EPA 601/R-17/003 I October 2016 I www.epa.gov/research
Environmental Justice
RESEARCH ROADMAP
FY 16 ANNUAL REPORT
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Office of Research and Development
Research Roadmap: Environmental Justice
FY16 Annual Report
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
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Contents
Contributors iii
Abbreviations and Acronyms iv
Introduction v
I, Accomplishments 1
A. Awarding of STAR Grants 1
Looking Ahead 1
B. Making a Visible Difference in Communities 2
C. Regional Applied Research Efforts 2
D. Regional Sustainable Environmental Science 2
E. Intramural Research 3
Looking Ahead 4
II, Addressing Emerging Issues 4
Appendix A. STAR Grants Addressing Environmental Justice and Tribal Issues A-l
Appendix B. ORD Laboratory and Center Engagement in Making a Visible Difference in
Communities Projects B-l
Appendix C. Regional Applied Research Effort Projects Addressing Environmental Justice
and Tribal Issues C-l
Appendix D. RESES Projects Addressing Environmental Justice and Tribal issues D-l
Appendix E. Intramural Laboratory- and Center-based ORD Research Addressing
Environmental Justice Issues E-2
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Contributors
Andrew M Geller, Ph.D.
Roadmap Lead
Office of Research and Development, U.S. EPA
Contributors to An , irt
Valerie Blank
Office of Research and Development,
Office of Science Policy
Maggie Breville
Intaek Hahn
Cynthia McOliver
Office of Research and Development,
National Center for Environmental Research
Karen Chu
Melissa McCullough
Office of Research and Development,
Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program
Michele Conlon
Office of Research and Development,
National Exposure Research Laboratory
iii
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Abbreviations and Acronyms
ACE Air, Climate, and Energy research program (ORD)
C-FERST Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EJ Environmental Justice
FY Fiscal Year
HHRA Human Health Risk Assessment research program (ORD)
HS Homeland Security research program (ORD)
MVD Making a Visible Difference
NCER National Center for Environmental Research
NIEHS National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
NIH National Institutes of Health
ORD Office of Research and Development (EPA)
RARE Regional Applied Research Efforts
RESES Regional Sustainable Environmental Science
RFA Request for Applications
SHC Sustainable and Healthy Communities research program (ORD)
SSWR Safe and Sustainable Water Resources research program (ORD)
STAR Science to Achieve Results
Tribal-FERST Tribal Focused Environmental Risk and Sustainability Tool
iv
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Introduction
Purposr ¦ -I illi'^ II in ,iiironimeintaII Juistih ^ II i II i II admap
The Environmental justice (EJ) Research Roadmap describes the interface between environmental
justice and science and outlines opportunities for scientific research that exist in the link between
environmental equity and technology. Science is needed to allow the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to consider environmental justice in its regulatory analyses and program implementation.
The research included in the Roadmap is intended to provide the scientific basis for EPA and other
stakeholders to understand health disparities from environmental conditions and pollution and take
actions to prevent them. The Roadmap also describes gaps that remain in EPA's approach for advancing
science to address EJ issues. The EJ Research Roadmap does not describe a research program; instead, it
describes the various research activities being implemented in the Office of Research and
Development's (ORD) six Strategic Research Action Plans (https://www.epa.gov/research/strategic~
research-action-plans-2016-2019) that are relevant to environmental justice.
Status of till'-" II n /ironmental .Justice Research Roadn i."ip
In February 2016, EPA's Board of Scientific Counselors reported that they considered the December
2015 draft of the EJ Research Roadmap a good foundation and recommended several revisions to the
document. Revisions have been completed, and ORD anticipates finalizing the document with the
Board's Executive Council in November 2016.
Also in 2016, EPA promulgated its Draft EJ 2020 Action Agenda. EJ 2020 is an Agency-level strategy for
integrating environmental justice into all of EPA's activities, including science. EJ 2020 contains a chapter
on science with proposed metrics drawing heavily from the draft EJ Research Roadmap.
Finally, in June 2016, EPA issued its Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory
Analysis. This important companion document to the EJ Research Roadmap contains key definitions, a
review of factors that contribute to potential EJ concerns, and recommendations for considering
environmental justice when planning human health risk assessments, with an emphasis on cumulative
risk assessment.
Purpose of the Ann port
This FY2016 Environmental Research Roadmap Annual Report presents progress on ORD's EJ research
goals and activities. Because this EJ Annual Report is the first and because the development of the EJ
Research Roadmap has spanned multiple years, this report includes research progress and
accomplishments from FY15 and FY16 and some activities that began before FY15. EPA's efforts to
address environmental justice span the Agency's Programs and Regions, including place-based research
and technical support. This EJ Annual Report contains updates on ORD EJ research completed in
conjunction with several Agency partners, including ORD's Regional Sustainable Environmental Science
program; ORD's Regional Applied Research Effort; and the Agency's Making a Visible Difference
v
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program. It also includes intramural research by scientists in ORD's Laboratories and Centers. This EJ
Annual Report highlights successes and challenges of implementing an integrative approach to ORD's
crosscutting EJ research. It also previews research activities for FY2017.
Sun I Research Accomplishments
ORD's EJ Research Roadmap recognizes that addressing issues in overburdened communities requires a
broad range of research. The accomplishments for FY1S-FY16 include research on focused solutions for:
• Drinking water quality for small communities and Tribes
• Active and community-engaged monitoring of air quality in communities located near the
fencelines of potential sources of regular and fugitive emissions
• Reuse of soil in remediated sites
• Community engagement in incorporating green infrastructure for direct benefits to stormwater
handling and indirect benefits to community well-being
• Place-based issues addressed through collaborations of ORD with EPA's Regional Offices
• Enhanced community engagement and participatory research through Science to Achieve
Results (STAR) investigator-community partnership grants
Accomplishments also include the completion or initiation (especially for STAR grantees) of research
addressing longer-term issues and conceptual issues, such as:
• Incorporating nonchemical stressors, including social determinants of health, in human health
risk (cumulative risk) assessment
• Applying structured decision approaches to address environmental quality and environmental
health issues in overburdened communities
• Building community resilience
• Understanding causal relationships of environmental influences on the microbiome and
epigenome, especially in early-life development
• Use of traditional ecological knowledge in environmental assessment and management
• Addressing climate change impacts on Tribal sustainability
Tables containing detailed information are presented in Appendices A-E.
vi
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!, Accomplishments
A. Awardi ants
The incorporation of environmental justice into ORD's research program in FY1S-FY16 occurred most
markedly through the STAR grant program (Appendix A):
• Five Research Centers on Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention [National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NlEHS)/EPA] - focusing on environmental causes of
high-priority health outcomes such as asthma, obesity, adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes,
and cancer. Each Center is investigating the interplay between environmental exposures and
social determinants of health, using cutting-edge, systems-level science that includes the
microbiome and the full range of genomic approaches, including epigenetics.
• Five Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research [National Institutes of
Health (NlH)/EPA] -incorporating social, economic, and dietary stressors to address health
disparities with a focus on issues that affect the urban and rural poor, communities of color, and
Tribal and Alaskan native communities. The Centers build on the 10 original pilot environmental
health disparity grants awarded in 2012.
• Six grants on Air Pollution Monitoring for Communities - emphasizing the use of new, low-cost
sensors and citizen science to address community-scale air quality issues.
These 16 grants build on ORD's sponsorship of earlier Request for Applications (RFAs), such as Science
for Sustainable and Healthy Tribes (2013), the Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention
Research Centers (2012), and research on Understanding the Role of Chemical and Nonchemical
Stressors and Developing Methods for Cumulative Risk Assessment (2009). In addition, some STAR-
funded research on small water systems has been completed, and other work is continuing. The goals of
all these grants are briefly described in Appendix A.
Looking Ahead
ORD's Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) research program has two additional RFAs
anticipated for release in FY17. These two RFAs will continue to advance EPA-sponsored research
toward systems-level approaches to promote community health and well-being. The RFA, Using a Total
Environment Framework (Built, Natural, Social Environments) to Assess Life-long Health Effects of
Chemical Exposures, is anticipated to be released in late FY16 or early FY17. In FY17, awards will be
made for the RFA on Integrating Human Health and Well-Being with Ecosystem Services.
In addition, ORD's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) will report on research findings
from (1) 15 years of funding for the Children's Environmental Health Centers, (2) the transdisciplinary
Centers for research on environmental health disparities, and (3) the role of chemical and nonchemical
stressors in cumulative risk assessment.
1
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IB, Making a Visible Difference i inn unities
MVD is a high profile initiative of the EPA Administrator to address environmental and public health
impacts that affect people most significantly where they live: in the community. EPA is focused on
providing better support to communities, especially in environmentally overburdened, underserved, and
economically distressed areas where the needs are greatest. ORD has partnered with EPA's Regions on
15 MVD projects either directly or in conjunction with funding provided through the Regional Applied
Research Efforts (RARE) program (see next section). MVD projects focus on green infrastructure
solutions to stormwater, water treatment, and water quality issues; air quality monitoring through
citizen science approaches; community-engaged approaches to air quality issues in communities near
ports; and building partnerships between EPA's Regions, local colleges and universities, and
communities for community engagement in addressing environmental and land use issues. These
projects are briefly described in Appendix B and Appendix C.
C„ Regional Applied Research Efforts
EPA's Regions are the Agency's principal interfaces with communities. The RARE program provides
resources for EPA's Regions to conduct collaborative research with ORD to address priority topics.
Research initiated or completed in the past three years includes 20 projects that address environmental
justice and Tribal issues (Appendix C). Like the MVD projects, many of these are focused on building
community capacity for air quality monitoring and place a premium on building community capacity for
meaningfully engaging in the decisions that affect the environmental health and well-being of the
community. Several of these projects also include issues related to safe drinking water or Tribal health
and safety.
Regional Sustainable Environmental Science
The RESES program focuses on forming regional research partnerships to enable effective, efficient, and
socially responsible solutions to commonly faced resource sustainability problems. ORD's SHC program
sponsors RESES, providing funding to seed collaborations between EPA's Regions and ORD. SHC's goal is
to develop and refine its research products by directly collaborating with the users of its research, while
providing technical support for pressing issues in the Region.
Appendix D lists projects funded in FY14-FY16. Projects funded in FY14 and 15 are underway; FY16
projects have just completed their project plans. Historically, a very high proportion of RESES proposals
address issues related to environmental justice. For example, EPA's first health impact assessments
were carried out collaboratively between ORD and Regions 1 and 4.
One key strength of the RESES program for environmental justice is that the research, in most cases, is
place-based, with the goal to transfer solutions in one community to others facing the same issues.
Currently active RESES projects include community engagement in decision-making, citizen science for
air monitoring, air quality issues in near-port communities, and a range of Tribal issues.
2
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IE. Intramural Research
ORD's main intramural research effort on environmental justice is distributed across Air, Climate, and
Energy (ACE), SHC, Safe and Sustainable Water Resources (SSWR), Human Health Risk Assessment
(HHRA), and Homeland Security (HS). A search of ORD's publication clearance database using keyword
"environmental justice" yielded 167 abstracts, presentations, reports, and articles cleared or initiated
for clearance from FY15 and FY16. This Annual Report lists journal articles, EPA reports, technical fact
sheets, and a book chapter (Appendix E).
Near-source air quality is an important issue for overburdened communities. Many of these
communities are located in busy transportation corridors, near ports, or near heavy industry, potentially
exposing individuals to disproportionate levels of exposure to diesel or other industrial emissions.
Research from the ACE program includes the development of mobile and onsite sensing approaches for
monitoring air quality in these environments.
