DRAFT Region 7 Environmental Justice Action Plan Narrative
Fiscal Year 2009
The mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and
to safeguard the natural environment - air, water, and land - upon which all life depends. EPA
Region 7 is committed to providing fair treatment to all communities we serve. Accordingly,
this action plan was developed as a tool to assist in determining the appropriate actions and their
measurable outcomes to ensuring that environmental justice is addressed into all the
environmental operations within the region.
Regional Characteristics
Region 7 encompasses 286,000 square miles covering the states of Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, and Nebraska. There are also nine federally recognized tribes. Seven reside on
reservations (the Iowa, Kickapoo, Omaha, Potawatomi, Sac & Fox, Santee Sioux, and
Winnebago). The Meskwaki also reside in the region, but on a settlement. The Ponca reside on
tribally owned lands dispersed throughout four communities in Nebraska.
The regional topography varies from the arid high plains of western Kansas and Nebraska
to the forested sharp hills of the Ozark Plateau in Missouri, the corn belt of Iowa to the
Mississippi River floodplain lowlands of eastern Missouri. In 1997 USDA reported that the four
states accounted for 302,699 farms covering 151,607,569 acres. Farm products include corn,
wheat, soybeans, grain sorghum, cattle, and hogs.
Though the landscape is dominated by agriculturally-related environmental challenges,
the Region is not without urban concerns. More than half (56%) of the population of 12.9
million people live within several metropolitan areas including St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha,
Des Moines and Wichita. The metropolitan areas have traditional environmental challenges
associated with urban centersindustry, municipal services, transportation, urban sprawl, air
attainment, and energy production. In addition, the region contains hundreds of small
communities with populations below 5,000for example 90% of communities in Nebraska are
under 2,500. Thus, there are the accompanying issues of declining tax bases and old
infrastructures, limited access to health care, contamination of private water wells, lead mining
contamination, and attaining clean water standards for water treatment and water supply systems.
There are five predominant languages spoken other than English in Region 7. They
include: Spanish, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Serbo-Croation. Spanish is the most
commonly spoken language after English in all four states of the region. States range from a 2-
5% Spanish-speaking population. German is the second most spoken language in Region 7. The
data does not distinguish between German-speaking only or bilingual individuals. The two most
spoken Asian languages are Vietnamese and Chinese. Kansas has a higher percentage
Vietnamese speaking population than the other three states in Region 7. Serbo-Croatian
speaking populations may be found in significant numbers within communities in Iowa and
Missouri.
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Region 7 Strategic Management Goals and Themes
Facilitate a culture of innovation and collaboration across the region and throughout the
country focused on aligning resources to achieving environmental outcomes.
Build a strong and valued partnership between EPA Region 7 and agriculture focused on
achieving environmental outcomes.
Provide environmental leadership on climate change and energy.
Strengthen the ability of EPA Region 7 to meet its environmental goals and objectives
while improving internal operations.
Strategically utilize all tools available to achieve and enhance compliance with
environmental laws.
These regional goals and themes coincide very well with the eight national environmental
justice (EJ) priorities:
1. Reduce Asthma Attacks
2. Reduce Exposure to Air Toxics
3. Ensure Fish and Shellfish are Safe to Eat
4. Ensure Water is Safe to Drink
5. Revitalize Brownfields and Contaminated Sites
6. Reduce Incidence of Elevated Blood Lead Levels
7. Ensure Compliance
8. Collaborative Problem Solving
The national EJ priorities are all relevant to Region 7 communities. While the national EJ
priorities identify specific environmental and health related concerns along with approaches to
addressing them, the Region 7 priorities help us to separate the total regional universe of
concerns within the region and group them in a manner allowing for focused and measurable
work.
Organization of the Action Plan Matrix
The Region 7 Environmental Justice Action Plan is organized consistent with the Agency
Strategic Plan utilizing the five goal structure: Goal 1 - Clean Air; Goal 2 - Clean and Safe
Water; Goal 3 - Preserve and Restore the Land; Goal 4 - Healthy Communities and Ecosystems;
and Goal 5 - Compliance and Environmental Stewardship. A sixth goal, Cross-Cutting
Strategies, has been added to include internal capacity building activities such as training and
internal program management.
> Objectives include any of the eight national environmental justice priorities or other
priorities identified by the region.
> Activities include any action undertaken in order to address an objective.
> Outputs describe the direct results of an activity. Output measures answer quantitatively the
question: What was accomplished under each activity?
