EPA-190-B-11-004
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
FY 2011-2015 EPA Strategic Plan
Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategy: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health
Work to reduce and prevent harmful exposures and health risks to children and underserved,
disproportionately impacted low-income, minority, and tribal communities, and support community
efforts to build healthy, sustainable green neighborhoods.
Advancing environmental justice and protecting children's health must be driving forces in our decisions
across all EPA programs. The underlying principles for this commitment are reducing exposures for
those at greatest risk and ensuring that environmental justice and children's health protection are
integral to all Agency activities. Minority, low-income, and tribal/indigenous populations that are
vulnerable to environmental pollution are at risk of having poor health outcomes. These vulnerabilities
may arise because of higher exposures to pollution in places where they work, live, and play, and/or
diminished abilities to withstand, cope with, or recover from exposure to environmental pollution.'
Children are often most sensitive to environmental stressors. Research has demonstrated that prenatal
and early life exposures to environmental hazards can cause lifelong diseases, medical conditions, and
disabilities."
Environmental justice and children's health protection will be achieved when all Americans, regardless
of age, race, economic status, or ethnicity, have access to clean water, clean air, and healthy
communities. To accomplish this, EPA will use a variety of approaches, including regulation,
enforcement, research, outreach, community-based programs, and partnerships to protect children and
disproportionately impacted, overburdened populations from environmental and human health hazards.
Our success in advancing environmental justice and children's health protection will result from fully
incorporating these priorities into all of our activities across each of the strategic goals of the Agency.
We anticipate that our leadership in advancing environmental justice and children's health protection
will inspire and engage a broad spectrum of partners in the public and private sector to do the same.
To achieve this goal, EPA will:
1. In our regulatory capacity, implement the nation's environmental laws using the best science and
environmental monitoring data to address the potential for adverse health effects from
environmental factors in disproportionately impacted, overburdened populations, and vulnerable
age groups. EPA programs will incorporate environmental justice and children's health
considerations at each stage of the Agency's regulation development process and in
implementation and enforcement of environmental regulations.
2. Develop and use environmental and public health indicators to measure improvements in
environmental conditions and health in disproportionately impacted communities and among
vulnerable age groups.
3. In our work on safe management of pesticides and industrial chemicals, take into account
disproportionately impacted, overburdened populations and vulnerable age groups and encourage
the use of "green chemistry" to spur the development of safer chemicals and production processes.
4. Apply best appropriate scientific methods to assess the potential for disproportionate exposures
and health impacts resulting from environmental hazards on minority, low income and tribal
FY 2012 Action Plan: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health 1
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populations, women of child-bearing age, infants, children, and adolescents to support EPA
decision-making, and develop the tools to assess the risk from multiple stressors.
5. Fully engage communities in our work to protect human health and the environment. EPA will align
multiple community-based programs to provide funding and technical assistance to communities to
build capacity to address critical issues affecting children's health and disproportionately impacted,
overburdened populations.
6. Work with other federal agencies to engage communities and coordinate funding and technical
support for efforts to build healthy, sustainable, and green neighborhoods, and work with residents
to promote equitable development.
FY 2012 Action Plan: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health
This Action Plan lists the specific actions that the EPA will carry out in FY 2012 to achieve the principles
of the Strategy for Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health described in the FY 2011-
2015 EPA Strategic Plan. Annual action plans will be developed for each year of the Plan.
For Environmental Justice (EJ) and Children's Health (CH)
1. The Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
(OCSPP), Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response (OSWER), and Office of Water (OW) will establish and maintain annual
performance expectations for EJ and CH and report annual progress through the following
(Supports Principle 2):
• FY 2013 NPM Guidance Process: Each of the five National Program Managers (NPMs) will
work with the Regions and Strategy Champions to include, in their Draft FY 2013 NPM
Guidance, qualitative expectations for both HQ and Regions for incorporating EJ and CH into
program initiatives/program activities, and/or annual commitments* (i.e., Annual Commitment
System [ACS] measures) with numeric targets. Quantitative annual commitments will address
actions that promote EJ/CH or would address environmental/health conditions of overburdened
communities/children (February 2012).
• FY 2014 Annual Planning and Budget Process: Each of the five offices will work with the
Regions and EJ/CH Strategy Champions to develop EJ and CH annual performance measures*
(with targets) for inclusion in the FY 2014 budget submission. These measures will characterize
EJ/CH actions to be taken, or characterize environmental or health conditions of overburdened
communities/children (September 2012).
