National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Meeting May 10 - 12, 2011 Thursday, May 12, 2011 Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 2 National Environmental Justice Advisory Council May 12, 2011 NEJAC Council Members Present: Elizabeth Yeampierre, Chair John Ridgway, Vice Chair Teri E. Blanton Sue Briggum, Ph.D. Peter M. Captain, Sr. Jolene M. Catron Wynecta Fisher Stephanie Hall Savonala "Savi" Home J. Langdon Marsh Margaret J. May Vernice Miller-Travis Paul Mohai, Ph.D. Rev. Vien T. Nguyen Edith M. Pestana Nia Robinson Nicholas W. Targ Kimberly Wasserman Victoria Robinson, Designated Federal Officer NEJAC Council Members Absent: Jodena Henneke Patricia E. Salkin Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- National Environmental Justice Advisory Council May 12, 2011 INDEX Welcome by Victoria Robinson, DFO, EPA Review of Prior Day by Elizabeth Yeampierre, NEJAC Chair Executive Director, UPROSE, Inc. American Indian Environmental Office Update by JoAnn Chase, Director, EPA American Indian Environmental Office (AEIO) Remarks from Brooklyn Borough President by Marty Markowitz American Indian Environmental Office Update (cont.) by JoAnn Chase Questions and Comments Local Government Priorities for Environmental Justice Moderator: Elizabeth Yeampierre Comments by Elizabeth Ernish, Brooklyn Borough's President's Office Comments by David Bragdon, New York Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability Questions and Comments Welcome Back by Elizabeth Yeampierre Comments by Monica Hedstrom, National Tribal Caucus Page 10 11 15 21 22 23 26 38 39 Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 4 INDEX (cont.) Pacie NEJAC Action Agenda Discussion Moderator: Victoria Robinson, DFO, EPA 40 Closing Remarks by Elizabeth Yeampierre 55 Keynote: "—" indicates inaudible in the transcript. indicates phonetically spelled in the transcript. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 5 MORNING SESSION (9:19 a.m.) Welcome by Victoria Robinson, DFO, EPA MS. V. ROBINSON: Good morning, everybody. It is our third day, last day of the meeting. I am sure everybody is a bit tired and looking forward to head home. Just a couple administrative things to our members. (Logistical/shipping information) MS. V. ROBINSON: I will turn this over to Elizabeth in a quick moment as she returns to her seat. She has a few comments and we will go ahead and get started. Review of Prior Day by Elizabeth Yeampierre, Chair, NEJAC MS. YEAMPIERRE: Welcome, welcome back, everyone, and thank you for waiting for me to get the coffee. I did get here early, but I wasn't allowed to do that, so sorry to be stepping up to the mike so late. But thank you. I just want to just go over some of the amazing things that happened yesterday. You know, we had Bill Sanders, who talked about the science implementation plan and which was a reminder, I think, to me that we are so fortunate as a movement to have people in so many different places that are bringing their expertise to address these complicated issues in our community. We had a presentation on the coastal ecosystem restoration, and I think that everyone agreed that not only are we dealing with urgent issues but that these become sort of templates of how we are going to be addressing coastal communities throughout the United States, that what we learned from New Jersey, from New York, from the Restoration Task Force are what our charges, what our mandate, is and how we should be thinking about some of the problems that are going to be impacting these communities. We had a tremendous presentation by Carol Ann Siciliano on the EJ - Environmental Justice and Permitting Initiative. I - you know, as I mentioned yesterday, it is just one of those things that we know is complicated but affects all the decisions that involve environmental justice. And then we had testimony from the public, who has been patient, has been here since Tuesday, listening to each other and sharing what they - what their concerns are and how those concerns might be able to shape and inform our recommendations as a body. So, welcome back, and let us just do a little roll call and go around. Elizabeth Yeampierre, UPROSE. (Committee Introductions) MS. YEAMPIERRE: Is that everyone? Buenos dias, and welcome. Is there anyone who didn't introduce themselves? Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 6 (No response) MS. YEAMPIERRE: Okay. So I really have the honor today of introducing JoAnn Chase, Director of the EPA American Indian Environmental Office. If she can join us at the table, I would really appreciate that. Welcome. MS. CHASE: Thank you. Welcome. MS. YEAMPIERRE: So, I am going to read your bio. MS. CHASE: Don't - please don't! (Laughter) MS. YEAMPIERRE: But we want everyone in the public - MS. CHASE: — oh, no, no! MS. YEAMPIERRE: I feel you on that. That is exactly how I feel, but it is really important for the members of the public to know, so we are going to do this. MS. CHASE: Go ahead. Just pick two sentences, okay? MS. YEAMPIERRE: Okay, all right, all right, all right. I will try - I am going to be - I am going to talk real fast, you know. I am Latina, so I could do that! (Laughter) MS. YEAMPIERRE: On October 20th, 2010, Michelle DePass, the U.S. EPA Assistant Administrator of the Office of International and Tribal Affairs, announced the appointment of JoAnn Chase to the position of Director of the American Indian Environmental Office. Before accepting her post at EPA, Ms. Chase served as the Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians for many years, and led that organization to become the largest and one of the most effective tribal organizations. Ms. Chase served as the Executive Director of the American Indian Community House where, by the way, I worked as Director of Legal Services for the American Indian Law Alliance. She has also served as the Executive Director of the National Network of Grantsmakers. JoAnn is a skilled and dynamic leader who has had a distinguished career. She has a law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law with a concentration in Indian law. JoAnn is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and MS. CHASE: Arikara. MS. YEAMPIERRE: - Arikara Nation, and you could correct me on that. MS. CHASE: Thank you. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you so much, and welcome. Thank you for joining us. American Indian Environmental Office Update by JoAnn Chase, Director, EPA American Indian Environmental Office (AEIO) MS. CHASE: Thank you. All right, then. That was just Mandan-Hidatsa- Arikara. Most people don't get that, so you did a really nice job with that, so - Listen, let me just start off by saying I am just really pleased to be here. I want to give some shouts out to Lisa and all of the great work that her office is doing. Danny, Victoria, thank you so much for helping me get here. And I am kind of new at Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 7 this, so I am going to start off just, if you don't mind, kind of just giving you sort of my - how I got here and why I am here and what we could do together, I think, which I hope you will all take seriously. I also wanted to say thanks to Vernice. I have known Vernice for a long time. It is nice to see you, sister, and a few other of you folks around the table. It is really exciting and positive. And why we do what we do is because we are all kind of - can sit around this table together and we can brainstorm and think outside the box and work together in really important and exciting ways to continue to advance issues in - from my perspective, for Indian Country, but just generally for justice for communities that we are all concerned about and care about, so it is really terrific to be here, so - (Slide) Let me just also start just - I said kind of, but thanks to Danny and to Victoria and other folks in my own office who are just sort of just laying out like it is a really hip slide show for me. I am not so much of a hip slide show kind of person, so just bear with me. Well, it is all going to connect, I hope. But if you just rock with us, and rock with me, we are going to hit the substantive issues but hopefully also just I think my purpose really for being here, in my head, is making a commitment to all of you and to Lisa in particular, about how we work together and move forward together. And I think there are so many opportunities, and I am real excited about that and I get a little overwhelmed on the day-to-day of my office. I kind of came in here to a position as a Federal person and thinking as a non-Federal person, and of course it has been a little challenging, but I think that there are, again, great opportunities for us. So let me start. (Slide) I would love to start just with a minute of like: What is Indian Country? Which is really relevant to me, because it is kind of how I came to this position. Indian Country is so diverse and so wonderful in so many ways. I think there are many, many, many tribes. You have heard us talk about tribal governments and what tribal governments are and how they exist and why they exist and so on, but I think there are, you know, generally over 500 tribal governments in this - that we are engaged with and dealing with on a day-to-day basis. And you can see the little slide slots. There are all these other effects, these - you know, the numbers of - what does that mean in terms of the land base? What does it mean in terms of the folks? What does it mean in terms of the social indicators, you know? I think that the real point is Indian Country is just really broad. There are 565-plus tribes that we engage with on a daily basis. I am actually proud to be a member of one of those, the Mandan-Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. And this like - a really important aspect of our work is understanding the diverse and complexity and uniqueness and even all the little variables of all the tribes that we deal with. These are very diverse communities and at the same time, importantly - and I take very seriously tribal government. So I am looking forward to thinking through the issues with you as we engage these governments in our ongoing processes. (Slide) Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 8 So, at any rate, then we move forward to the Federal relationship with tribes, which is kind of why I came to this. I have always been on the other side of these issues. I come to the EPA as an advocate. I spent several years of my life as the Director the National Congress of American Indians, and had you told me a couple of years ago that I would be working for the Federal government, I would have been like "you are absolutely crazy! No way! You have got it - no, absolutely not! I don't care if it is a political appointment, I don't care what the heck it is - no way! I am not going back there. I have done this, I have" - There were a few reasons why then I have reconsidered this. One is the President of the United States of America and his commitment to working with tribal governments. The second is the Director - the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson. She was so clear in articulating her commitment to strengthening the relationship with Federal tribal governments - with Federally recognized tribes with tribal governments generally. I was like, oh, this is so exciting, this is so great! This is an agency that has a history of great work with tribes. I am sitting on the outside. Folks are calling me, saying, "Hey, do you know people that might be interested in this position?" I am sending in a resume saying, "Yes, absolutely. Oh, my gosh - let me And then, somewhere, somebody came along and said, "Well, maybe you should take this position, JoAnn." And I was like, "No, no, absolutely not." And then I - and as I - as again as I kind of deconstructed it, I thought: Oh, my goodness, there is an opportunity to do such great work here. All the things that I really believe in, and they emanate from the Administrator's commitment to strengthening relationship with tribes. They move toward the creation of the Office of Indian - of International and Tribal Affairs under the leadership of Michelle DePass. There is the history of this organization, or of this agency, with the 1984 policy that has made such a difference. And I thought, wow - all these factors considered - this may be an opportunity for me to actually come in and maybe do some work, albeit from the outside as somebody that has always been focused on kind of holding the Federal government's feet to the fire. What a great opportunity now to be one of those people that others hold to the fire. I was like, oh, yes, really - okay! Okay! (Laughter) MS. CHASE: So, okay! So, just bear with me, okay? I am excited. It is a good thing. Like, yes! And I truly believe in the role of the Office of the American Indian Environmental Office. I - you know, we are here to kind of carry out, I mean, the work of the agency on behalf of tribal governments, and that means a great deal, and I am excited and encouraged and optimistic about how we can do that collectively. And so it is also very exciting to be with you here today on behalf of that. So - we could go on and on and on about the Federal relationship with tribes, but of course it is important to just acknowledge that there is a very defined relationship and it does include the recognition of tribes as sovereign governments, it does include their capacity to be self-governing, and it does include a responsibility, if Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 9 you will, and even more an obligation, of this government to actually be engaged directly with the tribes. So that is very important. (Slide) As it comes to EPA, you know, we can talk - I could spend a whole lot of time talking about our trust responsibilities and the Federal government responsibility, but suffice it to say it is my job to carry out the relationship - let us keep it pure and simple - and that is not easy. We have a lot of challenges on our plate. We are going to be talking so much more about a number of issues. We are going to be talk about later, talk in depth about the general assistance program. I hope to be in touch with all of you about how we are doing our work. But for just a second, I thought it might be important just to recognize some of the direct work that we actually do do, why we do it, and how we do it. And let me just stop for a second and just say one of the issues that has been really important to me is - besides bad New York coffee in the morning, which is really a good thing - MS. : (Away from microphone) — MS. CHASE: Yes, absolutely. Can I just say I have been grieving my transition from New York City to Washington, D.C. I mean, I am so happy to be in Washington, I am so trying hard to love doing the work I do, but I am just missing New York, and I am missing Brooklyn, and I am missing my — straight up, okay? (Laughter) MS. CHASE: And — miss them. — And New York won. You know, my TV every morning, I am like, "Where is News One?" I mean, for this is just wrong. Washington doesn't have that, and so I don't want to complain to you but I am so pleased that - I need to just shut up for a minute because the Borough President of Brooklyn, which is just this amazing community, is here, and let me turn it over to Lisa and just be quiet. And I am so happy to be back in New York. Thank you. You just made my day! (Laughter) MR. : Come on home! (Applause) MS. YEAMPIERRE: Well, you know, JoAnn, I don't even think an introduction is necessary now. (Laughter) MS. YEAMPIERRE: I think you just did that for me, but - MR. : Come on home, JoAnn! MS. YEAMPIERRE: Lisa Garcia is from Brooklyn, so — you know, when we heard that the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council was coming to Region II, we were so excited about the possibility of it being in Brooklyn. You have no idea. I was just so delighted. I am really happy that we have our Borough President with us because our Borough President, and I have his bio but I am not going to read it, I am going to say that our Borough President has really transformed Brooklyn. Brooklyn was a very, very different place back in the day when there were tensions between communities and communities were struggling, particularly communities of color, and I have got to say that it is a very different place, and he knows that it was not the case that I would be the first to say it. So I am really, with Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 10 tremendous pride and pleasure, have the opportunity to introduce you to our Borough President, Marty Markowitz. Remarks from Brooklyn Borough President by Marty Markowitz MR. MARKOWITZ: Oh, thank you, Elizabeth. Thank you, Elizabeth, thank you. Thank you. (Applause) MR. MARKOWITZ: JoAnn, I love what you had to say. I have to say it. I feel that way every day. First off, let me thank the EPA for convening NEJAC's national meeting in what we call the "Green Republic of Brooklyn," home to EPA Region II Administrator Judith