United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance
(2201 A)
EPA/300-F-99-008
November 1999
Office of Environmental Justice
<&EPAEnvironmental Justice
Fact Sheet
State and Tribal Environmental
Justice (STEJ) Grants Program
OVERVIEW. EPA's State and Tribal Environmental
Justice (STEJ) Grants Program seeks to help States
and Tribes effectively provide for environmental
justice in the development and implementation of
their environmental programs. For fiscal year 1998,
EPA awarded five grants, at $100, 000 each, to (4) States
and (1) Tribe. For FY1999, EPA awarded another five
grants, at $100,000 each, to (4) States and (1) Tribe. For
FY2000, the STEJ Program is not funded but instead will
be evaluated for its effectiveness.
The specific goals and objectives of the STEJ Grants
Program are as follows: 1) Reduce or prevent
disproportionately high and adverse human health or
environmental effects on low-income communities and
minority communities, 2) Integrate environmental
justice goals into a state's or tribe's policies, programs
and activities, 3) Provide financial and technical
resources to develop an enabling infrastructure at the
state/local community level and tribal/tribal community
level, 4) Set up model programs to address enforcement
and compliance issues in affected EJ communities, 5)
Integrate measurable EJ goals within the annual
Performance Partnership Agreements (PPAs) and
Memorandums of Understandings (MOUs) between a
state and EPA, or integrate measurable EJ goals within
the Tribal Environmental Agreements (TEAs), and 6)
Improve public participation in the decision-making
processes (e.g. permitting processes, development of
regulations and policies).
ELIGIBILITY. Participation is limited to State or Tribal
Government environmental/natural resource agencies.
Applications will serve as the sole source for evaluation. A
panel of knowledgeable representatives reviews and
evaluates each application.
FY 1998 STATE AND TRIBAL EJ GRANTS AWARDED
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Department of
Environmental Conservation (VT DEC) - $100,000
This project will work to achieve both compliance with
environmental standards and remediation of adverse
environmental conditions at mobile home parks while meeting
the affordable housing needs of thousands of low-income
Vermonters. The two specific goals of the project are: 1)
Obtain compliance and reduce or prevent disproportionate
adverse environmental and health effects on mobile home
park residents, and 2) Develop enabling infrastructure at the
state and local level with technical and legal resources
available to assist mobile home park residents. This project
seeks to address the unique environmental and public health
concerns which impact mobile home park residence. Five
state agencies have formed a mobile home park compliance
group to share information, expertise, and authority to develop
and implement solutions for mobile home park problems that
previously seemed unsolvable from an individual agency
perspective. The greatest need remains to be the
implementation of technically practicable as well as cost-
effective solutions to sewage disposal problems and water
supply problems which plague many mobile home parks.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection -
Environmental Equity Community Partnership Program
(EECP) - $100,000
The purpose of this project is to allow the New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to establish
and incorporate an "Environmental Justice (EJ) Screening
Process" for evaluating EJ issues of affected communities
with respect to Air, Water, and/or Federal Hazardous Waste
facility permits. Based upon the results from the EJ Screening
Process, the DEP would establish an Environmental Equity
Community Partnership (EECP) Program in those minority
and/or low-income communities that may be experiencing a
cumulative environmental burden .
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State of Tennessee Environmental Policy Office
- Development of a Strategic Plan to Ensure
Environmental Justice - $100,000
The State will create a strategic plan with
significant community involvement that will guide
all environmental justice activities of the Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation
(TDEC) and serve as a state and national model.
The grantee will address environmental justice
through three major components: 1) Achieving an
integrated system of meaningful community
involvement and participation through networks,
such as Tennessee' regional Minority Health
Coalitions and other organizations, 2) Integrating
environmental justice strategies with a major
ongoing initiative to re-engineer the Department's
environmental regulatory programs (see Appendix
A), and 3) Developing and strengthening
partnerships with other state and federal agencies.
Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission (TNRCC) - To Enhance the
TNRCC's Effectiveness in Complying with Title
VI -$100,000
This project seeks to further TNRCC's
compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, through the creation and guidance of
stakeholder advisory panel. The project goals were
developed with input from various communities that
have filed Title VI complaints against the TNRCC
or which have raised issues of environmental justice
with the agency in order to determine the best
course of action to reduce the possibility for future
complaints. The advisory panel, made up of the
partnering community representatives from
Beaumont, Corpus Christi, Houston, and Wichita
Falls—along with the TNRCC Chairman or his
appointee, Public Interest Counsel, Office of Legal
Services-Supplemental Environmental Projects, and
a representative from a Regional Field Office, will
help develop model programs to be piloted in their
respective areas to address enforcement and
compliance concerns. Furthermore, the panel will
provide vital input to enhance the agency's
environmental equity efforts.
Kalispel Tribe of Indians - Environmental
Justice Program Grant for Kalispel Tribe of
Indians - $100,000
The Kalispel Tribe proposes to develop and
implement an ISO 14001 conforming Environmental
Management System (EMS) that integrates EJ goals
with environmental performance objectives for the
Kalispel reservation. The Kalispel Tribe developed
the proposal with the support and advice of
grassroots organizations, the Director of the Washington
Department of Ecology and his staff, Pend Oreille County, and
the Coeur D'Alene, Colville and Spokane Tribes. The ISO
14001 standard, establishes an internationally accepted
framework for EMSs which can serve as a sustainable program
that: 1) allow meaningful involvement of all members of the
Tribe in the development of goals for an environmental
program, 2) prevents impacts from being disproportionately
borne by subgroups within the Tribe, 3) goes above and beyond
compliance with environmental laws, 4) reduces pollution and
pro-actively prevents pollution, and 5) ensures fair treatment.
