United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
In This Issue:
CPS Lessons
Learned 1
CPS Makes Progress
in North Carolina 2
St. Louis Cleans Up 3
Regional Corner 4
Headquarters
Update 5
Environmental
Justlce/uarterly
Summer 2006
Collaborative Problem-Solving Projects
Share Lessons Learned
In an informative and inspiring two-day
session, eleven project managers from
EPA's Environmental Justice Collabora-
tive Problem-Solving (CPS) Cooperative
Agreement Program shared the insights
they gained from nearly two years of
project implementation. Their spirited
exchange took place at a workshop
titled "The Environmental Justice Col-
laborative Problem-Solving Model at
Work: Lessons from the Field" held on
May 15-16, 2006 in Arlington, Virginia.
EPA's Office of Environmental Justice
(OEJ) sponsored this workshop to
begin identifying lessons learned and
best practices to share with future proj-
ects and other communities.
In June 2004, OEJ announced the 30
selected projects of its CPS program.
Since then, these projects have been
building partnerships to increase their
communities' capacity to address local
environmental and/or public health
issues. The workshop provided the CPS
project managers with an opportunity to
share lessons about how they have
achieved many successes and over-
come significant challenges.
Featured Projects:
Coalition for a Better Acre (Lowell,
Massachusetts)
Make the Road by Walking (New
York, New York)
West End Revitalization Association
(Mebane, North Carolina)
Harambee House, Inc. (Savannah,
Georgia)
Louisiana Environmental Justice
Project (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Colonias Unidas (Las Lomas, Texas)
Neighbors Assisting Neighbors
(Hazelwood, Missouri)
Groundworks Denver (Denver,
Colorado)
Anahola Homesteaders Council
(Anahola, Hawaii)
Pacoima Beautiful (Pacoima,
California)
Environmental Justice Action Group
(Portland, Oregon)
The workshop focused on the use of the
CPS Model, which consists of 7 ele-
ments to ensure successful, community-
based, collaborative partnerships. The
project managers discussed their les-
sons learned in the following areas: (1)
Vision and Setting Goals; (2) Building
Capacity and Developing Leaders; (3)
Building Partnerships; and (4) Achieving
Continued on page 2
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Collaborative Problem-Solving Projects
(Continued from page 1)
Results and Sustainability. Many par-
ticipants described how they have
customized the CPS model to fit the
specific circumstances of their varied
projects and communities. The les-
sons they have learned include:
Vision and Setting Goals
Most projects have a larger holistic
community-driven vision that go
beyond any individual project;
One project found "Backwards
Planning" (starting with agreed-
upon goals and identifying steps
that lead to achieving those goals)
to be a useful planning tool;
Several projects urged that com-
munities formulate concrete visions
and seek "doable solutions" to
complicated issues; and
Several projects successfully
obtained, generated, and/or uti-
lized data as part of their problem-
solving strategy.
Building Capacity and Developing
Leaders
Project managers agreed that their
organizations should develop oper-
ating capacity and infrastructure,
and not focus only on individual
issues and projects;
Projects which involve community
members in the project's decision-
making process had greater com-
munity "ownership" of the project;
and
One project manager always brings
a community resident to meetings
as a way of training new leaders.
Building Partnerships
Certain projects having adversarial
relationships with other organiza-
tions have found ways to turn them
into effective partners;
Many projects discovered that more
organizations are potential partners
than they realized originally;
One project conducts an annual
tour of their community for universi-
ty faculty as a way to educate
potential partners;
Several projects found that having
prior relationships made it easier to
resolve differences when disputes
arose; and
Several projects were able to use
their CPS partnership to leverage
more resources.
Achieving results and Sustainability
Most projects found that having
clear and organized timelines and
objectives is a key to achieving
results;
Many projects found it useful to
focus on achieving short-term
goals that lead to long-term solu-
tions; and
Most projects saw mentoring of
youth as an important way to sus-
tain their work.
A subsequent workshop was held on June
with EPA Region 4's "Building Communities
through Partnerships" conference on June
15-16. OEJ invited all 28 EJ CPS projs '
managers and funded their travel to attend
both events. The workshop included a dis-
cussion on the preliminary lessons learned
from the EJ CPS projects and ways in
which EPA can work on the next round of
projects. Holding the CPS Project Man-
agers Workshop concurrently with the con-
ference proved to be an excellent way for
project managers, OEJ Technical Advisors,
and some Regional Technical Advisors to
reconnect and network not only with each
other, but with other community partici-
pants at the conference. This also gave all
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Overall, the participating project man-
agers expressed two main reflections
as a result of the CPS Program. They
expressed appreciation for the sup-
port of the EPA Technical Advisors
and other "Agency Angels." In addi-
tion, they have grown significantly as
leaders capable of making a sus-
tained difference in their communities.