Enck. Now, I must tell you she is an upstate gal, as you know, and she voluntarily moved to Brooklyn, meaning that she could have chosen to live anywhere. She chose to live in Brooklyn. So who is more of a Brooklynite - someone who was born in Brooklyn and chose to move to Connecticut and New Jersey or a person who was not born in Brooklyn but chose to live in Brooklyn? Judith Enck, you are a Brooklynite, that is for sure! (Laughter) MR. MARKOWITZ: And her reach stretches from New Jersey, New York, to Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands - not bad for a Brooklyn gal, that is for sure. Also, I know you can't have any real discussion about EEJ without EY in the room, and by that I mean, Brooklyn's own Elizabeth Yeampierre and NEJAC's Chair. She is a piece of work, I have to tell you that, you know. (Laughter) MR. MARKOWITZ: In a good way. She represents what Brooklyn is all about - shy and retiring, can hardly speak up, or whatever the opposite of that is. (Laughter) MR. MARKOWITZ: Elizabeth, along with UPROSE and Sunset Park and El Puente in North Brooklyn and Brooklyn's favorite son, Eddie Bautista of New York's City Environmental Justice Alliance, have been spearheading a green revolution in terms of how the City of New York manages solid waste, revitalizes brownfields, develops the waterfront and builds new parks and open space. Most importantly, Brooklyn's EJ community has set a new standard for engaging New York's low-income communities of color on important environmental issues. Because of their hard work, Brooklyn really is leading the way - and I really believe that - forward in the quest for a greener New York. In fact, our future and this country's future depends on it. From East New York, Dumont Green, you have got to see this. I know you have been here for a few days, but we just had the ground - the opening, official opening, last Friday: 176 units of low-income housing and also for the homeless in the same project. That is not new. What is new is that the building is powered by solar energy. That is new. And believe me, I hope it is a start of many additional housing developments throughout the country, including here in Brooklyn where at Borough Hall Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 11 we will be having a major push beginning in our next issue of our newspaper to encourage homeowners to think about solar energy, to make our contribution to break our dependence on foreign sources of power. From New York's parks are springing up from formerly industrial spaces on the north Brooklyn waterfront to green collar jobs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the new state-of-the-art Sunset Park Materials Recycling Facility. It is not sexy, but necessary. Brooklyn is a glowing green lantern that is lighting the way towards a more sustainable future. You have been here for a few days. I hope you have had a chance to run around, get an idea of what Brooklyn is about. I could tell you this: If it is anywhere out in the world, it is here in Brooklyn, and then some. We practice every religion and many you have never heard of. And I have to tell you there are parts of Brooklyn where the way I look is foreign, meaning my hair is just one color, this color; no piercings, no tattoos. I have to tell you it is a changing world, there is no question about it, and Brooklyn - I really believe the rest of America is going to look like where you are today, right here in this Borough. No question the rest of this country is going to look like Brooklyn, no question. But it is really exciting to see how really you can live here with the world, meaning almost every nation of the world lives here in Brooklyn, and then you add on your bees and buppies and hipsters and whatever and you put all that mix - plus, we have the largest Lesbian population in the Metropolitan New York region, and you add everything in here: This place is unbelievable. Thank you for choosing Brooklyn for your conference. (Applause) MS. YEAMPIERRE: What a great way of beginning our last day of the NEJAC, right? (Laughter) MS. YEAMPIERRE: Just to remind you to take this back with you, you know? A little piece of Brooklyn! MS. CHASE: Fantastic! MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you. Marty is on his way to deliver an address to the LIU graduation, so he only had a minute, but I am really thankful, because we do have people here from all over the United States and I sometimes - sometimes when we go to another jurisdiction, you don't really don't get a feel for it, and I hope you got a feel for it. I think you are feeling Brooklyn now, right? MS. CHASE: A real feel for it. MS. YEAMPIERRE: That is what is up! American Indian Environmental Office Update (cont.) by JoAnn Chase MS. YEAMPIERRE: Okay, so, JoAnn, thank you - MS. CHASE: Coming back at me? Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 12 MS. YEAMPIERRE: I am coming back to you, I am coming back to you, my sister, so - MS. CHASE: That is okay — the largest lesbian population in New - hey, put me in the queue, whatever, okay! (Laughter) MS. CHASE: I love Brooklyn! MS. YEAMPIERRE: So you get the mike now. MS. CHASE: Anyway, okay, let us get down to business. Sorry - okay. (Laughter) MS. CHASE: Okay. Did I — speak? Okay, where - there we are, Brooklyn. Brooklyn is hip, is it not? Okay, Elizabeth, let us go. MS. YEAMPIERRE: You have got the mike, my sister. Go on, go on, go on. MS. CHASE: Apparently, I do. I am like, okay, let me regroup and reconsider, okay. Anyway, so, absolutely, Brooklyn is a beautiful, beautiful place, and, you know, actually - you know, I have these great remarks that people worked really hard to produce for me and they are wonderful and hopefully you will have them. But I am just going to abandon them. Is that cool? Let me just talk up at you straight up. You know, I came to EPA as an activist. I came - I had the wonderful privilege of a number of years of being the Director of the National Congress of American Indians, and I am so grateful for that privilege, and worked directly with tribal governments all across the country. And you couldn't have told me six months ago, three months ago, that I would be a Federal government employee. I was like, "You just foolish!" There are a couple things that brought me to that. One of them is I have mentioned earlier, this Administrator's commitment, Lisa Jackson's commitment, to strengthening the relationship with tribal governments. I was like "Wow, that is really important," you know? That is a good thing. This President's commitment to engaging tribal elements obviously is incredibly important. My own AA, Michelle DePass, her work and commitment to, you know, strengthening, again, the relationship with tribal governments but also supporting and engaging the relationship with tribes across this country was such an important factor. And so I kind of stepped back for a minute and thought: Oh, wow. You know? My father, may he rest in peace, somebody who has always given me such great advice - I was like, "Dad, I think I am going to do this. I think there is an opportunity here." And so it was actually really in a very sincere spirit of committing to Indian Country that I said, "Wow, I am going to kind of go what some people would say is the dark side" - here, Federal government - although, if there is a dark side, EPA is the lighter side of the dark side, let us put it that way, so - from my perspective. But - is this being recorded, like a mike? (Laughter) MS. CHASE: Do I have to be held accountable for this? MS. YEAMPIERRE: Yes, it is. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 13 MS. CHASE: Like, Lisa, you got my back here, girl? MS. YEAMPIERRE: We have several transcribers. MS. CHASE: It is okay. Okay. Anyway, so I was just like, wow, we have this policy, we have this agency that has a policy of really progressive work with tribes across the country. You know, we have like these tribes that are so diverse and so interesting that some of us would sit back and just say, "Oh, I am so frustrated, I don't even understand this." But it is so important to take the time and energy to understand the complexity of tribal governments and what they mean in terms of how they interact with this government and in terms of the legal standing that they have as governments. And so for me, I was like, "All right, cool." And then, I was like, wow, there is this really amazing Administrator, Lisa Jackson, who like made the commitment to working with tribal governments part of her priorities. Well, that is pretty exciting. And so I thought, okay. And then there is this Administrator, Michelle DePass, who says, AA who says, "Hey, we are going to kind of reform how we do work with Indian tribes at the agency and we are going to create the Office of International and Tribal Affairs." I thought: You know, there is no better convergence of circumstances and opportunity here than to - than this, to come back into Washington from New York - I might add Upper West Side, not Brooklyn - I love Brooklyn. Brooklyn is so hip and so cool. I am an Upper West Sider. And come back and say wow, here I am in Washington, trying to give some of my - you know, some of my experience and effort to build this relationship with tribes and to working with all of you. So, at any rate, that is just kind of the backdrop of why I come here for a minute. I think it is important because I come as an advocate. I come as a person having worked on behalf of Federally recognized tribes for the majority of my life as the Director of the National Congress of American Indians and in a variety of other circumstances. We have come to all of you and to this office, the American Indian Environmental Office, really looking for ways that we can partner really effectively with the Office of Environmental Justice. And Lisa and I have had a few conversations frankly just because I have been so crazy we haven't really sat down and gotten into the heart of all this, but I think there are so many opportunities. There is a delicate balance, to be sure. I think there are interesting challenges on our radar screen, notwithstanding. But I think that this is the time and place where we have so much opportunity to do really great work, and that is kind of why we were on the 4:00 a.m. train and get here and have a chance to chat with you a minute, answer some questions that you have, reiterate the Office's - my office, American Indian Environmental Office, commitment to partnering and working with in a very sincere and fundamental way the Environmental Justice Office, and really committing ourselves. I hope by your next meeting to actually laying out a plan of our work of how we think about consultation, because there are some big issues - consultation is one of them. For our office, we just rolled out a huge - let me just stop for a second. EPA just rolled out a consultation policy with the Indian tribes. It is the first agency to do so on behalf of a directive by our President. I think it just sets the bar for how an Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 14 agency should engage with Federally recognized tribes. I think we have a lot to be proud of. I am so excited by this consultation policy. I think it is like - is an amazing and wonderful opportunity to continue to engage tribal governments across the country. That said, there are some challenges, you know? It is a consultation policy. What is consultation? How does consultation exist? Who and what engages in consultation? These are not easy questions, you know? There are - this is - and we have set a very broad and importantly high standard for them again, you know. It begs some certain questions. And tribes are struggling as well as the agency is struggling with just exactly how we roll this out in terms of practice. But I am excited because I think that it is - excuse me, within the Federal context, extraordinarily important. Again, EPA is the first agency to step forward under a directive by our President to be forthcoming with a Federal policy on consultation. To me, that is just hip. That is really a wonderful thing. Again, we have to work collectively and in sync with each other about how that gets implemented. The great part of defining the policy and moving forward with it is over. The next challenge is how we implement it and continue to work collectively to implement that. So that is part of our work together, too, and so I am looking forward on, you know, the EJ issues, on the national policy issues, on even local issues like how we really leverage and work together in an optimal way to advance opportunity in Indian Country just means very - so very much to me. And let me say, lastly, just - and I will shut up - is, you know, I had the opportunity to work on behalf of tribal governments for so many years and I am so very grateful for that. And then I left that position and actually did some work with a foundation here in New York City. You know, I have to stop every now and then and say, like, hey, I thought tribal politics were really complicated, you know. Foundation politics are like - it is just the weirdest thing ever. And so I had to - I actually had an interesting time, kind of trying to think my way through entities that move resources to communities I care about and how those resources can be sustained. Having said that, environmental justice issues - the delicate balance of discussions we have to have about how we engage tribal governments and how we engage the communities that are affected and how we leverage opportunities under this frame to correct wrongs and to actually achieve justice are so very important. And so I so look forward to, you know, conversations with you. All of that to say is that, you know, I may have to spend a long time representing tribal governments and I will stand by that and I am so informed by that and I am so excited and think that that just informs the work that I am doing at EPA. But I also understand that our people live everywhere. I am a perfect example, sitting in front of you in New York today, which is my favorite city in the world. Come on - let us just give it some — and I was born and raised in my own reservation. And so there are urban populations, so many complex dynamics to all of this, and I really am looking forward to continuing my time with all of you to figure out just exactly how we maximize those intersections - the American Indian Environmental Office, EJ office - for the good and well-being of Native peoples across this country. Thank you so much. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you. And JoAnn, I just want to say, you know, we spend a lot of our time struggling, fighting, suing, strategizing, thinking about rule- Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 15 making, permitting, really trying to address the issues of the most vulnerable communities in this country and it is really exhausting, and you bringing in your heart and your joy into this space is really important because it is what sustains us, our ability to sort of step out of that reality and remember that we need to reconnect with that heart. So I want to thank you because that really is what should be driving the agenda. We don't start at permitting or rule-making. We start at understanding who we are and bringing our culture and our heart into this and then everything else falls into place. I want to really thank you for that. Questions and Comments MS. YEAMPIERRE: We do have - and I know we have some questions for you - MS. CHASE: Sure. MS. YEAMPIERRE: - so if you could just remain. I don't know if Jolene, Peter, Wynecta - MS. CHASE: I have — (Away from microphone) MS. FISHER: Thank you so much, JoAnn, for your presentation and your honesty. I really appreciate it. I live in the New Orleans area and there are a lot of tribes there. Most of them are not Federally recognized, or a lot of them are not Federally recognized, the ones that I have worked with. And so my question to you is: What plans does your office have to engage non-Federally recognized tribes in a meaningful dialogue? MS. CHASE: Oh, boy. Listen, let me just be straight up with you. I think that we - you know, I come at this just with my heart, okay? And so I am going to answer it from my heart because I think that there probably are legal issues and there are other restrictions. But I am pushing the boundaries in every way that I possibly can. And so let me say this: The recognition issues, the boundary issues - to wit, Canada- the United States, Mexico-the United States, those aren't ours. They have been imposed on us, you know? Like who is and who is not a Federally recognized tribe, that is not my rule, you know? That is somebody else's rule. And so to be straight up with you, I don't know where we are going to come out at the end of the day here because there are laws in this country based on rules and laws that I don't agree with that say "this is recognized, this isn't recognized." But straight up with you, I am moving for the most inclusive conversations possible. And we have a consultation policy out. It has been passed around to all of you. It says "Federally recognized tribes." But you know what? I know and understand every day in my office that "Federally recognized" is somebody else's determination. And I am going to continue to push for an absolutely inclusive dialogue always. Make sense? MS. FISHER: Yes. Thank you. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Peter? MR. CAPTAIN: Good morning, JoAnn. Thank you for that candid report. I, too - I represent the 229 tribes of Alaska, you know, and we are always looking for champions, you know, so hopefully you fill the bill. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 16 You know, we are living in exciting times. I say that because in my, you know, 20-plus years of service to my tribe and the tribes of Alaska, you know, we have never had a President like Obama come forth, you know, and want to consult with the tribes and people of color, really, you know? And so we need to push forward on that endeavor to, you know, get the best - or maximize, you know, whatever we can because with, you know, with dwindling funds and everything, it is just hard now to, you know, to even survive. So, you know, we need - we - and I thank you for your championship. MS. CHASE: Thank you so much, Peter. I appreciate you saying that. You know, let me just - if I could just take a second. These are rough times, you know? It is straight up. I mean, if - you know, I may be wrong, but, gosh, you know, we are not supposed to say certain things apparently, us Federal employees, like that is just, you know - I could be fired, but, hey, if they fire me, fine. MS. YEAMPIERRE: But we want to keep you, so - (Laughter) MS. CHASE: But let me just say this much. This is a rough time, you know? The agency, if certain folks have their mind, we would be gone, the agency itself would be gone. The work that we are doing would be absolutely gone. It is so important, you know? So that is kind of why, if you will - you know, I talk to my dad. My father is deceased, and every day I wake up in the morning and I am like, "Daddy, just hang in there with me because I am doing the right thing." I put on my little EPA badge, whatever it is, and say, "I am out there, I am doing the right thing. Just hang in there with me because it is okay." I haven't just joined that dark side. I am out there, you know, kind of doing the work that we need to do. And so to all of you who are part of this as well, you know, this is just a really challenging time and it is challenging for the agency. But let me just state straight up: It is challenging for the programs that exist in the agency for Native Americans, you know? We have a political environment that would have us not exist, apparently. I am not supposed to say that, I guess, I don't know. But anyway, but I think, you know, to the extent that there is a history from the 1984 policy on, you know - EPA has just had - it is really actually - and part of the reason that motivated me to come to the agency is the actual commitment, substantive commitment, of this agency to advance the relationship with tribal governments. And that is so incredibly important. And it has been such a bar for the rest of the Federal agencies to meet. And now we have this consultation policy and that is so incredibly important and such a great achievement in my mind. And we set the standard for how we, EPA, sets the standard for how this relationship is carried out with Federal governments - with Federally recognized tribes on behalf of the Federal government. I think that is a great thing. I think we should like pat ourselves on the back. I come into this really late. So many people did so much work before me. But I am like: This is fantastic. This is an opportunity that should be leveraged. This is an opportunity that we should think about strategically every step we make. EPA has a consultation policy that is really out there. It is fantastic and it is broad. And that means challenges. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 17 We have folks inside the agency - speaking candidly - who aren't quite sure what this means, you know? And so our job, my office's job, is just to make sure that we are moving forward with this policy and we are advancing our consultation policy and we are implementing our consultation policy in the truest spirit of the policy. And I am excited about that because I think it sets the bar for Federal governments - I mean, for Federal agencies across the government to meet our standard. And to me that is really exciting, you know? Unfortunately, at the end of the day, you and I know that our needs in Indian Country are going to be so great and so profound that even if the consultation policies - what is not going to happen, a huge increase in, you know, Federal appropriations, whatever it may be, that is not going to happen. But we are going to continue in every way possible to do good work and leverage resources for the benefit of Indian Country through my office under my watch when I was there. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Peter, I know you have a follow-up comment. Then, Jolene and then Vernice. MR. CAPTAIN: Thank you once again. What a champion! On one hand, she says she is going to get fired - MS. CHASE: Probably! MR. CAPTAIN: - and the next hand she redeems herself! Wonderful! MS. CHASE: I hope I don't get fired, but no mind, okay. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Jolene? MS. CATRON: Okay. Good morning, JoAnn. MS. CHASE: Hey, Jolene. MS. CATRON: It is nice to meet you. My name is Jolene Catron and I serve as Executive Director of Wind River Alliance, which is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization located on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. MS. CHASE: I am so happy. It is sad that we are kind of sitting across from each other here, but I have known of your great work for a long time, so what a privilege to actually have an opportunity to be introduced here. MS. CATRON: At this NEJAC table, I sit representing indigenous communities and grassroots organizations, and if you think across our great United States how vast that is, including tribal colleges, grassroots and non-profit tribal organizations, communities that are - you know, feel they don't have a voice in this process, it is overwhelming a lot of times the perspective that I represent. And I always come to this table with a prayer and a hope for speaking right and speaking the truth and so, you know, I fully appreciate the challenges and the complex dynamics that you talked about because I, you know, work in a tribal community where we are trying to build community capacity to understand, to even begin to understand, some of these Federal laws that govern the environment and how you bring that home to tribal elders, how we explain that to our youth, how we get a more participation in our communities around public processes and so - and in doing so, how we build tribal support, our own community support, for our governments and our sovereignty, and - but when our own tribal governments are creating an environmental justice issue in and of their tribal people, how do we address those issues? Again, that falls, clearly falls, under environmental justice. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 18 So, that being said, you know, I have learned so much being at this table and having the opportunity to hear other activists and other professionals who have been an advocate and a voice for years and years and years and just having the opportunity to learn. I think, you know, we talked about this Indian policy in 1984. Well, that is when tribes really kind of started building their environmental programs, and so we are still new to this. And I think that we are at a time when right now we have just the greatest opportunity to be thinking out of the box, be thinking innovatively, about how we grow and build environmentalism, true environmentalism that is supported by our tribal governments and our sovereignty, how we grow that across Indian Country. And so I look forward to working with you and talking with you in the future and I am very excited about the state of our affairs right now being, you know, that the AIEO office is now out of the Office of Water and into the Office of International Affairs where it belongs and that you are there as a champion, and I look forward to working with you. MS. CHASE: Thank you so much, Jolene. I really appreciate that. I think - I mean, I am with you. You know, we have to kind of always think out of the box, you know, and there are such opportunities now with the Office of International and Tribal Affairs. This is just fantastic. We have to think about the work that we can continue to do as the American Indian Environmental Office. Obviously, the environmental issues are continuing to be advanced and, you know, how and where those issues intersect is really something very exciting that we are putting some focus on as well. And, you know - and, yes, we have challenges in our communities, you know, we have so many challenges. The wonderful thing about Indian Country is, as you - you know, you mentioned, is that we know there is such need. But, my goodness, if we would step back and take a moment and say, wow, these are governments, these are tribal governments, which we know they are, and they have - there are so many successes as well. I mean, we often sit around these tables, we talk about the unmet need or we talk about the need, and, my goodness, I never want to underemphasize that. But I also want to just, if I have just one second, to say: You know, some of the innovative practices in Indian Country, some of the programs that are in place in terms of the environmental management, in terms of the environmental quality, are the best practices, not just for this country for but internationally, you know? They are the top, you know? Some of the tribal programs out there we should all be owing to and looking to and saying, "This is a perfect example of how we can implement this in our city, in our state, across, you know, whatever jurisdiction." So, I think we spend some time, particularly in these kinds of issues where we are looking at inequities and we are dealing with inequities that are so real and so present, but to just remember that some of the tribal programs are just perfect examples of best practices and we should celebrate those and make sure that they are noticed. MS. CATRON: I would like to - can I follow up just real quick? Just to - just for everybody else's information, the next NEJAC meeting, face-to-face meeting, is going to be in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I think that really brings around a wonderful opportunity to showcase some of these best practices - MS. CHASE: Absolutely. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 19 MS. CATRON: - and to, you know, revel in Indian Country. I am originally from New Mexico. I am Navajo and Laguna and Zuni and - but I live up and work with the Arapaho. MS. CHASE: That is just - I mean, I look forward to it, too. I am like - I am just - you know, I got a green chili craving that is like hurting me right now, okay? So I know that I can satisfy that later. But in all honesty, I think - absolutely. I mean - and let me be straight up. Lisa and I have our - you know, it is just - you know, honestly, I was like - Lisa Garcia is one of my favorite people in the entire agency, okay? This is a really amazing, fantastic person, and for us to try to find a little bit of time to get together, it is just crazy - - it is just crazy. And so I finally kind of came to this conclusion like you can't just expect somebody - you have to make the time. You have to make the time to spend 15 minutes to say, "This is how we are going to work together." And so I so appreciate Lisa's tenacity in saying, "Excuse me, Miss Chase. I know you are really busy, but we have to make the time to get together." And I think that is what we are actually doing. And when we come back, and I look so forward hopefully to coming back to all of you, you know, in the fall and saying, "Hey, these are these issues." We have some big issues on our plate. How are we going to consult with the tribes on some of the major EJ issues? How are we going to work with the tribes on these issues? How do we work with AIEO and how does AIEO work with, you know, the Office of Environmental Justice? To make sure that we are seizing every opportunity, because, yes, we have to fulfill our obligations to the tribes. But we also have to talk about people like me. You know, I live in an urban area. I am JoAnn K. Chase, living in Washington, D.C., previously New York City. I don't live within my boundaries. You know, what are - how do - how - where do I fit in to this as a person in an - you know, a major - in, you know, where is my voice in this environmental dialogue? And so all I want to be able to say to you is: That resonates. Yes, I have a job to work with tribal governments. Yes, I have a job to represent those interests. And we know that. But I am very cognizant about how far that dialogue should extend to, you know? And so I am so excited to just be in contact with Lisa and her very wonderful staff and to continue to think about how we work together and how we come back to all of you, you know, in a few months from now, and say, "Hey, here are our consultation issues that we have to deal with on, you know, EJ, what is it, 2014?" Did I get that date right?" Yes, right, yes, cool, cool. I actually read this stuff, really. And how do we deal on these other issues and where are the opportunities and intersections and are we doing the best that we can possibly do? Because that is our responsibility, you know? I mean, I happen not to be a political person but I sort of think of myself as one of those weirdo political people. Like I am not an appointment. But I am here with a window of opportunity to do the best we can under these circumstances. MS. YEAMPIERRE: JoAnn, I am sorry to cut you off, but it is just that Vernice has been waiting patiently and I want to make sure - MS. CHASE: Oh, Vernice! MS. YEAMPIERRE: - I want to make sure that she raises her question or asks or makes her comment and that you have an opportunity to respond. Thank you. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 20 MS. CHASE: Thank you so much. I am sorry. Let me shut up. Vernice, I love you. MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: First, I want to say, JoAnn, you know it is mutual. I was so thrilled to know that you were the person that the Administrator had selected to do this. I know you are going to bring your heart and soul. I think everybody can get a flavor of how committed you are to this work. I want to congratulate you on shepherding through the EPA policy on consultation and coordination with Indian tribes and to be the first Federal agency to step up and do that. It is a big thing, and I just want to lift you all up for having gotten that done. And I want to share a couple things. One, I was privileged to sit in a room with you and Michelle last week and some tribal leaders and Native Hawaiian leaders and I want to ask you if you could just share a little bit about the exchange that took place between you and Michelle and Miss *Pake Chunell Salmon about the rights of Native indigenous Hawaiian people, and if you could just say a little bit about that. And then, secondly, last weekend I had the privilege to spend some time with the base coalition of the Peace Development Fund, and they work on nuclear - it is the communities who live next to nuclear radioactive waste and chemical weapon sites and many of them were indigenous communities from New Mexico. And so since we are going to New Mexico for the NEJAC meeting, I want to ask - and obviously it has to come through our Chair and through the NEJAC as a whole, but just that you lift up the struggles of indigenous people in New Mexico and all over the country around nuclear energy and radiation. There is the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act that needs to be on the table for conversation since we are going to be in New Mexico and they are fighting to make sure that Navajo members are covered under that Act for compensation for radiation exposure. There is a waste isolation pilot plant in northern New Mexico. Of course, there is a - what is the name of the place? I can't - the big nuclear repository and laboratory in New Mexico. MR. : Los Alamos. MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: Los Alamos. Thank you. There is so much on the table. And so if we are going to New Mexico, those issues, it seems like, need to be a part of the conversation and the people and communities who are struggling there need to be brought forth so that we can hear from them. So I just wanted to put those two things on the table but ask if you could share - MS. CHASE: Sure. Absolutely. MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: - some of that conversation with — MS. CHASE: Absolutely. Thank you, Vernice. You know, always - it is always - I am just like - you know, it is kind of funny over the years. You are like, man, if I could just - I want to figure out a way to work with this person, you know? You know, how could he - oh, she is so hip, he is so hip. And so it is just really fun to be like sitting with all of you and actually at the table with Vernice because for years I thought, "How can we work together? What can we do?" And so it is really wonderful to be here with you, Vernice, and I know that - you know, the long history of amazing work you have done, and in some small ways I hope I have been able to contribute to that and what a joy to actually be able to conspire together in some ways. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 21 MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you so much, JoAnn, and we really look forward to seeing you in New Mexico. MS. CHASE: No, we will. Just very quickly, on the Hawaiian issue, you know, this is a tough one. I mean, I want to just be straight up, you know, because the Federally recognized tribes have a particular relationship with the Federal government of the United States. There is a trust responsibility. There is a fiduciary responsibility. There is a government-to-government relationship that guides the policies of all that we are dealing with. And the Native Hawaiians are in this interesting and difficult situation. And so we could spend hours here - I won't go into that - but I am - I was delighted to spend some time with some of the folks on behalf of Native Hawaiian concerns, which are so similar to the indigenous concerns of our folks across the country. EPA is uniquely situated. There are other agencies that actually have mechanisms to deal with Native Hawaiians and we are going to - we are working on that. We need to make that happen, as an Agency. But let me just say, Vernice, you know, the opportunity to talk to and become more aware of some of the struggles of Native Hawaiians and their homelands was absolutely - it resonated absolutely, and we are going to keep working on those issues. And under my watch at AIEO, though I have a very specific task, you know, I will always be engaged with and in dialogue with our brothers and sisters in Hawaii. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you very much for joining us and for your energy. We really appreciated it this morning. MS. CHASE: Thank you. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you so much. We look forward to seeing you in New Mexico. MS. CHASE: Hey, I look forward to that, to green chili, okay? I am telling you all, green chili is really important! Local Government Priorities for Environmental Justice Moderator: Elizabeth Yeampierre MS. YEAMPIERRE: So now we are going to shift our attention to Local Government Priorities for Environmental Justice. For the members of the public, it is really important for you to know that we all come from different places and different perspectives, but this is not a movement unless we can all make recommendations that benefit communities throughout the country. And so we are here in Region II and so it is really important for us to be able to look at issues that affect urban communities, communities that are densely populated, and some of the environmental challenges that these communities are facing. I always say that. If we only focus on issues that affect us, then it really isn't a movement, that we have to figure out how we get out of those spaces and support and lift each other. And so when we go to the Southwest, when we go to Albuquerque, we are going to be focusing on those issues. When we were in Kansas City, we talked a lot about mountaintop removal in rural communities. When we were in New Orleans, we focused on coastal issues. And so it is really important that now we turn our attention to local governments. So, thank you. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 22 I am going to call - we don't have with us Lisa Wong, who is the Mayor of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and the Co-Chair of the Local Government Advisory Committee Work Group on Expanding the Conversation on Environmental Justice. Unfortunately, she has the flu. We were really excited about having her join us today. But we have with us David Bragdon, who is with the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, and Elizabeth Ernish with the Brooklyn Borough President's Office. Welcome. Welcome, David. David Bragdon, which may be interesting to John, is the former President of Portland, Oregon's Metro Council, has been - he has been named, as I mentioned before, the Director of the New York Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. And with nearly a decade of experience as leader of a respected regional planning agency, David has rich experience looking across agencies and entities to create a vision for a sustainable future. He is leading the Mayor's Sustainability Initiative called Plan called PlaNYC. In fact, that is where Plan EJ got its name from. It got its name from PlaNYC. As well as working on land use, water, transportation, energy, solid waste and air quality and us. So, welcome, David. Elizabeth, I don't have your bio, so if you have an opportunity to say a little bit about yourself, I would appreciate it. Welcome, David. MR. BRAGDON: Thank you. Comments by Elizabeth Ernish, Brooklyn Borough's President's Office MS. ERNISH: Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for having me serve on your panel. It is delightful. And I know the Borough President is very, very sorry that he couldn't be here because this is an issue that he cares very deeply about. I am the Borough President's Environmental and Open Space Advisor. I have served in that capacity for the last seven years. And I have a background in urban planning and transportation planning. And I am just delighted to be here and I would - the one thing I would like to say, because I have known Elizabeth for about 15 years now, and the one thing that I think that is so impressive about the EJ community in particular is that your ability to continue to reinvent yourself and not get stuck on one hobby horse issue I think is invaluable for those of us that work in local government. It is so often we encounter organizations that take on the Sisyphus task, and I know some of the times what you are working on is incredibly different and difficult, but the ability to sometimes step back and say, "Wow, we are going to try a different route. We are going to try, you know, continuing to surprise and innovate and stay cutting edge is invaluable." And continue to bring that to your elected officials, because I can't tell you the number of modest little projects here in Brooklyn - everything from how we site waste transfer stations to how large we make our tree pits - - was started by local organizations and now it is city policy. And I know that - you know, we hear about the grassroots all the time, we hear about, you know, does it really work? And I can tell you that in my capacity here in Brooklyn that the Borough President, he will - if you can come to us with a pragmatic project that will serve a community, a particular community, and it is doable, we will - he will fight for you, he will push it forward, he will do whatever it takes. But sometimes Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 23 we don't have the capacity to look at things at 3,000 feet and sometimes these smaller incremental projects make all the difference. So I just wanted to start off with that, and thank you very much again for having me. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you. David, welcome. Comments by David Bragdon, New York Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability MR. BRAGDON: Great. Well, thanks for having me here, and one of the things the Chair didn't tell you: Your Chair is actually on our Advisory Board and so helped to shape PlaNYC. So, appreciate the chance to work together. I wanted to mention just some of the principles that we have used in developing our broad sustainability plan for the next 20 to 30 years and how those relate to environmental justice issues across the board. First is real clarity around the goals and using measurements that reflect a broad diversity of purposes in the decision making that we do. For an example, historically, of course, transportation planning was done strictly by transportation planners with measures designed to just evaluate how much traffic and how fast traffic could move, the speed and the volume of traffic. That type of approach just in a singular sort of way really led us to the transportation system that we have that really burdens other values in terms of community development. So what we have tried to do in that area is be much more explicit about what we are trying to achieve with transportation and use a much broader set of measures. An example of that currently under way that does have environmental justice implications is the reevaluation of the Sheridan Expressway, which is in the Borough of the Bronx and was built in a time when strictly moving traffic was the only thing that was being measured. We are now reevaluating that in light of issues like access to jobs, in light of need for affordable housing, in light of the environmental access to the Bronx River. So that is an example of being much more diverse in the goals we are trying to achieve. Secondly, we also try to use metrics and again to use those in ways that achieve a number of goals at a time. For example, we have a program to plant a million trees in the City of New York. We are about halfway there. But the important part of how those selections are being made is that they are not being made strictly in terms of the conventional environmental factors that a botanist would use in terms of tree canopy or in terms of exposure to sunlight. That is part of the GIS analysis that we do. But the public health data is also providing guidance. It is telling us: Where are the neighborhoods that have higher incidence of respiratory disease, asthma? And so those are being prioritized because we know that trees provide a public health benefit, not simply the benefit that if you looked at it strictly from an urban - for a conventional urban forestry point of view. Third, it is really important to continually assert the basic values and principles that can endure over time even as circumstances change. Our solid waste management plan, the first portions of that, assert some clear principles. One that Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 24 relates to environmental justice is the notion of Borough equity and the facility shouldn't burden any one particular area disproportionately. And that statement of principles is really important to have to refer back to over the years of a long-term plan even as the cast of characters changes. As the Chair mentioned, I have been in this job about eight months, but I can refer back to that plan that was adopted by my predecessor and say, "Now, however the circumstances may change, how we get there, we still have to serve these basic principles." It gives us sort of a guiding star that can last over time. The fourth major principle for us, and this, I think, is really valid and is being acted out at the Federal level, and I really applaud the President on this, on making agencies work together, not just the agencies but the disciplines that are represented in those. The President's HUD, EPA, DOT sustainable communities grant program, that is a great example, and again, making sure that the people who are thinking about transportation are also thinking about access to jobs, housing balance, and are also thinking about the environment. We continue to think public health needs to be part of all of those conversations. It is - public health is a very important issue that the Mayor himself is very passionate about and that needs to be part of that. Finally, I just wanted to close on sort of what some of the major issues are for us here in our community and some of the things we are working on, particularly with the update of PlaNYC, which was just announced in last month. One is the phase-out of residual heating oils, which are still used by 10,000 buildings in our city to heat, which is the major source of particulate matter, and by that measure, worse than burning coal. And so with the new update of the plan, we have adopted regulations to phase those fuels out. But just as importantly, we are working to accelerate the change for property owners to encourage the faster change-up to accelerate beyond the regulatory requirements to cleaner sources of fuel through financing, through loans and through teaming this up with an energy efficiency program. And so achieving those air quality goals, at the same time we are also achieving energy goals. We continue to - we are going to need to really increase actually our efforts in terms of solid waste. We have made progress in terms of our system being more geographically diverse and also being more dependent on rail and ideally barge rather than simply truck. Probably, we have the biggest way to go, and it is in terms of just reducing the overall amount of waste. While we have relieved - we have at least spread some of that burden around our city, we are conscious - and I appreciated being able to listen in to the discussion of more rural issues this morning - that a lot of our solid waste is going to rural communities today and is in some senses a burden in those communities ecologically. We also realize that there is economic benefit to those communities as well. Finally, I know you talked yesterday a little bit about our Brownfields program. We feel very strongly about the engagement that goes on around that program as well and that having remediation be consistent with really authentic visions for what communities need to be rather than just sort of a parcel-by-parcel approach has been effective. And again, it is a matter of bringing people together at the right time, early on, and talking about the broader issues of housing affordability or access to Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 25 food, recreation, the other things that can go along with Brownfield remediation rather than having it being an adversarial or mysterious type of situation really helps to make more progress for everybody. So that is - I appreciate the chance to just sort of share some of our principles that we try to use and some of the issues that we are working on. I look forward to hearing from you, too. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you, David. Elizabeth? MS. ERNISH: I just wanted to dovetail on what David said about the solid waste management plan in particular. That was a seminal piece of legislation. It was progressive and radical. However, subsequent to that, one of the issues that I know that the Borough President has encountered is that we have established the part of the swamp - established these citizens' advisory groups. And one of the things that we are having a difficult time is finding the young leadership to serve on those committees - and not just those committees, many of the citizens' advisory committees for our two Superfund sites for our community boards. And, you know, Brooklyn is a community of 2,600,000 people and yet the same 10 people tend to show up. And so I put the charge to you folks to continue to develop those new leadership and working with you - and working - and reaching out beyond the same, you know, that kind of echo chamber think tanks that we all kind of have a bad habit of reaching out to. So I know we desperately need that on the solid waste management strategy. I know there was an issue with the Compost Emerging Technology Siting Board, which had no citizen representation at all, and that was to me a huge error. And that is - you know, we should continue to push for the - if we are going to fight for that representation, then you need - you know, you need to have our back and make sure that we have those people to put in those thoughts. And then the other issue I wanted to talk about is the idea of serving as an ombudsman. You know, that is a nice fancy-delancy word and yet I would say, you know, in Brooklyn we kind of - and in New York City in particular, we, you know, we love a good dog fight, and very common issues, controversial issues, become very didactic very quickly. And it is very - you know, there are very few kind of calm and reasonable folks that can rise above the rancor of that. And I do - but I will say the one folk - the people that can do it is the environmental justice community, because you folks understand that if you are going to just play the NIMBY route, you are not going anywhere. And as my Borough President, as my boss, mentioned before, that the - you know, the new recycling plant in Sunset Park could have quickly, you know, become a street fight, and I think it is to the great - to your efforts, Elizabeth, and the Sunset Park business community and the residents that said, "Look, we" - instead of, you know, instead of taking this as an opportunity to like, you know, just get everybody worked up, "let us think about how we can make this work better for our community." And that, you know, that is something that elected officials and local government, we need more help on, because we hear from the folks that are against things all the time, all the time. We seldom hear from the mediators, and we need to hear more. We need to hear from you more often and we greatly appreciate your opportunity to sometimes like, you know, to take that - to take the step and say - take a step back and say, "Wow, maybe we don't have to like, you know, storm the castle Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 26 gate on this one and we can be the leaders." And so I am very, very, very thankful for that, and we need more of that, especially in Brooklyn. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you. I do want to say, though, that despite our support of that infrastructure, which we felt was necessary to reduce solid waste throughout the City of New York, particularly for three communities of color that suffer the brunt of all of Manhattan's waste, that D.C. did not put a permitting cap on that facility and so I am not so sure whether we should have - maybe we should have stormed the gate a little bit more. Questions and Comments MS. YEAMPIERRE: But let me just say I would like to hear from the Council. Certainly, there are people like Lang - you are a former Commissioner of D.C. - I am sure you have some questions. Other folks from urban communities - Detroit, Maryland, Chicago - see if you have any questions for our panel. MR. MARSH: Nice to see David here. He was an exemplary leader at Metro in Portland for a long time and I think he brings a lot of innovation to this post. I was really interested in your mentioning the Partnership for Sustainable Communities between HUD, EPA and DOT because I also have strongly believed that those kinds of partnerships not only remove the inevitable friction and disconnection between agencies but they also allow for partnerships that are vertical down to the - through the state and local levels of government and including non-governmental organizations like EJ organizations and businesses and so forth. And I guess what I was interested in hearing your thoughts of maybe both of you is on the potential for the city and the partnership maybe working with Judith Enck of EPA who I know is really interested in this on some - selecting some projects that are identified by the EJ organizations, whether they are fundamentally transportation projects like the Sheridan Expressway or goods movement projects around the port or whatever, and weaving together that kind of interconnection of state, Federal, local authorities working with the business community and the EJ organizations and other NGOs to try to focus on some - actually implementing some very difficult projects and piloting how government and the communities can work together to accomplish things in a very deliberate way and might require the Mayor appointing somebody to, you know, convene the whole thing and make it work together. As you know, we - from my affiliation with Oregon Solutions, I am a big fan of that convening process. So I just wondered if you would like to comment on that. MR. BRAGDON: Yes, very much so. I mean, and I think the work that you have done in Oregon, both Oregon's Solutions Team, the various iterations, the Transportation Growth Management program that was a state DOT but also Land Conservation and Development program, so I think there are some innovative models in different places. And there are some that are good at really engaging nongovernmental organizations and those actually have the ability to make some things stick. On a regional basis, I think the whole sort of institutional innovation going on around innovation, it can be very, very promising even in some sort of unexpected places like the Salt Lake City Basin, which is an area that is, you know, politically sort of very suspicious of government action yet has a very vibrant process called "Envision Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 27 Utah" that is - has been successful in developing affordable housing and 44 miles of light rail and thousands of acres of natural area protection, all of that in a - you know, in a state that politically is supposedly hostile to all of those things but it is actually happening through some of these more collaborative approaches because you are bringing people together on the basis of sort of common sense agreement on particular principles. In terms of the Federal program here, this region was successful in a couple of things you mentioned. One, the TIGER Grant program, which is a DOT program. The award that we won relates to the Sheridan Expressway, which is not strictly a transportation plan, and that is the point, is that when it had been approached strictly as a transportation issue by the state, that had really failed in terms of community support because it was being approached in sort of a narrow - going into - the terms have been so narrowly defined going into it that by the time anybody had a chance and anything to say that what you were allowed to say about it then, you know, wasn't really relevant to what people wanted to talk about. So, the approach we are taking on it at the local level, with the Federal resources but with it being carried out locally, is, to look at it, you know, much more multidisciplinary. The Sustainable Communities grant that we won is a partnership with Westchester County and the cities in southern - southwestern Connecticut and relates to affordable housing around some of the rail commuter stations. So again it is the - it is housing and transportation being discussed at one table, recognizing that there are communities in the northern part of New York City, in the Bronx, where people are commuting out to Connecticut for jobs, yet our whole system was sort of designed for people going the other way. And there is also then a component of that that is also about climate resilience. I think that is an area where there is a chance for better engagement also across jurisdictional lines in the sense that the mapping of the shorelines don't all - that doesn't honor jurisdictional boundaries. In other words, if Long Island Sound - the conditions there will affect southern Connecticut just as they will affect the Bronx or Pelham Bay or other parts of the city, so a lot of areas for collaboration, I think. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you. Paul? DR. MOHAI: I found your presentations very interesting and it does sound like you are doing a lot of very innovative things that I can imagine are producing results. And I guess what I have is a question, and that is: To what extent are the things that you are doing shared with other large cities? For example, is there communication between your - among your counterparts in other cities? Is - I am sure the information gets out somehow, but do you have a proactive system in terms of communicating ideas about such programs or is it basically will you - is it more passive where you hear indirectly, word of mouth, and Internet searches and so on? MR. BRAGDON: It is actually a pretty healthy combination of formal channels and informal ones because a lot of this is - you know, it is evolving, and a lot of it is new and innovative, so there aren't necessarily these established organizations, you know, like the APA or whatever, that have, you know, existed for decades, but there are some emerging networks. There is the USDN, which is U.S. - it is basically the sustainability directors' network., so it is me and my counterparts in the larger cities Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 28 around the country. They are organized around particular committee issues and have monthly - usually it is conference calls and then one or two larger meetings a year. And there have been foundations that are funding that. So that is pretty vibrant. There is also ICLEI, and I can't remember what that stands for, but it is the local governments. And I know you are going - you mentioned you are going to Albuquerque for your next meeting. The former Mayor of Albuquerque is actually President of ICLEI USA. And those are large and small communities and there is - so there are a lot of best practices being shared there. And then finally at the international level, Mayor Livingstone - Ken Livingstone, when he was Mayor of London, formed something called the C40, which was sort of a takeoff on the G20, and it was the 20 largest cities in the developed world, which sort of - that tracks a little bit with that G20 idea that, you know, the London- Paris-Tokyo-Singapore type, and then matched with 20 - the 20 largest cities in the developing world, so Bogota, Jakarta and so on. And our Mayor is now the Chair of that organization. Mayor Bloomberg became Chair of that in November. That is organized around issues. So, Melbourne, Australia, is very active in urban reforestation because of the fire issues and so, you know, we are learning from Melbourne because of our Million Trees program. Dacca, Bangladesh, has all kinds of wetlands and flooding issues, so there is a network about delta cities that - cities that are similarly situated can learn from each other. And then they are hoping to disseminate those best practices. So it is really exciting, actually, because I think a lot of times the popular press or the public wringing our hands saying, "Ohhh, you know, the U.S. Senate is never going to do anything about it, the United Nations is never going to do anything about climate change." And, meantime, you have to realize a lot of these tools actually are local tools. When we talk about what kind of transportation you invest in - while there are Federal funds in it, there is local discretion. How we do zoning for - you know, where and how development - building codes, recycling systems, none of those are Federal issues anyway. So while, yes, it would be preferable to have the Federal government doing something, the fact is we can and are doing a lot locally and sharing that among ourselves. It is really important to propagating it. MS. ERNISH: I just wanted to say one comment to that. The opportunity to kind of push what is going on in Brooklyn, the - you know, the hip Brooklyn. The Borough President is often asked to comment on, you know, in articles and make speeches about Brooklyn, and he is always, always preaching the gospel of, you know, the innovative and best practices of Brooklyn. Recently, he was in Germany and he had an opportunity to present on all the green buildings here in Brooklyn. He has gone to Turkey and gave a presentation on waterfront development in Brooklyn. So you never know when you have an opportunity to kind of move the ball forward, and I think that, you know, working - making sure that, you know, that we can present these wonderful projects in a very press friendly manner makes all the difference. And I think that is another way that you kind of build - you touch on the public consciousness. MS. YEAMPIERRE: John? Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 29 MR. RIDGWAY: Thank you. I represent state and local government and I am also chairing a work group right now for this Council on looking at permitting in relevance to fostering environmental justice, and a subject we hear at almost every Council meeting, if not multiple times, is the recognition on permitting in relation to local zoning siting activities. It has been a long time coming to see EPA finally realize that they can engage in that dynamic if - even if they don't have direct authority. So my question to you is: How can we help get the EJ elements that are so critical in permitting and many other environmental efforts to be considered in the zoning siting dynamics that is led at the local government level? MS. ERNISH: That is an excellent question, and it is something that we deal with all the time, you know, be it the - you know, the permits for - framing the conversation from a rezoning, it tends to - you know, there is a mechanism. It is a very transparent process. We have public meetings, we have a hearing at the community board level, the Borough President level, and the City Council level. But usually it is too late. We know that the kind of the framework is already set. And I would think - I wouldn't advise creating another level before a scoping, but there seems - there is kind of a missing link in that process in New York City, and that is something that, you know, I would defer to the experts in the EJ community: How do we go from, you know, from having an empty lot or, you know, a proposal, that sometimes the cart - the horse has already left the barn in a lot of times? And so I would say that, yes, I would be speaking out of turn to say when exactly in that process it would be. But I just - in terms of permitting, I would also like to highlight another issue that we encounter in New York City often, is that, you know, we have - Brooklyn has upwards of 200 miles of shoreline and waterfront development is a huge issue and we are building the largest park since Prospect Park in Brooklyn. But one of the issues that we encounter day in and day out, and we have had some wonderful projects fall by the wayside because of the difficulties of the overwater coverage and the Department of Environmental Conservation permitting process. And we have had many wonderful projects fall - you know, esplanades, 88- compliant walkways on the beaches in Coney Island, fall by the wayside because of this somewhat arcane and very cryptic permitting process, and so we could certainly use your help on that as well. MR. BRAGDON: Yes, I would certainly - I mean, the waterfront is where a lot of those sort of conflicts come in and I think often there are more complications that come from sort of the overlay of some of the Federal regulations. And if anything, I think trying to move toward a situation where you are really looking at the outcomes and particularly when a local government, local community, can demonstrate that there is consensus around something that they could substantially comply with regulations. I think we are facing that, for example, with green infrastructure on combined sewer overflows where we find some of the Federal regulations as interpreted by the state don't necessarily allow us to apply techniques that we think can be demonstrated to actually provide not only benefits for reducing the combined sewer overflow but provide additional benefits to the community, and that sometimes the Federal or state regulations inhibit that type of innovation. And that is not a deregulatory comment in the sense that, you know, we feel like we are a jurisdiction in a community that is trying to do the right thing and is innovating in ways of trying to Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 30 achieve that. So we are not being asked to be let off the hook in terms of the goals, the outcomes, that we are going to get, but we are looking for some flexibility in how we achieve it. MR. RIDGWAY: Thank you. And I will just follow up. I am asking for help here from your local perspective because often the states or the Federal folks are told by locals, "This is not your jurisdiction or authority, thank you very much," and it kind of gets shuts down right there. So we need to find a better way to bring E J issues into the local zoning and/or rezoning or adjustment in zoning issues. And I will just leave it at that. Thank you. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you, David. Nick? MR. TARG: Thank you very much. Your comments are very interesting, the work that you are doing is inspiring, and your ability and your description of the metrics and the ability to track your work is trend setting. I have two questions, which are pretty specific. The first is with respect to the heating oil changeups. I am wondering - which produce particulate matter reduction, GHU reductions, as well as energy efficiency benefits - whether there are incentives that are associated with that, whether there are mechanisms that you put in place that allow people to pay money back over time in the same way, for example, the PACE program historically has, and if you could talk a little bit more about that. The other question that I have, apart from that, is with respect to transportation oriented development and the tension that can arise between the goals that "smart world" type development have and also concentration of populations in new sensitive populations around toxic air contaminants and PM2.5 fine particulate matter, asthma causing or triggering pollution, and whether there are specific policies or approaches that you are taking, whether you seem to be taking, to resolve that tension. MR. BRAGDON: The first one was in regard to the changeover from residual heating oils and whether they are - the first tool is the regulatory tool, and banning the bad stuff, and I think that has to be the foundation of any approach. But that is basically one that just sort of prevents bad things from happening. See, but we have chosen to supplement that with inducements to make good things happen. In terms of the financial realm, that takes a couple of forms. One is on the financing front, the City has $37,000,000 in Recovery Act funding that relates to energy efficiency, all local, or probably communities over a certain size shared in that from the Stimulus package in 2009. And so we are using that in terms of energy efficiency. It - because it has - is Federal money, so it has particular strings on it, so the boiler replacements in and of themselves may not qualify, but there may be ancillary things going on with energy systems in the same building at the same time and then so part of our job is to try to package those things in ways that make sense for property owners. Then the second part of it is in terms of the utilities' own rate base. We have a privately owned utility here, so it is not a municipal utility, so it is regulated by the state and Federal governments and what they can charge and what goes in the rate base and what gets charged against particular property owners. We think there is a public policy interest in reducing the emissions that justifies having some of the gas line extensions being part of a larger rate base in that there is a citywide benefit that is beyond just the property owner who is benefiting from Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 31 the access to the new gas line. So we will be working with the private utilities in terms of some of the regulatory proceedings in Albany so that they can recover some of the costs of the extension of gas lines from the rate base rather than having to assess it on property owners in a way that might prevent the conversion from even happening. So, you know, we have to work this on multiple different levels. Then there are other places where just simply the public education about it, where there is not necessarily a financial - I mean, there are neighborhoods in the city that are quite well-to-do where people are burning Number 4 and Number 6. They just don't even know it. And if told about it, they have the financial capacity to change. But, you know, they need to be sort of told sort of what it takes. So it is really on all those approaches of the regulatory stick that really says, you know, you are not going to be able to continue burning the bad stuff, but then a little bit of a carrot in terms of financially through regulatory relief at the rate-making level or lower-interest loans or loan guarantees more likely on the financing part. But then, also just the public awareness. None of those three work on their own, but if they are part of a sort of a concerted approach, you can get a lot more done. So your second one was about transit-oriented development and the particulate matter. I am not sure I really understand the question. I know that we have - - all I can say more generally is that we have tried to focus more development within the city around areas that have good transit service, and you are sitting in one here. This area was rezoned, and Elizabeth can speak to that. There was a very significant rezoning and the number of households that are within half a mile of where we are sitting here today is far, far in excess of, you know, what was here eight years ago, probably. MS. ERNISH: Downtown Brooklyn has grown from approximately 500 residents to 12,000 residents in the last 8 years and it is because of the Downtown Zoning Act of 2004. And this area was selected because of - it is one of the most transit rich areas in New York City. We have every - nearly every major train line, the Long Island Rail Road, 17 bus lines. So it was ideal for precisely for that kind of transit- oriented rezoning. MR. TARG: If I may, I just provide clarification here. I am from the San Francisco Bay area. Jeff Booth is my partner. And in this area, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and other air quality management districts within the state are beginning to establish regulatory thresholds, or thresholds under our baby NEPA, CEQA, that provide that new sensitive land uses, residential land uses, can't be sited near —, require mitigation if they are sited by particular types of infrastructure or particular capacity roadways, such that there won't be an excess cancer rate of 1 in 100,000, 10 to the -5 level, and that has been built into the environmental compliance process in order to do developments. I know in the State of New York you have SEQRA, which is the counterpart of our baby, NEPA, and whether you have encountered tensions between particulate matter and air toxic contaminants, large transportation infrastructure in TOD projects, transportation oriented development projects. MR. BRAGDON: Not that I am aware of. That is the first I have heard of that. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 32 MS. ERNISH: But that is just a fascinating analysis, thank you. I hadn't - that is new to me. I mean, usually we look at - you know, the way zoning works, you look at, you know, proximity to open space, schools, transit, but when you say "transportation infrastructure," are you talking about elevated highways in particular or - sorry? MR. TARG: Elizabeth, cut me off when we should go and take this offline. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Okay. MR. TARG: In particular, if you have a roadway that has a capacity of I believe, and I will need to go into - I believe it is pretty low, it is 10,000 vehicles per day, so, if you are proximate to a major artery, if you are proximate to a freeway or a highway, a bridge, or a major destination - for example, a big box store complex, or ferries' ports, for example - then you would be subject to the 10 to the -5, 1 in 100,000 SEQRA threshold. There is also a numerical particulate matter concentration that also needs to be met. The upshot of that and the real challenge of that is if you are - where it really comes to bear is if you are trying to do an affordable housing project that is meant to be transit friendly, the margin on building a low-income or moderate-income residential project is pretty low and the kind of mitigation measures are either simply not possible or make it impossible for the project to pencil. So there has been a real tension between the affordable housing community, some in the environmental community, some in the environmental justice community, and then some in the straight development community around this issue. The issue is - California is of course being litigated, and next month the thresholds will actually have - will go into effect and we will see how it actually plays out. MS. YEAMPIERRE: All right. Thank you. Wynecta? MS. FISHER: Hi. I really enjoyed your presentation and in my previous life I was — your plan was placed on my desk and basically I was told to - you need - we need to do something like this. I am from the City of New Orleans. But actually I have two questions. I saw the presentation. There was a presentation yesterday by Eddie and they talked about climate change, and I was looking at the plan on my phone and it talks about the Mayor's carbon challenge. But I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about that and how you are involving and engaging the EJ community in that carbon challenge. And then also it talks about clean energy technology and I know Teri could talk a little bit more about, you know, what is considered clean, but as you look to diversify your energy sources, what are you looking at? MS. YEAMPIERRE: If I may, Wynecta, add to that, I just wanted to add that the presentation was also about significant maritime industrial areas, so I just wanted to add that. MS. FISHER: Yes, thanks. MR. BRAGDON: Sure. The carbon challenges have been about the large institutional generators. The city - the overarching goal of the city is to reduce carbon emissions 30 percent by the year 2030 compared to 2005. That is from all sources. But from municipal operations, meaning the, you know, fleet and the buildings and operations of the city government, was to reduce by 30 percent by 2017. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 33 And so the Mayor undertook that - while the city undertook to do that, at the same time the Mayor issued a challenge to the large institutional real estate holders, starting with the campuses, because they have such ability to affect their own operations and they have such big holdings to try to match the city government's performance in that with their own buildings. So - and New York has of course a lot of institutions of higher education, so NYU, Columbia, Fordham, Pace, and all that. So the challenges so far have been in that area, but we may expand that to hospitals or to other sectors of the economy where there are some opportunities for energy conservation where there is an element of competition. The hotel industry might be another one, so - We haven't yet really gotten that to sort of the local or neighborhood level. It has been more sort of the big generators, so - In terms of resilience and also the SMIAs, the goal there is to try to understand where the real vulnerabilities are and what are the best ways to manage that risk in terms of storm surges, the sea level rise relative to what is permitted in particular areas, or what exists in particular areas in terms of industrial uses and maritime uses. Then your other question was about clean energy, or cleaner, at least. There has been a move to try re-power in terms of eliminating the dirtier, heavier fuel oils, moving to natural gas. In terms of some of the renewables in our area, we will be looking at waste conversation technologies. That is a controversial thing. My - our view is, you know, that needs to be evaluated not just in terms of energy or not just in terms of economics but along all the different measurements that need to be applied in terms of health impacts, in terms of traffic impacts, and also needs to be compared with the existing situation for handling solid waste, which involves a lot of transportation and burden on communities that are 500 miles away. In terms of other renewables, we probably - I think offshore wind might be the best opportunity, just given our situation. There is a collaborative of New York State and then two of the power authorities in the city for offshore wind off of the Rockaways here. And then there is some opportunity for solar, probably not as strong as some other parts of the country. We don't have large areas for large sort of industrial-style solar arrays. But we have provided tax abatements for rooftop solar and we have provisions for feeding back into the grid. So there is some moderate growth in solar here as well. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Okay, thank you. Vernice? I am sorry - Elizabeth, do you want to - MS. ERNISH: I just want to say Brooklyn is home to two solar power empowerment zones. We are the only Borough in the - in New York City that has two empowerment zones, and they - fortunately they stretch from a - it is a wide reach from Newtown Creek to Spring Creek and all of downtown Brooklyn. So we certainly, as the Borough President said earlier, we want to make Brooklyn the capital of solar PVs. And, you know, we certainly need the environmental justice community's assistance, because although we have created these zones, we still run into issues with Department of Buildings permit and approval from the Fire Department and all the typical red tape. So if we really want to see these empowerment zones succeed, we Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 34 certainly need, you know, to have a kind of an inter-agency approach to how to install this infrastructure because it is very, very important. MS. FISHER: Can I just ask one just - one more quick - clarify? MS. YEAMPIERRE: Sure. MS. FISHER: So was that a zoning change in order to get those overlay zones or was it an ordinance? How did that happen? MS. ERNISH: It was actually a multi-agency collaboration. NYSERDA, which is the state's, you know - they promote alternative energy and they work with all the different agencies, the municipal government agencies, the DEP, the solar collaboration out of CUNY. So it was a multi - you know, many different folks and - But now we are finding that we have it, but how - you know, how do you deal with the - how do you deal with issues of like roof coverage? And I understand - well, obviously, you know, if we could implement this on large-scale industrial buildings, that is great, but as my colleague David said, we might not have that. So what about promoting this in a residential zone? You know, if you fly over New Jersey and Connecticut, if you are flying down, you will see that they are already doing it and we need to start doing it here in Brooklyn. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you. I don't see any more cards up, so I just wanted - MR. : Vernice. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Okay. Your card went down. Vernice? MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: So I want to say, David, that my comments are to you, since you have only been in your job for eight months, that my comments are about the process that has been going on for a long time, but they are picking up speed now and the Mayor's office is really behind it. So I lived here for 44 years, most of those years in the Harlem community, some portion of those years in a hybrid section of the Bronx, and both of those neighborhoods are undergoing tremendous assault from economic development plans, the expansion of Yankee Stadium, the building of the new Yankee Stadium, and the building of the new Columbia University campus. I am also a graduate of Columbia University. But I want to say that what is happening in my home neighborhood in New York is particularly painful, to come back and to see that it is no longer a majority people of color community, that black folks and Latino folks are being pushed out at rapid rates, that there is very little affordable housing, that the places that I grew up in and I come back to as a touchstone are not there anymore, and that people talk about it as a "Second Harlem Renaissance." It is not a renaissance. It is not a renaissance for the people of color who have come there for generations from all over the world to establish a life. It is not a renaissance. And I know that the Mayor's Office was particular gung ho and worked with Columbia University very closely to make that process happen by acquiring property through eminent domain, by moving a process forward for 20 years to acquire parcels of property so that they could build that new campus without informing the community. Now, I know there has been a really dynamic process that has gone on, but I just want you to know: It is not a good thing. It is a great thing for Columbia Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 35 University, but it is not a good thing for the people who lived in public housing that are not going to be able to live there anymore, for the people who lived in tenements all around that structure that are not going to be able to afford to live there anymore. It is not a good thing. That Yankee Stadium's expansion has happened and they have taken up all the green space in the neighborhood where I learned how to play softball in that park, where I learned how to play tennis in that park, that that park is gone and Yankee Stadium has not made good on replacing those parks and that green space in a community that desperately needs it. This is not a good thing. And I know from the overall perspective of the city, these are great projects. Seeing Columbia University build a new campus and expand is a great thing and will bring jobs et cetera et cetera, but it has torn out the heart of the West Harlem community. And I just want to say to you it is really, really, really painful. And I don't even live here anymore - Elizabeth told you. I live in Maryland. But I see the same thing happening in Baltimore city with Johns Hopkins campus expansion, tearing down a thousand rowhouses in the middle-east section of Baltimore so that they can accommodate Johns Hopkins University to expand their campus. It is a great thing for the State of Maryland and a great thing for the City of Baltimore, but it is not a great thing for the thousand families that lost their homes. So I just want to say: I don't know how you balance that stuff. (Applause) MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: I - you know, I love this city. I was born in Harlem Hospital. My parents worked there for 36 and 43 years, respectively. My blood flows from this place. But what is happening to people of color in this city and to poor people and to working-class people, it is really an assault at a psychic level. And it is happening all over the country. It is not just happening