> Outcomes provide a description of the impacts resulting from an activity. Outcome
measures answer the question: What impacts did the out/put activities have/make relevant to
public health and/or the environment?
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Management Accountability
A. Regional Environmental Justice Policy
The Region 7 Interim EJ Policy provides Region 7 staff a document which establishes a
platform on which to base the implementation of environmental justice to achieve
measurable outcomes that demonstrate fair treatment and meaningful involvement of
affected communities. The policy is applicable region wide regardless of program area
or function. The responsibility of all EPA staff is to ensure fair treatment of all people
regardless of race, culture, income or any other factors which could result in greater
vulnerability to environmental pollution, with respect to the development,
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws and policies and their
meaningful involvement in the decision-making processes. The Interim Policy has been
organized along functional lines and is intended to cross media and programmatic
divisions.
B. Organizational Structure
The Region 7 Environmental Justice Program is located in the Enforcement Coordination
Office which is attached to the Regional Administrator's office. The organizational
proximity of the EJ program to the RA's office enables EJ to be consistently highlighted
as a regional priority important in all program areas.
The location of the EJ program in an office which has coordination responsibilities of
enforcement provides the program an opportunity to be involved in the planning and
prioritization for all regional enforcement programs. This connection has allowed the
regional enforcement programs to accelerate the integration of EJ principles into their
work.
C. Communication of Management Expectations
Regional management will continuously communicate expectations having to do with the
integration of EJ into work processes and procedures. Ways of communicating these
expectations:
1. The Interim Regional Environmental Justice Policy will be reviewed with all
regional staff and reiterated on an ongoing basis as a regional priority.
2. Environmental Justice Training is provided on an annual basis for new employees
and temporary employees in order to highlight the importance of EJ principles as
well as promoting integration into the work of the Agency.
3. The region seeks to integrate EJ into all program areas and regional priorities.
Examples of this include: 1) Farm Worker Protection outreach and education
focusing on economically-disadvantaged and non-English speaking populations
under the agriculture initiative and 2) economically-disadvantaged and non-
English speaking populations participating in subsistent fish consumption.
Internal Organization Engagement:
The Environmental Justice Implementation Team (EJIT) is a regional workgroup which
consists of representatives from each division as well as ad hoc membership by program
managers of each regional multi-media initiative. The purpose of the team is to plan,
coordinate, and guide regional environmental justice implementation efforts as well as to ensure
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that implementation planning, activities, and results include perspectives of all regional
functions. The goal of the EJIT is to ensure that there are environmental justice considerations
in all EPA operations within the four state region.
The Region 7 EJ program staff has numerous opportunities to engage with other
programs through participation on several regional coordination teams in addition to the EJIT.
Teams which include EJ participation:
Regional Indian Workgroup
Ag Team
Energy Team
Sustainability Team
Children's Health Workgroup
GCRC (Grants)
External Stakeholder Engagement:
1) Processes to receive input on EJ issues from External Stakeholders - Region 7 employs the
following mechanisms to receive input on EJ issues from external stakeholders:
a) Outreach and Education Efforts - The region participates in numerous outreach activities
such as community fairs, conferences, and workshops in which information regarding
environmental priorities and public involvement are shared with the public.
b) EJ Stakeholder Meetings/Forums - This is a tool used by regional staff to gain input
regarding EJ issues and to increase efforts to address EJ concerns. In some cases these
activities have provided stakeholders the opportunity to exchange information regarding
any general EJ issue. In other cases these activities have been regarding a specific EJ
concern or complaint.
2) Ongoing mechanisms to share information with external groups regarding EJ - The EJ
program maintains the following communication mechanisms to share information with
external groups regarding EJ issues:
a) EJ Website - The Region 7 EJ website was developed with the customer in mind. We
understand that the website is utilized by students, university professors, community
members and organizations, regulatory staff, and regulated entities. We provide
information which will be useful to each group. We continuously seek feedback from
these customers regarding how to improve the website. The site is upgraded
approximately twice per year.
b) E-mail List - The EJ program has developed an e-mail distribution list which enables the
staff to communicate EJ information quickly and efficiently. The list consists of
stakeholders from various sectors including community members and organizations,
regulatory staff, regulated entities, students and university professors. The information
distributed may include funding information, news and educational information, and
event announcements.
