300R07002
Environmental Justice
Biennial Report
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
ntegrating Environmental Justice
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Contents
Introduction .1
Clean Air and Global Climate Change 3
Environmental Justice Priority: Reduction in
Asthma Attacks 3
Environmental Justice Priority: Reduce Exposure
to Air Toxics 7
Clean and Safe Water 11
Environmental Justice Priority: Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat 11
Environmental Justice Priority: Water Safe to Drink 13
Land Preservation and Restoration 18
Environmental Justice Priority: Revitalization of Brownfields
and Contaminated Sites ." 19
Healthy Communities and Ecosystems 25
Environmental Justice Priority: Collaborative Problem-Solving 25
Environmental Justice Priority: Reduced Incidences of
Elevated Blood Lead Levels 39
Compliance and Environmental Stewardship 42
Environmental Justice Priority: Compliance 43
Cross Goal Strategies 48
Environmental Justice Priority: Reduction in
Asthma Attacks 49
Environmental Justice Priority: Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat 51
Environmental Justice Priority: Collaborative Problem-Solving 52
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
recognizes that minority
and/or low-income communities
may be exposed disproportion-
ately to environmental harms and
risks. The Agency works to pro-
tect these and other communities
from adverse human health and
environmental effects. Ensuring
environmental justice means not
only protecting human health
and the environment for every-
one, but also ensuring that all
people are treated fairly and are
given the opportunity to partici-
pate meaningfully in the develop-
ment, implementation, and
enforcement of environmental
laws, regulations, and policies.
EPA's Environmental Justice Program is aligning
its environmental justice efforts with the
Agency's overall strategic planning and budget-
ing processes as a means to further integrate
environmental justice into the Agency's core
programs, policies, and activities. The 2005-2006
Environmental Justice Biennial Report reflects
the six main goals of EPA's 2006-2011 Strategic
Plan. The plan is a blueprint for EPA's activities
over the next five years:
1) Clean Air and Global Climate Change
2) Clean and Safe Water
3) Land Preservation and Restoration
4) Healthy Communities and Ecosystems
5) Compliance and Environmental Stewardship
6) Cross-Goal Strategies
Each chapter is further categorized in terms of
EPA's eight national environmental justice
priorities:
1) Reduce asthma attacks
2) Reduce exposure to air toxics
3) Ensure that fish and shellfish are safe to eat
4) Ensure that water is safe to drink
5) Ensure compliance
6) Revitalize brownfields and contaminated sites
7) Reduce incidences of elevated blood lead levels
8) Engage in collaborative problem-solving
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Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Introduction
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The Biennial Report is primarily an outreach
tool for the general public that summarizes the
Agency's key accomplishments in addressing
environmental justice issues. This report high-
lights activities that demonstrate the: 1) integra-
tion of environmental justice considerations into
the Agency's daily operations, 2) alignment of
the program and regional offices' work with the
eight national priorities and the Agency's overall
Strategic Plan goals, and 3) measurable, results-
oriented outcomes of the Agency's work to address
environmental justice. This document is not an
exhaustive compendium of all environmental
justice activities.
The Agency has made significant progress in
integrating environmental justice into its mission
and core functions to enhance EPA's ability to
address environmental and public health issues
in the most impacted communities, including
minority and low-income communities. EPA
realizes that more work lies ahead to ensure that
all people enjoy the same degree of protection
from environmental harms and risks. We invite
all environmental justice stakeholders to join in
this monumental effort.
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Chapter 1: Clean Air
EPA's Clean Air and Global
Climate Change goal seeks
to address the broad range
of impacts to air quality and the
stratospheric ozone, including
emissions from power plants and
other large sources and emissions
from smaller sources such as
motor vehicles. These issues are
best handled at the federal level,
as a national approach allows for
the cost-effective use of both tra-
ditional regulatory tools and
innovative nonregulatory
approaches, for example, emis-
sion trading, banking, and aver-
aging. State, tribal, and local
governments are well positioned
to address the regional and local
problems that remain after feder-
al measures have been fully
applied. EPA works with public
and private sector partners and
stakeholders to develop tools,
such as monitoring programs,
models, and emission inventories,
that allow states, tribes, and local
governments to address these
localized problems.
Environmental Justice
Priority: Reduction in
Asthma Attacks
Asthma is a rapidly growing environmental and
public health concern. According to the Centers
for Disease Control (CDC), 20 million Americans,
including approximately 5 million children, have
asthma. The higher incidence of asthma in low-
income and minority communities (particularly
Black and Hispanic) is of great concern.
The Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) aims to
reduce susceptible populations' exposure to asth-
ma triggers through initiatives addressing ambi-
ent and indoor air pollutants, both of which
contribute to asthma attacks. To this end, OAR
promotes voluntary measures to integrate indoor
environmental management into medical asthma
management practices to benefit the approxi-
mately 5 million children who live with asthma.
OAR's ambient air quality initiatives strive to
improve air quality to healthy levels for the 39
percent of the U.S. population who live in areas
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not meeting new standards for fine particles and
for the 60 percent who live in areas not meeting
new standards for 8-hour ozone by 2010.
Additionally, OAR's National Clean Diesel
Campaign, an initiative to reduce exposure to air
pollutants near roadways and other mobile
source pollution hot spots, will help reduce asth-
ma triggers in outdoor air. Based on 1990 levels,
EPA expects a 90-percent reduction in diesel
emissions and a 60-percent reduction in other
mobile source air toxics by 2020 as a result of
the campaign.
Headquarters
Activity: Authority to Issue New Source
Review Permits in Indian Country
OAR, in partnership with EPA's regional offices
and the American Indian Environmental Office,
proposed a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP)
for Indian country under the Clean Air Act on
August 21, 2006. Two preconstruction air quality
regulations proposed in this FIP should reduce
health disparities between people who live in
Indian country and those who live within the rest
of the United States. The regulations will create
new permit programs that will lead to a decrease
in emissions of air pollutants, including particu-
late matter (PM), helping to achieve the
Agency's national environmental justice priority
of reducing the incidence of asthma. Tribal com-
munities represent a vulnerable population due
to low socioeconomic status and reduced access
to health care, and are also more likely to experi-
ence negative PM-related health effects due to a
high prevalence of elderly and young persons
and the prevalence of asthma and other forms of
lung disease. The FIP will also address the
Agency's national environmental justice priority
of reducing exposure to toxics by providing a
permitting mechanism for small toxics sources,
which will provide better accountability and
oversight of these sources.
These regulations will fill a significant regulatory
gap, as there is currently no permitting mecha-
nism for minor stationary sources located any-
where in Indian country or for major stationary
sources located in areas of Indian country not
attaining the National Ambient Air Quality
Standards (NAAQS). The rules will also benefit
tribes by clarifying jurisdiction in air permitting,
creating a timely mechanism for obtaining per-
mits, and ensuring that natural resources are
protected through controlled growth. EPA or a
delegated tribal government will implement these
rules until they are replaced by an approved trib-
al implementation plan. Prior to this rulemaking,
OAR consulted extensively with tribal govern-
ments and representatives to ensure that their
concerns were addressed, and also sought input
from state and local air pollution control agencies.
Activity: Communities in Action for
Asthma-Friendly Environments
The Indoor Environments Division of the Office
of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA) strives to
improve the health of people with asthma—in
particular, disproportionately impacted popula-
tions—by 1) increasing knowledge about the
importance of working with a doctor, developing
an asthma action plan, and identifying personal
asthma triggers; 2) fostering acquisition of new
skills and behavior changes to reduce exposure
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Reduction in
Asthma Attacks
to environmental asthma triggers; and 3) affect-
ing the type and quality of care provided to peo-
ple with asthma. To accomplish these goals,
ORIA works directly with people with asthma
and with a variety of stakeholders, including
health care providers, commercial and public
health insurers, state agencies, childcare and
school personnel, community-based organiza-
tions, and coalitions.
ORIA launched Communities in Action for
Asthma Friendly Environments (Communities in
Action) in May 2006, based in part on the results
of the landmark Asthma Health Outcomes
Project, which identified key programmatic
attributes of successful community-based asthma
programs. Communities in Action is aimed at
enlisting 1,000 communities and the organiza-
tions that support them to deliver quality asthma
care and improve health outcomes for millions of
people dealing with asthma. The framework that
supports Communities in Action includes an
online network (AsthmaCommunityNetwork.org)
and an annual event, the National Asthma
Forum. Regional events are held throughout the
year to provide local education, outreach, and
benchmarking opportunities. Communities in
Action is conducted in partnership with the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Allies
Against Asthma, national nonprofit organiza-
tions, and EPA regional offices.
The Communities in Action online network
offers peer-to-peer learning and real-time infor-
mation exchange for participating communities.
Through an interactive, Web-based platform,
participants have access to emerging guidance,
online discussion groups, Web conferences, and
other tools and resources. Current asthma pro-
gram guidance has been captured in the "Change
Package for Increasing the Effectiveness and
Impact of Community-Based Asthma Programs,"
a comprehensive tool that synthesizes field data
and experiences of successful asthma manage-
ment programs that include an environmental
component.
Ninety communities are currently participating
in the online network. For example, the
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Community
Asthma Prevention Program (CAPP) is a com-
prehensive asthma care program that exemplifies
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asthma and their families manage environmental
triggers. Trained lay educators visit the homes of
families enrolled in the program—children
between 2 and 16 years of age with a diagnosis
of persistent asthma who use controller medi-
cines are eligible. CAPP is tracking the effects of
home environmental interventions on hospital
visits, ER visits, missed school days, missed par-
ent work days, inappropriate use of medications,
and nighttime asthma symptoms. In addition to
teaching families about asthma and supervising
asthma trigger removal in the homes, home visi-
tors also document each visit. CAPP provides
individualized follow-up, such as referrals to
social services or contact with the primary care
provider, based on findings from the home visits.
Families that receive home visits, environmental
counseling, and materials to help them imple-
ment simple environmental mitigations reported
fewer cockroaches. Cockroaches are a strong
allergen that can trigger asthma. CAPP's data
shows that these families also experienced a
decrease in asthma-related hospitalizations,
emergency room visits, sick visits, and asthma
symptoms.
In addition, the Urban Health Plan (UHP)
serves families in the Bronx, New York, where at
least 27 percent of children have an asthma diag-
nosis, more than three times the national preva-
lence. UHP's strong ties to the community it
serves; its partnerships with other organizations,
particularly the New York City Asthma Initiative;
and the integrated health care and environmental
services that UHP delivers to its patients with
asthma is making a real difference. All 13 clinical
care sites in its system have implemented a quali-
ty improvement project, and the program is
achieving some of the most impressive asthma
health outcomes in the country in a dispropor-
tionately affected community: 80-85 percent of
providers now use the standard asthma classifi-
cation system during clinical visits; 100 percent
of patients who need it are on anti-inflammatory
medication; 60 percent of patients have self-
management goals; and UHP has achieved and
maintained 10 symptom-free days in a row, even
during the months when asthma symptoms tra-
ditionally spike. UHP's ZIP Code has seen the
largest decrease in asthma hospitalizations in all
of New York City. Between 1997 and 2000 asth-
ma hospitalization rates decreased among chil-
dren aged 0-14 years in UHP's community,
Hunts Point-Mott Haven, by 56 percent.
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Reduce Exposure
to Air Toxics
Clean Air and Glotx
Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Priority: Reduce Exposure
to Air Toxics
Reducing exposure to toxic or hazardous air pol-
lutants is of particular concern for low-income
and minority communities because of the preva-
lence of susceptible populations (such as children,
the sick, and the elderly) and disproportionate lev-
els of emissions affecting some communities. Air
toxics are pollutants that are known or suspected
to cause cancer or other serious health effects,
such as reproductive effects, birth defects, or
adverse environmental effects.
EPA is working with state, local, and tribal gov-
ernments to reduce releases of 188 air toxics to
the environment. EPA has issued rules that
require pollution controls for industrial and com-
mercial sources of toxics, which are projected to
reduce annual air toxics emissions by about 1.5
million tons. Air toxics emitted by cars and
trucks are also subject to rules that are expected
to reduce air toxics emissions from mobile
sources by over 1 million tons per year.
States, tribes, and local agencies can best address
the regional and local ambient air problems that
remain after federal measures have been fully
applied. EPA works with government agencies
and community organizations that are interested
in air toxics tools that help them better under-
stand and reduce air toxics in their local areas.
At the international level, EPA collaborates with
a range of partners to reduce significant sources
of emissions in developing countries through
programs to control emissions from vehicles and
refineries and eliminate lead in gasoline.
Headquarters
Activity: Implementing Community Risk-
Based Programs
The Community Air Program (CAP) is
designed to complement national regulatory
approaches and meet community needs by help-
ing communities understand and address their
unique toxic concerns. While national regulatory
approaches have resulted in significant reduc-
tions in toxic releases, they have not always effec-
tively addressed local concerns and cumulative
risks from toxic releases from multiple sources.
OAR assists EPA's regional offices in implement-
ing CAP by monitoring progress, providing tech-
nical support, and developing tools and
information on reduction activities that commu-
nities can use to improve air quality. Rather than
prescribing specific measures, CAP allows the
regional offices to work with their communities
to identify area-specific problems and needs.
CAP aims to help all communities live in a
healthy environment, while accomplishing goals
set forth in OAR's 1988 Urban Air Toxics
Strategy. By focusing on reductions of air toxics,
CAP addresses two of the Agency's environmental
justice priorities: 1) reduce asthma attacks; and
2) reduce exposure to air toxics.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
Ninety community projects, in which communi-
ties identify and address risk, have been imple-
mented nationwide under CAP. For example, the
St. Louis CAP, a broad-based collaborative
effort, seeks to improve residents' health by iden-
tifying and reducing air pollutants in the St.
Louis urban area. The project is composed of
implementation teams that focus on 1) indoor air
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toxics reduction, 2) diesel emission reduction, 3)
improved emission inventory and pollution pre-
vention assistance for small businesses, and 4)
"greener buildings" work with the St. Louis
Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.
The St. Louis CAP work has resulted in 81.1
million in diesel oxidation catalyst retrofits for
more than 800 diesel school bus engines in the
St. Louis metropolitan area.
Another CAP project, the Lawrence Risk-Based
Air Screening in Lawrence, Massachusetts, input
air toxics emissions data into an air dispersion
model to compute ambient air concentrations of
hazardous air pollutants in the studied area.
