional, and
national levels.
Nonprofit enti-
ties, govern-
ment agencies,
and Indian
tribes.
$5,000 to
$250,000
Varies
Linda Kutcher,
Office of
Solid Waste,
703 308-6114
Pollution
Prevention
Incentives for
States
To support state, tribal,
and regional programs
addressing the reduc-
tion or elimination of
pollution across all envi-
ronmental media: air,
land, and water.
State agencies (including
the District of Columbia),
state instrumentalities
such as universities, fed-
erally recognized tribes,
and U.S. territories and
possessions. States are
encouraged to form part-
nerships with local gov-
ernments, businesses,
and other environmental
assistance providers.
$20,000 to $200,000
(50% matching grant
requirement)
October to
February
Christopher Kent,
Office of Pollution
Prevention and
Toxics,
202 260-3480
Superfund
Technical
Assistance
Grants
To enable groups of
individuals affected
by Superfund
National Priorities
List (NPL) sites to
obtain technical
assistance in inter-
preting site informa-
tion.
Groups affected by
an NPL site. All
groups must be
incorporated as
nonprofit organiza-
tions.
Up to $50,000
Varies
Lois Gartner,
Superfund
Community Outreach
Center,
703 603-8889
Environmental
Education
To provide finan-
cial support for
projects that
design, demon-
strate, or dissemi-
nate
environmental
education prac-
tices, methods, or
techniques.
Local, tribal, or
state education
agencies, col-
leges and univer-
sities, nonprofit
organizations,
state environmen-
tal agencies, and
noncommercial
educational broad-
casting agencies.
Approximately
$1,000 to $100,000
September to
November
Diane Berger,
Office of
Environmental
Education,
202 260-8619
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Community Grant Programs
Brownfields Job
Training and
Development
Demonstration
Pilots
To facilitate cleanup of
brownfields sites contami-
nated with hazardous sub-
stances and prepare
trainees for future employ-
ment in the environmental
field. The pilot projects
must prepare trainees in
activites that can be use-
fully applied to a cleanup
employing an alternative or
innovative technology.
Colleges, universities, non-
profits, training centers,
community-based job train-
ing centers, states, cities,
towns, counties, U.S. terri-
tories, and federally recog-
nized Indian tribes.
Generally, entities with
experience in providing job
training and placement pro-
grams are invited to apply.
Up to $200,000
over 2 years
Varies
Myra Blakely, Office of
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response,
202 260-4527
Brownfields
Assessment
Demonstration Pilots
To empower States, com-
munities, tribes, and other
stakeholders in economic
redevelopment to work
together in a timely manner
to prevent, assess, and
safely clean up brownfields
to promote their sustainable
reuse. EPA's Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration
Pilots "are directed toward
environmental activities pre-
liminary to cleanup, such as
site assessments, site iden-
tification, site characteriza-
tion, and site response or
cleanup planning
States and US territories,
political subdivisions (includ-
ing cities, towns, and coun-
ties) and federally recog-
nized Indian tribes.
Up to $200,000 for 2 years
Varies
Becky Brooks, Office of
Solid Waste and Emergency
Response, 202 260-8474
Environmental
Protection i
Consolidated
Research
To support environ-
mental research
based on excellent
science as deter-
mined through peer
review by experts
drawn from the
nationally scientific
community.
States, local gov-
ernments, federally
recognized Indian
tribes, territories
and possessions,
public and private
universities and col-
leges, hospitals,
laboratories, public
and private non-
profit institutions,
and highly qualified
individuals.
$6,000 to
$1,500,000
Varies per specific
research program
National Center for
Environmental
Research,
800490-9194
National
Estuary
Program
To promote the development of
comprehensive conservation
and management plans for des-
ignated estuaries.
Grants are issued only for those
estuaries designated as "nationally
significant" by EPA. EPA is author-
ized to make grants to State, inter-
state, and regional water pollution
control agencies and entities,
State coastal zone management
agencies, interstate agencies,
other public and nonprofit private
agencies, institutions, organiza-
tions, and individuals (Section
320(g)(l)). Profit making organiza-
tions are not eligible for grants.
$10,000 to $795,000
November to May
Darrell Brown,
Office of
Wetlands, Oceans,
and Watersheds
Protection, 202
260-6502
Children s
Health
Protection
To support com-
munity-based and
regional projects
that enhance pub-
lic outreach and
communication; to
assist families in
evaluating risks to
children and in
making informed
consumer choic-
es.
Community
groups, public
nonprofit organi-
zations, tribal gov-
ernments, and
municipal/local
governments.
$35,000 to
$135,000
Varies
Ramona Trovato,
Office of
Children's Health,
202 260-7778
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