FY 1999 STATE AND TRIBAL EJ GRANTS AWARDED
State of Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection (CTDEP) - "Model Multi-Cultural Public
Participation Plan" - $100,000
This project will result in the development of a model multi-
cultural public participation plan to enhance the State of
Connecticut's existing Environmental Equity Program. The
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP)
will create and work with a review team that will be comprised
of state agency representatives and community-based grantee
organizations, to be selected through a competitive process.
The competitive process will result in the awarding of five
grants to eligible community-based organizations, which will
then become the review team. CTDEP will conduct training
workshops with local zoning and planning officials, CTDEP
staff, and the review team to: (1) familiarize the community-
based organizations about the existing siting, public
notification, and public participation procedures, and (2)
engage in facilitated discussions of specific notification and
informational needs within their communities. Through the
review team's analysis of the State's existing public notification
and participation process, the State will develop a report and
make recommendations on how to implement a program to
increase public notice and participation among low-income and
minority communities. The end product will be a model
statewide public participation plan designed to improve public
participation and to prevent discriminatory effects from
Connecticut's permitting and other regulatory processes. The
Connecticut model will be made available for distribution to
other communities throughout the country.
New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYSDEC) - Environmental Justice Grant
Project- $100,000
The New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation's (NYSDEC) project will accomplish the
following five (5) objectives: 1) formation of a multi-
stakeholder Environmental Justice Advisory Group that would
report to the Commissioner; 2) development of an
environmental justice (EJ) permit policy that would articulate
guidelines for addressing EJ issues which arise in permitting; 3)
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the enhancement of the Department's website that
would enable the State to provide better and more
timely information to the public, such as receipt of
permit applications, among other things; 4)
conducting a series of legislative hearings
throughout the State (to identify environmental
justice concerns, enhance public participation in
development and implementation of the State's EJ
program, encourage communities in planning for
environmental and economic enhancement, and
integrate EJ concerns into local land use planning,
and related State and local activities); and 5)
development of recommendations, by the Advisory
Group, for a Strategic EJ plan for the Department
and the State of New York.
Indiana Department of Environmental
Management (IDEM) - Environmental Justice
Strategy - $100,000
The main goal of the project is for the Indiana
Department of Environmental Management (IDEM)
to "work directly and in partnership with Indiana
communities to develop an environmental justice
(EJ) strategy...to integrate EJ goals into the
Department's policies, programs and activities."
The program is to be based on the following
principles: (1) awareness & sensitivity; (2) public
participation; (3) inclusiveness; (4) pro-activity; and
(5) sustainability. Through this project, IDEM will
do the following: 1) Form a diverse EJ Advisory
Committee which will develop the EJ Strategic
Plan; 2) Map concentrations of low income/minority
populations and environmental impacts; 3) Educate
communities about environmental issues and how
they can get involved; 4) Develop a training
program to train IDEM staff on environmental
justice issues and how they can be more responsive
to environmental justice concerns; 5) Include the
implementation of the Strategic Plan into the
Performance Partnership Agreement; 6) Establish a
single point of contact within IDEM to respond to
EJ concerns; 7) Develop a protocol for facilitation
of environmental disputes so that disputes can be
resolved prior to decision making; 8) Evaluate, with
community input, existing IDEM decision making
processes regarding rule making & permitting,
enhancing public participation opportunities, and the
way in which IDEM communicates with the public;
9) Prepare a written commitment by the IDEM to
implement the Strategy, including a time-line for
implementation; and 10) Evaluate whether the
Strategy is being implemented within IDEM and
how well it is being implemented.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) - Strategic
Framework & Incorporation of Environmental Justice -
$100,000
The purpose of this project is to develop and implement
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) program to
work directly with communities to improve consideration of
environmental justice (EJ) concerns and compliance with Title
VI in the State's environmental programs. Specifically, MPCA
is to: 1) Form an advisory task force to consist of
representatives from multiple organizations representing
minority communities where most environmental injustices are
found, members of community-based groups, and
representatives from academia, the medical profession, other
government agencies, and the regulated community; 2) Develop
and disseminate environmental, geographic and demographic
data to support outreach efforts and environmental program
implementation; and 3) Develop and implement a plan to
integrate environmental justice considerations into MPCA's
decision-making and communication strategies. MPCA is also
planning to initiate a network of other state agencies to
collaborate and address environmental justice issues.
Maniilaq Association (11 Tribes of Northwest Arctic
Region) - Environmental Justice Project - $100,000
This project will identify, investigate, and document the
environmental burdens placed on the Native people of the
Alaska region. In addition, through the education of regional
village representatives on how environmental justice issues are
relevant to tribal concerns, this project will serve to evaluate the
environmental injustices experienced by the Native people of
the Northwest Arctic over the last few decades and to inform
tribes on the importance of implementing EJ in tribal activities.
An environmental justice (EJ) guide will be developed and
shared with the tribes of the Association. The document will
serve as a tool to be used by tribes for evaluating environmental
violations and as an EJ outreach educational tool. The guide
will also be available to private, state and federal agencies as a
reference to examine their compliance with environmental
mandates.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL
1-800-962-6215
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