Scientists used these results and determined which
chemicals and sources contributed primarily to
human health risk. They also mapped air toxics
sources using the Toxic Release Inventory and
National Air Toxics Assessment of 1999. Using the
maps and focus groups, the community developed
an action plan to address the pollution sources and
chemicals and implement risk reduction programs.
Through CAP, EPA and its tribal, state, and local
partners are working together to build communi-
ty capacity and to understand and reduce risks
by providing funding, information, training,
technical support, and access to voluntary pro-
grams to address community concerns. OAR
maintains a community database that includes
information on planned, completed, and ongoing
community-level air toxics assessments across
the country. This tool is used to track results and
lessons learned from the community projects
and helps communities find successful projects
that they can replicate.
Activity: International Efforts to Address
Air Toxics
Globalization has made clear that interdependen-
cies of ecosystems and the transport of pollutants
affect the entire world, and that depletion of
natural resources in one nation can have environ-
mental and economic ramifications elsewhere.
When the United States assists developing coun-
tries to manage their natural resources and protect
the health of their citizens, our country is ensuring
our own well-being.
The Office of International Affairs (OLA) leads
EPA's efforts to address global environmental
issues. The integration of environmental justice
into international work has aided environmental
management and directed the Agency's efforts
toward the greatest threats in the communities,
homes, and workplaces of all global citizens,
including sensitive populations, such as children
and the elderly, and communities that are dispro-
portionately impacted.
Poor air quality is a major concern throughout
the world. In developing countries, urban air pol-
lution has worsened in most large cities because
of industrialization, increased vehicle use, and
increased populations. The World Health
Organization estimates that as many as 1.4 bil-
lion residents breathe air that does not meet air
quality guidelines. Because air quality does not
recognize national borders, the United States is
both a source and a recipient of transboundary
air pollution.
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Reduce Exposure
to Air Toxics
EPA collaborates internationally on shared vehi-
cle pollution issues through the Partnership for
Clean Fuels and Vehicles, launched in 2002 at
the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
To reduce air pollution in developing countries,
the Partnership's goals are to: 1) eliminate lead in
gasoline worldwide; and 2) reduce sulfur in
diesel and gasoline fuel, while introducing
advanced emissions control technology. As EPA
moves to address these environmental goals, the
Agency encourages inclusion, fair treatment,
access to information, and opportunities that
enable nations and individuals to improve their
quality of life without compromising that of
future generations.
EPA's work on the partnership leverages millions
of dollars in partner donations, refinery modifi-
cations, and vehicle emission reduction pro-
grams. OIA works with EPA's Office of Air and
Radiation (OAR), with many of the 90+ part-
ners in the Partnership, and with the United
Nations Environment Programme to implement
these programs.
EPA's regional initiatives are extremely effective
when they are coordinated with programs in other
nations that share U.S. environmental interests.
Several EPA program and regional offices have
provided resources (both human and financial) to
assist OIA in improving global air quality and
addressing environmental justice concerns.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
To assist South Africa in eliminating lead from
gasoline, Region 6 hosted a stakeholder delegation
from South Africa and shared U.S. experiences
regarding lead phaseout, broader air quality issues
helpful in lead removal, emission controls and
pollution prevention options for refineries, and
approaches to community awareness and involve-
ment. The director of the Office of Environmental
Justice and Tribal Affairs and its staff escorted the
delegation to meetings and tours at two refineries.
The delegation also visited with community-based
organizations, which shared the arduous steps
taken by the government, the refineries, and the
communities to work together to resolve air quali-
ty and environmental justice issues. The delega-
tion, in turn, invited U.S. experts in air quality
management and environmental justice to South
Africa to see the country's problems first hand
and discuss issues and recommendations with
larger audiences.
OIA hosted a study tour for "Mothers Against
Lead," a group of mothers from all over
Indonesia who came to the United States to be
educated on the dangers of lead and how to
prevent and reduce lead poisoning in their neigh-
borhoods. EPA Region 3's environmental justice
coordinator helped arrange an environmental
justice meeting and tour in Baltimore, Maryland.
There, the Coalition to End Childhood Lead
Poisoning hosted the delegates, who learned
strategies to mitigate lead dangers and met with
state and local legislators, medical personnel, and
mothers. The delegates also toured cleaned-up
neighborhood sites and visited the home of a
mother with two lead-poisoned children, who
had recently relocated to a cleaned-up home.
Delegates also met with community advocates
who worked with EPA and other stakeholders to
make the cleanup possible. After the tour, OIA
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sent an EPA children's health/lead expert to
Indonesia to speak at public and private forums
and to assist the mothers in their public aware-
ness campaigns all over Indonesia.
After tireless work of negotiations and public
awareness campaigns, successes all over the
world are being realized. In 2006 alone, the elim-
ination of lead in gasoline has benefited more
than 700 million people. Forty-nine countries in
Africa, as well as Turkey, Syria, Croatia, and
Indonesia, have completely eliminated lead from
gasoline. The Partnership's goal is to have a
world free of leaded gasoline by the end of 2008.
In 2006, EPA Region 4 staff worked with field
monitoring teams in Ghana and Tanzania to devel-
op, or enhance, ambient air quality monitoring
capabilities in their cities. EPA, with the support of
its contractor, provided particulate matter (PM10)
monitors to each city to expand their respective
monitoring networks to seven permanent sites and
four roadside sites as specified in the original mon-
itoring plan for these countries. This required
preparing and shipping two additional Selective
Size Inlet (SSI) PM10 monitors to Accra, Ghana,
and three SSI monitors to Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania, to complete the permanent monitoring
site expansion, as well as one additional PM10
Mini-Vol Sampler to each city to complete the
roadside site expansion. After the Ghana EPA and
Tanzania National Environmental Management
Council (NEMC) set up the additional monitoring
sites, the contractor traveled to each city to verify
that the new monitors were properly established
and operating correctly. The contractor also con-
ducted a performance evaluation/audit of the
entire monitoring program in each city, including
working with Ghana EPA and the Tanzanian
NEMC to complete/update their respective quality
assurance project plans. Ghana EPA is now col-
lecting PM10, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen diox-
ide, and carbon dioxide samples at five permanent
and three roadside sites; PM10 samples are collect-
ed for 24 hours every six days. The monitors also
collect ozone, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide
for six days, every 18 days, as well as carbon
monoxide for 24 to 72 hours every six days, at
roadside sites only. Ghana EPA began sampling at
two additional roadside sites as well.
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Chapter 2:
mil
Thirty years ago, some of
the nation's waters were
being used as open sewers,
posing serious health risks, and
many water sources were unusable
for traditional purposes, such as
swimming, fishing, and recreation.
The number of polluted water
bodies has dropped significantly
over these past decades, primarily
due to a large investment of feder-
al, state, tribal, and local resources;
however, serious water pollution
and drinking water problems
remain. The United States must
remain committed to improving
water quality and protecting
human health.
EPA's Office of Water (OW) strives to provide
clean and safe surface water and drinking water
that all Americans can enjoy. To achieve this, OW
is committed to integrating environmental justice
principles into its policies, programs, and activi-
ties to ensure that no segment of the population
is disproportionately affected by adverse human
health or environmental effects. EPA's authorities
to address water quality issues are derived from
the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974) and its
amendments (1986, 1996), and from the Clean
Water Act (1977). OW works with EPA regional
water and wastewater divisions, states, tribes,
water systems, and the public to set national
drinking water standards and develop water pol-
lution control programs.
Environmental justice considerations have been
integrated into the water priorities through 1)
funding for infrastructure improvements to small
and disadvantaged communities and tribal and
territorial public water systems through the
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, to reduce
public exposure to contaminants through com-
pliance with rules and provide reliable delivery of
safe water; and 2) maintenance of the Fish
Consumption Advisory Program Web site, which
includes the National Listing of Fish Consumption
Advisories a compilation of advisories issued by
state, tribal, local, and federal agencies.
Environmental Justice
Priority: Fish and Shellfish
Safe to Eat
Exposure to contaminants in fish and shellfish is
a public health issue for communities with envi-
ronmental justice concerns. Some toxic contami-
nants (e.g., methyl mercury) that enter water
bodies can move up the food chain and pose
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health risks to humans, particularly to children
and women of childbearing age. Exposure to
toxic contaminants in fish is higher among low-
income and tribal communities where there are a
relatively high number of subsistence anglers.
Like fish, shellfish can accumulate disease-causing
microorganisms and toxic algae. Shellfishing was
approved in 1995 in 77 percent of approximately
21.6 million acres that support shellfish harvest-
ing. By 2005, the number of acres classified as
approved for shellfish harvesting had increased
to 81 percent of approximately 23.6 million
acres. States and tribes report that they have
issued fish consumption advisories for some 14
percent of river miles and 28 percent of lake
acres. EPA is working with states, tribes, and
other federal agencies to improve water and sedi-
ment quality, so all fish and shellfish are safe to
eat and the public is informed of the health risks
associated with consuming fish and shellfish.
Activity: Translations of the National
Mercury Advisory Brochure, What You
Need to Know About Mercury in Fish
and Shellfish
EPA's OW and Office of Science and Technology,
in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's (FDA's) Center for Food Safety
and Applied Nutrition, completed six new transla-
tions of the national mercury advisory brochure,
WhatYou Need to Know About Mercury in Fish
and Shellfish—into Cambodian, Hmong,
Vietnamese, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, and
Spanish. The brochure provides guidance on
selecting and eating fish and shellfish to women
who might become pregnant, pregnant women,
nursing mothers, and young children. By follow-
ing the recommendations in the brochure,
woman and children will receive the benefits of
eating fish and shellfish and feel confident that
they have reduced their exposure to the harmful
effects of mercury.
Each of the new translations is accompanied by a
communication strategy that outlines separate
distribution plans for the translated brochures,
according to organizations that specialize in
working directly with Vietnamese, Chinese,
Portuguese, Cambodian, Korean, and Hmong
communities in the United States. The recom-
mended methods include distributing the
brochures via mail, posting them on the Web at
, developing public service
announcements, and developing associated
teaching and outreach materials.
To bring the project to fruition, EPA translated
the brochures, and FDA printed them in early
2006. The first significant national distribution is
planned for 2007 with help from EPA regional
offices and state health agencies.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
EPA initiated Phase One of the communication
strategies by distributing the brochures on the
Web and at national medical and environmental
health conferences throughout the country.
These conferences are attended by thousands of
physicians and public health officials who receive
copies of the brochures to distribute to their
non-English speaking patients.
The 2007 national distribution will include mail-
ings to organizations that work directly with the
targeted ethnic groups, as well as to public health
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Clean an
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agencies, Cooperative Extension Services, and
Sea Grant offices in states where 1 percent or
more of the targeted populations reside. Based
on available resources, distribution might also
include cooperation with CDC to develop public
service announcements and teaching materials
for educators and outreach workers to use in tar-
geted communities.
Short-term and long-term measures of success
include:
1) An increase in the number of brochures dis-
tributed, as well as an increase in the number
of stakeholders attending educational ses-
sions, listening to the radio, and/or watching
television channels where public service
announcements on mercury in fish and fish
consumption are played.
2) Changes in the awareness and behavior of the
targeted populations when selecting and eat-
ing fish to avoid mercury exposure. Success
will be determined by surveys conducted
after the outreach efforts are complete.
The intended outcome from distribution of the
brochures is an increased awareness of, and
adherence to, the National Mercury Advisory
among high fish-consuming, non-English speakers
in the United States.
Environmental Justice
Priority: Water Safe to
Drink
Ensuring that everyone in the Unites States
receives drinking water that meets all applicable
health-based standards is one of EPA's funda-
mental goals. To achieve this goal, OW is devel-
oping strategies that address each community's
specific challenges. To that end, OW is consider-
ing the particular problems faced by tribal popu-
lations and communities with environmental
justice concerns and taking steps to find solu-
tions that meet their needs.
Thirty years ago, many of the nation's drinking
water systems provided water to the tap with
very limited treatment (usually disinfection) or
no treatment at all. Drinking water was too often
the cause of acute illnesses linked to microbio-
logical contaminants or long-term health prob-
lems resulting from exposure to other
contaminants. Today, drinking water systems
monitor the quality of the water they provide and
treat water to ensure compliance with standards
covering a wide range of contaminants. In addi-
tion, new efforts to prevent contaminants from
entering drinking water sources are helping to
keep drinking water safe.
More than 260 million Americans rely on the
safety of tap water provided by water systems
that comply with national drinking-water stan-
dards. EPA's strategy for ensuring safe drinking
water over the next several years includes four
key elements 1) developing or revising drinking-
water standards; 2) supporting states, tribes, and
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water systems in implementing standards; 3)
promoting sustainable management of drinking-
water infrastructure; and 4) protecting drinking-
water sources from contamination.
Headquarters
Activity: Lead in Drinking Water in
Schools and Childcare Facilities
Lead can affect almost every organ and system
in the human body, and no safe blood lead level
in children has been determined. The central
nervous system, including the brain, is most sen-
sitive to lead exposure, particularly in children,
and lead also damages kidneys and the repro-
ductive system. The effects are the same whether
lead is inhaled or swallowed. Even low levels of
lead in the blood (below 10 g/dL) have been
associated with reduced IQ and attention span,
learning disabilities, poor classroom perform-
ance, hyperactivity, behavioral problems,
impaired growth, and hearing loss. Very high
blood lead levels (above 70 g/dL) can cause
severe neurological problems, such as coma,
convulsions, and even death. The only method to
determine a child's lead level is to have a blood
lead test done by a health provider. Elevated
blood lead levels are more prevalent in children
who live in older housing and in children of low-
income families.
EPA and its partners are concerned about the
potential for elevated lead levels in the drinking
water of schools and childcare centers, as young
children and infants tend to absorb more lead
than the average adult. Drinking water is one
possible source of lead exposure, and infants
whose diets consist mainly of formula prepared
with tap water can receive a significant portion
of their lead exposure from water. Some drinking
water pipes, taps, solder, and other plumbing
components contain lead, which can leach into
the water and pose a health risk when consumed.
Testing water in schools and childcare facilities is
important because children spend a significant
portion of their days in these facilities, and they
are likely to consume water while there.
EPA signed a partnership agreement on June 9,
2005, to focus attention on testing drinking
water for lead in schools and childcare facilities.
The agreement promotes voluntary efforts to
reduce children's lead exposure and represents
an unprecedented partnership with the
Department of Education, CDC, the American
Water Works Association, the Association of
Metropolitan Water Agencies, the National
Association of Water Companies, the National
Rural Water Association, and the Association of
State Drinking Water Administrators.