3) Identifying stakeholders who could benefit from increased awareness about EJ - The Region
7 EJ program uses the following tools and methodologies to identify stakeholders who could
benefit from increased EJ awareness:
a) Mapping - The entire region has been mapped by census block group and census tract
using low income and minority populations along with the presence of environmental
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hazards to proactively identify areas which may benefit from EJ awareness or being more
engaged in the collaborative problem-solving process.
b) Speaking Engagements and Outreach Activities - Region 7 EJ staff participate on
average in more than 30 outreach activities and speaking engagements per year,
providing external stakeholders information regarding EJ issues and receiving
information regarding stakeholders' priorities. The region proactively targets a portion of
this outreach in order to ensure that priority communities are reached. The majority of
the activities are in response to requests.
c) Increasing the EJ Network - On an on-going basis, Region 7 seeks to increase the EJ
network in order to broaden our ability to identify stakeholders who could benefit from
increased awareness. This is accomplished through attending meetings and conferences
at which such stakeholders may be engaged. We also ensure that agency information is
available in locations which are frequented by potential stakeholders.
Data Collection and Management:
Data utilized to conduct EJ screens, EJ assessments, and other research includes health
data, compliance data, environmental data (i.e. air quality, impaired water bodies), and census
data. The data is formatted and maintained by our Geographic Information Systems (GIS) staff
and updated as new data becomes available.
In those situations in which new or additional data is needed agency experts are engaged
and data is gathered and maintained in a manner which is consistent and compliant with Agency
standards.
Additional information may be utilized from other governmental entities to assess or
evaluate a particular concern. This information is generally publicly accessible information
which is gathered and presented in a manner which is consistent with national standards.
Professional and Organizational Development:
EJ staff work continuously to build skills to effectively work with stakeholders, including
problem solving and forward thinking to progress the EJ mission. Professional and
organizational development efforts include training in the following three subsets:
1) environmental/health training 2) professional development, and 3) organizational
development. The following activities and trainings are examples which Region 7 EJ staff has
undertaken:
A. Environmental/Health/
Technical Training:
B. Professional
Development:
C. Organizational
Development:
Superfund Reuse and
Revitalization
Brownfields Nuts n' Bolts
Chemistry for
Environmental Professionals
Healthy Homes
Arc View GIS
Basic Inspector Training
Risk communication
Media relations
Getting work done and
achieving results
Conversational Spanish
Grants Management
Contracts Management
Executive Leadership
Human Capital
Strategy
Working Effectively
with Tribal
Governments
Standard Operating
Procedures
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A. Environmental/Health/
Technical Training:
B. Professional
Development:
C. Organizational
Development:
Health and Safety Training
Hazardous Materials
Incidence Response
Operations
Systematic Development
of Informed Consent
Alternative Dispute
Resolutions
Meeting Management
Facilitation
Continuity of
Operations
CPR and First Aid
Environmental Justice Assessment Process:
Region 7 EJ staff became involved with potential EJ issues both proactively by
identifying areas of potential concern, and in response to requests regarding potential EJ
concern.
The first step to becoming engaged in addressing a potential EJ concern is through the
information gathering process of an EJ screen or EJ assessment. The Region 7 EJ assessment
methodology is consistent with the national EJ Toolkit for Assessing Allegations of
Environmental Injustice. This assessment process is a two-tier process:
Tier 1 - Consider disproportionate impact:
Proximity of permitted facilities to a community/impacted population
Number/concentration of permitted facilities within a given parameter
Number of Superfund/NPL sites
Other regulated entities
Environmental Indicators
Environmental Conditions
Ecological Indicators
Health Data
Health Impacts from the Environment
Potential Vulnerability to Stressors
Tier 2 - Consider demographics:
Minority populations
Persons below poverty
Languages spoken other than English
Social Indicators
Economic Indicators
Program Evaluation:
Region 7 develops a detailed workplan for EJ program staff and a larger bi-annual EJ
Action Plan for the region. Each commitment includes a description of the activity outputs and
outcomes along with committed programs and organizations. Region 7 has participated in the
development of the national environmental justice program evaluation protocols as well as a
pilot which included a review of Superfund lead mining clean-up sites. Current methods of
evaluating success in the region are through the annual reporting of accomplishments resulting
from the commitments in the workplan, and the EJ Action Plan. In FY09 Region 7 is committed
to conducting one formal program review utilizing the national program review protocol.