One of the primary EJ issues raised by the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and others is
community engagement. ORD's EnviroAtlas produced an instructional module, Building a Greenway:
Using EnviroAtlas in the Classroom, to help build community capacity for using this information delivery
and analysis tool. This curriculum adds to the Community-scale Use Cases, available on the EnviroAtlas
website, that guide users in how to evaluate the distribution of ecosystem services to different
segments of the population. Additional research on decision support is represented in the report from
the Guanica Bay, Puerto Rico project, which engaged community members to develop a conceptual
model of the interrelationship between environmental runoff affecting coral reefs and community
health, environmental quality, and economic issues. ORD scientists used the EnviroAtlas to evaluate the
interaction between accessibility to natural areas and physical inactivity levels, including stratification by
socioeconomic status. This research can inform equitable land use planning and community
development that will benefit human health and well-being.
ORD also produced a body of research addressing epigenetic mechanisms of action that might account
for cumulative impacts of exposure to environmental chemicals and nonchemical stressors, including
social stressors. This important area of research could provide an avenue for integrating chemical and
nonchemical stressors into cumulative human health risk assessments. Two articles that are the
outcome of this research are Epigenetic Regulation of Newborns' Imprinted Genes Related to
Gestational Growth: Patterning by Parental Race/Ethnicity and Maternal Socioeconomic Status and
Neighborhood and Family Environment of Expectant Mothers May Influence Prenatal Programming of
Adult Cancer Risk: Discussion and an Illustrative DNA Methylation Example. The articles directly address
the influence of social stress on changes in DNA methylation.
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Looking Ahead
The next two years hold much promise for ORD intramural research. ORD anticipates completing
significant research on health disparities and on indices and indicators. Research on several MVD, RARE,
and RESES projects will come to fruition. In addition, ORD anticipates that several decision-support tools
that have been under development or in beta testing will become available. These products include:
C-FERST: Community-Focused Exposure and
Risk Screening Tool
C-PORT: Screening model and alternative
scenario impact evaluation tool for near-
source communities
Multipathway exposure analysis for lead in
children
Wildfire community vulnerability index
Tribal-FERST: Tribal Focused Environmental
Risk and Sustainability Tool
Environmental drivers of public health and
well-being particular to minority
communities
Development of Climate Resilience
Screening Index
Grouping stressors for human health
cumulative risk assessments: A simplifying
approach for inclusion of nonchemical
stressors and vulnerabilities
' -J- In-:. • iiti1 1 in- kiii1 Is 3
Many of the Agency's most pressing problems affect overburdened communities including, for example,
the recent water quality problems in Flint, Michigan and concerns about Zika virus, especially in Puerto
Rico and border communities like Brownsville, Texas. ORD's EJ portfolio has expanded to include
research and technical support to support the Agency's response to these immediate needs and to rule-
makings proceeding from them.
• Lead contamination in drinking water - ORD researchers provided technical support to the City
of Flint, Michigan in response to lead contamination. Researchers are working with local and
State officials to improve water quality in the drinking water system to mitigate lead in drinking
water, optimize disinfectant levels, and minimize exposure to Legionella. In addition, ORD
researchers are evaluating exposure to lead from multiple pathways using probabilistic
multimedia exposure modeling linked to pharmacokinetic models. The latter will inform the
Agency's decisions about Household Action Levels for drinking water in the Lead and Copper
Rule by showing how much lead exposure is due to drinking water, air, food, and soil and dust
ingestion.
• Zika virus and microcephaly - In response to concern over the birth defects cluster in Brazil
linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus, ORD researchers are moving forward in collaboration
with Regions 2 and 6 through SHC's RESES program to analyze mosquito-breeding habitat and
disease-vector mitigation in communities potentially affected by Zika virus.
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Appendix A. STAR Grants Addressing Environmental Justice and Tribal Issues
Table A-l. National Research Program: Air, Climate, and Energy
Table A 1. National Research Program: Air, Climate, and Energy
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: Measurements and Modeling for Quantifying Air Quality and Climatic Impacts of Residential Biomass or Coal Combustion for Cooking, Heating, and Lighting
(2012)
Current End date: 2017; extension requested to 2018
Experimental
Interventions to
Facilitate Clean Cook
Stove Adoption, Promote
Clean Indoor Air, and
Mitigate Climate Change
This study is using price and social interaction experiments to provide valuable information about behavioral dimensions of
stove adoption and use, as well as field measurements and modeling to estimate impacts on air pollution and climate
change. The project builds on preexisting partnerships with two Indian nongovernmental organizations already promoting
stoves in rural communities in two different Indian states, Himachal Pradesh, in the north, and Karnataka, in the south. As
of mid-2016, the study is about half completed with stove interventions underway for about 1 year in the northern study
communities and more than 6 months in the south. In the Himachal Pradesh communities, most participants chose
aspirational technologies (e.g., liquefied petroleum gas or electric induction stoves) as compared to improved biomass
stoves. After several months, when given an opportunity to try a different technology, most participants chose to stay with
their original choice. Similar choices will be offered to the participants in the southern communities.
Yale University,
University of British
Columbia, University
of Minnesota
India
RFA TITLE: Air Pollution Monitoring for Communities (2014) Newly Awarded Grants (2016)
Democratization of
Measurement and
Modeling Tools for
Community Action on Air
Quality, and Improved
Spatial Resolution of Air
Pollutant Concentrations
This project is motivated by a desire to improve air quality and human health in Pittsburgh, particularly in EJ communities.
Distributed air quality monitoring with low-cost sensors and air quality modeling are key tools in this study. CMU
researchers will partner with three local community groups to investigate the accuracy and reliability of existing sensors
and their potential effectiveness in helping communities understand local levels of air pollutants and how to respond.
Carnegie Mellon
University,
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
*lnstitutions in bold indicate the primary recipient of the grant.
A-l
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Table A 1. National Research Program: Air, Climate, and Energy
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: Air Pollution Monitoring for Communities (2014) Newly Awarded Grants (2016)
Shared Air/Shared Action
(SA2): Community
Empowerment through
Low-cost Air Pollution
Monitoring
This research project involves multiple universities and four local community organizations working to improve air quality
for citizens of South Chicago. Researchers plan to investigate whether people become more engaged with their
environment if they are provided with relevant scientific and technical tools, including low-cost portable sensors and
appropriate technical assistance. Collaboration between academic researchers and the communities in planning and
conducting the study is key to this project, with plans to evaluate how community-led research with sensors can help
improve community understanding of pollution concentrations. This project features development of sustainable,
community-specific strategies to monitor pollutants and analyze and communicate results and to see if communities can
leverage their resources to create coordinated action plans to reduce exposure and mitigate health risks.
Kansas State
University,
Manhattan, KS
South
Chicago, IL
The Hawai'i Island
Volcanic Smog Sensor
Network (Hl-Vog):
Tracking air quality and
community engagement
near a major emissions
hotspot
Air quality on the Island of Hawai'i can be exceedingly poor due to high emissions of sulfur dioxide from Kilauea Volcano.
The resulting "volcanic smog" ("vog"), a mixture of sulfur dioxide and fine particulate matter, has negative impacts on
human health and agriculture, and is consequently a major local concern. Because community members' exposure to vog
cannot be readily estimated, the region can be a unique test case for the use and assessment of distributed air quality
networks based on portable low-cost sensors. This project includes the development and deployment of a state-of-the-art
community-based air quality sensor network across Hawai'i Island. A network of sensors can provide improved
measurements of air quality and vog exposures across the island. Researchers will also assess the utility of air quality sensor
networks as community resources and as tools for atmospheric chemistry research.
Massachusetts
Institute of
Technology,
Cambridge, MA
Hawaii
Monitoring the Air in Our
Community: Engaging
Citizens in Research
This research team will investigate whether communities can successfully use low-cost sensors to understand the air quality
in their neighborhood and their personal exposure to pollutants. Researchers plan to identify what type of air pollution
data would best fulfill community needs and preferences. They then will assess how well community members can
understand the data and whether they modify their behavior to reduce their exposure to potentially harmful pollutants.
Research Triangle
Institute, Research
Triangle Park, NC
North of
downtown
Denver, CO
Engage, Educate, and
Empower California
Communities on the Use
and Applications of
"Low-cost" Air
Monitoring Sensors
The overall objective of this research project is to provide California communities with the knowledge necessary to select,
use, and maintain low-cost air pollution sensors appropriately and interpret sensor data correctly. Researchers plan to
develop new methodologies to educate and engage communities on using and applying the sensors. Additionally, they will
conduct testing to characterize sensor performance and identify candidates for field deployment. The group plans to deploy
the selected sensors in local communities, interpret the collected data, and communicate the lessons learned to the public
through a series of outreach activities.
South Coast Air
Quality Management
District, Diamond
Bar, CA
2 north, 2
central, 2
southern
California
communities
A-2
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Table A 1. National Research Program: Air, Climate, and Energy
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: Air Pollution Monitoring for Communities (2014) Newly Awarded Grants (2016)
Putting next generation
sensors and scientists in
practice to reduce wood
smoke in a highly
impacted, multicultural
rural setting
This research team plans to deploy next-generation, low-cost particulate matter air sensors in student-directed studies
pertaining to wood smoke impacts in their rural community. The researchers and students will evaluate the quality of
sensor measurements and identify effective platforms for data dissemination and communication to the community
through multigenerational and multicultural outreach. Researchers will partner with faculty at Heritage University, whose
students represent the community's population of predominantly Yakama Nation and Latino immigrant families. This
project builds on the EnvironMentors program, which pairs undergraduates with high school students. Students will be
trained to formulate and test hypotheses on wood smoke exposure and plan to compare sensor data to validated air
pollution measurements.
University of
Washington, Seattle,
WA
Yakima Valley,
WA
Table A-l. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: NIEHS/EPA Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers (2015)
All grants were funded by EPA and announced in July 2016. Grants were funded by NIEHS in 2015, and Year 1 final reports have been received.
Grants are scheduled to close in 2019.
Center for the Study of
Childhood Asthma in the
Urban Environment
The long-term goal of this Center is to understand how exposures to indoor and outdoor airborne pollutants and allergens
interact with a variety of contextual factors in the inner city to create high asthma morbidity.
Johns Hopkins
University
Center for Children's
Health, the Environment,
Microbiome, and
Metabolomics
The overall goal of this Center is to assess the influence of the environmental exposures of pregnant women on their
microbiome and the subsequent impact of the mother's microbiome on neurodevelopment of the fetus and infant. This
interdisciplinary Center will conduct studies on exposures in an urban environment, the microbiome of pregnant women
and their infants, and associated neurocognitive health outcomes. The work of the Center is based on a longitudinal cohort
of 800 pregnant African-American women who are currently being followed through delivery and designed to examine
maternal prenatal stress and its association with the infant microbiome.
Emory University
A-3
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: NIEHS/EPA Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers (2015)
All grants were funded by EPA and announced in July 2016. Grants were funded by NIEHS in 2015, and Year 1 final reports have been received.
Grants are scheduled to close in 2019.
The Columbia Center for
Children's Environmental
Health, Columbia
University
The Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) proposes an innovative program that builds directly on
prior research findings in a well-characterized cohort of inner city children enrolled prenatally and now being followed into
adolescence. Repeated waves of assessment prior to age 11 have shown that high prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) is associated with recurrent neurodevelopmental abnormalities, higher rates of obesity, and a failure
to increasingly improve the capacity to regulate thought, emotion, and behavior over the course of development. The
proposed program will (1) provide essential evidence of PAH impacts on these significant public health problems; (2) shed
light on how PAH affects the development of neural systems in the brain; (3) inform environmental and public health
policy; and (4) suggest new avenues for prevention and early intervention.
