&EPA 190B12019 United States Environmental Protection Agency Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategy FY 2012 Action Plan Annual Progress Report strategy 2: 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. Executive Summary In January 2010, Administrator Jackson made Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working for Environmental Justice one of EPA's key priorities. This priority challenges EPA to address the needs of communities that are under-represented in environmental decision making and overburdened by environmental pollution. In FY 2012, EPA took important steps to: (1) promote Environmental Justice (EJ) and Children's Health (CH) in the National Program Managers' (NPM) Guidance process; (2) incorporate EJ and CH into rulemaking; (3) replicate and expand best practices from EPA's multi-media community-based programs; (4) develop a common EJ screening platform; and, (5) work with states, tribes, and territories using the Healthy Schools Initiative. In addition, EPA is continuing to implement Plan EJ 2014 (http://www.epa.gov/environmentaliustice/plan-ei/). This Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategy contains Plan EJ 2014 commitments to maintain a focus on this work. Some of the most significant FY 2012 Agency accomplishments demonstrating how EPA works for EJ and CH and their challenges are noted below. Accomplishment Highlights: S NPMs included CH and Plan EJ 2014 commitments and EJ program initiatives in the FY 2013 NPM guidance operational measures that capture actions relevant to advancing EJ and CH. S EPA completed an assessment of 47 promising practices from Regional implementation of community-based programs from which EPA senior management developed eight recommendations for aligning and harmonizing future Agency community-based work. Each EPA Region has identified a community in which to pilot these recommendations in FY 2013, with the intent to improve EPA's support and maximize results in communities. S EPA's Region 1 led the development of the concept of EJ and Permitting Regional Implementation Plans under the Plan EJ 2014 Permitting Initiative. The purpose of the plans is to establish a process for prioritizing enhanced public involvement opportunities for EPA-issued permits that a Region finds may disproportionately impact overburdened communities. Region 1 will pilot its plan in FY 2013 to serve as a model for other Regions. Additionally, the Office of Air and Radiation, Office of General Counsel, and Region 1 drafted and released for public comment an EJ and Permitting "Good Practices" document. S EPA developed the EJSCREEN tool that is now available to every EPA employee via an internal Agency GeoPlatform. This tool will increase consistency in the data and methods used for environmental-justice screening and generate cost savings across the Agency. S The Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention launched the School Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. The launch coordinated EPA intramural and extramural components and integrated efforts across the country to protect schools and school children from the hazards carried by pests. The program also integrated IPM efforts across the federal government, including the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services (Centers for Disease Control). FY 2012 Annual Progress Report: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health ------- •S The Office of Children's Health Protection (OCHP) participated in 32 regulatory workgroups, contributing to many of the most important actions for protecting children's health, including the mercury air toxics rule and development of the proposed rule for perchlorate. •S Through grants awarded to Alabama and Tennessee in 2011 as part of the School Chemical Cleanout Campaign program, Region 4 safely removed over 6,200 pounds of chemicals from 20 schools, protecting approximately 15,000 children from harm and trained over 650 teachers on green and microscale chemistry to implement measures for safer chemical management in schools. Region 8 developed and printed over 11,000 booklets for distribution nationally on "Sensible Steps to Healthier School Environments." The booklets provide information to address some of the most common environmental health concerns in schools and identify low-cost or no-cost measures, programs, and resources available to help prevent, reduce, or resolve each of the highlighted environmental health concerns. Challenges: •S The Agency did not develop new FY 2014 annual budget measures for EJ and CH due to budget uncertainties. The Agency will rely on commitments in NPM Guidance documents to plan for and track EJ and CH program activities. •S Efforts to establish implementation plans for OCHP and lead Regional Schools Coordinators as part of the Clean Green and Healthy Schools initiative were delayed due to funding constraints. FY 2012 Annual Progress Report: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health ------- F FY 2012 Performance Summary Strategy 2: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health FY 2012 Action Plan Activity 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): • FY2013 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 HQand 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). 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). Status/Explanation >^ = Activity Complete •/ No new budget measures were developed given the uncertainty of the budget environment. •/ •/ Engaged the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee in providing cross-cutting input on priority actions to protect children's health, including EPA rulemaking actions on lead poisoning prevention, indoor environments, and particulate matter ambient air quality standards. Y 2012 Annual Progress Report: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health 3 ------- F FY 2012 Performance Summary Strategy 2: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health FY 2012 Action Plan Activity • 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). 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., Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE), Environmental Justice 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 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 screening platform and tools to enhance EJ analysis and decision making by releasing a working prototype of EJSCREEN tool by April 2012 (Supports Principle 4). Status/Explanation >^ = Activity Complete While no formal plan was finalized, OCHP continues to manage cross-Agency coordination as needed. •/ •/ Each Region identified a location or geographic region in which to apply suggested recommendations in 2013 for improving community-based work. Y 2012 Annual Progress Report: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health 4 ------- F FY 2012 Performance Summary Strategy 2: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health FY 2012 Action Plan Activity • 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. 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. 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). Status/Explanation >^ = Activity Complete •/ The Agency transition period began on 10/2/12. All the NPMs identified their program initiatives, and all but two have developed an implementation plan. OCHP hosted Agency-wide Clean, Green and Healthy Schools coordination meeting (December 2011). Monthly schools coordination calls with Regional and HQ representatives are held. Schools vision, goals, objectives, and Regional schools measures associated with OCHP strategic plan are drafted and will be issued by November 2012. Y 2012 Annual Progress Report: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health 5 ------- |