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Region 7 Environmental Justice Contacts:
Althea Moses - EJ Program Manager
Debbie Bishop - EJ Data and Research Lead
Monica Espinosa - EJ Training and Communications Lead
Kimberly Jones - EJ Grants Lead
Region 7 Environmental Justice Implementation Team:
Barbara Peterson - Regional Council
LaTonya Sanders - Office of Public Affairs
Raju Kakarlapudi - Water Division
Tom Lorenz - Superfund Division
Steve Wurtz - Air and RCRA
Alma Moreno Lahm - Brownfield
Wolfgang Brandner - Tribal Program
Roberta Vogel-Leutung - Environmental Services
Carlin Hafiz - Children's Health
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EJ ACTION PLAN PERFORMANCE MEASURES MATRIX
Region 7 Environmental Justice Action Plan
Section 1: Performance Measures Matrix Highlights
FY09 Robust-Results Oriented Activities
Description: Omaha Lead
The Omaha Lead site, which is located in Douglas County, Nebraska, includes surface soils present at residential properties, child care facilities,
schools, and other residential-type properties in eastern Omaha. Although exact site boundaries have yet to be defined early estimates of the
potentially impacted area cover 16, 448 acres (25.7 miles) where approximately 86,826 residents live.
In 1998, the Omaha City Council solicited assistance from EPA in addressing problems with lead contamination in the Omaha area, prompted by
clean-up activities at the Asarco facility. Asarco was a lead-refining plant which operated from the early 1870s until 1997 and was located on
approximately 23 acres on the west bank of the Missouri River in downtown Omaha. During the operational period, lead and other heavy metals
were emitted into the atmosphere through smoke stacks and fugitive emissions from plant activities. The pollutants were transported downwind in
various directions and deposited on the ground surface.
Excerpted from: Omaha Lead, 07/03/07
Activities/ Resources/
/Partners
Output
Short-term
(awareness)
Applicable Outcome Measure
Intermediate
(behavior)
Long-term
(condition)
Point of Contact
Community Involvement -
Support of CAG with
emphasis on seeking
funding partners and
comprehensive solutions to
the lead issues EPA does
not have authority to
address.
- $_Financial assistance
provided to community
organizations (CAG)
- _# households provided
technical assistance
- _# Yards free of lead
hazard (pollution
-Increase awareness of
all stakeholders
-Partners/stakeholders
are more aware of the
challenges of working
with disadvantaged and
underserved
-Stakeholders sign
access agreements
- Stakeholders
implement lead-safe
practices
-Children receive blood
lead testing and proper
- Reduce the lead in soil
at properties where
children reside or spend
extended amts of time.
- Reduce elevated blood
lead levels in children.
Name/Org:
Tel:
E-mail:
Gene Gunn
Robert Field
Debbie Kring
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Activities/ Resources/
/Partners
Output
Applicable Outcome Measure
Short-term
(awareness)
Intermediate
(behavior)
Long-term
(condition)
Point of Contact
- Operation of public
Information Centers to
provide the affected
population with information
regarding the affects of
lead on children and the
steps which residents can
take to help reduce
exposures to lead.
Yard Clean-up:
- Sampling Yards
- Cleaning up soil at
residences with soil lead
levels exceeding EPA's
action level.
- Placing old soil with clean
soil in yards and sodding
yards to replace grass.
- Stabilizing the exterior of
the home where lead-
based paint threatens to
recontaminate the
replacement soil
Brownfields Job Training
Note: Though priority
emphasis will be placed
on support the Omaha
site with Brownfields Job
training, efforts will go
beyond Omaha.
reduction)
- _# Stabilized exterior of
homes
- _# Community outreach
events.
-_# Community
information requests
- # of participants in job
training workshops
- Brownfields job training
cooperative agreement
- # of program
participants employed in
full-time environmental
work with an avg. hourly
wage of $_
communities
-Partners/stakeholders
are more aware of areas
with elevated blood lead
levels to target activities
and resources
Increased awareness
regarding steps which
may be taken to address
the lead hazard(s) on
ones property
Increased awareness
regarding technical and
financial resources
available.
Build awareness of
public health and
environmental health
issues related to
Brownfields sites and
the skills needed to
remediate and
redevelop brownfields
properties.
Build relationships with
community orgs.
community colleges,
governmental entities,
local employers and
other community
partners and
treatment if needed.
- Increase effectiveness
of outreach and
education.
- Improved
understanding of
Brownfields will lead to
increased involvement
in Brownfields
assessment cleanup
and redevelopment
process for
communities.
Job Training program
increases job skills of
local community
members in hazardous
material cleanup,
asbestos and lead paint
abatement, general
construction, industrial
safety, CPR/first aid,
etc.
Local residents gain an
opportunity to fund full-
time employment
remediating brownfields
sites in their
communities
Brownfields
assessment, cleanup,
and redevelopment
- Measured by annual
decrease in # of lead
poisoned children.