Columbia University
Center for Research on
Early Childhood
Exposure and
Development in Puerto
Rico
The overall goal of this Center is to understand the impact of a mixture of environmental exposures and modifying factors
on fetal and early childhood health and development in the children of the heavily contaminated northern coast of Puerto
Rico—an underserved, highly exposed, and low-income population with significant health disparities.
Northeastern
University
Center for Integrative
Research on Childhood
Leukemia and the
Environment
During the past half century, the incidence of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has steadily increased in
children, with the highest rates reported in Latinos. This rapid increase strongly supports the role of environmental
exposures in the etiology of childhood ALL, either alone or in combination with genetic and epigenetic factors. Existing
biological and epidemiological studies suggest that childhood ALL is often initiated in utero and fetal exposure to
carcinogenic chemicals might play a role in the etiology of the disease. Given these findings and novel laboratory methods
developed during the Center's first cycle, the overarching theme for the next cycle is to identify additional in utero
chemical risk factors for childhood ALL in an ethnically diverse population, and to understand how chemicals increase risk
via immunological, genetic, and epigenetic mechanisms.
University of
California, Berkeley
The UCSF Pregnancy
Exposures to
Environmental Chemicals
(PEEC) Children's Center,
University of California
San Francisco, Tracey
Woodruff
This Center will advance scientific and public understanding of how environmental chemicals affect the seminal early
stages of human in utero development, which could manifest as adverse effects on children's health. The Center is testing
the hypothesis that the mechanisms include damage to the placenta—which governs in utero programming, birth weight,
and, consequently, childhood health—and that these effects are exacerbated by social stress. Part of the project will
evaluate the cumulative effects of prenatal polybrominated diphenyl ethers and perfluorinated compound exposures and
chronic psychosocial stress on fetal growth in a diverse population of pregnant women. The investigators will employ
innovative approaches for measuring psychosocial stress, including geocoded neighborhood measures of the social
environment and interviews to assess participants' perceived stress and social standing. Biological assays—telomere length
and hormone levels—will be used to measure maternal and fetal stress responses.
University of
California, San
Francisco
A-4
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: NIEHS/EPA Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers (2012)
All grants were completed in Year 3 in May 2016, and annual reports are due Sept. 2016. Grants are scheduled to close in 2018.
Lifecourse Exposures &
Diet: Epigenetics,
Maturation & Metabolic
Syndrome, University of
Michigan
Capitalizing on two existing human cohorts [Early Life Exposures in Mexico to ENvironmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) and the
Michigan Mother-Infant Pairs (MMIP)] and the viable yellow agouti mouse model, the focus of this Center is to examine
the impact of endocrine disrupting chemical mixtures and their interaction with diet on metabolic health. Research
findings will shed light on epigenetic and transcriptional changes leading to changes in growth, maturation, and metabolic
outcomes, and provide an invaluable basis for designing future interventions to reduce the impact of pervasive endocrine
disrupting chemicals on children's health. Research includes analysis of socioeconomic factors associated with obesity.
University of
Michigan
Neurodevelopment and
Improving Children's
Health following EtS
Exposure, Duke
University
The Center for Study of Neurodevelopment and Improving Children's Health following EtS exposure (NICHES) will
investigate mechanistic relationships between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and developmental neurocognitive
impairments including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. NICHES integrates complementary in vitro, in vivo, and
human clinical studies to identify how epigenetic changes caused by developmental environmental tobacco smoke
exposure are expressed in the brain and how they are associated with neurobehavioral dysfunction in children. These
studies include epigenetic research on the impacts of exposure to toxicants such as lead and arsenic and of maternal
stress.
Duke University
Southern California
Children's Environmental
Health Center, University
of Southern California
This Center includes a Community Outreach and Translation Core, the goal of which is to protect children's health through
educating new constituencies to understand the complex land use, public health, and public policy dilemma between the
need for increased outdoor physical activity to reduce obesity and the potential risks of active recreation near traffic
pollution. The Core aims to develop new constituencies and new media outlets for disseminating research findings on
near-roadway air pollution and its adverse health effects on children. Targets include advocates for (1) physical activity to
reduce obesity; and (2) new parks and outdoor exercise facilities and equitable access to green space in the city, including
elected officials, urban planners, architects/landscape architects, land conservation, and EJ groups.
University of
Southern California
RFA TITLE: NIEHS/EPA Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers (2012)
All grants were completed in Year 3 in May 2016, and annual reports are due Sept. 2016. Grants are scheduled to close in 2018.
UC Berkeley/Stanford
Children's Environmental
Health Center
Proposed projects will provide new data on (1) the associations between exposures to air pollutants, particularly PAHs, and
important health outcomes throughout childhood, from gestation to late adolescence; (2) mechanistic pathways by which
air pollutants cause adverse outcomes; and (3) the modifying roles of genetic and neighborhood contextual factors. The
themes of the projects build on previous research; the resulting data will allow improved risk assessment in a region
characterized by both high air pollution and health disparities related to socioeconomic and minority ethnic status.
University of
California, Berkeley;
Stanford University
A-5
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: Science for Sustainable and Healthv Tribes
All grants are currently in their second year of research and making progress on proposed milestones. Year 1 annual reports have been received,
and Year 2 annual reports are in preparation or submitted. A progress review meeting is scheduled in RTP Sept. 20-21, 2016.
Water, Our Voice to the
Future: Climate Change
Adaptation and
Waterborne Disease
Prevention on the Crow
Reservation
Objective 1. Integrate traditional ecological and community knowledge, scientific data, and climate models to produce a
cohesive document describing existing and projected local climate, hydrologic and microbial water quality changes and
their impacts on resources, Crow traditions, ecosystems, and community health.
Objective 2. Improve community adaptation to climate change and reduce climate change-related health risks by
increasing community understanding of current and projected climate change impacts, reducing associated waterborne
disease risks, identifying and implementing other key adaptation measures, and investing in community capacity building.
Objective 3. Disseminate project results locally, regionally, and nationally, through appropriate community venues, peer-
reviewed publications, and conferences, including the National Tribal Science Forum. Contribute lessons learned to other
tribes.
Little Big Horn
College, Montana
State University
Coastal Climate Impacts
to First Foods, Cultural
Sites, and Tribal
Community Health and
Well-being
Objective 1. Develop an integrated model characterizing the variability in projected coastal hazards of inundation and
erosion due to the combined influence of sea level rise, storm surge, and wave energy through Year 2100 alongshore of
the Swinomish Reservation.
Objective 2. Map the vulnerability of Swinomish coastal ecosystem habitats of first foods and culturally significant sites in
relation to cumulative impacts of sea level rise, storm surge, and shoreline development.
Objective 3. Using results from Objectives 1 and 2, assess impacts to Swinomish community health and well-being and
opportunities to build adaptive capacity using a sustainable systems-based approach.
Objective 4. Create assessment and strategy matrices based on outputs of Objectives 1-3 as adaptation/mitigation
planning tools in the Swinomish Climate Change Initiative.
Objective 5. Employ a multipronged education and dissemination approach to ensure that tools (models), results, and
associated meanings for Tribes are widely disseminated locally, regionally in Coast Salish communities, and beyond.
Swinomish Indian
Tribal Community,
Skagit System
Cooperative, USGS
Western Fisheries
Research Center
Swinomish
Reservation
A-6
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: Science for Sustainable and Healthv Tribes
All grants are currently in their second year of research and making progress on proposed milestones. Year 1 annual reports have been received,
and Year 2 annual reports are in preparation or submitted. A progress review meeting is scheduled in RTP Sept. 20-21, 2016.
From Home to School:
Tribal Indoor Air Quality
Intervention Study
By improving indoor air quality and reducing environmental asthma triggers, this study intends to reduce asthma
symptoms related to tribal home-and-school childhood exposures. The study will demonstrate the importance of a total
exposure approach based on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). TEK from three tribes in different regions/climates will
refine education, source control of allergens by targeted cleaning and other asthma trigger removal activities, ventilation,
and air cleaning interventions that reduce asthma triggers.
University of Tulsa,
Cherokee Nation
Environmental
Program and Health
Services, Institute for
Tribal Environmental
Professionals, Navajo
Nation - EPA and
Dept. of Dine
Education, Nimiipuu
Health, University of
Oklahoma
Assessment, Monitoring
and Adaptation to Food
and Water Security
Threats to the
Sustainability of Arctic
Remote Alaska Native
Villages
The outcomes of the research will be risk data enabling Alaska Native Tribal Health Council and Tribal councils to develop
adaptation strategies to reduce exposure to the pathogens, contaminants, and toxins in subsistence foods and village
water supplies. Having these data will help reduce risk for the most vulnerable subset of the resident population, and
ensure that Alaska Native people can continue to harvest and consume their traditional diet, which is essential to their
cultural and economic survival. The outcome will be to provide data to Tribal, State, Federal, and international agencies
and organizations, which will assist in better understanding the movement of animal species, pathogens, and contaminants
as climate affects ocean and atmospheric transport mechanisms.
Alaska Native Tribal
Health Consortium
Identifying, Assessing
and Adapting to Climate
Change; Impacts to
Yurok Water and Aquatic
Resources, Food
Security, and Tribal
Health
The Yurok Tribe is extremely vulnerable to hydrologic changes resulting from climate change due to their geographic
location and continued reliance on surface waters and aquatic resources by Tribal members. The study will identify areas
of water resource vulnerability and resiliency, assess impacts on Yurok food security and tribal health, and increase the
Tribe's adaptive capacity to prepare and respond to climate change.
Yurok Tribe
Environmental
Program, Northern
Arizona University
A-7
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: Science for Sustainable and Healthv Tribes
All grants are currently in their second year of research and making progress on proposed milestones. Year 1 annual reports have been received,
and Year 2 annual reports are in preparation or submitted. A progress review meeting is scheduled in RTP Sept. 20-21, 2016.
Subsistence Hunting and
Associated Activities of
Native North Americans
in Remote Communities:
Measurement of Indoor
Air Quality in Tents as
Related to Wood-Smoke
Exposures, and the
Identification of
Potential Health Risks
The objectives of this research are to (1) measure indoor air quality in tents used for subsistence hunting activities by
characterizing wood-smoke, aerosol components; (2) determine the resultant biological effects associated with exposure
to wood-smoke aerosol components; and (3) provide recommendations for system improvements based on intervention
strategies in a population of Native North American hunters living in subarctic North America. We hypothesize that
inhalation exposures to high levels of wood-smoke emissions resulting from unique Tribal practices lead to measureable
and relevant biological changes in members of this community and simple-to-implement techniques for intervention can
substantially reduce exposure levels and ultimately their corresponding health impacts.
Expected results and outcomes from this investigation include collecting an extensive data set that characterizes high-
intensity wood-smoke exposures and includes quantitative information on physical and chemical characteristics; field
testing of simple technology that promises to reduce these exposures greatly; providing extensive training and mentoring
to a group of Omushkego Cree Native North Americans; and mobilizing critical knowledge to these communities to reduce
exposures. The project directly collaborates with the Tribal community and thus will continue to build strong connections
to support community-based participatory research.
University of
Massachusetts -
Amherst, Ryerson
University, University
of Toronto
RFA TITLE: Understanding the Role of Nonchemical Stressors and Developing Analvtic Methods for
Cumulative Risk Assessments (Search within this list of grants)
Research for these grants has concluded. Each grant is closed, and a final report has been received. A report summarizing the results of these
grants is in preparation and scheduled for delivery in FY18.