The signatories of the agreement have committed
to encourage schools and childcare facilities to
take steps to reduce children's exposure to lead,
including 1) testing drinking water for lead; 2)
disseminating results to parents, students, staff,
and other interested stakeholders; and 3) taking
appropriate and necessary actions to correct
problems. The partners will support this effort
through education and outreach and by encour-
aging the drinking-water community to assist
schools and childcare facilities in their efforts to
understand and reduce lead exposure from
drinking water.
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Water Safe
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EPA protects children from elevated lead levels
in drinking water under the Lead and Copper
Rule (LCR). Schools and daycare centers that
are regulated as public water systems (i.e., have
their own source of drinking water) must comply
with the requirements of the LCR. Inventory
data from the Safe Drinking Water Information
System (SDWIS) indicates that 4,458 schools
and daycare centers nationwide qualify as public
water systems (community water systems and
non-transient, non-community water systems).
Approximately 12 percent (548) of these sys-
tems exceeded the action level for pollutants at
least one monitoring period since 2000.
While the LCR regulates schools and daycare
centers with their own water systems, no federal
law requires sampling of drinking water in
schools that receive water from a public water
system. Some states have provisions to include
schools served by a public water system as sam-
pling locations (i.e., at the tap) for a public water
system's lead and copper monitoring program,
but there are no federal requirements for more
extensive testing. States and local jurisdictions
may, however, establish programs for testing
drinking-water lead levels in schools.
Measures of Success—Results/Outcomes
To better protect children from lead in drinking
water and encourage voluntary activity by
schools and childcare centers, EPA developed
and released a suite of new tools and guidance
documents in January 2006. The guidance docu-
ments teach schools and childcare facilities how
to implement the "3Ts" -—Training,Testing, and
Telling. The goal is to encourage voluntary lead
reduction programs for drinking water. EPA's •
objective is to provide school officials and childcare
providers with the tools they need to understand
and address lead in drinking water in their facili-
ties. More information on starting a 3Ts program
is available at: www.epa.gov/safewater/schools.
Region 6
Activity: Safe Drinking Water for
Mescalero Apache Tribe of New Mexico
The Mescalero Apache Tribe drinking-water
system, which provides water to approximately
3,000 people, had a 15-year history of non-
compliance due to irregular sample collection
and high total coliform levels. EPA Region 6
took an innovative, culturally specific approach,
rooted in tribal culture awareness, to bring the
system into compliance, collaborating with the
tribe and the Indian Health Service and other
partners to achieve this goal. After extensive
communication with the tribe, EPA issued three
Orders on Consent requiring the tribe to install
and operate a continuous chlorination system
and monitor chlorine residuals to ensure proper
operation of the disinfection process.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
Due to the team effort of the three entities,
drinking-water quality has improved for all
members of the Mescalero Apache Tribe. Two
new wells with state-of-the-art control panels
were drilled at the reservation, and each well pro-
duces 100 to 150 gallons of water per minute.
Additional improvements include the installation
of a new distribution system, including a new
booster pump, two new storage tanks, and a well
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house. After establishing a genuine partnership
between EPA and the Mescalero, the tribe went
above the requirements outlined in the Orders
on Consent by upgrading additional water sys-
tems and adding water systems to keep up with
projected population growth. The tribe has also
supported the continuing education of its water
systems operator, resulting in a certified Level 4
drinking water operator and a certified Level 1
wastewater operator.
Through this project, all 14 Mescalero water
systems achieved compliance for the first time in
15 years, and no major violations have occurred
to date. The Mescalero met all drinking-water
regulations, and Region 6 staff continues to work
with the tribe to monitor and ensure maintained
compliance.
Region 8
Activity: Safe Drinking Water for
Household Well Users
EPA initiated a drinking-water well project to
provide testing, education, and information to
household drinking-water well users in the San
Luis Valley of Colorado. Household wells are not
regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act; there-
fore, well users are responsible for the quality of
their own drinking water. Region 8 worked col-
laboratively with EPA's Office of Environmental
Information (OEI) and Community Leaders in
the San Luis Valley to implement a successful
community project. The project was initiated in
2005, and in June and July of 2006, the Agency's
mobile laboratory tested 417 private household
wells for bacteria and other contaminants. Final
results showed that 28.5 percent of all household
wells tested positive for bacteria (total coliform,
E. coli, and other bacteria). Approximately one in
five household wells tested positive for bacteria;
1.4 percent of household wells exceeded the
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)—EPA's
primary drinking-water standards for nitrate;
11.9 percent exceeded the MCL for arsenic; 1.4
percent exceeded the MCL for lead; 3.1 percent
exceeded the MCL for uranium; and 3.6 percent
exceeded the MCL for fluoride. EPA contacted
households that tested positive for bacteria or
nitrates within 48 hours after collection of the
samples and gave instructions on the "shock
chlorination" processes for bacteria and recom-
mended filtration devices for nitrates. Agency
staff then mailed laboratory test results to all
participants, with contaminant fact sheets and
information on interpreting the test results.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
EPA will conduct follow-up calls to community
participants in early 2007 to determine what risk
reduction and/or corrective actions they have
taken, as well as to discuss annual testing, well
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maintenance, filtration devices, and ways to
enhance public education and outreach. Region
8, through its collaborative work with OEI, used
this project as a model for effective environmental
and health information dissemination in rural
communities. Region 8 will produce a lessons
learned report in early 2007, which will be uti-
lized by community organizations and other EPA
regional offices that would like to implement a
similar project.
In May and June 2006, Region 8 and community
leaders of the San Luis Valley held nine communi-
ty meetings in various counties to initiate partici-
pation in the household drinking-water well
project. The meetings were designed to familiarize
community members with community leaders
and engage in meaningful dialogue with EPA
regarding environmental justice, barriers, health
risks, and water contaminants. In addition, the
EPA Laboratory Services Program personnel pro-
vided training on how to collect acceptable well
water samples. Some major community concerns
identified during the community meetings includ-
ed 1) the cost and affordability of future testing,
2) the cost and affordability of filtration devices,
and 3) the health risk associated with arsenic and
pesticide contamination in water.
This project is the first community project of its
kind in Region 8. EPA implemented outreach
and communication concerning the project to
each county by distributing flyers, placing press
releases in local newspapers, encouraging word-
of-mouth, staffing booths at community fairs,
and developing a local radio broadcast. More
than 400 community members participated in
the nine meetings, and 355 household well own-
ers participated in the pre-testing survey. This
survey covered basic questions on health, well
types, contaminant facts, well usage, well mainte-
nance, frequency of water testing, and the
affordability of testing. As a result, the success of
the project has helped to position the San Luis
Valley and its community leaders to develop a
community public health infrastructure that will
contribute to a sustainable drinking-water well
program led by the community.
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Chapter 3: Land Preservation
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Left uncontrolled, wastes
released on the land can
migrate, contaminating
drinking water, causing illness or
disease, and threatening healthy
ecosystems. EPA's Office of Solid
Waste and Emergency Response
(OSWER) works to minimize envi-
ronmental risks by preserving and
restoring land using the most
innovative, effective waste man-
agement and cleanup methods
available, and by cleaning up
contaminated properties to
reduce risks posed by releases of
harmful substances. OSWER's
commitment to and performance
measures for addressing these
environmental and public health
concerns can be found in Goal 3
and Goal 4 of EPA's 2006-2011
Strategic Plan.
EPA employs a hierarchy of approaches to pro-
tect the land, including reducing waste at its
source, recycling waste for materials or energy
values, managing waste effectively by preventing
spills and releases of toxic materials, and cleaning
up contaminated properties. We are especially
concerned about threats to our most sensitive
populations: children, the elderly, and people
with chronic diseases.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA, or Superfund) provide the legal
authority for most of EPA's work to preserve and
restore the land. OSWER uses the Superfund
authority to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned
hazardous waste sites and return land to produc-
tive use. Under RCRA, the Agency works in
partnership with states and tribes to address risks
associated with leaking underground storage
tanks and the generation and management of
hazardous and nonhazardous wastes. Tribal
governments are the primary parties for setting
standards, making environmental policy decisions,
and managing programs consistent with federal
standards and regulations for reservations, and
EPA's regional offices work directly with them,
as they are the recognized independent authori-
ties for reservation affairs.
EPA also uses authorities provided under the
Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Oil
Pollution Act of 1990 to protect against spills
and releases of hazardous materials. Controlling
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Revitalization of Brownfields
and Contaminated Sites
Land Preservation
and Restoration
the many risks posed by accidental and inten-
tional releases of harmful substances presents a
significant challenge. To minimize these risks,
EPA integrates prevention, preparedness, and
response efforts. It conducts spill prevention
activities to keep harmful substances from being
released to the environment. EPA also continues
to improve its readiness to respond to and mini-
mize contamination and harm to the environment
when spills do occur by coordinating with its
partners at all levels of government, developing
clear authorities, training personnel, and providing
proper equipment.
Recognizing that minority and/or low-income
communities frequently can be exposed dispro-
portionately to environmental risk and harm,
OSWER utilizes its land preservation and
restoration program to protect these and other
burdened communities from adverse human
health and environmental effects. We implement
these programs consistent with existing environ-
mental and civil rights laws and their associated
regulations, as well as Executive Order 12898,
"Federal Actions to Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations." Ensuring environmental justice
means not only protecting human health and
the environment for everyone, but also making
certain that all people are treated fairly and given
the opportunity to participate meaningfully in
making decisions that will affect their health
and communities.
Environmental Justice
Priority: Revitalization of
Brownfields and
Contaminated Sites
Environmental justice issues often involve
brownfields, which are properties where expan-
sion, redevelopment, or reuse can be complicated
by the presence or potential presence of a haz-
ardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. The
importance of revitalizing contaminated brown-
fields sites cannot be overstated, however; the
U.S. General Accounting Office estimates that
there are 150,000 to 500,000 brownfields sites
nationwide, and that it would take $650 billion to
clean them up. A survey of 39 cities, conducted
by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, identified
21,000 sites totaling approximately 43,000 acres
of land, an area the size of the District of
Columbia, The Conference of Mayors report
also suggests that the majority of brownfields
sites are located in the older industrial cities in
the Northeast and Midwest, and that these sites
tend to be located in low-income and minority
urban neighborhoods.
In the context of contaminated or potentially
contaminated properties, land revitalization
refers to actions taken to promote safe, produc-
tive, and sustainable use or reuse of property.
These revitalization activities can help to impart
new life to properties, resulting in enhancements
to communities and ecosystems. EPA has found
that effective coordination and holistic decision-
making can maximize community benefits, pro-
tect the environment, enhance community
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and address environmental justice concerns.
Headquarters
Activity: Providing Technical Assistance
to Superfund Communities
The Office of Site Remediation and Technology
Innovation (OSRTI) believes that providing
technical assistance to affected stakeholders is
key to addressing environmental justice. Access
to independent technical assistance gives com-
munities a voice in site cleanup decisionmaking
by helping them understand the Superfund
cleanup process and information regarding
contaminants of concern, exposure pathways,
and potential response actions.
The Superfund program uses two principal
mechanisms to provide technical assistance: 1)
the Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) program;
and 2) the Technical Outreach Services to
Communities (TOSC) program, which includes
a corollary program called the Technical
Outreach Services for Native American
Communities (TOSNAC). Previously structured
around a grant mechanism, the TOSC program
is transitioning to a contract vehicle that the
Agency expects to award by early 2007.
The TAG program provides funds to qualified
community groups to procure independent tech-
nical advisors to explain technical information,
plans, and documents related to cleanups at sites
listed, or proposed for listing, on the National
Priorities List (NPL). This assistance can
include helping communities with issues tied to
redevelopment and reuse, public health
concerns, and relocation issues. A portion of
TAG funds also can be used to publish newslet-
ters, obtain relevant supplies and equipment, or
hire a grant administrator. Grants of up to
850,000 per site are available. Additional funds
are available for some complex sites, but only
one active TAG can be used at a time for each
Superfund site.
The TOSC and TOSNAC programs provide
free, independent information and assistance to
communities. While the Agency is in the middle
of restructuring the TOSC program, its past
configuration linked community groups with
professors and technical assistance specialists
from the Hazardous Substance Research Centers
(HSRCs), a group of university centers focused
on hazardous substance management and
brownfields redevelopment. These specialists
provided free, independent information and
assistance to communities. Within the TOSC
program, TOSNAC provided technical assis-
tance to tribal communities dealing with haz-
ardous substance issues on their lands. The
assistance was provided through the Haskell
Indian Nations University.
The reconfigured TOSC program will provide
communities with free access to a roster of tech-
nical assistance providers. The Agency expects
the TOSC contract to be in place by fall 2007.
As with its previous configuration, the new
TOSC program will provide communities that
are not eligible for TAGs with technical assis-
tance. The program will also provide technical
assistance services to communities that want
such assistance but choose not to apply for and
manage a federal grant.
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Revitalization of Brownfields
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Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
Technical assistance is an essential public partici-
pation tool for communities to improve under-
standing of sites, the overall Superfund cleanup
process, and related technical issues; as well as to
level the playing field for communities to partici-
pate in EPA's decisionmaking process.
Since the Agency awarded the first TAG in 1988,
nearly 300 communities have been awarded
such grants.
Activity: Strategy for an EPA/Tribal
Partnership to Implement the
Underground Storage Tank Program in
Indian Country
The Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005 required
EPA's Office of Underground Storage Tanks
(OUST) to develop a strategy to implement the
underground storage tanks (UST) program on
Indian reservations or areas under the jurisdiction
of an Indian tribe by August 2006. The goal of the
strategy is to ensure that OUST works in partner-
ship with tribes to establish UST programs that
protect human health and the environment in
Indian country. Although EPAct mandated an
aggressive schedule, OUST successfully accom-
plished this goal within the one-year timeframe.
As a part of the strategy development, OUST, in
collaboration with tribes, formed a national work-
group to build on the existing framework estab-
lished over two decades of implementing the UST
program in Indian country. A key part of the
strategy involves recognizing the tribes' broad
diversity, as well as specific needs, to carry out the
program in Indian country.
In developing the tribal strategy, OUST took
great care to respect tribal sovereignty and
ensure that the new strategy is consistent with
previous policies. In addition, OUST afforded
tribal governments the maximum administrative
discretion possible (Executive Order 13175
[2000]). OUST also advocated the development
of tribally run regulatory and cleanup programs
based on willingness, authorities, and funding
(OSWER Directive 9610.12, 1995).
