Working to Make a Visible Difference in Communities
                          FY 2014 Annual Action Plan
 This Annual Action Plan lists a limited set of transformative actions that EPA will work cross-
Agency to carry out in FY 2014 to achieve the goals of the FY14-FY18 Cross-Agency Strategy
for Working to Make a Visible Difference in Communities. The actions in this plan will enable
EPA to make more visible progress in enhancing the livability and economic vitality of
neighborhoods.  This plan draws from the experience of a wide range of existing community-
based activities and is intended to advance those practices into all the work occurring across the
Agency. NPMs will integrate community-based work within and across core programs to
maximize results in communities.

Strengthen EPA's Community of Practice

    •   Improve existing mapping, tracking and reporting to strengthen EPA's nationally-
        consistent platforms (EPA's GeoPlatform and GeoGrants). These platforms not only
        illustrate the places where EPA's national regulatory and regional efforts impact
        communities, but  also enable collaboration, strategic prioritization and communication
        relevant to our work that benefits communities.
           o  Develop an implementation plan for a mapping, tracking and reporting system (using
              Region 1 's  Community Action Tracker (CAT) as a model) that will provide a nationally-
              consistent platform.
           o  Improve staff usability of GeoPlatform and GeoGrants.

    •   Expand the OSWER Community SharePoint site and other means to transfer knowledge
        and training resources Agency-wide to EPA community specialists and all EPA staff.

Empower Communities and our Staff with New Tools

    •   Publicly release EJScreen and other completed tools to empower communities and other
        stakeholders with  information on harmful exposures and health risks to children and
        underserved, overburdened communities.

    •   Integrate select competitive grants under a single consolidated program at the regional
        level, and maximize use of community-based criteria in broad range of grant awards.
           o  Prepare a plan for each region to replicate, as appropriate, Region 1 's "Healthy
              Communities " grant program in FY15, integrating select competitive grants and aligning
              timing of other grants announcements.
           o  Maximize use of a universal set of community-based evaluation criteria competitive
              solicitations.
           o  Begin feasibility analysis of integrating community factors into certain non-competitive
              grant programs.
           o  Increase NPM/Regional use of the Technical Assistance Services for Communities
              (TASC) contract to support communities without the internal capacity to manage grants.
February 6, 2014

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   •   Develop a single Community Web microsite to provide local government officials and
       other community leaders with a "one-stop shop" that enables them to identify and more
       easily navigate information about programs and resources that match their needs.
Seek Opportunities for Leveraging

   •   Further leverage resources through new opportunities with HUD/DOT/other agencies to
       achieve better environmental and health results in communities.
          o   Identify new leveraging opportunities with federal agencies (e.g., HUD disaster recovery
              funds, USDA investments in rural communities), and assess current partnership grant
              alignment efforts.
February 6, 2014

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