Community Stressors
and Susceptibility to Air
Pollution in Urban
Asthma
This project aims to understand relative spatial distributions in key community-level psychosocial stressors and air
pollution exposures across New York City and to examine their separate and synergistic effects of childhood asthma
exacerbation.
University of
Pittsburgh - Main
Campus; West
Harlem Environment-
al Action (WE ACT for
Environmental
Justice)
New York City,
NY
A-8
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: Understanding the Role of Nonchemical Stressors and Developing Analvtic Methods for
Cumulative Risk Assessments (Search within this list of grants)
Research for these grants has concluded. Each grant is closed, and a final report has been received. A report summarizing the results of these
grants is in preparation and scheduled for delivery in FY18.
Boston
University/NorthStar
Learning Centers -
Effects-Based Cumulative
Risk Assessment in a Low
Income Urban
Community Near a
Superfund Site
This study had the objective of characterizing the contributions of multiple chemical and nonchemical stressors to
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-related behavior and elevated blood pressure in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The
initial study objective was to characterize exposures to relevant stressors across the population, with an emphasis on the
population attributes that contributed to high exposures to multiple stressors. Multivariable attribute data at high
geographic resolution, however, do not exist because of privacy concerns. To address this limitation, researchers first
developed a simulated population of New Bedford that included census tract of residence and extensive individual
attributes relevant to chemical and nonchemical stressor exposures (Levy, et al., 2015). The simulated population was
derived by applying probabilistic reweighting using simulated annealing to data from the 2006-2010 American Community
Survey. Researchers then developed a series of multivariable regression models to predict key behaviors (e.g., smoking)
using New Bedford-specific data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. These behaviors and individual
attributes were used as predictors of chemical exposures as measured within a New Bedford cohort study focused on
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-related behavior and from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,
which included blood pressure measures.
Boston University;
NorthStar Learning
Centers
New Bedford,
MA
University of Rochester -
Combined Effects of
Metals and Stress on
Central Nervous System
Function
Chemical exposures do not occur in isolation but concurrently with other risk factors for human diseases and disorders,
including host, genetic, and lifestyle risk factors. This application asks two crucial questions related to the inclusion of
nonchemical stressors in cumulative risk assessment: (1) How general is the ability of one such risk factor, that is, stress, to
enhance effects of chemical exposures? (2) Under what conditions would such synergies be expected, that is, can a
biological framework be proposed to help define such conditions, thereby circumscribing the agenda required for
protecting human health?
This project tests the hypothesis that nonchemical and chemical stressors acting on the same biological systems or
substrates, or producing common adverse outcomes could produce additive or greater effects when they co-occur as risk
factors. The hypothesis is based on prior studies demonstrating synergistic and potentiated central nervous system effects
in response to combined exposures to lead and stress, co-occurring risk factors that both act on the hypothalamic-
pituitary-adrenal axis and on brain dopamine and glutamate systems and produce common adverse outcomes, including
cognitive deficits.
University of
Rochester School of
Medicine and
Dentistry
The Effects of Stress and
Traffic Pollutants on
Childhood Asthma in an
Urban Community
We will test a plausible mode of action by which psychosocial stress could worsen asthma responses to air pollution.
Improved understanding of how chronic stress might increase susceptibility to air pollutants among people with asthma is
important for understanding cumulative risk in urban and other communities. Ultimately, better understanding of modes
of action of stress on pollution-health associations will lead to improved characterization of risk among susceptible
populations. Additional long-term outcomes might include support for better-integrated public health interventions that
address both environmental pollution and nonchemical stressors.
Rutgers University
Newark, NJ
A-9
-------
Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: Understanding the Role of Nonchemical Stressors and Developing Analvtic Methods for
Cumulative Risk Assessments (Search within this list of grants)
Research for these grants has concluded. Each grant is closed, and a final report has been received. A report summarizing the results of these
grants is in preparation and scheduled for delivery in FY18.
Analytical Strategies for
Assessing Cumulative
Effects of Chemical &
Non-Chemical Stressors
Assessments
This study's purpose is to develop and test empirically valid models for understanding cumulative risks in community
settings. We are modeling population data drawn from Texas City in 2004-2006, using generalized linear latent and mixed
models, to understand how ambient chemical exposures interact with nonchemical stressors (at both the neighborhood
and individual levels) and result in adverse health effects. The key health effect of interest is allostatic load, as measured by
a suite of biological markers.
The University of
Texas School of
Public Health
Texas City, TX
Hypertension in
Mexican-Americans:
Assessing Disparities in
Air Pollution Risks
The incidence of hypertension, a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease, has been growing in the United States and
remains the leading cause of death among the U.S. Hispanic population. This research will examine the association
between fine particulate and other air pollutants and hypertension, with a focus on quantifying modifying effects of
nonchemical stressors on air pollutant effects. Novel methods for addressing interactions between chemical and
nonchemical stressors in a logistic regression context will be developed. A community-based research participatory
approach that involves both advisory and focus groups also will be developed.
Research for this grant has been extended until Jan. 31, 2017, and a final report is expected by April 2017.
The University of
Texas School of
Public Health,
National Chiao-Tung
University, The
University of Texas
MD Anderson Cancer
Center
Houston, TX
New Methods for
Analysis of Cumulative
Risk in Urban
Populations
Using computer-assisted qualitative research methods and structural data analysis to characterize environmental burden
on an individual and community level in a small but densely populated, ethnically and economically diverse city. The
project had four specific aims. The first was to use established qualitative and quantitative research techniques to collect,
code, and characterize information about chemical exposures of concern, social and economic concerns, behavioral risk
factors for disease, self-reported health outcomes, and perceptions of environment and quality of life from residents
abutting an urban designated port area. The second was to use previously developed research software to examine the
hierarchical and structural relationships of quantitative and qualitative data elements. The third was to use the lattice as a
technique for cumulative risk assessment by examining the relationships revealed by computation. The final aim was to
share results of analysis with community members and public health officials and move refined and mature research
software into the hands of public health practitioners to use as an additional and practical tool for epidemiologists and
data analysts in local, State, and Federal health agencies.
This grant is closed. The final report is undergoing revisions, and is expected to be completed by late 2016.
Boston
University/Chelsea
Collaborative
City of Chelsea
A-10
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: NIH-EPA Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research
These grants were awarded July 2015 and are expected to finish July 2020. A webinar series featuring interim results of these grants has been
proposed for FY19.
Center for Comparing
Urban and Rural Effects
of Poverty on COPD
(CURE COPD)
The aim of the Center is to understand the interactive effects of high indoor air pollution, obesity and low antioxidant,
proinflammatory diets in both urban (Project 1) and rural (Project 2) low-income communities, both of which suffer
disproportionate prevalence and morbidity from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, and poor diet.
Johns Hopkins
University
Center for Indigenous
Environmental Health
Research
The goal of this proposal is to develop a Center for partnering with American Indian and Alaska Native communities to
build capacity for determining the contribution of chemical and other environmental exposures to health inequities and to
support efforts to address these threats.
University of Arizona
Center for Research on
Environmental & Social
Stressors in Housing
across the Life Course
(CRESSH)
The primary objective of the proposed Center is to understand and reduce environmental health disparities by conducting
three fully integrated research projects applying novel methods in epidemiology, exposure science, and cumulative risk
assessment, with strong community engagement across the Center. The Center will focus on multiple health outcomes
across the life course with evidence for environmental health disparities (birth outcomes, childhood growth rates, and
cardiovascular mortality) in Massachusetts and within two low-income communities (Chelsea and Dorchester). The
influence of housing and the neighborhood environment on multiple exposures and health outcomes will be emphasized
throughout the Center.
Harvard T.H. Chan
School of Public
Health, Boston
University
Chelsea,
Dorchester,
MA
Maternal and
Developmental Risks
from Environmental and
Social Stress (MADRES)
Establish the Maternal And Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) Center for
Environmental Health Disparities in a large, prospective pregnancy cohort of lower income, predominantly Hispanic
women in Los Angeles. The proposed MADRES Center will examine whether environmental exposures (including air
pollution, metals, water contaminants, and toxic releases), coupled with exposures to psychosocial and built environment
stressors, lead to excessive gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention in women and to perturbed infant
growth trajectories and increased childhood obesity risk through altered psychological, behavioral and/or metabolic
responses.
University of
Southern California
Los Angeles,
CA
Center for Native
American Environmental
Health Equity Research
The focus of the University of New Mexico's proposed Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity Research is
to address pervasive environmental health disparities with primary biomedical and environmental research and Native-
focused community engagement. The partners in the Center consist of three university research programs and three Tribal
Nations— Navajo, Sioux, and Crow—with plans to expand to a fourth in later years of the project.
University of New
Mexico Health
Sciences Center
Navajo, Sioux,
Crow Nations
A-ll
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: EPA/NIMHD Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities
Research for this RFA has concluded. The grants are closed, and final reports have been received. A report summarizing the results of these
grants is in preparation for delivery to SHC in FY17.
Center of Excellence in
Disparities Research and
Community Engagement
(CEDREC)
The excellence on environmental disparities research core anchors the Center of Excellence in Disparities Research and
Community Engagement in the community and seeks to:
• Collaboratively prioritize key areas of environmental health disparities and identify optimal ways to intervene
through research and policy.
• Expand opportunities for developing interest in environmental health disparities research.
• Create ongoing dialogue between the Environmental Health Core and community stakeholders.
• Build community capacity to address environmental health disparities.
Weill Cornell Medical
College
Center for Integrative
Approaches to Health
Disparities (CIAHD),
Environmental
Assessment Core
The goal of the Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities is to investigate the multilevel determinants of
health disparities in cardiovascular risk by integrating social and biologic factors. The specific aims are to (1) enhance the
neighborhood-level data available in the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) by adding novel data on food price
and various built environment measures that can be used to study the impact of neighborhoods on changes in
cardiovascular risk; (2) create comparable time-varying measures of access to healthy foods, recreational facilities, and
other price and built environment data for Jackson Heart Study (JHS) (3) promote analyses of neighborhood effects on
cardiovascular risk that take advantage of the new environmental data in MESA and JHS.
University of
Michigan
Center of Excellence:
Environmental Health
Disparities Core
The environmental health core will build capacity for multidisciplinary study of unique urban environmental health
disparities. The focus of the Center of Excellence is an understanding of the syndemic burden on populations experiencing
health disparities in urban Atlanta; the environmental health core will integrate environmental health disparities and
environmental injustices into our understanding of the syndemic burden.
Georgia State
University
Atlanta, GA
Analysis and Action on
the Environmental
Determinants of Health
and Health Disparities
This grant is (1) building the capacity to assess environmental health disparities in the State through data collected by the
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's Environmental Public Health Tracking Program; (2)
assessing community perception of environmental determinants of cancer risk and disparities in rural and urban
communities in South Carolina; and (3) engaging and training members of community-based organizations that represent
EJ communities and environmental health disparity populations in the use of the block assessment methodology to help
stakeholders identify ecological stressors and intervene to address disparities in burden, exposure, and health.
University of South
Carolina at Columbia,
University of
Maryland
A-12
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: EPA/NIMHD Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities
Research for this RFA has concluded. The grants are closed, and final reports have been received. A report summarizing the results of these
grants is in preparation for delivery to SHC in FY17.
Environmental Health
Disparities in the
Northern Manhattan
Center of Excellence in
Minority Health and
Health Disparities
The focus of this grant is threefold:
1. Conduct cross-sectional analyses of the respective contributions of health disparity environmental factors at the
national, state, city, neighborhood, and individual levels to proximal behavioral and biological risk and protective
factors for diabetes and depression in a midlife Hispanic population, using an existing cohort study and existing clinical
trials.
2. Examine how these factors at the national, state, city, neighborhood, and individual levels modify the response to
community-based interventions.