On August 7, 2006, OUST issued the tribal
strategy. With this strategy, OUST also aims to
further the cleanup and compliance of USTs in
Indian country, strengthen the relationship with
tribes, and work closely with tribal governments
to implement the strategy. OUST submitted a
report to Congress on the progress of the pro-
gram in Indian country.
Measures of Success—ResultslOutcom.es
OUST designed the tribal strategy to increase
understanding of UST issues in Indian country, as
well as increase compliance and cleanup rates. To
accomplish these goals, OUST staff took extra
measures to strengthen relationships and increase
collaboration by holding frequent meetings,
enhancing coordination during the funding
process, and establishing regularly scheduled
training courses. In addition, OUST and tribes
formed a multidisciplinary workgroup to study the
definition of tribes under RCRA and ascertain the
ability to delegate RCRA programs to tribes.
The collaborative activities OUST conducted
with tribes included 1) a kick-off meeting in
Phoenix, Arizona, in December 2005 to discuss
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issues of concern; 2) establishment of work-
groups and subgroups to discuss the key objec-
tives of the strategy (each subgroup was then
assigned a key objective area of the strategy and
instructed to write that part of the tribal strategy
document); 3) a series of conference calls with
the subgroups to discuss drafting their part of
the tribal strategy; 4) invitation letters to more
than 500 tribes and Alaska Native Villages
requesting participation in a tribal strategy work-
group; 5) follow-up letters inviting tribes to a
meeting in Dallas, Texas, in February 2006; 6)
reviewing the findings of the subgroup and
discussing issues to be resolved by OUST during
the February 2006 meeting; 7) bi-weekly confer-
ence calls and a tribal meeting during the
National UST Conference in Memphis,
Tennessee, in March 2006; 8) meeting with
tribes in Chicago, Illinois, in May 2006 to dis-
cuss concerns with the draft strategy (many of
the tribal comments were included in that draft);
and 9) mailing the final tribal strategy to the
tribes and posting it on the OUST Web site.
At the conclusion of the strategy development
process, OUST felt confident that its efforts
were in alignment with the national environmen-
tal justice priority to ensure meaningful tribal
community involvement. Not only did OUST
ensure the tribes were fully involved in the plan-
ning of this document, but they maintained a
stake in the final strategy.
Region 1
Activity: Providence Brownfields Job
Training Program
The 2004-2006 Pawtucket/Providence
Brownfields Job Training Program matches qual-
ified workers with companies that clean up
brownfields sites for the purpose of reuse and
economic development. This program provides
unemployed residents with the skills required to
contribute to the redevelopment of nearby
brownfields sites. The curriculum is comprehen-
sive and helps place participants in industries
such as hazardous waste management, environ-
mental remediation, lead abatement, and
asbestos abatement. The program also provides
workers with job development opportunities,
ongoing case management, and referrals for
basic skills training such as math and English.
Key partners that assisted with recruitment
efforts include SER Jobs for Progress/Youth
Builder, Pawtucket Citizens Development
Corporation, Dorcas Place, Urban League of
Rhode Island, Federal Hill House, Community
College of Rhode Island, and West Elmwood
Housing. These organizations are located in the
neighborhoods where the participants reside.
The key partners for job placement and employ-
ment include Resource Options, Inc., Clean
Harbors Environmental Services, Inc., PSC, Inc.,
Onyx Environmental, BCT Construction, and
Mill City Construction.
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Revitalization of Brownfields
and Contaminated Sites
Measures of Success—ResultslOutcomes
Project benefits include:
• The Brownfields Job Training Program has
trained 28 inner-city residents who have been
either directly impacted by brownfields in
their communities or who face under-
employment or unemployment in the
Providence and Pawtucket communities.
• Twenty-one of the Brownfields Job Training
Program graduates have successfully
obtained employment in the environmental
industry.
Lesson learned from the project include:
• The need for additional housing and the
desire to curb sprawl have allowed the
Pawtucket/Providence area to realize its exist-
ing resources of land and labor. As the
rebuilding of the city begins, it is important
to include all residents in the revitalization
process and ensure that the benefits derived
from brownfields redevelopment remain with
the local residents living in brownfields-
impacted communities.
Region 5
Activity: Redevelopment of a Brownfields
Site to a Hmong Funeral Home
In 2004, the St. Paul Port Authority used an
EPA brownfields grant to fund the cleanup of an
abandoned dump site once used for the disposal
of waste materials. The Port Authority purchased
this property in the late 1960s after dumping
operations ceased, and since then, the property
has remained vacant.
The Twin Cities Metropolitan Area is diverse
and has the largest Hmong population of any
urban center in the country, with 58.3 percent of
the state's Hmong population living in St. Paul.
The Hmong are an Asian ethnic group that tra-
ditionally lives in the mountainous regions of
southern China and adjacent areas of Vietnam,
Laos, and Thailand. This demographic influ-
enced the Port Authority's decision to sell the
land to a developer with plans to construct the
first facility specifically for Hmong funerals. The
Hmong have rituals regarding death that are
unique to their culture, and they have had diffi-
culty finding facilities to accommodate their
funeral needs in the United States. A Hmong
funeral typically lasts three days and must be
handled properly according to the Hmong
beliefs. The lack of facilities in the Twin Cities
that are able to accommodate a Hmong funeral
service has created a problem for many Hmong
residents who have had to wait up to a month to
pay their respects to loved ones.
Redevelopment of the property into a funeral
home started in March 2005 and was completed
in August 2005. The design of the home permits
multiple funeral services to be conducted at the
same time.
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Revitalization of Brownfields
and Contaminated Sites
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The city of St. Paul, the St. Paul Port Authority,
and a Hmong-American developer, J. Kuo Vang,
were key partners in the project. A brownfields
cleanup grant of $200,000 along with a
Department of Employment and Economic
Development (DEED) grant, a Metropolitan
Council grant, and St. Paul Port Authority general
funds funded the cleanup of the contaminated
site. J. Kuo Vang funded the redevelopment
phase of the project.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
Project benefits include:
• Cleaning up 3.28 acres of land once contami-
nated with petroleum, asbestos, lead, poly-
cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and other
pollutants.
• Leveraging six full-time jobs.
• Redeveloping of an abandoned lot that had
been vacant for 30 years.
• Building the first funeral home in the nation
constructed specifically for Hmong services.
• Establishing a cultural center that allows
Hmong residents to continue their traditions
and practices in the United States.
Lessons learned from the project include the
following.
• The project illustrated how the leveraging of
limited resources resulted in the construction
of a long overdue facility in the community.
Public resources from the federal, state, and
local levels funded the cleanup, and private
resources funded the development of the
funeral home.
• Cultural sensitivity played a key role in
advancing this project. Though the develop-
ment of a funeral home may sound uncom-
mon to some, partners involved in the effort
recognized its cultural significance to the
Hmong residents.
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Chapter 4: Healthy
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EPA is working to create a
variety of tools and
resources to protect, sus-
tain, and restore the health of
communities and ecosystems.
The Agency is also approaching
its responsibilities with partner-
ships in mind, bringing together
federal, state, tribal, and local
government agencies and enlist-
ing the support of other stake-
holders. EPA recognizes that it
must manage environmental risk
to watersheds, communities,
homes, and workplaces to protect
human health and the environ-
mental integrity of ecosystems.
The Agency is using a mix of
regulatory programs and volun-
tary approaches to achieve results
efficiently and in innovative, sus-
tainable ways. For instance, pre-
venting pollution at the source is
an effective way to reduce risk
and environmental impact. When
pollution prevention is not feasi-
ble, however, EPA encourages
waste minimization and proper
disposal and remediation. While
managing risk, EPA is directing its
efforts toward the greatest threats
to communities, homes, and
workplaces, including threats
to sensitive populations such as
children, the elderly, and indige-
nous populations.
Environmental justice
Priority: Collaborative
Problem-Solving
Collaborative problem-solving simply means that
various stakeholders agree to work together to
address a particular issue or concern. In situa-
tions involving environmental justice issues,
stakeholders (e.g., community groups, industry,
academia, and all levels of government) often
have to reconcile divergent interests to address
complex and interrelated environmental, public
health, economic, and social problems in com-
munities. Many of these problems are deeply
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rooted and difficult to resolve without the con-
certed effort and active participation of all the
stakeholders. When multiple stakeholders work
together, they create a collective vision that
reflects mutually beneficial goals for all parties
that are proactive, strategic, and visionary. Such
collaboration fosters conditions that enable the
parties to mobilize the resources necessary to
realize stronger, more lasting solutions.
Partnerships can range from informal working
relationships to very structured arrangements in
which goals, membership, ground rules, and
operating principles are clearly defined.
Headquarters
Activity: Mold Education Effort Related
to the Gulf Coast Hurricanes
EPA's mold education efforts are an important
part of the Agency's asthma program. Mold is a
key asthma trigger, and EPA's major mold objec-
tive is to reduce the public's exposure to indoor
mold. This goal is primarily accomplished through
public education activities. EPA coordinates with
other federal agencies and works closely with
CDC, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA); and other federal, state, and
local agencies to provide information and guid-
ance to the public on mold-related issues. For
example, EPA provided input for the Institute of
Medicine reports Clearing the Air, Asthma and
Indoor Air Exposures (EPA-funded) and Damp
Indoor Spaces and Health (CDC-funded).
EPA maintains an outreach program that
includes an Indoor Air Quality hotline; a mold
Web site (www.epa.gov/mold); and outreach
work with nonprofit, industry, and professional
groups to incorporate moisture control and mold
prevention into good indoor air quality practices.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
As part of its response to the 2005 Gulf Coast
hurricanes, EPA conducted media outreach on
mold. For example, EPA participated in a joint
telebriefing on mold with CDC and the
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.
In partnership with the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality, EPA recorded public
service announcements on several topics, includ-
ing mold, to provide information to people in the
hurricane-affected areas.
EPA also provided
extensive field and
community out-
reach support. For
example, EPA dis-
tributed more than
one million hurri-
cane-related flyers
in English, Spanish,
and Vietnamese.
EPA workers and
contractors met
with many local
leaders and helped
residents contact EPA cleanup experts; they cov-
ered nearly 20,000 square miles in 27 parishes.
Tens of thousands of EPA documents were dis-
tributed including: Mold Remediation in Schools
and Commercial Buildings; A Brief Guide to Mold,
Moisture, andYour Home (English, Spanish); and
the fact sheet, Flood Cleanup—Avoiding Indoor
Air Quality Problems.
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EPA maintains hurricane and mold related
materials on the EPA Web site. For example, in
September 2005, EPA posted the fact sheet
Potential Environmental Health Hazards When
Returning to Homes and Businesses. EPA also
maintains a hurricane 2005 response Web site:
www.epa.gov/katrina.
In October 2006, EPA produced a low literacy
flood cleanup brochure, in coordination with
CDC, which is based on lessons learned from
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita regarding indoor
air quality. All flood materials are free of charge
on EPA's Web site at
or from the Indoor Air Quality hotline at
(800) 438-4318.
Region 1
Activity: Effective Partnerships Working
to Eliminate Childhood Lead Poisoning
in Boston
In autumn 2001, a geographic information sys-
tems (GIS) mapping project with the Lead
Action Collaborative (LAC),Tufts University,
and EPA Region 1 's Urban Environmental
Program (UEP) identified five Boston communi-
ties with the highest concentrations of elevated
blood lead levels (greater than 10 micrograms
per deciliter [ig/dl]) in children under 7 years
old: North and South Dorchester, Roxbury,
Hyde Park, and Mattapan. In fact, these five
neighborhoods contain 70 percent of all lead
poisoning cases in the city. In November 2001,
LAC, Tufts Institute of the Environment, and
EPA brought together more than 80
legislators, policymakers, government officials,
and community leaders at the "Let's End It
Here!" Summit in Boston. What emerged was
the "Boston Blueprint to End Childhood Lead
Poisoning," which lays out a detailed strategy to
address and eradicate lead poisoning over the
next five years.
From 2001 to 2006, the UEP worked closely on
tracking the implementation of the Boston
Blueprint. UEP has taken the lead working with
LAC to create a Community Assessment Tool to
help investigate and document neighborhood
conditions on a street-by-street, lot-by-lot basis
to identify areas and housing with a high risk of
lead poisoning. Volunteers from the community
visit neighborhoods to identify housing condi-
tions that indicate a potential for lead poisoning,
including peeling or chipping paint, the presence
of children, and the type of ground cover around
the house. The information is mapped to identify
areas in need of greatest assistance, which allows
partners working on the Boston Blueprint to
focus their available efforts. Working with LAC
and other stakeholders such as UEP and the city
of Boston, the National Center for Healthy
Housing and Abt Associates developed a Web-
based housing registry called LeadSafeHomes.info,
which provides key information for parents,
homeowners, tenants, community groups, and
policymakers to maximize the value of lead poi-
soning prevention efforts and resources.
LeadSafeHomes.info also provides address-
specific information for all of Massachusetts and
community-level information about childhood
lead poisoning in Boston neighborhoods.
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Measures of Success—Results I'Outcomes
The Agency's work with external partners influ-
enced EPA's internal resource deployment. The
Office of Ecosystem Protection now coordinates
regularly with the Office of Environmental
Stewardship to target inspections, compliance
assistance, and outreach and education, and set
joint priorities for working in the Tier 1 neighbor-
hoods in Boston to bring all available Agency
resources to focus on the greatest needs. These
combined partnership efforts have already pro-
duced impressive measurable results. Since
launching joint targeting efforts in 2001, elevated
blood lead levels for children in Boston have
dropped from 1,123 cases in 2001 to 747 cases
in 2003 to 647 cases in 2004 to 497 cases in
2005. Recent data from the Boston Childhood
Lead Poisoning Prevention Program also reports
that, for the first time, the Fenway neighborhood
had zero lead-poisoned children. Region 1 and
its community partners are now poised to build
on successes and achieve the mutual goal of end-
ing childhood lead poisoning in Boston by 2010.
Activity: Chelsea Creek Community
Listening Session
On September 28, 2006, EPA Region 1 and the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection (MassDEP) held the "Chelsea Creek
Listening Session" in East Boston to follow up on
a public request by the Chelsea Creek Action
Group to focus on enforcement and compliance
assistance programs and identify areas for future
action in and around the Chelsea Creek. Chelsea
Creek is an urban, industrialized river bordered by
polluting industries, parking lots, a multi-ton salt
pile, many hazardous waste sites, and fuel storage
for industrial and commercial enterprises. The
session included approximately 35 participants
from government, nonprofit groups, community
residents, healthcare professionals, school officials,
and other local experts. It was a first-of-its-kind
dialogue with the public, including urban commu-
nities around the Chelsea Creek such as East
Boston, Chelsea, Everett, and Revere.