The project managers echoed the
words of Blanca Juarez, founder of
Colonias Unidas, "The future of our
community will not be determined by
what others do or do not do -- but by
what we do for ourselves."
Once OEJ has systematically collected
the lessons from these CPS projects, it
will publish them in a lessons-learned
handbook to share with future projects
and other communities.
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CPS Grantee Cleans Up St. Louis
In St. Louis, Missouri, one 2005 Col-
laborative Problem-Solving (CPS)
project is already a sweeping suc-
cess. In a series of neighborhood
cleanups around the city, the Mid-
County Clean Sweep project headed
by Neighbors Assisting Neighbors
had removed 250 tons of bulk waste;
recycled approximately 153,000
pounds of scrap metal, 1,200 tires,
and 130 phone books; and recycled
or reused 63 televisions and seven
computer monitors.
Neighbors Assisting Neighbors
(NAN), a grassroots organization, was
awarded $100,000 under the CPS
Program to develop the project, which
aims to coordinate 10 cleanup efforts
throughout the community. With the
help of its partners, NAN targets solid
waste removal along river beds, in
vacant lots and alleys, on problem
properties, and in public areas.
The inner suburbs of St. Louis have
deteriorated over the past half-centu-
ry, leaving a number of closed busi-
nesses, vacant lots, and public areas
that have become magnets for illegal-
ly dumped garbage. The waste is not
only unsightly; it also poses a health
hazard to community residents. Dis-
carded appliances and car batteries
can leak hazardous chemicals into
land and water, and rainwater accu-
mulated in garbage and old tires can
serve as a breeding ground for mos-
quitoes, which can spread blood-
borne diseases.
To date, the project has completed
cleanups in the Uplands Park,
Pagedale, Bel-Ridge, Velda Village
Hills, Pine Lawn, and Northwoods
communities and has held organiza-
tional meetings in preparation for
upcoming cleanups in several neigh-
boring areas. The group also collabo-
rated with the River des Peres
Watershed Coalition and several other
local partners to clean up the banks
of St. Louis's River des Peres.
But NAN and its partners aren't just
picking up litterthey're preventing it
as well. Realizing that many area resi-
dents were unaware of how or why to
recycle their waste, the group organ-
ized recycling fairs in the Velda Vil-
lage Hills, Pagedale, and Bel-Ridge
communities that demonstrated the
need for recycling through nine fun
learning activities, including a "Recy-
cled Content Fashion Show" and a
skit related to recycling. The fair was
designed to target area youth, who
are likely to share the information with
siblings and adults in the home as
well as friends and classmates. By
focusing on youth education, NAN
hopes to create a sustainable culture
of waste prevention that will last for
generations.
To further its community cleanup
goals, recruit volunteers, and
increase community awareness, NAN
has engaged in an ambitious public
Continued on page 4
WERA Making Progress Happen in North Carolina
Founded in 1994, West End Revital-
ization Association (WERA) has long
worked to improve provision of safe
drinking water, sewer services, and
other infrastructure needs to environ-
mental justice communities in and
around the city of Mebane, North Car-
olina. As a result of WERA's persistent
efforts under its CPS grant, the City of
Mebane completed the installation of
sewer lines on three streets in the
West End Community, providing 40
homes in this primarily low-income
community with safe drinking water
and sewer services for the first time
ever. Residents paid a one-time $75
tap-on fee, which was reduced from
the original proposed fee of $150. In
addition, residents living in 25 homes
in the Buckhorn community now will
be able to tap into new sewer lines
being installed in this northern neigh-
borhood.
Together with its many partners,
WERA is seeking formal solutions to
unsafe drinking water, sewer dispos-
al, and surface water contamination
for low-income communities and
minority communities throughout
North Carolina. For example, under
the CPS grant, WERA was able to
team up with the University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Public
Health to study the effects of failing
septic tanks and contaminated wells
in low-income communities. WERA
also credits the CPS collaborative
problem-solving approach as the cat-
alyst for local government officials to
hold formal meetings with low-income
residents impacted by environmental
hazards.
In addition to serving as an advocate
for public works service, WERA has
organized numerous outreach and
training activities, including address-
ing the Alamance County Commis-
sioners meeting and conducting
community meetings in towns
throughout the area. These meetings
have given WERA members the
opportunity to present the results from
their ongoing drinking and surface
water monitoring activities, which help
to make the case for improved public
services.