3. Enhance the data and biospecimen repository managed by the research core through the data collected with support
from this application.
Columbia University
Medical Center
Environmental Context
of Health Disparities
The focus of this grant is threefold:
1. Establish a transdisciplinary, environmental health disparities core at Meharry.
2. Identify, secure, and process health databases that will enable hypothesis generation and testing of the relationship
between health and the environment in 11 southeastern states.
3. Establish an environmental context of health disparities relational database and web portal to include georeferenced
information on the natural, built, social, and policy environments in these southeastern states.
Meharry Medical
College
Environmental Health
Disparities Research
The vision for this Center is to (1) advance knowledge of interrelationships between environmental and social
determinants of health disparities, particularly within heterogeneous Hispanic populations, through a commitment to
transdisciplinary research; and (2) use this knowledge to influence policy change, public health practice, and community-
based interventions to reduce disparities. This vision will be operationalized through the following three specific aims:
1. Conduct research to evaluate complex interactions between social, built, and natural environmental systems, while
clarifying which aspects of Mexican-origin/Hispanic status are most important as determinants of environmental
health disparities.
2. Build research and training capacities to examine and address environmental health disparities.
3. Facilitate the translation of environmental health disparities research into policy, public health practice, and
community-based engagement.
The University of
Texas at El Paso, The
University of Texas
Health Science Center
Houston
A-13
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Table A 2. National Research Program: Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
RFA TITLE: EPA/NIMHD Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities
Research for this RFA has concluded. The grants are closed, and final reports have been received. A report summarizing the results of these
grants is in preparation for delivery to SHC in FY17.
New Mexico Center for
Advancement of
Research, Engagement &
Science on Health
Disparities
The objective of the environmental health core is to establish a research focus in the science of intervention on
environmental health disparities based at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center. This effort will be grounded
in sound research practices, informed by community needs, and focus on filling information gaps to inform policy and
clinical care. The core will initiate vigorous, self-sustaining, research that advances the scientific base of knowledge about
interventions and solutions to socioeconomic, natural, chemical, and built environment issues contributing to the health
disparities faced by Native Americans and Hispanic communities in New Mexico and will work to ensure these results are
used to inform policy, clinical, social, and behavioral interventions to reduce disparities.
University of New
Mexico Health
Sciences Center
Espanola, NM,
Four Corners
Region, Native
American
Pueblos
Improving Environmental
Health Disparities: A
Fundamental Cause
Approach
This core supports a research project that explores mechanisms explaining racial differences in exposure to environmental
hazards and access to care and in health outcomes. To achieve this objective, relevant neighborhood-level data will be
compiled on environmental hazards and access to care in Cook County, which will be linked to other social determinants
data in the data repository.
University of Illinois
at Chicago
Cook County,
IL
Central Plains for
American Indian
Community Health
(CAICH)
The environmental health sub-core addressed the critical issue of poor housing conditions in the American Indian
community, identifying the problems and then linking community members to programs that will help them alleviate the
problems. It will also provide significant environmental health education to community members, providers, and facilities
maintenance professionals. In addition to service and education, we will begin to understand American Indian exposure to
environmental tobacco smoke and how to address this important health concern. Through all these projects, we provide
educational opportunities for American Indian college and graduate students interested in environmental health, thus
increasing the number of American Indians entering this field.
University of Kansas
Medical Center
A-14
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Table A-2. National Research Program: Safe and Sustainable Water Resources
Table A 3. National Research Program: Safe and Sustainable Water Resources
RFA Title
Grant
Brief Status Report
Institution*
Study
location
Research and
Demonstration of
Innovative Drinking
Water Treatment
Technologies in Small
Systems
Improving Drinking
Water Quality for Small
Rural Communities in
Missouri
This project addressed the potential drinking water issues for selected small rural communities in
Missouri with an integrated approach to identify trihalomethanes and N-nitrosamines associated
with elevated dissolved organic carbon and dissolved nitrogen in surface water supplies; develop
novel, cost-effective water treatment technologies that reduce the health threats; and transfer
and implement such technologies (primarily improved activated carbon and enhanced solids
contact) for small drinking water treatment plants. This project provided guidance on best
management practices of various surface water supplies for dissolved organic carbon and
dissolved nitrogen control and helped small water treatment systems meet the Stage II
requirements of the EPA drinking water regulations.
Grant Closed 11/2015. Final report submitted.
Lincoln University-
MO, Missouri
University of Science
and Technology,
University of Missouri
- Columbia
Odessa,
Vandalia,
Boonville, MO
Advancing Public
Health Protection
through Water
Infrastructure
Water Infrastructure
Sustainability and Health
in Alabama's Black Belt
The objectives of this study are to (1) assess public health impacts associated with rural water
supply system performance and water quality across a range of small public and private utilities in
rural Alabama; (2) conduct a quantitative microbial risk assessment using measured water quality
exposure data; (3) identify possible transmission pathways for waterborne pathogens in rural
water supply systems; and (4) identify low-cost, practicable risk mitigation strategies to protect
public health.
This project includes active surveillance of water quality across 14 different systems in a three-
county area over 3 years. During this reporting period, we have concluded system-level, large-
volume field sampling (household-level water quality and survey data collection; refined methods
for pathogen sampling, storage, and processing; and completed system-level sampling using
dead-end ultrafiltration for indicator and molecular work). We also have concluded our planned
work with water system operators.
University of Alabama
at Birmingham,
Georgia State
University
A-15
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Appendix B. ORD Laboratory and Center Engagement in Making a Visible Difference in
Communities Projects
Program
(RESES,
RARE, MVD)
Project Title
Location
Brief Status Report
MVD
Water Resiliency
Lawrence, MA
Planned and are implementing a strategic water strategy for environmental justice, resilience, water quality, and
combined sewer overflow compliance
MVD
Resiliency and Risk
Around Ports
Newark, NJ
Established a solid community and academic partnership to advance cumulative risk assessment, air quality
modeling, and citizen science for local applications and decision-making
MVD
Resiliency and Risk
Around Ports
Newport News, VA
Established a solid community and academic partnership to advance cumulative risk assessment, air quality
modeling, and citizen science for local applications and decision-making
MVD
College and Community
Partnership on Risk, Using
C-FERST Tool
Dover, DE
Providing and supporting Delaware State University with training materials and use-case examples for using C-FERST
in some public health classes; Region 3 completed a C-FERST assessment for several target communities in
Delaware, showing the value of using the information in C-FERST—along with locally collected data and "ground-
truthing" done by students—to help identify and work with local communities
MVD
Stormwater in North
Birmingham
North Birmingham,
AL
Local collaboration to obtain and input high-resolution country data into EnviroAtlas for community planning and
development of a cost-module for the National Stormwater Calculator
MVD
Green Infrastructure and
Health
Atlanta, GA
Health impact assessment in progress for the Proctor Creek watershed green infrastructure improvements,
expanding earlier work
MVD
Green Infrastructure and
Hydrology
Cincinnati, OH
Developing a report for a rain garden pilot, which will present hydrology and water quality data
MVD
Village Green
Chicago, IL
Installing a Village Green community monitoring bench at an elementary school, and developing accompanying
curriculum to coordinate with national science standards
MVD
Public Health and Wood
Treatment
Alexandria/Pineville,
LA
Providing technical assistance on the health and environmental threats posed by wood-treatment operations
MVD
Cumulative Risk Around a
Paper Plant
Crossett, AR
Creating a conceptual model of cumulative risk for the paper plant that discharges into a creek through Crossett, the
first step to a cumulative risk assessment and foundation for developing next steps
MVD
Green vs. Gray
Infrastructure
Omaha, NE
Documenting the contributions and impacts of grey and green infrastructure demonstration projects, with goal of
proactively addressing local challenges
MVD
Air Monitoring
Imperial Valley, CA
Working with the region to install small meteorology measurement stations to integrate functionally with existing
university air pollution sensors, to provide a better understanding of pollution movement
B-l
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Appendix C. Regional Applied Research Effort Projects Addressing Environmental Justice
and Tribal Issues
Category:
Project Title
Location
Brief Status Report
EJ, MVD,
Tribal
2
SSWR
NRMRL
FY13
RARE
Evaluation of the
Effectiveness of UV
Disinfection over
Time for
Inactivation of
Waterborne
Pathogens in
Surface and
Groundwater
Supplies in Non-
PRASA Communities
in Puerto Rico
La Sofia and
Apeadero,
PR
Puerto Rico has 247 Non-PRASA water systems (outside the jurisdiction of the Puerto Rico Aqueduct
and Sewer Authority) serving fewer than 500 people. Yet, only 186 of these systems use some form
of chlorination, and very few use filtration technologies for removal of chlorine-resistant pathogens.
Since 2005, ORD has been conducting research studies on low-cost filtration and disinfection
technologies to protect human health in non-PRASA communities. In this project, sand filtration
systems, a conventional treatment system, and UV disinfection were installed and demonstrated in
the non-PRASA communities of La Sofia and Apeadero in rural Puerto Rico. Epidemiology studies are
being completed before and after installation of the drinking water treatment systems to document
the health benefits of the water systems. This RARE project was completed in October 2014 and the
contractor's final report to EPA/NRMRL is available in ORD's internal RSP Tracker database.
EJ
2
SHC
ACE
NERL
FY14
RARE
Citizen Science
Toolbox
Newark, NJ
EPA and ORD partnered with Newark's Ironbound community to design, develop, and pilot a Citizen
Science Toolbox meant to enable communities like Ironbound to collect their own environmental
data and increase their ability to understand local environmental conditions. EPA's resulting Citizen
Science Toolbox provided the community with the components needed to initiate and support a
community-based, participatory environmental monitoring study, including four stationary air sensor
monitors, built by EPA researchers for use by community volunteers to collect data on two common
air pollutants: nitrogen dioxide and fine particle pollution (PM2.5); detailed guidance on instrument
siting and operation; software for data recovery, processing, visualization, and interpretation; and a
template and guidance manual for developing a quality assurance plan to ensure that the data
collected are meaningful and appropriate for their intended use. After a half day of training on the
use and maintenance of the monitors, community volunteers deployed them at over 20 sites over a
6-month period. ORD analyzed the resulting data and summarized findings at a well-attended
community event in November of 2015. A final report is in the clearance process.
R2 MVD
C-l
-------
Region Award
ORD Year
Project Title
Location
Brief Status Report
Category:
EJ, MVD,
Tribal
2
FY15
RARE
Green
Infrastructure in
Puerto Rico
Cano Martin
Pena, PR
Cano Martin Pena (Martin Pena Channel) is a 3.5-mile long tidal channel in the San Juan Bay National
Estuary. Over time, the channel has become clogged with sediment and debris, threatening the
health and livelihood of more than 25,000 residents of the 8 communities clustered around the
channel. Wetlands in the channel were historically filled with trash and debris, narrowing the channel
and obstructing water flow resulting in frequent flooding. In this project, a green infrastructure
practice is being designed and will be constructed and monitored in the Cano Martin Pena
community to investigate how Puerto Rico's unique tropical/subtropical climate, which features high
evapotranspiration rates, a year round growing season and intense rainfall events, impacts the
effectiveness of these practices. It is anticipated that community members will also be trained to use
equipment made available through EPA's loan program for citizen science equipment to collect
additional data on microbial water quality.