Region 1 and MassDEP identified six enforce-
ment and assistance programs, developed in
response to public
concerns described
in a 2003 report
generated by the
Chelsea Creek
Action Group, to
highlight during the
event. The pro-
grams represent the best match between com-
munity needs and the authority and capabilities
of the agencies. EPA focused on the following
programs: 1) diesel idling; 2) Clean Water Act
regulations for combined sewer overflows, sani-
tary sewer overflows, and stormwater; 3) supple-
mental environmental projects; and 4) the
"1018" Residential Lead Paint Notification
Program. Additionally, MassDEP focused on 1)
the Massachusetts Clean Schools Program; and
2) a video surveillance program to identify illegal
dumping of solid waste in urban neighborhoods.
Measures of Success—Results/Outcomes
During the three-hour listening session, commu-
nity representatives described their priorities and
concerns, listened to the EPA and MassDEP pro-
gram presentations, and participated in open dis-
cussion and dialogue to identify areas of concern
and potential future action. Region 1 's Urban
Environmental Program is working with the
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Chelsea Creek Action group to gather additional
ideas for action and reach even more residents.
EPA and MassDEP managers have committed to
finding ways to address issues of concern raised
by the community and to conducting inspections
or other program activities in the target communi-
ties to improve environmental quality and public
health. EPA and MassDEP are currently working
to determine possible regulatory and compliance
assistance activities for the future and will report
back to the community on plans for future work
in urban communities along the Chelsea Creek.
Region 2
Activity: Community Training on
Environmental Justice, Collaborative
Problem-Solving, and Grant Writing
From November 7 through 9, 2006, EPA repre-
sentatives from headquarters' Office of
Environmental Justice and Region 2 met with
community residents from across Puerto Rico to
offer training on environmental justice, collabora-
tive problem-solving, and grant writing. The focus
of the two-and-a-half day community training
event was to provide specific information to non-
profit community organizations serving the small
private drinking-water systems in Puerto Rico
(those not regulated by the Puerto Rico Aqueduct
and Sewer Authority). The heart of this effort was
to educate and engage these groups to better
equip them to prepare and submit eligible and
complete applications under a new Agency finan-
cial assistance program exclusively for these small
private systems.
On the first day of the training, leaders intro-
duced participants to the fundamentals of
environmental justice. While several attendees
had heard of the term "environmental justice,"
the day's presentations enhanced their knowledge
of environmental justice in the United States and
within the context of the history of the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico.
On the second day, participants had the opportu-
nity to leam about the collaborative problem-
solving model and how it can be used as a tool to
address current public health and environmental
issues they are facing in their communities. One
of the main tools used in this portion of the train-
ing was a recently translated EPA publication
tided Justicia Ambiental de la EPA Modelo
Colaborativo para Soludonar Problemas (EPA's
Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem
Solving Model). Through the use of this tool, par-
ticipants explored each of the seven elements of
the collaborative problem-solving model and how
they apply to unique local environmental issues.
As part of the collaborative problem-solving
training, participants reviewed case studies along
with highlights from former and current EPA
grant recipients who benefited from using the
model. The last phase of the training focused on
grant writing. Participants learned step-by-step
processes on determining eligibility and how to
prepare a complete application under EPA's
environmental justice grant programs.
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Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
This training was the first of its kind offered in
Puerto Rico, and it received an overall evaluation
score of 9.7 out of 10 on participant feedback
forms. As part of the effort to deliver a more
effective training, as well as increase the under-
standing of many of the complex concepts, a
translation firm offered its services throughout
the entire training. This enhancement allowed
real-time discussions to take place between
English- and Spanish-speaking participants.
Further, demonstrating their commitment to
participate, a number of the community repre-
sentatives traveled more than three hours each
day to be a part of the training. One of the most
productive outcomes from the training was the
community leaders' decision to form an island-
wide network to further their discussion on
future actions, trainings to benefit their commu-
nities, and collaborative problem-solving.
Region 4
Activity: Protecting a High-Risk
Population From Pesticide Exposure
Through Cultural and Language
Training for Inspectors
The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is a fed-
eral regulation to protect agricultural workers
from occupational exposure to pesticides and to
reduce health risks associated with this exposure
on farms and in nurseries, greenhouses, and
forests. Agricultural workers are particularly sus-
ceptible to pesticide poisonings due to the nature
of their work. According to the California policy
research Center at the University of California,
more than 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides are
used each year in the United States, and these
chemicals are responsible for 300,000 illnesses in
farmworker communities annually.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 81
percent of farmworkers in the United States speak
Spanish as their first language; less than 5 percent
of this group reports that they can speak and read
English well. Effective implementation and
enforcement of WPS is crucial for protecting this
immigrant population, and part of effective WPS
implementation is conducting thorough inspec-
tions of farms, nurseries, and greenhouses to eval-
uate whether agricultural workers are protected
from pesticide exposure and working in a safe
environment. Most agricultural inspectors respon-
sible for enforcing WPS do not speak Spanish,
however, and do not know how to approach or
speak with Hispanic farmworkers effectively. In
addition to the language barrier, there is also a cul-
tural barrier; most inspectors feel uncomfortable
approaching Hispanic workers, and Hispanic
workers are fearful and uncomfortable about
speaking with inspectors.
To address this issue, the Region 4 team developed
a training course curriculum called "Breaking
Barriers" to introduce inspectors to Hispanic
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culture and the Spanish language. The cultural
part of the curriculum helps inspectors understand
differences in cultural norms that influence the
way many Hispanics communicate (for example,
there are different rules about eye contact and
personal space) and helps them learn ways to
approach workers in a culturally sensitive and non-
threatening way. The Spanish language part of the
curriculum includes vocabulary regarding agricul-
ture, protective clothing, and symptoms of pesti-
cide poisoning, as well as WPS interview questions
in Spanish. As part of the course, Region 4 also
created Spanish lessons on CD so inspectors can
continue to learn Spanish on their own time. The
course also covers interviewing techniques and
how to work with an interpreter.
This curriculum has been used in seven regional
and national inspector trainings, reaching inspec-
tors from 39 states and tribes. It is the first of its
kind that EPA has pursued to overcome these
barriers and thus protect the health and safety of
farmworkers in the United States.
Region 6
Activity: Nueces County Regional
Colonia Initiative
Community residents of Corpus Christi, Texas,
raised concerns to EPA Region 6 about the
deplorable conditions in which many colonias
(low-income, unincorporated subdivisions) resi-
dents are forced to live. Because most of the
problems associated with colonias are local or
county issues, however, EPA generally does not
have the authority to address them. Instead, in
Texas, the Office of the Secretary of State is
charged with seeking solutions for the issues
affecting the more than 1,600 colonias along the
Texas border. After consulting with community
leaders, EPA, and county officials, the Secretary
of State's office proposed forming a Nueces
County Regional Colonia Initiative and inviting
stakeholder representatives to participate. EPA
Region 6 assisted with an initial summit meeting
in February 2006. The group continues to meet
each month, and participants include county
officials; various state, local, and federal agency
representatives; nonprofit organizations; faith-
based organizations; health groups; academia;
and grassroots and colonia organizations.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
The group is currently developing a strategic plan
and working to define goals and objectives with
determined timeframes. Serious challenges under
discussion include the lack of potable water, lack of
sewer systems and waste collection, water-borne
health problems, lack of proper drainage, lack of
paved roads, soil contamination due to oilfield
wastes, and emergency response issues. Due to the
creation, planning, and activities of this broad-
based coalition, residents of these communities
have realistic expectations for addressing their
environmental and quality-of-life concerns.
Activity: Kelly Area Collaborative
In 1994, Executive Order 12898 established the
Federal Interagency Working Group on Environ-
mental Justice (IWG), a group composed of 11
federal agencies and several White House offices.
The Executive Order directed the IWG to develop
interagency model demonstration projects, thereby
sharing resources and technical expertise to address
communities facing a disproportionate number of
adverse health or environmental problems.
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In 2003, the IWG workgroup selected the Kelly
Area Collaborative as one of its national pilot proj-
ects. Kelly Air Force Base (KAFB), located in San
Antonio, Texas, was closed in 2001. For years,
many residents in the low-income, 90-percent-
Hispanic neighborhoods nearby have believed that
their health problems were attributable to the activ-
ities on the base and the contamination generated
there. The residents allege that the Air Force con-
taminated the area with the industrial solvent
trichloroethylene (TCE), which is primarily used
to remove grease from metal parts. TCE exposure
is associated with several adverse health effects,
including neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, develop-
mental toxicity, liver and kidney toxicity, endocrine
effects, and several forms of cancer.
After the base closed and environmental clean-
up began, community groups voiced frustration
that community priorities were being ignored
and requested that EPA exercise greater over-
sight and keep the community better informed.
The community also pressed the Air Force to
address health problems they believed were
caused by contamination at the site. Based on
those concerns, the Southwest Workers Union
wrote a proposal regarding cleaning up KAFB
communities, which was accepted as an IWG
demonstration project in 2003.
The Air Force Real Property Agency, EPA Region
6, San Antonio Metro Health, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ),
and Port San Antonio (a division of the state of
Texas established as a business entity to transform
the former KAFB for the benefit of San Antonio)
all agreed to participate in the project. Project
planning began in July 2003, and EPA, San
Antonio Metro Health, and the Air Force Real
Property Agency shared facilitation expenses for
planning meetings and roundtables. Additional
partners in the collaborative effort included the
Edgewood Independent School District, the city of
San Antonio's Planning Department, and the
Quintana Neighborhood Association.
Measures of Success—Results/Outcomes
The project held its first community meeting in
May 2006 to identify community concerns and
priorities regarding the environment, health, and
economic revitalization of the KAFB area. The 60
participants devised a plan for future roundtables
and implementation meetings, including an
Environmental Roundtable and a separate Health
Roundtable. The group is working collaboratively
to identify solutions for the challenges they face
together. This collaborative process leverages the
limited resources of several agencies throughout
various levels of government in order to maximize
results. The KAFB area collaboration process has
removed barriers and advanced the agenda for
restoration and revitalization of the area.
Activity: Outreach to the Vietnamese-
American Community After Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita
Region 6's Vietnamese-American staff routinely
offers skills in translating Agency documents into
Vietnamese. Providing information in the native
languages of immigrant populations increases
awareness of environmental and public health
issues and enables limited English proficiency indi-
viduals to make more informed decisions regard-
ing their lives and their local environment. EPA's
translation services for Vietnamese-Americans
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were more important than ever after Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, which displaced approximately
50,000 Vietnamese-Americans. Providing vital
environmental information to hurricane-affected
communities was a top priority for EPA.
After these storms, Region 6 led a translation team
consisting of native-speaking Vietnamese-
American staff from OW, Office of Pesticides, and
Regions 3 and 9 to ensure that all EPA-translated
documents were technically accurate, linguistically
appropriate, and culturally sensitive. Translated
products included vital information and guidance
on subjects such as emergency disinfection of
drinking water; how to deal with mold, flood
water, asbestos, and lead; how to clean up sedi-
ments; what to do when returning to homes and
businesses after hurricanes; and hazardous waste
and commercial debris disposal.
In addition, Region 6 assisted in creating a Web site
to post EPA resources for hurricane preparation
and recovery in Vietnamese. To publicize EPA's
newly created Vietnamese Web site and resources,
Region 6 participated in talk show broadcasts on
local ethnic radio stations in Dallas and Houston.
These locales were chosen because the majority
of hurricane-affected Vietnamese-Americans
were relocated to these areas.
The Region 6 Office of Environmental Justice
and Tribal Affairs facilitated communication
between a New Orleans East Vietnamese com-
munity, industry, and the state regarding the use
of a local landfill for hurricane debris disposal.
Community residents were opposed to the use
of the landfill since they believed the long-term
impacts would have negative consequences on
health, quality of life, recovery, and revitalization.
This process highlighted the necessity to inte-
grate public participation into the emergency
response decisionmaking process. Region 6 is
working with the state and EPA's Office of Solid
Waste to evaluate the current public process to
make recommendations for change.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
The staff translated approximately 20 brochures,
pamphlets, and flyers and eight public service
announcements into Vietnamese after the hurri-
canes and assisted the Agency's New Orleans
Command Center in distributing more than 3,000
flyers and handouts to Vietnamese-American evac-
uees and communities in the affected areas.
Region 6 engaged in outreach efforts with
Saigon Houston Radio, the major radio station
for more than 150,000 Vietnamese-Americans
living in Houston, and also provided interviews
to the Vietnamese Voice of America, which
broadcasts,more than 1,000 hours of news,
information, educational, and cultural program-
ming every week to an estimated worldwide
audience of more than 100 million people;
Vietnamese Public Radio in Washington, D.C.;
and the Times-Picayune in New Orleans.
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Region 7
Activity: Integrating Environmental
justice Through Grants and
Collaboration
The city of Howardville is a low-income commu-
nity with few economic opportunities and thus, no
real tax base, where many inhabitants are seasonal
farmworkers. The community is 99.7 percent
African-American, 0.2 percent Indian, and 0.1
percent Caucasian. To help Howardville
Community Betterment, Inc., a local community-
based organization, in its efforts to improve the
local environment, EPA Region 7 provided train-
ing in leadership skills, grant writing, and basic
environmental education, in partnership with the
Natural Resource Conservation Service. Enhanced
grant-writing skills enabled the organization to
effectively compete for an Environmental Justice
Small Grant, awarded in 2005.
The purpose of the Environmental Justice Small
Grant project was to develop and carry out an
environmental campaign addressing safe drink-
ing water, air quality, and safe waste disposal.
The project addressed the causes and effects of
respiratory illnesses (e.g., asthma), conducted
home surveys as part of an effort to improve
poor drinking water quality, conducted demon-
strations to aid in the prevention and control of
Be
st Practice: Region 7
>cal and state
Action: Collaborate with local
conservation and natural resource offices
to address indoor/outdoor air and water
pollution that causes contamination in
drinking water, as well as exposure to
solid waste. Determine the appropriate
course of action to take for any noticed or
reported illegal dumping.
Goal: To increase the resident knowledge
of preventive health by assisting the com-
munity in better understanding the health
impact and benefits of better air quality,
safe drinking water, and proper disposal
of solid waste.
Results:
• 59 percent increase in awareness of
environmental hazards within the
community
• 59 percent decrease in preventable
illnesses
air pollution, and cleaned up open dumps and
community "eye-sores."