For more information about WERA,
visit www.wera-nc.org .
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Regional Corner
Region 5
Breathing Freely in Region 5
This column explores exciting environmental initia-
tives under way in EPA regional offices. Each quarter,
we focus on a different regional program. EPA Region
5 covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio,
Wisconsin, and 35 Tribes.
More than 31 million Americans have been diagnosed
with asthma at some point in their lives, and about one-
third of cases occur in children 18 years old or younger.
In fact, asthma is the most common chronic disease
among children, and a leading cause of school absence.
While asthma can be caused by colds, allergies, or
stress, a significant number of asthma cases are caused
by environmental factors, such as cigarette smoke, smog,
mold, dust, or pests such as cockroaches and dust
mites. In 2005, Region 5 participated in a pair of pro-
grams to combat asthma in Chicago, Illinois, and Milwau-
kee, Wisconsin, and achieved results in several
environmental justice communities.
EPA funded the Mobile CARE Foundation project to bring
physicians and asthma educators to Chicago schools to
conduct home assessments, train community members,
and assist in remediation of environmental asthma trig-
gers in homes. The foundation's mobile medical van and
its staff provide students with access to asthma medical
exams, and its asthma educators work with school nurses
and the families of students with asthma.
The south and west sides of Chicago were chosen for the
effort because of their high asthma rates. The medical
van, staffed with a pediatric asthma doctor, an asthma
nurse educator, and a clinical assistant, visits schools to
diagnose students and develop treatment plans. All of the
CARE van staff are bilingual, allowing them to reach both
the English- and Spanish-speaking communities, and all
services provided are confidential and free of charge to
the patient.
Once students have been diagnosed as having asthma,
asthma educators follow up with the schools and conduct
home visits with families to help identify and reduce in-
home exposures to environmental asthma triggers. Of the
families visited, approximately 75 percent successfully
reduced the asthma triggers in their homes. During the
program, Region 5 and Mobile CARE staff also trained
over 50 school personnel on asthma-related issues. To
date, the Mobile Care Foundation's educators have pro-
vided asthma education to over 300 families. By project
completion, over 1,000 families will have been visited.
Region 5 is also helping to reduce asthma incidence in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Milwaukee Health
Department received grants from EPA and the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund
a home-based asthma education and intervention project
for children in low-income homes. One hundred and
eleven of the 151 original registrants remained in the proj-
ect for the entire year. Over half of the participants
received home assistance to identify and mitigate asthma
triggers in their homes. Interventions included room-by-
room assessment for moisture, pests, and housing deteri-
oration as well as other environmental investigations. In
response to the conditions found in homes, interventions
included mitigation efforts such as minor home repair,
integrated pest management, and deep dust cleaning.
CPS Grantee Cleans Up St. Louis
(Continued from page 3)
outreach campaign. The group not
only reaches out to community mem-
bers one-on-one, it also prints infor-
mational flyers to advertise cleanups,
achieves coverage in local media
and in each community newsletter,
and develops recycling brochures,
informational magnets, and communi-
ty signage.
While NAN is achieving success on
the ground, as a CPS grantee, it is
also working to improve its collabora-
tive process. The group established
co-coordinator positions to be filled
by residents from the community. The
co-coordinators help plan the com-
munity cleanups and serve as the
"eyes and ears" of NAN within their
respective communities. In creating
the positions, NAN has provided an
opportunity for community residents
to become a vital part in the commu-
nity cleanup process.
For more information about Neighbors
Assisting Neighbors and the Mid-
County Clean Sweep program, con-
tact Danny Gogal at (202) 564-2576
or gogal.danny@epa.gov. For more
information on OEJ's CPS Program,
contact Ayako Sato at (202) 564-5396
or sato.ayako@epa.gov.
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Headquarters Update
Off ice of
International Affairs
Each quarter, the Headquarters Update
features a specific office at EPA Headquar-
ters, highlighting recent activities, programs,
and policies aimed at addressing a variety of
environmental justice issues.
Environmental Justice Crosses International Borders
OIA Strives for Better Environmental Quality on the
U.S./Mexico Border
Residents along the U.S./Mexico border can look for-
ward to breathing cleaner air, drinking cleaner water,
and living in a healthier environment through the bina-
tional Border 2012 program. The Office of International
Affairs (OIA) is helping to introduce new projects and
grants through Border 2012 that directly benefit the
environmental justice communities throughout the area.
The border region faces many environmental issues.