R2 MVD
2
FY15
RARE
Evaluation of
Renewable Water
Treatment and
Monitoring
Technologies to
Support
Communities in
Puerto Rico with the
Operation of Non-
PRASA Drinking
Water Systems
Apeadero,
PR
Puerto Rico has 247 small water systems that are neither owned nor administered by Puerto Rico's
Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA). Many challenges are associated with providing safe drinking
water to these small "non-PRASA" communities, including their remote location, lack of reliable
power, and the cost and availability of material and supplies. Since 2005, ORD has conducted
research on the development of low-cost and easy-to-maintain filtration and disinfection
technologies appropriate for non-PRASA communities, including 2 RARE projects that provided UV
disinfection, solar powered pumps, and rapid sand filtration to 300 individuals in 2 communities. In
this project, a solar-powered water pump and waterlines are being installed to combine two remote
water sources for conventional treatment and distribution to residents in Apeadero. The
operators/volunteers from the communities and students from InterAmerican University are also
being trained on the sustainable operation and maintenance of these water treatment systems.
EJ
2
ACE
SHC
NERL
FY16
RARE
The Efficacy of
Citizen Science Air
Monitoring for
Building Awareness
of Exposures for
Citizens in a U.S.
Caribbean Urban
Neighborhood
Impacted by Heavy
Industrial
Contamination
Penuelas, PR
This project will assess the efficacy of citizen science air monitoring for delivering ambient air quality
data to a Spanish-speaking U.S. Caribbean community to enhance awareness and help reduce
exposures. The Tallaboa-Encarnacion neighborhood of Penuelas, Puerto Rico, is the selected venue
for this study. For 50 years, this community has lived in the shadow of a 3,500-acre petrochemical
manufacturing complex. Some 1,400 people, including children, the elderly, and pregnant women
living in the community are exposed to multiple air contaminants from heavy industry. Initial ambient
air quality data are indicative of nitrogen dioxide, PM 2.5, and PM 10, sulfur dioxide and ozone, and
emissions from heavy traffic of diesel trucks, volatile organic compounds, and fugitive asbestos dust
from asbestos-lined breaks, asphalt materials, and demolition at industrial sites. This RARE project
team will work with Citizen Scientists in the community, among them environmental activists, science
teachers, and students from public schools, to research the application of citizen science air
monitoring in educating and informing Tallaboa-Encarnacion residents about air quality in their
specific neighborhood and options for reducing exposures. Air quality data from the EJ project can be
leveraged to inform future decisions regarding appropriate air monitoring.
EJ
C-2
-------
Region Award
ORD Year
Project Title
Location
Brief Status Report
Category:
EJ, MVD,
Tribal
3
SHC
NERL
FY15
RARE
Building Regional
Capacity to Assess
the Impacts of
Federal, Regional,
State, and Local
Decisions on Public
Health and to
Support the
Reduction of
Disproportionate
Impacts on
Overburdened
Communities
Region 3
Region 3 and ORD scientists are working together to build Regional capacity to assess the implications
of Federal, Regional, State, and local decisions on public health and to broaden the understanding of
disproportionate impacts of decisions on overburdened, EJ communities. The goal of this project is to
bring community public health to the forefront in assessments of Federal and industrial activities. The
project team has been meeting to assess the applicability of health impact assessment to Region 3
needs in MVD communities. Difficulty in aligning health impact assessment with status of activities in
MVD communities has led the team to refocus the project to Dover, DE. The team plans to apply
health impact assessment to an aquaculture development project on a brownfield site in Dover.
Region 3's recent work in Dover has bolstered existing partnerships and the use of the Community-
Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST). The C-FERST efforts have converged with the
aquaponics project to create a compelling need for use of a health impact assessment to select
among brownfields projects to provide the greatest overall socioeconomic and health benefits from
the project.
EJ
3
ACE
NRMRL
FY12
RARE
Understanding air
Quality Impacts
from Regional
Energy Production
Activities-
Extension Request
forthe Philadelphia
Passive Sampler and
Sensor Study
South
Philadelphia
Dramatic increases in domestic oil and natural gas production have created a need to improve
knowledge of emitted volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and greenhouse gases to
understand potential air quality impacts more fully. This collaborative project investigated the use of
low-cost sensor and passive sampler measurement systems to help improve information on
variability in air pollutant concentration in areas with many potential sources. The passive samplers
developed in this study provide a cost-efficient monitoring approach for communities and will enable
advanced leak detection for compliance. The project, which brought a new technology to Region 3,
could be used for other applications in the energy extraction and production industry.
EJ
4
SHC
ACE
NERL
FY13
RARE
Characterization of
Near-Source Local-
Scale Air Quality
Related to Port
Expansion Activities
Region 4
Ports along the eastern United States are expected to continue expanding over the next several
years, and increased freight volume and traffic along shipping corridors could lead to elevated air
pollution in nearby EJ communities. Region 4 and ORD scientists are using data collected from ports
such as the one in Charleston, SC to modify existing air quality models to evaluate the potential air
quality impacts associated with port expansion. This project has led to collaborations with several
stakeholders including the Army Corps of Engineers, the State environmental quality department and
port authority, cross-agency National Environmental Policy Act representatives, and community
groups. This range of expertise has helped the research team leverage new technologies, scientific
approaches, and communication strategies, and led to improved estimates of emissions and
interpretation of dispersion results. This modeling system will assist with future mitigation and
regulatory efforts. The modified modeling system will help future research efforts aimed at
mitigation, impact analyses, and regulation of future port expansion projects.
EJ
C-3
-------
Region
ORD
Award
Year
Project Title
Location
Brief Status Report
Category:
EJ, MVD,
Tribal
EJ
FY15
RARE
Improving Control
Technologies
Governing Release
of Lead into
Drinking Water
Under the Safe
Drinking Water Act
to Limit Impacts on
Phosphorus
Discharges under
the Clean Water Act
Ml
As lead service lines age and deteriorate, public water utilities often use blended orthophosphate to
inhibit lead corrosion in aging public water systems. Although adding orthophosphate can minimize
lead release, it can also burden surface waters with phosphate discharge. ORD and Region 5 are
conducting bench-scale analyses and pilot studies to determine the degree of effectiveness for
different levels of phosphate treatment and the relative effectiveness of using pH/alkalinity
adjustment as a treatment method. This research will directly determine the necessity and cost-
effectiveness of different orthophosphate dosages, support the development of an alternative
treatment technique, and assist public water systems in Flint, Ml and other Great Lakes water-fed
systems with simultaneous compliance under the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.
EJ
5
ACE
NRMRL
FY15
RARE
Application of
Lower- Cost Air
Monitoring
Technologies for
Local- Scale Air
Chicago, II
ORD researchers are working with members of an EJ community in Chicago, II to build awareness of
air quality monitoring and research. ORD installed a solar- and wind-powered Village Green bench
station at an elementary school that measures ozone, fine particulate pollution, and weather
conditions around the clock. Data collected by the station are updated every minute online at
www.airnow.sov/villaEesreen and on a disolav monitor next to the bench. ORD is creatins lesson
EJ
Quality
Investigations in an
Environmental
Justice Community
plans that will involve using the Village Green data. ORD is developing an AirMapper portable air
sensor for use in collecting particulate pollution and environmental conditions and shares the data
online through the RETIGO tool. ORD will publish the design plans so others can build similar devices.
An article about this project was recently published on the Chicago Tonight Website at:
http://chicaeotonieht.wttw.eom/2016/06/02/how-park-bench-monitors-air-qualitv-chicaeo-s-
southeast-side.
C-4
-------
SSWR
RARE
NHEERL
Category:
EJ, MVD,
Tribal
Location
Project Title
Brief Status Report
Understanding
which
Gastrointestinal
Illness-Associated
Pathogens are
Native to a
Population to
Determine the
Source and
Generate Risk
Assessment Models
Region 6
This project will provide valuable information regarding waterborne pathogen exposures in Tribal
populations in Region 6, specifically which waterborne pathogens are native to a population and
which are emerging. Understanding this key element can assist with additional public health
protection of Tribal populations by enhancing drinking water treatment plant operations, maintaining
appropriate disinfection residuals, and educating operators on source water protection. The project
team will build relationships with Tribes to assist with developing consistent water disinfection
practices that will improve their water quality and water safety. The results obtained from this
project will (1) assist EPA and tribal nations with risk mitigation tools that can be used to identify
drinking water pathogens rapidly and address risks to public health, (2) provide Region 6 with a
better understanding of the dynamics occurring in Tribal systems that might lead to better
prevention strategies for various waterborne disease outbreaks, and (3) provide sound science for
policy-makers and drinking water operators to develop better management practices that could
improve drinking water treatment practices in Tribal Nations. These partners can implement
innovative and emerging methods for source water protection plans and effective treatment barriers
that use the most cost-effective method of water source protection against invasions by emerging
pathogens.
6
ACE
NRMRL
FY16
RARE
Next-Generation Air
Measurement
Technology
Development and
Application to an
Environmental
Justice Community
in Houston, Texas
Houston, TX
Region 6 has an ongoing need to provide air quality information for EJ communities. Emerging next-
generation air measurement technologies are of great interest as a cost-effective solution to
investigate pollution sources affecting EJ communities and communicate local air quality information.
Region 6 will install a Village Green station in an EJ community in Houston, TX that will measure fine
particulate matter, ozone, and weather every minute and report the data on a public website. This
study will help advance the Village Green station technology and provide important research data on
local air pollution to the EJ community.
C-5
-------
Region Award
ORD Year
Project Title
Location
Brief Status Report
Category:
EJ, MVD,
Tribal
8
SHC
NRMRL
FY16
RARE
Tribal High-
Performance Home
Analysis
Fort Peck
Reservation,
Montana
Native American Tribes in EPA Region 8 reside in some of the poorest counties in the country, often
with insufficient and inadequate housing to meet demand. The Tribes face difficult housing decisions
that have environmental, health, economic, and cultural implications. Despite these challenges,
ingenuity and persistence is visible in many new examples of alternative Tribal housing, including use
of straw bale, compressed earth block, and other high-performance technologies that might be
healthier, greener, and more economically viable to Native American people. The Fort Peck
Reservation is a Region 8 MVD community that is in the early stages of a multiphased sustainable
community development project, planned and implemented by the Make It Right Foundation. This
offers a unique opportunity to engage the community, collect and analyze energy performance in
new construction, high-performance homes, and compare to energy analysis of existing homes on
the Fort Peck Reservation. This project will help Region 8 work toward addressing the main concern
of inadequate and inefficient housing for regional Tribes. Understanding how these designs operate
will be valuable for informing similar design options for Tribal communities in other climate zones.
MVD/
Tribal
9
SHC
NRMRL
FY14
RARE
Sustainable
Approaches for
Materials
Management in
Remote,
Economically
Challenged Areas
U.S. Pacific
Island
Territories
Many of Region 9's Pacific Island territories and Tribal lands face waste management challenges due
to their remote geography, small populations, and economic status. Communities like these often
rely on open dumps with virtually no controls. ORD and Regional scientists are researching a wide
variety of cost-effective and sustainable waste management alternatives to create a decision-support
tool to assist local governments in affected areas. The tool will help these communities divert waste
from open dumps, build compliant low-cost facilities, and improve solid waste management to
promote sustainability.
EJ
9
CSS
NERL
FY14
RARE
Development of a
Simple Approach to
Check for Pesticide
Drift at Schools
Fresno
County, CA
Off-target pesticide drift can occur during or after application of pesticides. Community-based air
monitoring has been demonstrated for use to determine whether pesticide drift affects nearby
communities. This project seeks to use community-based air monitoring to measure pesticides of
most concern to Region 9 in the San Joaquin Valley. The goals are to (1) build community capacity to
measure the levels of pesticides in the air at homes or schools; (2) develop a robust sampling and
analysis approach that makes community air monitoring data useful for EPA and other regulatory
agencies; (3) identify measures to reduce or mitigate exposure to pesticide drift at homes and
schools; and (4) provide data that could be used to refine or validate State tools or programs. This
project will help fill data gaps regarding pesticide exposure due to drift. It also will help determine
whether nonvolatile pesticides should be considered during assessments or estimations of exposure
to pesticides in communities located near heavy pesticide use areas. Furthermore, this project will
help identify whether physical barriers, such as roads or vegetation, help reduce pesticide drift to
schools and homes.