Farmers included the Missouri Department of
Conservation, the Missouri Department of
Natural Resources, EPA, Conservation Federation
of Missouri, Missouri Stream Team #1617-
Howardville, Missouri Bootheel Healthy Start,
Howardville landowners, New Madrid County
Public Service Water District, the American Lung
Association, and the Southeast Missouri Hospital.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
During Howardville's grant period, September
2005 through September 2006, Howardville
Community Betterment, Inc. helped ensure that
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sewage problems were corrected, which has led
to safer drinking water; cut down all the tall grass
and overgrowth in the community; and removed
the trash and debris from the downtown area.
The community also hosted meetings with other
nonprofit organizations and local and state gov-
ernment entities to address issues of concern,
and leveraged the following resources and servic-
es from partners:
Partner Expertise Provided
Carl Brown Educated the community on
Consulting sewage gas, water rates, and the
costs and benefits of the com-
munity operating its own water
systems.
Stream Team
#1617—
Howardville
Community
Volunteers
Southeast
Missouri Hospital:
Asthma
Department
Conducted litter pick-up.
Cleaned and cleared lots.
Hosted a meeting/training to
assist residents who have asthma
with the control and reduction
of episodes.
Stopping residents of other communities from
dumping and littering on Howardville property
is a remaining issue that might require further
assistance to address.
Region 9
Activity: U.S.-Mexico Environmental
Program: Border 2012—Environmental
justice Accomplishments
The surge of industrial activity at the U.S.-
Mexico border is straining the environment in
many ways. Existing drinking water and waste-
water infrastructure is not adequate to accom-
modate the growing population. Air quality is
suffering due to the increase in the number of
old vehicles, differences in governance and regu-
latory frameworks between the two countries,
and topographic and meteorological conditions.
Inadequate waste management systems, such as
makeshift waste dumps, unsupervised waste
sites, and scrap tire pile fires, contaminate the
land. Also, an increase in the number of industri-
al facilities that create hazardous waste has led to
more frequent chemical emergencies. At the
same time, border residents face a high risk of
exposure to these contaminants and are suscepti-
ble to high rates of asthma, hepatitis, and infec-
tious diseases. As a result of these conditions, the
area faces an immediate need for environmental
and public health improvements as well as train-
ing for emergency response measures.
In April 2003, EPA, Mexico's Secretariat for the
Environment and Natural Resources (SEMAR-
NAT), the 10 border states, and 26 U.S. tribes
agreed to renew their collective commitment to
measurably improve environmental conditions
along the 2,000-mile border. The commitment is
Best Practice: Region 9
Action: Form a collaborative to address
and act upon six environmental goals at
the U.S.-Mexico Border.
Goal: To achieve measurable improve-
ments to environmental conditions and
protect the health of border communities.
Results: A successful collaboration that
has led to significant accomplishments
and will continue to protect against envi-
ronmental injustices in years to come.
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and Ecosystems
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embodied in the U.S.-Mexico Border 2012
Program, which includes six goals that address
reducing pollution in the air, water, and land;
improving environmental health; reducing expo-
sure to chemicals from accidental releases or ter-
rorism; and improving environmental performance
through compliance, pollution prevention, and the
promotion of environmental stewardship. Many
border communities are low-income, minority,
and tribal. Since the signing of Border 2012, this
10-year, bi-national effort has resulted in sustain-
able and tangible benefits that also address
environmental justice.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
Water Improvements—Between 2003 and 2005,
EPA approved Border Environment Infrastructure
Fund (BEIF) grants for 11 water projects that are
estimated to benefit more than 1.6 million people.
An additional $500 million was invested in
drinking-water and wastewater infrastructure.
For the most part, these efforts are due to the
collaboration between EPA and Mexico's
Comision National del Agua (CONAGUE)
through the Border Drinking Water and
Wastewater Infrastructure Program; the support
of the border states, tribes, and municipalities;
and the participation of the Border Environment
Corporation Commission (BECC) and
NADBank. In the past three years, Border 2012
funded the implementation of 22 projects
throughout the border region to assess surface
water quality; protect shared waterways; gauge
the effectiveness of innovative wastewater treat-
ment technologies; and provide training to border
residents, municipal workers, and others on water
system upkeep and basic sanitation practices.
Air Improvements—The majority of Border
2012 investments have been towards emission
inventories, real-time bi-national air quality mon-
itoring, and investments to support priority ini-
tiatives such as clean diesel and road paving.
Unpaved roads contribute to high levels of par-
ticulate matter and are abundant in border com-
munities. Border 2012 and NADBank have
funded road-paving projects in Ciudad Juarez;
Baja California; Sonora; Chihuahua; and
Tamaulipas, Mexico. Ambient air monitoring
networks provide communities with information
on air quality trends, which serves as a founda-
tion for identifying emission reduction strategies.
EPA, SEMARNAT, the 10 border states, 26 U.S.
tribes, and Mexican indigenous communities
support many bi-national ambient air monitoring
networks in the border region, including projects
with the Pala Band of Mission Indians and the
Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians.
Waste Management Improvements—From 2003
to 2005, the Border 2012 program invested more
than $2.1 million on 23 projects aimed at reduc-
ing land contamination along the border.
Cleaning up tire piles and improving scrap tire
management practices made up 35 percent of
the projects; 30 percent addressed proper han-
dling of hazardous waste; more than 22 percent
of projects involved funding strategy develop-
ment and waste reduction and recycling pro-
grams; and 13 percent funded cleaning up
contaminated sites. One project cleaned up an
illegal dump site in the Tohono O'odham Nation
and a copper mine in the Arizona and Sonora
area. The Border 2012 program also held four
public meetings to hear citizen concerns and
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Collaborative
Problem-Solving
iunitu
and Ecosystems
identify ways to improve waste management.
The program also sponsored a Brownfields
workshop in El Paso, Texas, which provided
grant training and funding opportunities to
both U.S. and Mexican partners.
Emergency Response Improvements—
Government agencies have invested more than
$300,000 in 12 projects to support emergency
response and preparedness activities. The majori-
ty of these funds were used for capacity-building
projects, including emergency contingency train-
ing development. Other accomplishments
include implementing several bi-national and tri-
national (including tribal nations) exercises to
help develop emergency preparedness and pre-
vention in the border region. These efforts
include risk and consequence analysis, risk
reduction, and counterterrorism.
Health Improvements—Border 2012 funded
seven pesticides-related projects addressing a
variety of issues and created an Environmental
Best Practice: Region 9
Action: Bring together local, state, feder-
al, and tribal agencies and community
groups in collaboration to clean up and
prevent future open dumps.
Coal: To clean up all 27 illegal dump
sites, prevent all further illegal dumping
through surveillance and enforcement,
and continue to involve the community
in the effort.
Results: Closure of the Lawson facility,
clean-up of 11 dumps, and enforcement
actions against dump owners.
Health Work Group to address bi-national envi-
ronmental health concerns. The group's efforts
developed and supported a wide range of proj-
ects, including the creation of a bi-national
Border Health Week, which brings together more
than 29 federal partner agencies and 310 com-
munity organizations to promote public health
along the border and training promotoras (com-
munity health providers) to educate the commu-
nity on environmental health issues such as child
pesticide exposure.
Activity: Torres Martinez Solid Waste
Collaborative
The Torres Martinez Reservation is located in
the agriculturally rich Coachella Valley, in
Riverside County in southern California. It
consists of approximately 24,800 acres of land,
including more than 11,000 acres under the
northern Salton Sea and 12 miles of Salton Sea
shoreline. Because of the expanding population
in nearby communities, several major housing
developments are underway, which has increased
the volume of illegally dumped solid waste on
the reservation—particularly, construction and
demolition debris and green waste. Not only is
this an unsightly and costly nuisance for the
reservation, but fires from the open dumps are
also a major concern.
To address cleaning up and preventing illegal
dumping on the reservation, EPA, along with the
Torres Martinez Tribal Government; the Bureau
of Indian Affairs (BIA); and local, state, and
other federal agencies, formed the Solid Waste
Collaborative in April 2006. The collaborative
identified approximately 27 illegal dump sites
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Collaborative
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and developed an action plan to address the
issue, including establishing various subcommit-
tees to deal with different sites. The community
outreach subcommittee, for example, educates
Torres Martinez and surrounding Riverside
communities about preventing and stopping ille-
gal dumping. In June 2006, the tribe sent a letter
to all landowners and residents on the reserva-
tion reminding them about the tribe's Land Use
Ordinance. The tribe also installed billboards in
English and Spanish warning against illegal
dumping on the reservation and also posted 35
"No Dumping" signs. The group also published
a Spanish/English dumping alert in local
Coachella Valley newspapers and cities within the
Coachella Valley. EPA distributed the alert to
hundreds of area waste generators and haulers.
As part of the collaborative's efforts, EPA issued
four notices of potential violation in response to
the illegal dumping of grape stakes and other
waste. In June 2006, EPA inspected eight facili-
ties suspected of disposing of solid and haz-
ardous waste on the reservation and assisted four
reservation landowners with proper management
of waste tires and used oil. Further planned
efforts to monitor compliance include installing
surveillance cameras on the reservation and aeri-
al monitoring of the reservation by the California
Highway Patrol and Riverside County Sheriff's
Office to track existing illegal dump sites and
identify new ones.
Measures of Success—Results/Outcomes
The collaborative agreed to an action plan
addressing 27 dumps on the reservation, and EPA,
BIA, and the California Integrated Waste
Management Board have all provided funding for
dump closures. In addition, the Riverside County
Badlands Landfill is now approved to accept treat-
ed wood waste, providing an alternative to illegal
dumping and burning on the reservation. Within
one year, the Torres Martinez Solid Waste
Collaborative has shut down three of the largest
dump sites and cleaned up almost half of the
remaining 24 sites. The tribe plans to clean up and
install access
control for three more sites in 2007.
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Reduced Incidences of
Elevated Blood Lead Levels
Healthy Communi
and Ecosystems
Environmental Justice
Priority: Reduced
Incidences of Elevated
Blood Lead Levels
Blood lead levels in the United States remain
alarmingly high in localized areas, despite
marked decreases nationally. In this country, the
incidence of elevated blood lead levels greater
than or equal to 10 micrograms per deciliter
(Hg/dl) in children 1 to 5 years old dropped from
approximately 88 percent of children in
1976-1980 to about 2 percent in 1999-2002.
The decline in blood lead levels from 64 parts
per million in 1990 to 38 parts per million in
2000 is due largely to the phasing out of lead in
gasoline between 1973 and 1995 and the reduc-
tion in the number of homes with lead-based
paint. In many areas with minority and low-
income populations, elevated blood lead levels
remain unacceptably high, however.
Lead is a major environmental health hazard for
young children. Childhood exposure to lead con-
tributes to learning problems such as reduced
intelligence and cognitive development. Studies
have shown that childhood exposure to lead con-
tributes to hyperactivity and distractibility,
increases the likelihood of having a reading dis-
ability and lower vocabulary, and increases the
risk for antisocial behavior and delinquency.
In 1997, CDC identified three factors that inde-
pendently correlate to a greater risk for elevated
blood levels in children: 1) being of non-
Hispanic Black race; 2) having an income below
the poverty line; and 3) living in housing built
before 1946. The same correlations also apply to
blood lead poisoning (blood lead levels greater
than 20 ug/dl), the level at which intervention is
recommended. Indicative of these findings, for
1999-2002, while only 7 percent of White, non-
Hispanic children and 7 percent of Mexican-
American children had blood lead levels at or
above 5 g/dl, about 19 percent of Black, non-
Hispanic children showed elevated lead levels. In
addition, in 2000, CDC found that children of
low-income families comprise 83 percent of the
children ages 1 to 5 with blood lead poisoning.
EPA is seeking to address this nationwide issue
under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard
Reduction Act of 1992. Programs range from
abatement and enforcement-based strategies to
education. Moreover, EPA recently established
two new ambitious but realistic targets, based on
health disparity comparisons. To place resources
where they are needed most, EPA has set a goal
to close the blood lead poisoning disparity and to
eliminate childhood lead poisoning by 2010.
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Region 2
Activity: Children's Health Protection
Initiative
The Children's Health Protection Initiative in
Jersey City, New Jersey, focused on environmental
hazards with a disproportionate potential to
impact children, including drinking water,
asbestos, pesticide usage and hazardous waste
management in schools, and lead paint disclosure
in target housing. To accomplish these goals,
Region 2 used a multi-faceted approach that com-
bined education and outreach; compliance assis-
tance; and a review of compliance with asbestos,
residential lead, pesticides, and hazardous waste
regulations. The criteria that were evaluated in
selecting Jersey City for this initiative included: the
incidence of children with elevated blood lead lev-
els; high risk from Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
releases, as measured by the TRI risk model; den-
sity of industrial facilities; and asthma rates.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
The initiative resulted in: 1) collecting and ana-
lyzing 324 samples covering all tap water lines in
eight elementary schools, which identified 46
water lines that were taken out of service until
they were remediated; 2) offering guidance
throughout the sampling process; 3) mailing
Integrated Pest Management outreach materials
to all schools in Jersey City; and 4) completing
Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act
inspections for all schools, eight Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act inspections, 44
lead-based paint inspections, and joint IPM
inspections with the state Department of
Environmental Protection.
Region 7
Activity: Lead Poisoning Prevention
Community Initiative
EPA Region 7 is utilizing a broad-based strategy
to address childhood lead poisoning that will
help meet EPA's 2008 and 2010 goals for lead
reduction in children. In the spring of 2006,
Region 7's Lead and Environmental Justice pro-
grams partnered with the Kansas City, Missouri,
Health Department; the Ivanhoe Neighborhood
Association; and several other community mem-
bers to create the Lead Poisoning Prevention
Community Initiative (LPPCI). This initiative
grew out of the state of Missouri designating
Kansas City as a high-risk area for childhood
lead poisoning, since approximately 80 percent
of the houses in Kansas City contain lead-based
paint. For this reason, children between the ages
of 6 months and 6 years should be tested annu-
ally for elevated blood lead levels. EPA staff
spent six months developing and piloting an ini-
tiative to foster sustainable behaviors to address
and prevent childhood lead poisoning.