The population of the area is currently 12 million, and is
expected to reach 19.4 million by 2020. Most of the
region's residents, with the exception of a few areas,
are of low-income status. The region is also home to a
growing number of maquiladoras, or manufacturing
and/or export assembly plants, which can have a num-
ber of environmental impacts, such as increased trans-
portation, air emissions, water quantity and quality
issues, and new needs for wastewater and potable
water treatment plants. These issues have a dispropor-
tionate affect on the health and welfare of the low-
income community; therefore, the entire U.S./Mexico
border is considered an environmental justice area.
OIA is helping communities in the area have a voice in
these issues through the annual Border 2012 grant
program. In 2005, the Environmental Law Institute and
the Southwest Network for Environmental and Econom-
ic Justice were awarded an $80,000 grant to train bor-
der communities to effectively participate in citizen
environmental enforcement, helping the communities
better address priority environmental problems in their
areas.
Additionally, in 2001 and 2003, the OIA staff for the
U.S./Mexico Border program collaborated with the
Region 6 Office of Environmental Justice and Tribal
Affairs to coordinate Border EnvironmentalJustice
Roundtables. These meetings provided opportunities
for border residents to present environmental justice
issues to regional managers and created a mechanism
to explore productive, collaborative solutions. Many of
the issues presented at the roundtables have since
been resolved, and several future collaborations have
been proposed.
In Region 9, OIA border staff have also been working
to provide affordable drinking water and wastewater
services to three major sister cities in Mexico and the
United States, respectively: Tijuana/San Diego, Mexi-
cali/Calexico, and Nogales/Sonora-Nogales. More than
$1.5 billion has been allocated to 54 water related proj-
ects in the region. Additionally, as part of the San
Diego-Tijuana Diesel Retrofit Project, EPA provided
more than $400,000 to retrofit a dozen heavy-duty
diesel shipping trucks and fund research into reducing
truck emissions. To further augment the environmental
benefits of this air-quality project, Mexico has pledged
to phase in low-sulfur diesel fuels over the next 5
years.
Other examples of OlA's environmental justice work on
the U.S./Mexico border include projects to develop
wastewater and water treatment plants; clean up and
prevent illegal dumping of solid waste; and collect,
reuse, and recycle used tires; and address lead-based
paint and pesticide issues through environmental
health programs.
In all of its international efforts, OIA negotiates issues
and decisions with foreign governments that have dif-
ferent concepts of the environment and of environmen-
tal justice. Despite these challenges, OIA is
succeeding in finding interesting and innovative ways
to integrate EJ into all of its projects.
OlA's 2006 Environmental Justice Activities
Collaborative problem-solving with American Indians.
Assisting Indonesia and various African countries transition
to unleaded gasoline through the United Nations' Environ-
ment Program's (UNEP) Partnership for Clean Fuels and
Vehicles.
Sponsoring an annual theater production in South Africa on
the dangers of lead; the production reaches thousands of
people who cannot read or write.
Addressing pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) in areas of northern Russia inhabited by indigenous
people.
Participating in the Global Campaign for Sulfur Reduction in
collaboration with UNEP.
Retrofitting vehicles for cleaner performance in India,
China, and Chile, and along the U.S./Mexico border.
Improving urban air quality through the EPA-sponsored
International Transport of Air Pollutants (ITAP) workshops.
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EPA Releases RFAs for Environmental Justice Financial
Assistance Programs
On June 22, 2006, the Environmental Protection
Agency, through the Office of Environmental Justice
(OEJ), released two Requests for Applications
(RFA) the Environmental Justice Collaborative Prob-
lem-Solving Cooperative Agreement (EJ CPS) Program
and the Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJ SG).
The application period for these RFAs will close on
midnight, October 23, 2006.
Under the EJ CPS Program, OEJ will provide $100,000
assistance awards to community-based organizations
that plan to utilize the collaborative problem-solving
model and partner with other stakeholders to address
their communities' environmental and/or public health
issues.The EJ SG Program will provide $50,000 in finan-
cial assistance to community-based organizations work-
ing on local solutions to local environmental problems.
Previous RFAs for the EJ CPS and EJSG Programs
were announced on February 1, 2006, with a closing
date of March 31, 2006. However, these RFAs were
cancelled and no awards were made because OEJ
did not receive enough applications from each EPA
region to meet its national program objectives. As a
result, OEJ made significant changes to these RFAs to
simplify the application process and solicit more appli-
cations. Any organization that applied under one of the
earlier RFAs must submit a new application. Some of
these changes include:
The definition of 'eligible applicant"
The contents of the application package
The format of the workplan
The Threshold Eligibility Criteria
EPA plans to select the award recipients by
February 2007.
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