EJ
C-6
-------
Region Award
ORD Year
Project Title
Location
Brief Status Report
Category:
EJ, MVD,
Tribal
9
SHC
NHEERL
FY15
RARE
Evaluating Health
Care Cost Savings
from San Diego's
Healthy Homes
Program in Support
of an Asthma Health
Impact Bond
Fresno
County, CA
Asthma is one of the most prevalent and costly chronic diseases, and is often treated in the
emergency department rather than through comprehensive management and prevention. Homes
contain numerous asthma triggers that play a significant role in making asthma worse and triggering
asthma attacks. Healthy Homes programs that remediate health and safety hazards can reduce
exposure to asthma triggers and decrease the frequency of emergency room visits and
hospitalizations. The City of San Diego has conducted a Safe and Healthy Homes intervention project
since 2006 with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The program
has reached nearly 500 homes with services that include repair of mold and moisture problems;
removal of indoor contaminants such as lead, allergens, and asthma triggers; and repair of home
safety hazards. This RARE project's analyses will provide critical cost/benefit (i.e., return on
investment) data to support the launch of an Asthma Health Impact Bond in San Diego. For this
project, the team will work with the City of San Diego and the City will work with Rise Health to
evaluate medical and insurance records of past program participants (after receiving participant
consent).
EJ
9
ACE
NERL
FY16
RARE
Sensor Kit
Performance
Testing and
Pollutant Mapping
for Community Air
Monitoring: An
Innovative
Partnership with the
South Coast Air
Quality
Management
District Air Quality
Sensor Performance
Evaluation Center
Los Angeles,
CA
The increasing emergence of small, low-cost air quality sensors highlights a shift in the traditional air
monitoring paradigm and the future of air quality monitoring. As these devices become more
widespread and publicly available, the need is increasing to characterize the performance and data
quality of various sensor technologies to guide selection of sensors for specific applications; correctly
interpret and communicate sensor data; and promote conscientious sensor use by academics,
industry, communities, and individuals. The project team is partnering with the South Coast Air
Quality Management District's Air Quality Sensor Performance Evaluation Center to help expand the
knowledge of available air quality sensors, their performance, and potential applications. Efforts
include field and laboratory performance demonstrations of a fine particulate matter (PM2.5) or
ozone (Os) sensor kit, data visualization, and development of regional guidelines for using emerging
technologies for air quality sensors. This project will yield a spatial map of pollutant concentrations,
summary of sensor package performance relative to reference standards, and sensor data analytics.
The final products also will include small, portable air monitoring kits that communities can check out
from the Evaluation Center to better understand their local air quality. Through this work, EPA staff
will engage in efforts to assemble data analysis tools for complex sensor arrays, including evaluation
of quality assurance features, pattern recognition, and normalization versus reference monitors.
Regional standard operating procedures and QA/QC guidance for sensor performance kit
implementation and training materials will be developed for internal and external use, including
appropriate strategies for communicating sensor performance results to the public. Results will
contribute to the District's Evaluation Center sensor library, ORD's Air Sensor Toolbox, and broader
community air monitoring projects.
EJ
C-7
-------
Region Award
ORD Year
Project Title
Location
Brief Status Report
Category:
EJ, MVD,
Tribal
10
ACE
NRMRL
FY13
RARE
Agricultural Smoke
Emissions in
Support of Tribal
and State Smoke
Management
Northern
Idaho,
Eastern
Washington
In Region 10, agricultural burning is strictly regulated in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon; on the Nez
Perce, Coeur d'Alene, and Umatilla Reservations; and for the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho. Under federally
enforceable State and Tribal regulations, smoke managers in these areas make daily decisions about
who can and cannot conduct agricultural burning. These regulations and smoke management
programs exist as a result of past agricultural smoke-related health impacts, citizen complaints, and
lawsuits across the Pacific Northwest. Smoke management programs are a critical part of a
compromise that allows the agriculture industry to burn material on days when the smoke will
quickly disperse and restricts burning on poorly ventilated days when smoke would not disperse and
would adversely affect human health. A poorly informed burn decision can mean the difference
between very clean air and air that greatly exceeds national air quality standards for the tens of
thousands of people that live in any one of several agricultural airsheds in the Pacific Northwest. This
project measured the amount and height of smoke from representative agricultural burns. The data
will be used in the Airpact and ClearSky modeling tools to produce dispersion forecasts that more
accurately reflect the amount of smoke released from an agricultural burn and its distribution
vertically above the ground. The Airpact and ClearSky smoke forecasts are displayed on the
Washington State University website every morning in time for smoke managers to finalize burn
decisions for that day and to assign preliminary burn decisions for the following day. Better smoke
forecasts lead to better smoke management decisions and fewer instances of "smoked-out"
populated areas. The project team will draft a journal article incorporating the emissions data.
Tribal
10
SSWR
HHRA
CSS
SHC
NERL
FY15
RARE
Identification of
Safe Dust-Control
Products for Alaska
Native Villages: A
Study of the Toxicity
of Palliatives
Alaska
Unpaved roadways in the State of Alaska are common. Vehicular traffic, especially during the dry
season, raises considerable amounts of dust, which is transported, creates air quality and safety
concerns, and settles on roadside vegetation and in waterways where Alaska Tribes routinely gather
plants and fish that are consumed as part of their traditional subsistence activities. To help control
the dust problem, palliatives are often sprayed on the rural, unpaved roads. Palliatives can range
from plain water, which has a short effective life, to synthetic organic compounds, which have a
much longer effective life. Concern has arisen about the exposure of the local populations to the
chemicals sprayed on the dirt roads when nearby foodstuffs are gathered and eaten. This RARE
project is the first phase evaluating the issue and is focused on conducting a literature review of
available palliatives, their frequency of use, and information on their effectiveness for dust control.
Later follow-up research might involve collecting and analyzing local food sources near areas of
palliative use to determine ingestion exposure capacity. The research team recently completed the
literature review.
EJ
C-8
-------
Region
ORD
Award
Year
Project Title
Location
Brief Status Report
Category:
EJ, MVD,
Tribal
10
SHC
NERL
FY16
RARE
Lead, Allergen,
Pesticide, and
Polychlorinated
Biphenyl Levels in
Licensed Childcare
Centers in Portland
Area Indian Country
Portland
Area Indian
Country (all
federally
recognized
Tribes within
WA, ID, and
OR)
This study will provide valuable concentration data about lead, allergens, pesticides, polychlorinated
biphenyls, and possible other chemical or biological agents in Portland Area Indian country childcare
facilities. This information will help prioritize services and funding based on known needs and risks to
help facilities obtain needed services. We will compare our study findings to the results measured in
a national survey to determine how potential chemical exposures in childcare facilities in Portland
Area Indian country compare to chemical exposures measured in childcare facilities in the continental
United States. EPA and the Indian Health Service plan to conduct follow-up outreach and education
with the Tribes and facilities on how to reduce exposure risks from contaminants that are detected in
the facilities.
Tribal
C-9
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Appendix D. RESES Projects Addressing Environmental Justice and Tribal issues
Project Title
Community
Status
R7
NRMRL
Kansas City Transportation and Local Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS): Comparing Citizen Science and
PM Data
Kansas City, KS
Awarded 2016
R6, R2
NERL
Temporal-Spatial Analysis of Mosquito Breeding Habitat, Arbovirus Health Risk, and Vector Mitigation in
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville, TX
Puerto Rican suburb (to be
determined)
Awarded 2016
R6
NRMRL
Use of Decision Analysis for a Sustainable Environment, Economy and Society (DASEES) to Develop
Remediation and Restoration Options for Small Dairy Farm Operations and Enhance Community
Stakeholder Involvement
Mid-East Louisiana
(Saint Helena, Tangipahoa,
Washington Parishes)
Awarded 2016
RIO, R2
NRMRL
Deployment of Decision Analysis for a Sustainable Environment, Economy and Society (DASEES) to
Support Superfund Remedial Action Decision Process and Enhance Community Involvement
Coeur d'Alene River, ID
Lower Darby, PA
Awarded 2016
R4, R6
NERL
Community Participatory Port Resilience Assessment
Memphis Tri-City Port Area
Awarded 2016
RIO
NERL
Making a Visible Difference (MVD) in N/NE Portland: Engaging Communities, Using Citizen Science to
Assess and Address Children's Environmental Health from Transit and Air Pollution
Portland, OR
Awarded 2015
RIO,
R3, R9
NERL
Understanding and Evaluating Ecosystem Services at Site Remediation Projects and Applying Their
Benefits to Sustainability and Livability for Surrounding Communities
Coeur d'Alene, ID
Philadelphia, PA
Awarded 2015
R9, R5
NRMRL
Improving Public Health through Urban and Roadside Vegetation
Detroit, Ml
Imperial Valley/Oakland, CA
Awarded 2015
R5
NHEERL
How the Relative Valuation of Ecosystem Goods and Services Empowers Communities to Impact the
Outcomes of Remediation, Restoration and Revitalization Projects
St. Louis River Estuary, MN
Awarded 2015
R2
NERL
Using Ecosystem Services Assessment and Health Impact Assessments as Part of a Stakeholder-driven
Approach to Storm Recovery: Long Island Case Study
Long Island, NY
Awarded 2015
R4, R6,
R7
NRMRL
CitySpace & Air Sensor Network: Evaluating Spatial Gradients of Urban Air Pollution with Low-Cost Air
Sensor Technology
To be determined among
Memphis, TN; Birmingham, AL;
Louisville, KY
Awarded 2015
R9
NERL
Floating Vegetation Islands: Using TEK for Development of Leading Indicators of Ecosystem Function for
BMP Effectiveness, Water Quality Standards, Biological Criteria, and Control of Harmful Algal Blooms
Lake Havasu, AZ
Colorado River Indian Tribes Indian
Reservation
Awarded 2015
R4
NRMRL
Using Green Infrastructure to Address Climate Change Resiliency: A Case Study in North Birmingham, AL
Birmingham, AL
Awarded 2014
R4
NRMRL
Community Resilience Planning and Decision Making Framework for Coastal Communities
Southeast FL
Awarded 2014
R1
NRMRL/NERL
Preparing Communities for Disruptive Climate Events in Southeastern Mass
Southeastern Massachusetts
Awarded 2014
D-l
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Appendix E. Intramural Laboratory- and Center-based ORD Research Addressing
Environmental Justice Issues
Appendix E. Intramural Laboratory and Center based ORD Research Addressing Environmental Justice Issues
Citation
Topic
Product
Subtype
Research
Program
Location
U.S. EPA. Environmental Resilience: Exploring Scientific Concents for Strengthening Communitv Resilience to
Community
resilience
EPA Report
Homeland
Security
Disasters. U.S. Environmental Protection Agencv. Washington. DC. EPA/600/R-15/163, 2015.
U.S. EPA. EPA Pursues Interest in Developing Communitv Environmental Resilience Indicators and Indices. U.S.
Community
resilience
Technical
Fact Sheet
Homeland
Security
Environmental Protection Agencv. Washington. DC. EPA/600/F-15/153, 2015.