Improved integration of
EJ in assessment
cleanup and sustainable
redevelopment of
Brownfields sites.
Improved public health
and environmental
conditions due to the
assessment, clean-up,
and sustainable
redevelopment of
brownfields sites in EJ
communities.
Sustained employment
opportunities for local
workers.
Increase economic
vitality and quality of life
of local community
Steve Kovac
Ina Square
Alma Moreno-Lahm
Althea Moses
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Activities/ Resources/
/Partners
Output
Applicable Outcome Measure
Short-term
(awareness)
Intermediate
(behavior)
Long-term
(condition)
Point of Contact
1. Educational and
technical assistance to
disproportionately impacted
communities affected by
Brownfields hazardous
waste sites.
2. Partner with Hazardous
Materials Training and
Research Institute (HMTRI)
to assist in outreach and
training with job training
grantees, workforce
development agencies ,
and nonprofit and
community based
organizations..
stakeholders.
Local go's, and nonprofit
orgs. Become informed
on the requirements
needed to develop a
brownfields job training
program.
Local residents have
opportunity to participate
in worker education and
training in their
communities.
projects are conducted
in more communities.
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DRAFT Region 7 FY09 Environmental Justice Action Plan
Section 1: Performance Measures Matrix Highlights Continued
Description: Healthy Homes Community Initiative
The home is a system where its working is interrelated as are its problems. The National Center for Healthy Housing reports that in the American
Housing Survey of 2005, 2 million homes had severe problems. 4.2 million homes had moderate problems - and this rating system did not include
insects, humidity and condensation, lead-based paint, radon, and asbestos.
The quality of housing significantly affects the health of the individuals who live in them. Asthma rates are 40-50% higher among children of color
living in U.S. cities. Children from low income communities are more likely to be lead poisoned than their wealthier counterparts. The annual costs
for environmentally attributable childhood diseases in the U.S.: $54.9 billion. This does not include the additional costs for the estimated 10 million
school days missed a year due to complications from asthma.
Historically education has been presented categorically (allergens/asthma, asbestos, lead, mold and moisture, insects/rodents/pesticides,
weatherization/energy conservation, radon,).
We are proposing an integrated approach that recognizes the home as a system and considers: a) people living in the home, b) the structure, and c)
potential health hazards.
Activities
Output
Applicable Outcome Measure
Short-term
(awareness)
Intermediate
(behavior)
Long-term
(condition)
Point of Contact
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Activities
Output
Applicable Outcome Measure
Point of Contact
Short-term
(awareness)
Intermediate
(behavior)
Long-term
(condition)
1. Develop partnerships
and agreements with
organizations who are
currently working
separately on various
aspects of health in the
home.
2. Develop educational
approach and training
materials. .
3. Train the Trainer
sessions in neighborhoods
and communities with poor
housing conditions and
disproportionate health
impacts which may be
related to the housing
conditions.
4. Marketing Campaign -
utilize media outlets to
increase awareness
regarding the connection
between quality housing
and heath and promote the
steps one may take to
make a home healthy
5. Community Outreach
and Education and
Education Events -
Materials in "plain
English" which 1)
provides relevant
information in recognizing
the priorities and values
of the audience; and 2)
clear steps one may take
to address concerns
within their home.
_ # of community train
the trainer sessions
_# of community trainers
_# of households
reached
Knowledgeable
community trainers
committed to
increasing
awareness of their
community
Knowledgeable
community
regarding healthy
homes:
asthma/allergens
lead poisoning prev.
mold/moisture
integrated pest mgt.
energy conservation
waste
reduction/recycling
radon
Increased numbers
of families taking
action to address
health and
environmental
concerns
Increased number
of children being
tested for lead
Increased number
of children screened
for asthma
Increased
community
participation in
health and
environmental
service programs
Reduced asthma and
allergy emergency room
visits.
Reduced asthma
hospitalizations
Reduced # of school days
missed
Reduced # of EBL children
Reduced radon exposure
Reduced lead hazards in
_# homes
Reduced allergens in
#homes
Name/Org:
Tel:
E-mail:
EPA Contacts:
Althea Moses
Heather Duncan
Crystal Mclntyre
Carlin Hafiz
Chrissy Wolfersberger
Oak Grove Neighborhood
Association
Oak Park Neighborhood
Association
El Centra
Ruskin Heights
Children's Mercy Hospital
Wyandotte County Health
Department
Kansas City Health
Department
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