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ENVIRONMENTAL II M It F
United States Office of Enforcement and
Environmental Protection Compliance Assurance January 2006
Agency (2201 A) EPA 300-F-06-002
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaliustice/grants/ei smgrants.html
Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ)
Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-
Solving Cooperative Agreement Program
Fact Sheet
Purpose
The purpose of the Environmental Justice
Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative
Agreement (EJ CPS) Program is for EPA to
provide financial assistance to enable affected
local community-based organizations to
collaborate with other stakeholders (e.g., industry,
government, academia, etc.) to develop and
implement locally-based solutions that will
significantly address local environmental and/or
public health issues. To provide a systematic
approach towards collaborative problem-solving,
OEJ has developed a Collaborative Problem-
Solving Model (Model). Such a Model is intended
to assist disproportionately affected communities
in developing proactive, strategic, and visionary
approaches to address their environmental justice
issues and achieve community health and
sustainability. To be eligible to receive a
cooperative agreement under this program, you
must be a local community-based organization and
must be a non-governmental, not-for-profit
501(c)(3) organization, located in the affected
community.
The 2006 Request for Applications period will
be open from February 1, 2006 to midnight
March 31,2006.
Project Focus
For the EJ CPS Program, the primary purpose of
the project must be to address an existing local
environmental and/or public health issue by
utilizing the Collaborative Problem-Solving
Model.
Accomplishments
In 2003, the Office of Environmental Justice
initiated the first solicitation for the Environmental
Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative
Agreement Program. This is the second solicitation
for applications under the EJ CPS Program. To find
out about the latest information on the EJ CPS
Program visit:
http: 7/www. epa. go v/compliance/environmentalj usti
ce/grants/ej-cps-grants.html. This Web site
provides a description of the current projects that
have been awarded.
For More Information
If you would like more information about the EJ
Collaborative Problem-Solving Program, please call
the Office of Environmental Justice's 24-hour
hotline (1-800-962-6215) or visit the website at:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljusti
ce/grants/ej -cps-grants.html
To be Eligible to Receive a Cooperative Agreement
Under This Program, you must be an "affected
local community-based organization." An
affected local community-based organization
(LCBO) is defined for this cooperative agreement
program as an entity/organization that is:
(1) located in the same area as the environmental
and/or public health issue that is described in the
application and where the residents of the affected
community reside;
(2) focused primarily on addressing the
environmental and/or public health issues of the
residents of the affected community;
(3) comprised primarily of members of the affected
community;
(4) able to demonstrate that it is a non-profit
organization through designation by the Internal
Revenue Service as a Section 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization; and
(5) at the most basic level of the organizational
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hierarchy such as a grassroots group/neighborhood
organization that is not affiliated with a larger
national, regional, or state organization.
"Affected" is defined as being in the locale which
is influenced or altered by the environmental
and/or public health issue.
Individuals; universities; state, local, and tribal
governments; water districts or similar entities;
water districts or similar entities; large non-
governmental organizations such as national
environmental groups; environmental justice
networks; churches; watershed protection
organizations; or organizations that are not
located in the affected communities where the
projects are located are not eligible to receive
Federal funds under this cooperative agreement
program. The organization's primarily purpose
MUST be to assist the community in addressing
local environmental and/or public health issues.
EPA's Commitment to Environmental Justice
On November 4, 2005, EPA Administrator Stephen L.
Johnson issued a memorandum reaffirming EPA's
commitment to environmental justice for all people,
regardless of race, color, national origin or income. This
means not only protecting human health and the
environment for everyone, but also ensure that all people
are treated fairly and are given the opportunity to
participate meaningfully in the development,
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws,
regulations, and policies.
In recognizing that minority and/or low-income
communities frequently may be exposed
disproportionately to environ-mental harms and risks,
EPA works to protect these and other burdened
communities from adverse human health and
environmental effects of its programs, consistent with
existing environmental and civil rights laws, and their
implementing regulations, as well as Executive Order
12898 ("Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice
in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations,"
Feb. 11, 1994).
The memorandum also identifies 8 national environmental
justice priorities and directs the integration of
environmental justice into EPA's planning and budgeting
processes, including the Agency's Strategic Plan for Fiscal
Years 2006-2011. These national priorities include:
reducing asthma attacks; reducing exposure to air toxics;
increasing compliance of regulations; reducing incidence
of elevated blood lead levels; ensuring that fish and
shellfish are safe to eat; ensuring that water is safe to
drink; revitalization of Brownfields and contaminated
sites; and using collaborative problem-solving to address
environmental and/or public health concerns.
EPA will continue to fully implement its programs,
policies, and activities to ensure that they do not adversely
affect populations with critical environmental and public
health issues, including minority and low-income
communities.
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