Hu. S.. and A. Keelev. Sustainable Urban Waters: Opportunities to Integrate Environmental Protection in Multi-
Community
resilience
EPA Report
SSWR
obiective Projects. U.S. Environmental Protection Agencv. Washington. DC. EPA/600/R-15/305, 2015.
Green. 0.. A. Garmestani, C. Allen. L. Gunderson, J. Ruhl, C. Arnold. N. Graham. B. Cosens, D. Angeler, B. Chaffin, and
Community
resilience
Journal
article
SSWR
C. Holling. Barriers and Bridges to the Integration of Social-ecological Resilience and Law. Frontiers in Ecologv and
the Environment. Ecological Societv of America. Ithaca. NY. 13(61:332-337. 2015.
Sadd, J.. E.S. Hall. M. Pastor. R. Morello-Frosch, J. Haves, and C. Swanson. Ground-Truthing Validation to Assess the
Cumulative
impacts
Journal
article
SHC
California
Effect of Facility Locational Error on Cumulative Impacts Screening Tools. International Journal of Environmental
Research and Public Health. Molecular Diversity Preservation International. Basel. Switzerland. 2015:1-8, 2015.
Daniel. J.. P. Barclay, and K. Bush. Building a Greenwav: Using EnviroAtlas in the Classroom. Case Study. US EPA
Decision support -
Eco-health
EPA Report
SHC
Office of Research and Development. Washington. DC. EPA/600/R-16/006, 2016
Yngve, L.. and B. Pamela. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and EnviroAtlas: Integrating Ecosystem Services into the
Decision support -
Eco-health
EPA Report
SHC
Decision-Making Process-Guide. US EPA Office of Research and Development. Washington. DC. EPA/600/RR-15-128,
2015.
Bradlev. P.. W. Fisher. B. Dvson. and A. Rehr. Coral Reef and Coastal Ecosystems Decision Support Workshop April
Decision support -
Eco-health
Report
SHC
Puerto Rico
27-29. 2010 Caribbean Coral Reef Institute. La Parguera. Puerto Rico. U.S. Environmental Protection Agencv.
Washington. DC. EPA/600/R-14/386. 2015.
Jiang. Y. Yuan. Y. Neale. A. Jackson. L. and Mehaffev. M. Association between Natural Resources for Outdoor
Decision support -
Eco-health
Journal
article
SHC
Activities and Physical Inactivity: Results from the
Contiguous United States. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016,13. 830: doi:10.3390/iierphl3080830.
Svkes, K.. J. Mova, L. Phillips. C. Penalva-Arana, and S. Gilbert. Aging: Characteristics. Exposure Factors. Epigenetics,
Disparities —
Health and
exposure
Book
Chapter
N/A
and Assessment of Health Risks of Older Adults. Chapter 23. Anna M. Fan. Elaine M. Khan. George V. Alexeeff (ed.l.
Toxicology and Risk Assessment. Pan Stafford Publishing Pte Ltd. Singapore. Malaysia. 1029-1086. 2015.
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Appendix E. Intramural Laboratory
and Center based ORD Research Addressing Environmental Justice Issues
Citation
„ . Product Research
Topic
Subtype Program
Location
Berland. A.. K. Schwarz. D. Herrmann, and M. Hopton. How Environmental Justice Patterns Are Shaped bv Place:
Terrain and Tree Canopv in Cincinnati. Ohio. USA. Cities and the Environment. Digital Commons Lovola Marvmount
Disparities —
ecosystem services
Journal
article
SSWR
Cincinnati, OH
University. Los Angeles. CA. 8(1): Article 1. 2015.
McCullough, Shaun D.. E. Bowers. D. On. D. Morgan. Lisa A. Dailev. Ronald N. Hines, Robert B. Devlin, and D. Diaz-
Sanchez. Baseline Chromatin Modification Levels Mav Predict Interindividual Variabilitv in Ozone-Induced Gene
Expression. Toxicological Sciences. Societv of Toxicologv. 150(11:216-224. 2016.
Disparities —
Epigenetics and
health
Journal
article
ACE
King. K.. S. Murphv. and C. Hovo. Epigenetic Regulation of Newborns' Imprinted Genes Related to Gestational
Growth: Patterning bv Parental Race/Ethnicitv and Maternal Socioeconomic Status. Martin Bobak and James R.
Dunn (ed.). Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. BMJ / British Medical Journal Publishing Group.
London. UK. 12(l):l-20. 2015.
Disparities —
Epigenetics and
health
Journal
article
SHC
Vidal, A.. V. Semenova, T. Darrah, A. Vengosh, Z. Huang. K. King. M. Nve, R. Fry, D. Skaar, R. Mcguire, A. Murtha, J.
Schildkraut. S. Murphv. and C. Hovo. Maternal Cadmium. Iron and Zinc Levels. DNA Methvlation and Birth Weight.
BMC Pharmacology and Toxicologv. BioMed Central Ltd. London. UK. 15:16-20. 2015.
Disparities —
Epigenetics and
health
Journal
article
SHC
King. K.. J. Kane. P. Scarbrough, C. Hovo. and S. Murphv. Neighborhood and Familv Environment of Expectant
Mothers Mav Influence Prenatal Programming of Adult Cancer Risk: Discussion and an Illustrative DNA Methvlation
Disparities —
Epigenetics and
Journal
article
SHC
Example. Biodemographv and Social Biologv. Tavlor and Francis. Philadelphia. PA. 62(1):87-104, 2016.
health
Senthilkumar P. Kuppusamv. J. Phillip Kaiser, and S.C. Wesselkamper Epigenetic Regulation in Environmental
Chemical Carcinogenesis and its Applicability in Human Health Risk Assessment International Journal of Toxicologv
Vol. 34(5) 384-392. 2015.
Disparities —
Epigenetics and
human health risk
assessment
Journal
article
HHRA
Joca, L.. J. Sacks. D. Moore. J.S. Lee. R. Sams, and J. Cowden. Systematic Review of Differential Inorganic Arsenic
Exposure in Minority. Low-Income, and Indigenous Populations in the United States. Environment International.
Elsevier Science Ltd. New York. NY. 2016.
Disparities —
Health and
exposure
Journal
article
HHRA
McEwen, A.. H. Hsu-Kim, N. Robins. N. Hagan, S. Halabi, 0. Barras, D. Richter, AND J. Vandenberg. Residential Metal
Disparities —
Journal
HHRA
Potosi, Bolivia
Contamination and Potential Health Risks of Exposure in Adobe Brick Houses in Potosi, Bolivia.Science of the Total
Environment. Elsevier BV. Amsterdam. Netherlands. 562:237-246. 2016.
Health and
exposure
article
Gernes, R.. R. Hertzberg, M. MacDonell, G. Rice. J. Wright. G. Beresin, T. Miller. J. Africa. G. Donovan. J. Hipp. P.
Hvstad. L. Jackson. M. Kondo, Y. Michael. R. Mitchell. M. Nieuwenhuiisen, P. Ryan, W. Sullivan, and M. Annerstedt
van den Bosch. Estimating Greenspace Exposure and Benefits for Cumulative Risk Assessment Applications.
(Summary Report). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Washington. DC. EPA/600/R-16/025, 2016.
Eco-health and
cumulative
assessment
EPA Report
HHRA
E-3
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Appendix E. Intramural Laboratory and Center based ORD Research Addressing Environmental Justice Issues
Citation
Topic
Product
Subtype
Research
Program
Location
Foster-Wittig. T.. E. Thoma. and J. Alberston. Estimation of Point Source Fugitive Emission Rates from a Single Sensor
Near source air
quality
Journal
ACE
Wyoming
Time Series: A Conditionally Sampled Gaussian Plume Reconstruction. Atmospheric Environment. Elsevier Science
Ltd. New York. NY. 115:101-109. 2015.
Brantlev. H.. E. Thoma. AND A. Eisele. Assessment of VOC and HAP Air Emissions from Oil and Natural Gas Well Pads
Near source air
quality
Journal
article
ACE
Denver-Julesburg,
Barnett, and
Pinedale Basins
Using Mobile Remote and Onsite Direct Measurements. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association. Air &
Waste Management Association. Pittsburgh. PA. 65(91:1072-82. 2015.
Albertson, J.. T. Harvev. G. Foderaro, P. Zhu, X. Zhou. S. Ferrari. S. Amin, M. Modrak, H. Brantlev. AND E. Thoma. A
Near source air
quality
Journal
article
ACE
National.
Experimental
Studies in CO, NC
Mobile Sensing Approach for Regional Surveillance of Fugitive Methane Emissions in Oil and Gas Production.
Environmental Science & Technology. American Chemical Society, Washington. DC. 50(5):2487-2497, 2015.
Thoma. E. Next Generation Source Measurements: CRADA partner communication sheet. US Environmental
Near source air
quality
Technical
Fact Sheet
ACE
Protection Agency, Cincinnati. OH. 2015.
Grosse, D.. J. Enriauez. J. McKernan, S. Bessler, AND A. Dindal. Quality Assurance Proiect Plan for Verification of
Near source air
quality
EPA Report
N/A
Black Carbon Monitors. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-16/032, 2016.
U.S. EPA. Extraction and analysis of Lewisite 1. by its degradation products, using liauid chromatography tandem
Potential
hazardous waste
EPA Report
HS
mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MC). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Washington, DC, 2015.
Luxton. T.. B. Miller. E. Holder. AND J. Voit. Omaha Soil Mixing Study: Redistribution of Lead in Remediated
Site remediation
EPA Report
SHC
Omaha, NE
Residential Soils Due to Excavation or Homeowner Disturbance. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,
DC, EPA/600/R-15/054, 2015.
Bessler. S. and J. McKernan. Engineering Technical Support Center Annual Report Fiscal Year 2014: Technical
Site remediation
EPA Report
SHC
Support and Innovative Research for Contaminated Sites. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC,
EPA/600/R-15/132, 2015.
Jianping, X.. V. Zartariana, B. Mintza, M. Weber. K. Bailevc, A. Gellerd. Modeling tribal exposures to methyl mercury
from fish consumption. Science of The Total Environment. Vol. 533,15 November 2015, Pages 102-109.
Tribal
Journal
article
CSS
Smith. L.. C. Wade. J. Case. L. Harwell. K. Straub. AND Kevin Summers. Evaluating the Transferability of a U.S. Human
Tribal
Journal
article
SHC
Well-being Index (HWBI) Framework to Native Americans Populations. Social Indicators Research. Springer. New
York. NY. 124(1):157-182. 2015.
DeMarini, D.. V. Marshall. R. Hillger, S. Warren. A. Swank. T. Hughes. A. Elskus, C. Byrne, J. Ferrario, C. Orazio, R.
Tribal
EPA Report
SSWR
Penobscot River,
ME
Dudley, J. Diliberto. S. Stodola, S. Mierzvkowski, K. Pugh, AND C. Culbertson. The Penobscot River and Environmental
Contaminants: Assessment of Tribal Exposure Through Sustenance Lifewavs. US EPA Office of Research and
Development. Washington. DC. 2015.
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Appendix E. Intramural Laboratory and Center based ORD Research Addressing Environmental Justice Issues
Citation
Topic
Product
Subtype
Research
Program
Location
Warren. S.. L. Claxton. T. Hushes. A. Swank. J. Diliberto. V. Marshall. D. Kusnierz. R. Hillger. and D. DeMarini. Survev
Tribal
Journal
article
SSWR
Penobscot Indian
Nation
of the Mutagenicity of Surface Water. Sediments, and Drinking Water from the Penobscot Indian Nation.
Chemosphere. Elsevier Science Ltd. New York. NY. 120(l):690-696, 2015.
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SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
PRESORTED STANDARD
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT NO. G-35
Office of Research and Development (8101R)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
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