[*Annual commitments and annual performance measures are to capture progress on both EJ and
CH. Generally, two separate measures are envisioned, each one addressing either EJ or CH;
however, a single measure could be used to capture progress on both EJ and CH.]
2. Incorporating Environmental Justice and Children's Health into Rulemaking: Develop and
implement guidance to support continuing consideration of EJ and CH in rulemakings (Supports
Principle 1).
• EPA will develop the first draft of EJ in Rulemaking Technical Guidance (August 30, 2012).
• EPA will consult with the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee on opportunities and
methods to consistently incorporate children's health in rulemaking actions regarding specified
Priority Chemical Hazards for children's health (by September 30, 2012).
• The Office of Children's Health Protection (OCHP) will create a plan to implement cross-Agency
coordination on established list of Priority Chemical Hazards for children's health. This plan will
identify chemicals that would benefit from enhanced coordination, outline coordination needs,
and establish workgroups as necessary (by June 30, 2012).
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For Environmental Justice
3. Replicate and expand use of best practices from EPA's multi-media community-based programs to
improve their efficiency and effectiveness for reducing environmental risks and promoting healthy,
sustainable, and livable communities, especially among underserved and overburdened
populations. This will improve EPA's collective understanding of how to harmonize EPA's programs
to strengthen the way EPA supports communities through its grant and technical assistance
programs. (OSWER and the Office of Policy (OP) will co-lead with assistance from Region 1,
Region 5, and OECA) (Supports Principles 5 and 6).
• By June 2012, conduct an Agency-wide assessment of best practices and lessons learned from
Regional implementation of community-based programs (e.g., CARE, EJ Showcase
Communities, Partnership for Sustainable Communities, Brownfields and Area-Wide Planning
Projects, Urban Waters). Senior Agency managers will then review the assessment and
produce recommendations for future community program development by August 2012.
• By September 2012, identify one underserved and overburdened community in each Region,
where EPA and other federal agency efforts and resources exist, to apply the senior
management recommendations. Using the Community Action for a Renewed Environment
(CARE) program infrastructure and other tools, align Agency resources and leverage
partnerships with public and private sector entities to encourage greater investments and
strengthen our ability to produce environmental and public health benefits.
4. Information Development: Develop a common mapping platform and tools to enhance EJ analysis
and decision making by releasing a working prototype of EJSCREEN tool by April 2012 (Supports
Principle 4).
5. Each NPM will identify at least one program or activity as part of Plan EJ 2014, where it will focus
existing activities to maximize environmental and human health benefits for disproportionately
burdened communities (Supports Principle 2).
• By December 2011, NPMs will identify at least one program activity based on populations
served, EJ goals advanced, and other criteria.
• By February 2012, NPMs will provide guidance in FY 2013 NPM Guidance regarding EJ
program activities.
• By June 2012, NPMs will develop plans for tailoring program activities to maximize
environmental and/or public health benefits for overburdened communities and report on these
benefits in a qualitative and quantitative manner.
For Children's Health
6. Work with states, tribes, and territories, using the Children's Healthy Communities: Clean, Green,
and Healthy Schools Initiative approach to improve children's environmental health in school
settings by providing outreach and technical assistance to states, tribes, and school districts
(Supports Principle 5).
• Headquarters offices (OCHP, OAR, OSCPP, and OSWER) will coordinate with Regions in the
development and implementation of Agency efforts to create healthier school facilities and
learning environments (by January 31, 2012).
• EPA will establish implementation plans for OCHP and lead Regional Schools Coordinators to
provide focused outreach and technical assistance to states, tribes, and territories to increase
adoption of EPA's guidelines and programmatic school environmental health tools (by February
29, 2012).
' WHO (2006). Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in Children. Environmental Health Criteria 237.
EPA (2003). Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment. Risk Assessment Forum, US Environmental Protection
Agency. EPA/630/P-02/001F
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NEJAC (2004). Ensuring Risk Reduction in Communities with Multiple Stressors: Environmental Justice and
Cumulative Risks/Impacts. National Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
" U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2008). Linking Early Environmental Exposures to Adult
Diseases. National Institute of Health. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Research Triangle
Park, NC. http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/docs/linking-exposures.pdf.
FY 2012 Action Plan: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health
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