LPPCI is a social marketing demonstration pack-
age that has been presented to numerous health
departments and lead workers throughout the
Environmental justice Biennial Report
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Reduced Incidences of
Elevated Blood Lead Levels
region. It was developed using marketing tech-
niques that recognize common human behaviors
and remove barriers to sustainable behavior. The
components of LPPCI include mass communi-
cation; personal communication; and the provi-
sion of background educational information,
alternative guidance, resource information, and
supplies to implement changes. LPPCFs success
will be measured not only by the number of fam-
ilies reached, with the ultimate goal of reducing
childhood lead poisoning in the Kansas City
metropolitan area, but also by the number of
other communities that implement this package.
The specific components of the project include:
"train-the-trainer" certification for community
members; lead awareness presentations to par-
ents and caregivers; lead outreach to families
during summer and back-to-school events; and a
media campaign utilizing television and print,
such as the use of bus signs and billboards in the
Kansas City Metro area.
Measures of Success—Results/Outcomes
The initiative provided four train-the-trainer
sessions to more than 30 individuals, resulting in
20 community trainers committed to reaching
1,000 individuals in one year with the message of
lead poisoning prevention. Community trainers
received a training kit that included a tote bag, a
training t-shirt, a tabletop presentation board,
lead awareness publications, presentation meas-
urement cards, and training guidelines.
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Chapter 5: Compliance and
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Environmental justice is
specifically integrated into
EPA's 2006-2011 Strategic
Plan, Objective 5.1: "Achieve
Environmental Protection
Through Improved Compliance."
Each aspect of the objective
places an "emphasis on achieving
results in areas with potential
environmental justice concerns/'
through Compliance Assistance
(Sub-objective 5.1.1),
Compliance Incentives (Sub-
objective 5.1.2), and Monitoring
and Enforcement (Sub-objective
5.1.3). This emphasis will result
in improved environmental quali-
ty for all people, especially for
those living in areas that can
have a disproportionate number
of adverse environmental and
human health risks. To achieve
the desired results, the Office of
Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance (OECA) has committed
to developing a set of nationally
consistent environmental justice
indicators of health, environment,
compliance, and demographics
to identify "Areas with Potential
Environmental Justice Concerns."
Based on the analysis of the indi-
cators in specific areas, OECA will
develop specific environmental
justice measures and goals for
compliance assurance activities.
OECA will then be able to report
on the impact of compliance
efforts in areas found to be dis-
proportionately affected. EPA's
efforts will lead to improved pro-
tection in minority and/or low-
income communities.
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Compliance
Compliance and
Environmental
Stewardship
Environmental Justice
Priority: Compliance
To protect human health and the environment,
EPA is charged with enforcing and ensuring
compliance with those federal environmental
laws for which the Agency is responsible. OECA
carries out its functions through compliance
assistance, compliance monitoring, compliance
incentives, and civil and criminal enforcement, as
well as by ensuring the program adequacy of its
regulatory partners: state, tribal, and local pollu-
tion control authorities.
EPA strives to ensure that all citizens receive full
and equal protection under the nation's environ-
mental laws and regulations, regardless of race,
color, nationality, or economic status. In fulfill-
ing its protective mission, OECA integrates envi-
ronmental justice considerations into its program
through targeted data analyses of compliance
and the development of enforcement initiatives
to address identified problems. These problems
often may affect specific groups (e.g., urban
populations, farm workers, and subsistence fish-
ermen) . OECA also reaches out to communi-
ties, establishes partnerships, and takes steps to
gather information to identify environmental vio-
lations that might otherwise go unreported.
To ensure that OECA personnel have the capac-
ity to identify and address environmental justice
concerns, all OECA personnel with environmen-
tal decisionmaking responsibilities receive action-
oriented training in the fundamentals of
environmental justice. This training enhances
the skills of enforcement personnel and has
resulted in increased integration of environmen-
tal justice considerations into OECA's programs,
policies, and activities.
OECA divides its work into two broad cate-
gories: 1) National Program Priorities and 2) the
Core Program. The National Program Priorities
represent a discrete set of targeted strategies that
focus the efforts of compliance and enforcement
staff at headquarters and in each of the 10
regional offices. The Core Program is made up
of basic activities necessary to implement and
oversee the 10 federal statutes and 28 programs
for which OECA ensures compliance. Both the
National Program Priorities and the Core
Program operate on a three-year time frame,
which aligns with the Agency's Strategic Plan.
OECA has established a cross-cutting environ-
mental justice element in each of the National
Program Priorities. This integration will ensure
that environmental justice concerns are consid-
ered and addressed and that regional and head-
quarters efforts are properly aligned.
Headquarters
Activity: OECA's First Environmental
Justice Achievement Award
In 2006, with strong support from OECA's senior
leadership, the OECA Environmental Action
Council and OECA's Office of Planning, Policy
Analysis, and Communications (OPPAC) created
and awarded the first OECA Environmental
Justice Achievement Award. OPPAC created this
new award as a mechanism for OECA to
acknowledge groups and individuals who take
proactive measures to achieve OECA's environ-
mental justice goals and support and effectively
implement OECA's Environmental Justice Policy.
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Compliance and
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In January 2004, OECA issued its Environmental
Justice Policy, requesting the integration of envi-
ronmental justice as an operating principle into its
programs, policies, and activities to ensure that no
community is disproportionately placed at risk
from environmental and human health threats.
The policy also requires that environmental justice
be fully integrated into OECA's planning and
budgeting processes and calls for OECA-wide
training for staff and managers who are asked to
ensure that the integration of environmental jus-
tice into their programs is achieved in accordance
with the policy.
The OECA Environmental Justice Achievement
Award is now part of OECA's annual Honor
Awards ceremony and is awarded to an OECA
employee or team of employees who has demon-
strated a commitment to environmental justice
principles through a project or activity that 1)
promotes sound environmental justice principles;
2) effectively assesses and addresses a communi-
ty's environmental justice concerns; and 3) con-
tributes to the implementation of OECA's
Environmental Justice Policy.
Measures of Success—Results/Outcomes
In July 2006, OECA announced the recipient of
the first OECA Environmental Justice Achieve-
ment Award. The award went to an interoffice
team consisting of staff from the National
Enforcement Training Institute (NETI) and Office
of Environmental Justice, who developed the Web-
based Introduction to Environmental Justice course
that has significantly advanced the understanding
of environmental justice principles and affected the
overall awareness of environmental justice consid-
erations at OECA, EPA, and beyond.
Although a classroom-based course on the
Fundamentals of Environmental Justice has existed
for several years, OECA recognized the need for
a more widely available, updated, and enhanced
approach to environmental justice training to
raise awareness of environmental justice issues
and principles. Working with experts in NETI,
OEJ used technology to enhance the effectiveness
and appeal of this material. Through NETI's
subject matter expertise and technical knowledge,
and with skilled management of contractors, the
winning team creatively used available template
design work to produce the online course.
The Web-based course is more widely available
than the existing classroom-based course and
uses animation, graphics, interactivity, and feed-
back mechanisms, and measures knowledge.
The course has resulted in a high-quality and
cost-effective means to enhance learning and
improve awareness of environmental justice prin-
ciples. Already used by hundreds of people
throughout EPA, and also available to state and
local government agencies, the training has
proven its effectiveness and highlighted the
potential demand for similar courses.
Activity: Wood Heater Supplemental
Environmental Projects
During 2006, Wood Heater Program (WHP)
staff in the Compliance Assessment and Media
Programs Division within the Office of
Compliance negotiated two Supplemental
Environmental Projects (SEP).Through these
projects, two wood stove manufacturers agreed to
donate a total of 74 wood stoves to two
Weatherrzation Assistance Program (WAP)
providers (Community Housing Partners of
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Compliance
Compliance and
Environmental
Stewardship
Christiansburg, Virginia, and Opportunity
Council of Bellingham, Washington) in lieu of
paying monetary penalties for their violations of
the Clean Air Act.
WHP is a headquarters program that administers
and enforces provisions of the New Source Per-
formance Standard (NSPS) for New Residential
Wood Heaters at 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart AAA.
The NSPS was promulgated on February 26,
1988, to reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions
from wood stoves. The NSPS requires manufac-
turers of wood stoves to certify through emission
testing and a compliance certification review
process that each wood stove model line offered
for sale in the United States meets a PM emission
limit of 7.5 grams per hour for non-catalytic wood
stoves and 4.1 grams per hour for wood stoves that
use a catalyst to reduce emissions. As a result,
EPA-certified wood stoves are 80 percent cleaner
and 50 percent more efficient than wood stoves
manufactured prior to promulgation of the NSPS
regulations. In addition to certifying wood stove
model lines for compliance with the NSPS, WHP
staff also conduct field inspections at manufactur-
ing facilities and retail outlets, initiate enforcement
actions, negotiate settlement agreements, and
respond to residential complaints.
Measures of Success—Rest4 Its I Outcomes
WAP providers are nonprofit organizations funded
by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to pro-
vide energy assistance services to low-income and
very low-income households. The WAP providers
installed donated wood stoves free of charge in low-
income households in Westmoreland County,
Virginia, andWhatcom County, Washington. To
date, 70 of the 74 wood stoves have been installed.
The use of free WAP installation and counseling
services reduced costs by nearly 50 percent. Since
the SEP penalty amounts were fixed, the free serv-
ices provided by the WAP providers allowed twice
as many households to receive new wood stoves.
The remaining four wood stoves are scheduled to
be installed prior to the September 30,2007 project
deadline. Once complete, the installation of the new
wood stoves will permanently reduce PM emissions
by 2 tons per year.
The success of the two SEPs prompted the
National Community Action Foundation (NCAF)
and the Hearth Patio and Barbecue Association
(HPBA) to collaborate on an Open Letter to the
Enforcement Community, dated October 6, 2006.
In this letter, the NCAF and the HPBA encour-
age local, state, and federal regulators to incorpo-
rate use of WAP organizations to improve air
quality in low income communities through the
replacement of old, inefficient woodstoves.
Region 3
Activity: Park Heights Auto Body/Auto
Repair Shop Compliance Initiative
A project known as the Park Heights Auto
Body/Auto Repair Shop Initiative aimed to
increase regulatory compliance of auto body shops
in the Lower Park Heights neighborhood of
Baltimore, Maryland. This was a joint effort of
EPA Region 3's Office of Enforcement, Compli-
ance and Environmental Justice (OECEJ); OECA;
the Maryland Department of the Environment
(MDE); the Park Reist Community Corridor
Coalition; the Park Heights Community Health
Alliance; and the Northwest Baltimore Automotive
Association.
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Compliance and
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Compliance
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Lower Park Heights is a predominantly minority
and low-income neighborhood in northwest
Baltimore with a significant number of auto body
and auto repair shops located throughout the
community. For years, the residents have
expressed concern to state, local, and federal offi-
cials that these facilities are sources of environ-
mental pollution that adversely impact the quality
of life in their neighborhood. In fact, MDE had
noted motor oil and other automotive byproducts
that had originated in the area showing up in
storm drains and water treatment facilities.
Senator Barbara Mikulski requested that EPA
Region 3 tour the area and evaluate any environ-
mental problems, so OECEJ met with MDE and
a variety of stakeholders in the Park Reist
Corridor and conducted the tour. They found
that many of the facilities in question did not
comply with local zoning ordinances and exhibit-
ed environmental problems. Inspectors found
that facilities were generally unresponsive, closed,
or would move to another location when con-
fronted with violations.
OECEJ, MDE, and the local stakeholders agreed
to work collaboratively on a project that would:
1) identify a population of regulated facilities
and establish a statistically defensible compliance
rate calculation methodology; 2) improve com-
pliance rates in an identified population of regu-
lated facilities by conducting a compliance
assistance project with measurable results; and 3)
conduct a collaborative activity involving the
affected community in an effort to bring compli-
ance assistance to the regulated community.
The project was designed in three phases. In
Phase One, the partners: 1) developed a defini-
tion of automotive repair and auto body shop
facilities including SIC code and facility size; 2)
counted and geo-coded facilities in the geo-
graphic study area that fit the definition; 3)
developed a statistical formula to identify how
baseline and follow-up inspections would be
required to establish the project's null hypothesis
that compliance assistance changed the compli-
ance rate within an acceptable range of certainty;
4) created an inspector checklist, using selected
behavioral indicators based on regulatory
requirements, which was used to measure the
compliance rate before and after the compliance
assistance activity; 5) formulated outcome meas-
ures; and 6) conducted the necessary number of
random inspections, using the checklist to deter-
mine a baseline compliance profile.
In Phase Two, partners conducted targeted com-
pliance assistance activities based on the results
of the Phase One inspections. The activities
included: 1) distributing user-friendly facility
workbooks written in "plain English" to all
shops; 2) providing facility training opportunities
for all shops that chose to attend; 3) encouraging
voluntary self-audits and completion of self-cer-
tification forms; 4) completing a community sur-
vey and sharing results with the facilities; and 5)
developing site-specific solutions to encourage
better practices. In addition, partners conducted
follow-up compliance profile inspections and
baseline and follow-up inspections and analyzed
community survey data, which were reported by
the University of Baltimore.
Phase Three used the data gathered in Phases One
and Two as the basis for developing an ongoing
compliance assurance program that would involve
and assist the residential community with the
identified facilities. The goal was to conduct a
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Compliance
Compliance and
Environmental
Stewardship
collaborative activity within the community to
bring compliance assistance to the regulated
community.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
The partners used the information gathered by the
study as a basis for establishing a permanent and
ongoing compliance assistance program, and to
focus on the illegal operators who unlawfully
dumped their waste. In addition, the participating
shop owners came up with the idea of creating a
local trade association designed to maintain and
enhance their improved compliance and assist in
improving environmental conditions and the
quality of life in the community. The group will
use a database to keep track of all the partner
shops in the neighborhood. The trade association
will provide a reliable point of contact for the
shops to lodge complaints with the appropriate
regulatory authorities concerning violations; serve
as a point of contact for ongoing training regarding
environmental regulations; and serve as a clearing-
house for information. The association will also
serve as a mechanism to certify those shops that
received the initial training and ongoing compli-
ance assistance. Association meetings will provide
a forum where shop owners can discuss and
possibly solve their common problems. The asso-
ciation will also act as a liaison with the community
and provide recognition for facilities that are work-
ing to be environmentally responsible.
Lessons learned from Phase One included the
need for specific training and debriefing of inspec-
tors because data capture inspections are very dif-
ferent from the traditional compliance inspections.
The inspector must be trained to focus on the
knowledge-based indicators, to compile informa-
tion regarding how well a facility understands reg-
ulations, and to read the behaviors of facility staff
with respect to regulations. The partners also
learned that there were far fewer facilities in the
area than had initially been indicated, as many
facilities either relocated, closed, or could not be
found at the addresses indicated.
Compliance assistance activities in Phase Two were
extremely successful. Many facilities' compliance
with environmental regulations improved after this
stage, and the group of shop owners recognized
the benefits of working with the program. In gen-
eral, shops showed a greater awareness of environ-
mental regulations and a marked desire to comply
with these regulations.
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EPA's cross-goal strategies
include improving the
quality and availability of
environmental and health infor-
mation, providing sound science
and research, and strengthening
partnerships with states and
tribes. All of these strategies play
a critical role in supporting the
Agency's efforts to meet all of the
other goals in its Strategic Plan.
This chapter highlights a few of
the science and research and
environmental and health infor-
mation activities conducted over
the past two years.
Environmental and Health Information:
Accurate, timely, and usable information is the
foundation for decisions and actions taken by
EPA, states, and others responsible for protecting
human health and the environment. Effective
information management is vital to the success
of EPA's mission and contributes to the achieve-
ment of all Agency strategic goals. The federal
community has recognized and commended
EPA for ensuring that information investments
are made wisely to achieve environmental results.
EPA develops, collects, analyzes, and provides
integrated access to information to promote
more knowledgeable and environmentally
responsible attitudes, decisions, and actions. EPA
strives to provide the right information, at the
right time, in the right format, to the right peo-
ple. This means making quality environmental
and management information available for devel-
oping environmental policies and priorities. It
means making environmental data publicly
accessible to support individual and community
involvement in decisions that can affect environ-
mental quality and public health. It also means
building the necessary infrastructure to provide
secure information, reliable data, efficient and
timely access, and analytic information tools.
EPA'S CROSS-CUTTING
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
STRATEGY
Enhance environmental results through
the improved use of quality environmen-
tal information by EPA decisionmakers,
states, tribes, other partners, and the
public to:
• Promote environmentally beneficial
action
• Improve environmental decisions
• Promote more environmentally
responsible attitudes
• Improve knowledge
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Reduction in Asthma Attacks
Cross-Goal Strategi
Science and Research: Science plays a vital role
in supporting the protection of public health.
Sound science is at the core of understanding
and adequately addressing the needs of commu-
nities that are disproportionately affected by
environmental problems. EPA is seeking to
address environmental justice issues before they
become environmental justice concerns by help-
ing communities make informed decisions about
their health and well being. EPA's Office of
Research and Development (ORD) brings envi-
ronmental justice concerns to bear, either direct-
ly or indirectly, through its research, expert
advice, and leadership in the development of
Agency science policies.
Through coordinated efforts with EPA's pro-
gram and regional offices, ORD links environ-
mental justice activities across the spectrum of
the Agency's science endeavors. ORD is com-
mitted to conducting research that, while
addressing major Agency issues, also supports
environmental justice concerns through focused
research activities and/or conducting field studies
in communities disproportionately affected by
environmental issues.
ORD is also committed to strengthening its envi-
ronmental justice program by improving lines of
communication to both its internal and external
stakeholders, as well as environmental partners.
By incorporating an environmental justice com-
ponent into the research programs and initia-
tives, EPA seeks to more effectively address these
challenging issues.
Environmental Justice
Priority: Reduction in
Asthma Attacks
Headquarters
Activity: Detroit Children's Health Study
The Detroit Children's Health Study (DCHS), a
multi-year study being conducted by ORD, is
investigating the potential relationship between
children's respiratory health and outdoor air pol-
lutant exposures. Specifically, scientists in the
National Health and Environmental Effects
Research Laboratory (NHEERL), in coopera-
tion with the National Exposure Research
Laboratory (NERL), EPA Region 5, and
researchers at the Henry Ford Health System,
are conducting the DCHS to examine the role of
environmental factors in the prevalence of allergy
and asthma among children in the greater
Detroit metropolitan area. This epidemiologic
study will help in understanding the relationship,
if any, between local outside air emissions, par-
ticularly motor vehicle emissions, and the initia-
tion of allergic asthma in schoolchildren (ages 7
to 12). The study's findings will be used by EPA
program offices and by local officials involved in
community planning issues.
The DCHS can be divided into three primary
parts: 1) assessing exposure; 2) administering a
large questionnaire survey; and 3) conducting a
smaller respiratory health study of selected chil-
dren. The first part involves studying neighbor-
hood differences in outdoor concentrations of air
pollutants in the Detroit metropolitan area by
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Reduction in Asthma Attacks
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taking exposure measurements outside selected
schools. It also involves collecting information on
many other factors, such as exposure to smok-
ing, molds, and household pests, that are known
to play a role in children's health status. The sec-
ond part involves administering a health ques-
tionnaire to the families of 7,500 children
residing in Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan,
who have been served by the Henry Ford Health
System. The 20-page health questionnaire, com-
pleted by the parents or guardians, covers respi-
ratory outcomes, such as asthma and wheezing
symptoms, and known risk factors, such as envi-
ronmental tobacco smoke, parental health condi-
tions, and housing characteristics. The third part
of the study involves taking clinical measure-
ments of lung function and exhaled breath from
a voluntary subset of nearly 1,400 children.
In parallel research studies, scientists from
NERL assessed neighborhood differences in air
pollutant concentrations, and NHEERL scien-
tists will examine biological markers for effect
and susceptibility. From 1999 through 2003,
NHEERL also conducted a similar research
project, the El Paso Children's Health Study in
collaboration with NERL scientists. This study
involved nearly 9,000 schoolchildren in El Paso,
Texas. The border cities of Detroit and El Paso
share common characteristics, such as major
diesel truck routes and vehicle idling at interna-
tional border crossings, although the two cities
have great climatic differences.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
In the summer of 2006, EPA scientists conducted
air sampling at 25 locations throughout Detroit
and Dearborn for the first part of the study and
now are analyzing these air quality measure-
ments to assess neighborhood differences in air
pollutant concentrations. For the second part of
the study, EPA conducted the survey question-
naire and hopes to provide a descriptive summary
of the findings to the community in 2008. In the
third part of the study, EPA collected clinical
measurements of children's lung function and
exhaled breath in the summer and fall of 2006.
The final results of the study will be published in
scientific journals by 2009.
EPA conducts a broad program of asthma-related
research, as described in its Asthma Research
Strategy. Working with the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), EPA
previously supported 12 Centers of Excellence for
Children's Environmental Health, including the
Michigan Center for the Environment and
Children's Health in the Detroit metropolitan area.
The intramural EPA research program includes
both experimental studies to develop animal mod-
els for asthma and observational studies of children
and adults with asthma. ORD scientists have also
worked with the University of North Carolina's
Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma, and
Lung Biology to improve methods of assessing
allergies and asthma in children.
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Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat
Environmental Justice
Priority: Fish and Shellfish
Safe to Eat
Headquarters
Activity: Contaminant Concentrations in
Whole-Body Fish and Shellfish from U.S.
Estuaries
Chemical contamination of coastal and estuarine
biota continues to be of public concern, especially
among populations that are heavily dependent on
fishing as a primary food source. Despite laws
and regulations governing the use and disposal of
chemical contaminants found in estuarine biota,
their adverse effects are well-documented. To
analyze data about chemical concentrations in
fish tissues in U.S. waters, ORD's Environmental
Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP)
collected data from probability-based surveys
conducted in 2000 and 2001 in northeastern,
southeastern, Gulf of Mexico, and West Coast
estuaries. In addition, scientists from ORD's
National Health and Environmental Effects
Research Laboratory (NHEERL) collected fish
and shellfish from 736 sites and analyzed com-
posite samples for a suite of chemical contami-
nants, including persistent, bioaccumulative, and
toxic chemicals. EPA found contaminant concen-
trations in a variety of finfish and shellfish species
from U.S. estuaries (excluding Alaska and
Hawaii) and presented results in a set of guide-
lines for recreational anglers who consume their
catch.
EPA analyzed whole fish and shellfish tissue sam-
ples for 23 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
(PAH) compounds, 21 polychlorinated biphenyl
(PCB) congeners, DDT and five of its metabo-
lites, 14 chlorinated pesticides (other than DDT),
and 13 metals, including mercury, and presented
results for each coastal region, as well as a nation-
al estimate. Non-cancer effects from consuming
contaminated fish include liver, kidney, neurologi-
cal, muscular, ocular, reproductive, respiratory,
circulatory, or other organ toxicities, and adverse
developmental and reproductive effects from
acute and chronic exposure. The guidelines pro-
vide recommendations for how many 8-ounce
fish meals people can consume per month based
on age, weight, and contaminant.
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
Fifty-two percent of the studied sites did not
exceed non-cancer chemical concentration
guidelines, 22 percent were between the lower
and upper limits, and 26 percent exceeded an
upper limit for one or more examined contami-
nants. The northeast region had the largest num-
ber of sites that exceeded minimum threshold
values (69 percent), whereas the Gulf of Mexico
had the least (35 percent).The southeast and
west regions exceeded the minimum threshold
value for 42 percent and 47 percent of sites,
respectively. Total PCBs accounted for the great-
est percentage of exceedances (20 percent of
sites) of the upper limit thresholds and repre-
sented approximately 45 percent of all contami-
nant samples exceeding their respective upper
limits. Mercury concentrations exceedences
occurred at 11 percent of the sites. Mercury
preferentially binds to muscle tissue; therefore,
values were multiplied by three, so as to not
underestimate the burden of mercury in whole
fish. Total PAHs exceeded suggested guidance
levels at 9 percent of sites, and total DDT
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Collaborative Problem-Solving
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exceeded suggested guidance levels at 8 percent of
sites. Toxaphene, cadmium, and dieldrin exceed-
ances occurred at less than 1 percent of sites.
In this study, scientists collected specimen sam-
ples from all sites where an unbiased collection
method could be employed that would provide a
comparable catch community across large spatial
areas (regions of the United States). Although the
fish and shellfish caught are not usually thought
of as the consumable species intended for the
EPA recreational angler consumption guidelines,
they are frequently intermediate-trophic-level
(prey) species for larger predatory fish that are of
commercial value. Applying EPA's recreational
angler risk-based guidelines to examine whole-
body tissue samples collected during the National
Coastal Assessment survey, baseline national and
regional fish and shellfish contaminant estimates
can be used in support of tiered aquatic life use
models and development of ecological criteria for
U.S. estuaries.
Environmental Justice
Priority: Collaborative
Problem-Solving
OEI is responsible for establishing an innovative
center of excellence that advances the creation,
management, and use of information as a resource
at EPA to support its strategic priorities, goals,
and mission to protect human health and the
environment. OEI identifies and implements inno-
vative information technology and information
management solutions that strengthen EPA's abili-
ty to achieve its goals. OEI ensures the quality of
EPA's information and the efficiency and reliabili-
ty of EPA's technology, data collection and
exchange efforts, and access services.
In addition, OEI is the focal point for information
collection and the development and implementa-
tion of innovative information collection policies
and approaches for the Agency. OEI has integrated
environmental justice considerations into the
office's daily operation, supporting the eighth
National Environmental Justice priority: collabora-
tive problem-solving. OEI's functions support
EPA's cross-cutting environmental information
strategy's three-pronged approach to meeting
information challenges laid out in the 2003-2008
EPA Strategic Plan: analytical capacity, governance,
and excellence in information service delivery. The
best way to illustrate how the development and
implementation of innovative information collec-
tion approaches address environmental justice
concerns is by reviewing how EPA's Exchange
Network addresses environmental information
collection, maintenance, and sharing.
Headquarters
Activity: Exchange Network
In 1998, EPA responded to the challenge of the
ever-growing interest in and need for environ-
mental and public health information by working
collaboratively with partners to develop the
Internet-based Environmental Information
Exchange Network, funded through the
Exchange Network Grants program. This part-
nership, which includes EPA, states, tribes, and
territories, has made it possible to address the
issue of environmental information collection,
maintenance, and sharing by using improved
technology and agreeing on environmental and
health data formats in which to exchange infor-
mation. The standards and protocols increase the
efficiency, timeliness, and accuracy of informa-
tion exchanges and support better environmental
and health-related decisions through improved
Environmental Justice Biennial Report
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Collaborative Problem-Solving
access to and exchange of environmental, health,
and geographic information.
EPA's presence on the Exchange Network allows
users to report information electronically to EPA
programs (Web-based submissions) through the
Internet. The Exchange Network also enables
computer-to-computer exchanges of data among
partners (automated Web service exchanges) and
enables participants to control and manage their
own data. This collaborative partnership among
EPA, states, tribes, and territories across the
nation supports better environmental and health-
related decisions through improved access to,
and exchange of, environmental, health, and geo-
graphic information.
The Exchange Network has made special efforts
to work with tribes to increase their participation.
For example, to increase the number of tribes par-
ticipating, EPA entered into a collaborative part-
nership with the National Congress of American
Indians (NCAI). NCAI supports tribal participa-
tion on the Exchange Network governance with
feedback and advice on how to work with tribal
sovereign nations and on the differing capabilities
and capacities to develop and exchange electronic
environmental information. In April 2006, NCAI
hosted an Exchange Network tribal users meeting.
The objective of this meeting was to understand
tribal needs to help more tribes to participate in
the Exchange Network. The tribal participants
found this meeting to be a helpful forum for dis-
cussing tribal-related information issues. They
have requested another meeting to discuss these
issues further and to receive more information.
NCAI also provides the leadership to convene
tribal information management leaders to develop
strategies for enabling tribal participation on the
Exchange Network.
Best Practice:
Action: Include activities in the Exchange
Network grant solicitation that support
information management capacity build-
ing for tribes.
Goal: Increase the numbers of tribes with
nodes and electronic exchange of envi-
ronmental information.
Results: Improved information about
environmental conditions in Indian
Country. Exchanged information that sup-
ports more informed decisionmaking.
I
I
Measures of Success—Results I Outcomes
Since its inception in 2002, the Exchange
Network grant program has set aside 10 percent
of its funding for Indian tribes, and from 2002 to
2006, the program awarded nearly SI0.5 million
to them. In September 2005, the St. Regis
Mohawk Tribe became the first tribe to exchange
data on the network, reporting on an air quality
system. In October 2006, a second tribe secured
its spot on the network when the Cherokee
Nation submitted facility registration system data.
As of October 2006, 49 tribes have received 76
grants for the technology improvements needed
to participate in the Exchange Network. Among
these, 28 tribes have indicated that they intend to
establish Exchange Network connections. EPA is
committed to working with tribes in protecting
human health and the environment in Indian
Country and in the nation for generations to
come.
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