in New York. (Applause) MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: But I just want to say, as you think about how the city grows and expands and comes forward to meet the 21st century that you can't leave the people behind who made this city the great city that it is. So I just - I had to say that because it is wearing on my heart really heavily. MS. YEAMPIERRE: David, I just want to add something to what Vernice said. We have been hearing for a while now that the city is slated to grow by 1,000,000 people more, and by 1,000,000 more, and we ask who those 1,000,000 people are, and I just - I said yesterday that the number of Latinos was decreased by 20 percent in Williamsburg. And I was born and raised in New York City. I lived in Washington Heights and Harlem, in the South Bronx. I was displaced as a child because of Robert Moses. And so I wonder - but I know that the majority of the city is made up of people of color, so we don't use the word "minority" because we are, you know, the majority. I just wonder where my people are. But I am concerned about some of the planning that is happening. You know, things like, you know, bike paths that are created that don't really include community decision-making in the process, plans that are being driven by people who are moving in, and environmental amenities that are being created in the most Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 36 privileged communities where you see the esplanades, you see Brooklyn Bridge parks. You know, Sunset Park, for example, there wasn't any funding available for the waterfront park, no funding available for the greenway, but there is funding available for Brooklyn Bridge park, there is money available for the High Line, and those communities in one of the most privileged communities in the city, they have access to celebrities, they have access to all kinds of people that can make those things happen. So there really needs to be a way of balancing these things and making sure that the environmental amenities that we have been fighting for years for our communities don't displace the very communities that have been enduring all of that environmental abuse for so long. And I think that that is a concern of the environmental justice community not just in New York City but all over the country, that we have communities living in the significant maritime industrial areas, and I would like you to talk a little bit more about that before you leave because I don't think that - you talked about performance standards and I don't think that you talked about the fact that it is possible to site the most polluting industries, new sources of pollution, new sources - in terms of new technologies, like waste to energy - and new sources that are potentially the new polluting sources may be sited in our communities. I would like you to address that as well. So we have got a lot of concerns because while we are pushing to make it greener, we are not to trying to make it greener for other people, we are trying to make it greener for the people who have been enduring these abuses for so many years. And so when we have got people in our communities that don't want a tree, that don't want to stop the siting of a facility because that means that they are going to be displaced and that they have to choose between choking and affording to live someplace, we have a real problem. And that problem exists in Chicago and Detroit and every city in this country. And so I know that is a challenge. How do you make sure that you don't displace the community and you make room for new people? But there is a process that is involved in decision- making that can really honor community-driven initiatives, and so if you can talk about that, that would be great. I also want to make sure that before you leave, and I know that you have been working with all of us, so I just want to list that because you have reached out, you have met with all of us a multiplicity of times, but the city is really large, and at the end we find that it is the real estate market that determines what the city is going to look like, right? So if you can talk a little bit about those things, I would really appreciate it. MR. BRAGDON: Sure. Well, I think it is important if you look at the history of the city, you know, that there have been at times big decisions. You know, you talk about Robert Moses and the area that you grew up. I think everybody can learn from the mistakes of the past, of some sort of top down - even though the intentions were really good, but the - you look at who was making those decisions and how those were made, that is really, I think, the lesson to be learned. It wasn't the intentions. It was that it was a very small group of people and it was all happening behind closed doors. And so it didn't really reflect the diversity of needs for the city. So I think the important thing is, as decisions get made, they have to be made inclusively and with all the real tradeoffs up front, you know? Not after something has already been decided. But these are tough issues. They really are tradeoffs. I mean, we Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 37 do - you know, nobody likes trucks, for example, but we all depend on things that get delivered by trucks. So, you know, how do you manage those types of burdens and how do we have economic growth? Population growth is going to happen and the real estate market is going to respond to that in part because the real estate market does that. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Let me ask you specifically: What do you think that EPA or the Federal government can do to help with SMIA reform? Do you have any ideas on that? MR. BRAGDON: Yes. I don't know enough about that yet. I mean, I know that we - you know, as we are learning more about what areas are vulnerable to things like storm surge, that probably ought to change what, you know, what is, for example, what is allowable to be stored in an area that might be subject to that. I mean, so the regulations probably need to be updated to reflect what the real risks are today. That would probably be an example of something that needs to happen. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Okay, I would urge you to reach out to the variety of agencies. We have a Federal interagency work group to see if we could work together to try to address that. There were a lot of people who testified yesterday about the significant maritime industrial areas and how concerned they are about climate adaptation and resilience. So it would be wonderful if you could do that. So I think we - Nick, do you have a brief question? MR. TARG: Yes, following on. What is your experience with community benefit agreements in relation to new development in historic communities? MS. ERNISH: Well, I believe that the Atlantic Yards project was the second major project in the City of New York to engage in a community benefits agreement. It was a very iterative, long-term process. It was - you know, we are now just beginning to see the benefits, you know, the number of jobs that were created through the construction. That was the - you know, the number of minority, women- owned, black businesses that was - you know, it was very important that local construction companies play a role in that construction. But the issue with the community benefits agreement that we encountered: What defines "community?" And I - that is just, you know, an esoteric question. But that is one of the things that was very difficult to frame during the Atlantic Yards review process. And so that - you know, you have to be really careful. Who is the - is it long-term residents? Is it long-standing institutions? But I think that, you know - and that takes a lot of patience. It takes a lot of, you know, understanding what is the benefit? You know, for a lot of folks in Brooklyn, especially in central Brooklyn, in downtown Brooklyn, you know, benefits mean jobs, jobs. And, you know, it is very - you know, sometimes you can be derailed - why, well, what kind of jobs? And those aren't high-paying jobs. But, you know, emphatically across the board, when you talk about a community benefits agreement in an urban center, you are talking about jobs. And recently the Borough President hosted a job fair not far from here where there - close to 12,000 people showed up, looking for jobs. So I would say that, you know, be patient when you engage in this process and think about like when you do have economic opportunities such as Atlantic Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 38 Yards or any - you know, Spring Creek, the Gateway Plaza out in the south end of Brooklyn, that that has got to be first and foremost on the table. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you. A number of people have expressed that they are really, really cold and we are working on that. I am sorry that it is so cold. I would like - you know, this - we have got here in Brooklyn the largest West Indian community outside of the Caribbean, so I hope that somehow we can - our Caribbeanists can get to you and you can feel that heat, because I know everybody is really cold. So we are going to break. I want to thank you before we break. I want to thank David Bragdon. Thank you so much for being so generous with your time in answering all of these questions and for coming. I know that you didn't get much notice, and so I want to thank you for that. Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining us. I think this was really helpful, and I think it was particularly helpful for the representatives on the Council who come from urban communities and are grappling with very similar issues. So thank you so much for joining us. We are going to break for half an hour and we will be back here at - MS. V. ROBINSON: 10 minutes to 12:00? MS. YEAMPIERRE: 10 minutes to 12:00. And I also want to remind everyone that we have the Federal Interagency Working Group that is going to convene here from 1:00 to 4:00 where we will have Ignacia Moreno, who is the Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice; Bob Perciacepe, the EPA Deputy Administrator; Nadine Gracia, the Chief Medical Officer for Health and Human Services, and Adolfo Carrion to talk to stakeholders about issues that are impacting their community and how we can engage community more meaningfully. So, I will see you in a minute - 30 minutes. (Break from 11:20 a.m. to 12:00 noon.) AFTERNOON session (12:00 p.m.) Welcome Back by Elizabeth Yeampierre MS. YEAMPIERRE: So, welcome back, everyone. We are winding down, but we still have some important work to do before the end of the Council gathering. I just want to remind you of two things that are happening that are extremely important. Lisa Garcia will continue to host pre-meetings for EJ and local communities at each of the task force meetings, so continue to help her get the word out. The EPA quarterly community outreach call is scheduled for May 19th at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. The number is: 1-877-744-6030. I am going to say it one more time: 877-744-6030. And the access code is 64817805#. I am going to say it one more time: 64817805#. And then again, to remind everybody that the Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice is - will be meeting from 1:00 to 4:00 in Salon Z and it is an opportunity for stakeholders to talk about ways that Federal agencies can Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 39 share information about community focus work or opportunities as well as how Federal agencies can most effectively work with community representatives experiencing environmental issues. So I really would like to encourage you to be there. We know there are going to be representatives from the Department of Justice, Ignacia Moreno; Bob Perciacepe, the EPA Deputy Administrator; Nadine Gracia, who is the Chief Medical Officer for Health and Human Services; Adolfo Carrion, who is the Regional Administrator for HUD, and a number of other agencies. So we would like to encourage you to be there. Now, we have with us Monica Hedstrom, who has been with us during the NEJAC. She is the Environmental Affairs Manager for the White Earth Bands of Ojibway located in Minnesota and she is a new member of the National Tribal Council. Welcome, Monica. Comments by Monica Hedstrom, National Tribal Caucus MS. HEDSTROM: Hi, and thank you for allowing me to sit in on your meeting. I must say this has been very enlightening, to say the least. I am a new member to the National Tribal Caucus and I have joined the Caucus during a time that is really exciting. They are going through a reinvigoration process right now at EPA and a lot of chances and enhancements are being made and proposed that support the forward movement between tribal governments and the EPA. There have been many tribal partnerships formed and they want to make sure that these partnerships continue. There are many successes that have occurred over the past several years and they need to be capitalized on. I think, as Jolene said earlier, we started out late and we need to move real fast, and so we don't want to take any steps backwards. Just a few - I guess because I am new, I don't want to misspeak as far as what the Caucus is feeling on environmental justice, and so what I was planning on doing is just bringing back my thoughts from this meeting and environmental justice and how the Caucus needs to approach it. Listening for the past few days has been very educational, to say the least. The diversity of an environmental justice across the U.S. is - it is amazing, the challenges that are faced by many of you. The tribe that I am from, there are 23,000 members and 4 to 5 live on reservations. And so the other 18,000 people live in the communities that you live in, and so I see what our urban population is faced with. It makes me more aware of that. I feel that EJ needs more visibility toward tribal governments. It is a concern on the reservation. On the same note, all tribes are so unique that it is going to be hard to bring some sort of a blanket way that you deal with this. I think the ultimate goals that the Caucus - one of the goals that they are working on is to reaffirm and continue to convey information between the tribes and EPA and specifically, how can we implement environmental justice in Indian Country? I think there is a need for a comprehensive plan and a need that we can - just to be more comprehensive in this. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 40 MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you. Comments or questions from the members of the Council? Jolene? MS. CATRON: Thank you, Monica, for your well thought out comments and for your support. I hope we didn't overwhelm you. I know how almost - well, I don't think "intimidating" is the right word, but how overwhelming it is to come and sit here and listen to all of these issues and forward movement and advocacy and, you know, and then taking that back to those that we represent and our home communities and how we might be able to really move a dialogue forward around environmental justice. I know you haven't formally accepted the chair - or, you know, that formal process hasn't happened yet, but I am looking forward to active involvement from the NTC. That is what is called now, the NTC? And really how we start building that dialogue in Indian Country and around the nation in general around tribal environmental justice. So, thank you. MS. HEDSTROM: Thank you. MS. YEAMPIERRE: All right, unless there are any other comments or questions, we are going to move on to the NEJAC. Thank you so much, Monica. We are going to move on to the Action Agenda and Victoria is going to be facilitating that portion of the agenda. Victoria? NEJAC Action Agenda Discussion Moderator: Victoria Robinson, DFO MS. V. ROBINSON: Thank you, Elizabeth. And I would also, before we get started, like to thank Monica for taking time out of her busy schedule to come down here and to sit and observe the NEJAC meetings and to bring us a message, letting us know what the National Tribal Caucus is doing and to bring back from the NEJAC a sense of what the NEJAC is - its priorities are. And we are actually getting ready to start talking about setting a framework for the Action Agenda for the NEJAC for hopefully like the next two years. Right now, I am passing out to the members a couple things that I have heard discussed over this week and at the meetings as well as part of some ongoing conversations that have been had in the last few months. So I am going to do this in basically the order that they are listed, but not necessarily, particularly since Number 7 should probably be the last item that we discussed. Yes, ma'am? Oh - MS. : —(away from microphone) MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay, no problem. The first one is that - let us do unfinished business. That is going to be Number 3. This is the NEJAC Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration draft recommendations. I would like to get a sense of where we are on that so that we can plan next steps and get this document to the Administrator as quickly as possible. Yesterday, we had a wonderful, I think, report from Wynecta and LaTosha and Kedesch about the recommendations, and you have a document. I would like to know at this time: Are there any comments or any questions about the document or are you guys comfortable with the document as is with, or maybe some minor modifications? Let me know now, and then we will set up a date for things. Oooh, okay. Let us go to Lang first. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 41 MR. MARSH: Thanks. Actually, I am speaking, I think, for Savi and myself. I don't know if she is coming back. But we wanted to submit some language that responded to her comment yesterday about including something about the model that Omega put together and - MS. V. ROBINSON: It is community driven. MR. MARSH: Yes, probably as an expansion of - I think it is Recommendation Number 4 - MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay. MR. MARSH: - which is, you know, kind of the second phase of Omega's model or the one that he and I worked together on in the goods movements process. MS. V. ROBINSON: Yes. MR. MARSH: So I think that is the only change that I am aware of. MS. V. ROBINSON: All right. As you can see, I would like to get all comments by next Wednesday. Would you be able to have information, or language, for us to consider by next Wednesday, Lang? Okay, wonderful. Jolene? MS. CATRON: I just wanted to add to that. I have some comments just about the non-Federally recognized tribes and - but I put all my papers in the box, so - MS. V. ROBINSON: All right. So, that is fine. I kind of expected there would be some language changes. MS. CATRON: Okay. MS. V. ROBINSON: And so of this is just language to beef up and strengthen that, the concept that we were talking about, because I know that the work group was very, very adamant about the consideration of those tribes that are not recognized under the — language. MS. CATRON: Right. MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay. So that if you can get that to us before Wednesday, that - by Wednesday, that would be great. MS. CATRON: Yes, yes - MS. V. ROBINSON: Or your notes, by Wednesday? MS. CATRON: Yes, yes. MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay. MS. CATRON: Yes, I will have it by Wednesday, and I think it is perfectly plain to say — (away from microphone) MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay, okay, no problem. All right, let us see - looks like John. MR. RIDGWAY: Thank you. Noting the last few comments, which I agree with in concept, and you will be getting those from Lang and Jolene, I support the recommendation and I would like to see it go forward as soon as we have a chance to see that final. And I want to thank the subgroup for their - work group for that report. Was right on target. Thank you. MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay. Wonderful. No other comments? (No response) MS. V. ROBINSON: All right, so what we are going to do is we are going to incorporate any comments received by Wednesday of next week. The work group will hopefully meet next Thursday and Friday to review these things and then we will make a list of any changes, other than typographical, and Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 42 when we send out the report in about two weeks or so to the Council for your ballot vote, okay? So, expect something in about two weeks for that, all right? Cool, wonderful. All right, let us go to Number 1. Yesterday, Bill Sanders presented on EPA'S Science Implementation Plan for Plan EJ 2014, and in that conversation that EPA has requested that NEJAC provide advice and recommendations around environmental justice and environmental science, particularly related to the agency's new safe and sustainable communities program area. So the first question I will need to ask the Council: Does the NEJAC want to pursue this topic as part of its Action Agenda for the next two years? Do I hear yes/nay? (Chorus of "yes") MS. V. ROBINSON: Yes. That sounded like a resounding "yes," right? Thumbs up and all. Wonderful. All right, so we have said yes. Now, does the NEJAC then want to request that EPA convene a work group to help the NEJAC respond to this request and any forthcoming charges or charges? (Chorus of "yes") MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay, then we will work with - I will work EPA's Office of Research and Development in setting this up. I do not know the milestones timelines, but I will be coordinating through the NEJAC Steering Committee on this matter, all right? Is that - everybody comfortable with that? (Chorus of "yes") MS. V. ROBINSON: Wonderful. Okay. Okay, Number 2. Yesterday, Nicholas made you aware that on Monday we also had a brief conversation about the April 11th EPA Inspector General report about what the IG term the agency's inability to assess the overall impact of Recovery Act funds on economically disadvantaged communities. And everybody - I passed out, you should have at your desk, a copy of the summary at a glance of that particular report. And for those in the audience, if you were to go to EPA.gov, type in - search on "Inspector General," go to the IG page, and you can find the actual April 11th document that we were referring to. The - I am going to let Nicholas speak a little bit about this just to bring you up to date on that, just for a couple minutes, yes. Great. MR. TARG: Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity. On April 11 th of this year, the Inspector General came out with a report, and you have the summary, and Victoria, I very much appreciate your printing and distributing it to the group, identifying that the agency wasn't able to successfully track the distribution of $7,000,000,000 in Stimulus funds with respect to disadvantaged communities. And the issue related to that was brought home to us, I think, yesterday, in very palpable terms with the testimony that was presented during the Public Comment session by Miss Armstrong, who spoke very movingly about the importance of funding to distressed communities. The IG and EPA concurred that there were challenges based upon definitions and the lack of a clear agency-wide definition of the term "disadvantaged communities." And the agency also identified in its comments that there was a question related to the legal authority to consider and prioritize the distribution of funds to Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 43 distressed communities in its consideration of the allocation of the Stimulus funds more generally. There were other factors involved as well, such as the short timeline, making sure that the projects were shovel ready, et cetera. But the upshot is that the identification of which communities receives the funds with respect to disadvantaged communities, or distressed communities, rather, and the job impacts in those communities and the infusion of funding and ultimately also the environmental benefits conferred to distressed communities couldn't be fully evaluated. Rather, it was described in the agency's terms as providing success stories. In that context, in moving forward, I believe that it is important to be able for Plan 2014 to be able to have the agency be able to identify where resources are going, what the effects and outcomes are of its efforts with respect to communities with environmental justice concerns, distressed communities, however ultimately the agency chooses to denominate those communities. And I think that it is likely that this body, the NEJAC, might be able to provide some useful advice and recommendations. Along with that, and to a point that is not called out here, I could also suggest that it is worth considering asking the agency to identify, internally at least, the scope of its authority to consider issues of environmental justice or distressed communities in its grant programs as well. There are, in addition, Title VI or Title Vl-like implications under the Executive Order. And, Vernice, would you like to talk - MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: —(Away from microphone) MR. TARG: - talk a little bit about that? I am not sure how best to put it forward other than suggesting that the Executive Committee consider it, help frame the issue. I would be delighted to participate with anybody else that the Executive Committee thinks is appropriate in sharpening this issue up. But I do believe that it is an important issue for the communities, for the regulated community, and also nationally to be able to have a consistent program that has identifiable goals, objective, and can prove up results at the end of the day. MS. V. ROBINSON: Vernice, you wanted to - John? MR. RIDGWAY: I would like to add that I think that this is what we have heard in the past. Other Federal agencies have so much more resources that they put out that to the degree that we can, again, encourage the Interagency Work Group to look at this in the context of EJ. It is not just about EPA's money, obviously, but these other Federal agencies that are putting out way much more, and we have no idea whether they are taking this particular factor, or related factors, in — count, so we can consider that as a Steering Committee as well. MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay, so then, when the Steering Committee meets - -1 think we are going to be convening the NEJAC Steering Committee - oh, I am sorry, Sue? DR. BRIGGUM: If I could just make a friendly amendment on this, I think, given the fact that the Stimulus money - I mean, it was a one-time shot, nobody expects to see it again, EPA didn't get a huge chunk of it. My understanding is a great deal of it went to Superfund projects, which, you know, are really complicated. Maybe if we could frame out the issue in terms of the need to have a structure that you can use when there is opportunity for new grant monies, that would Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 44 seem a little less - I think a little unfairly critical and more positive, proactive, going forward. MS. V. ROBINSON: And, Sue, I - very good point., and I think when we talked with Nicholas a little earlier today, Elizabeth and I, we were looking at framing this conversation around metrics in general in terms of being able to measure and assess the effectiveness of programs like that of the Stimulus money, as well as what you have just mentioned. So, it is a very good point, and it is something that we will address with the Steering Committee to help frame it out, as Nicholas suggested, and the Steering Committee will likely meet, very, very likely meet, within the next two weeks once everyone gets back and we look at our schedules. And we will definitely ask both Vernice and Nicholas to be on the call to help frame out and then we will present to the Council the direction so that everybody can then reach agreement, and we will probably have a business teleconference call to discuss the - how we are framing it out. So that would be - we don't need to have a public call on the business end, okay? Everybody in agreement? (Nodding of heads) MS. V. ROBINSON: Wonderful. Okay, I am going to go now to Number 6, about the climate adaptation issue, and I am going to have Elizabeth talk a little bit about that. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Thank you. Thank you, Victoria. So you also heard a presentation about the significant maritime industrial areas in New York City, and so I would like the NEJAC to recommend that EPA and the Interagency Work Group assist New York City government and local EJ groups and urban communities throughout the country as they grapple with how to protect EJ communities in or near industrial waterfronts that are at a risk to storm surges. Federal support is needed to help prepare in-depth analysis for storm surge modeling projections - satellite imaging, mapping, and study of best practices for toxic chemical handling and storage in low-lying waterfront areas. The dynamic of clustering polluting infrastructure and toxic uses within the vulnerable waterfront and communities of color is not unique to New York City, but other densely populated coastal cities as well, and the Interagency Working Group's engagement with New York and other cities will, I think, be really helpful so - for all who, you know, need greater precision in storm surge and sea level rise projections and concomitant waterfront projection strategies. So, you know, I have been now for a while talking about climate adaptation because, you know, we talk as a movement about the precautionary principle and we talk about how do we protect communities, particularly communities that have been so vulnerable to environmental harms for so many years? And this is presenting us with an opportunity to be really proactive, so it would be great if we could make that recommendation. MS. ROBINSON: Are you asking that the Council make it as a recommendation or to explore that as a part of the Action Agenda for this year? MS. YEAMPIERRE: I think that if we can do both, if we could either write a letter because I think that this is a time sensitive matter, urging EPA to explore this, that would be great, and if we could put together a working group that is interested in Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 45 pursuing this, then we can actually have some recommendations that are coming from the Advisory Council. MS. ROBINSON: Peter? MR. CAPTAIN: Yes, that would be a terrific idea. Keep in mind that, you know, climate change just doesn't affect urban areas. We have a lot of rural areas, especially up in Alaska, that are being heavily affected. I for one would volunteer to be on that work group if it is so formed. MS. ROBINSON: Okay. Nia? MS. N. ROBINSON: So, looking at Action Item Number 1 and knowing full well that climate adaptation can be a working group in and of itself, is there a way that, if there is a working group formed around Action Item 1, around the safe and sustainable communities research program, can we fold the conversations around climate adaptation into that working group? I think that that is a really great place to talk about it. We talked all - in all our time together around what happens inside of communities when they do become safe and healthy and how our people are continuously displaced. I mean, that might be an interesting place to talk about all of those things, including the - what do you say, "non-chemical stressors" that are also impacting the bodies of the people who are disproportionately affected by these issues. MS. V. ROBINSON: You make a very interesting, good idea. I don't know enough about what the scope of the charge, or charges, that ORD will put forth for the work group, but we can certainly, when we bring it to the Steering Committee, is to have them, when we talk with them and negotiate, if you will, with ORD, on the scope of the work, we can certainly look at putting that on the table with them. But you raise a good point in putting it within the context, because climate adaptation and climate justice is so broad, there are so many different aspects to it. I mean, the NEJAC - a NEJAC work group could be working for years on it and by the time they come up with something, it is like five years down the road and five years too late kind of thing. So you raise a good point about putting it within a context. Nicholas? MR. TARG: Thank you. With respect to - this is an important issue. It is an issue that in following is an issue that I have written on and presented testimony on before part of the California Coastal Commission or the entity that serves that function. One of the things that we have seen are real issues of potential displacement of low-income people of color communities, which don't have the same level of sea level - don't have the same level of protection from levees and other kinds of drainage as do the more affluent, whiter parts of the Bay Area. I guess this goes twofold. With respect to the letter that we would be drafting, I would like to talk about how that would be drafted. Would this be limited to potential chemical work kinds of issues? Or I am not sure I understand what the scope is and how that all gets done. MS. YEAMPIERRE: I think that we could, within the Steering Committee, talk about what the scope is, and I think that I would look forward to talking to some of the members of the Council so that we could better define that. But we are looking at industrial waterfront communities that have an overwhelming number of noxious uses that are low-lying, that have sewage, storm water management problems, and have Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 46 potential right now at risk of a potential storm surge and are really in the midst of really densely populated communities. So I - you know, I would be open to doing that, to refine that. But I don't know that I have the answer to that right now. MR. TARG: My concern, of course, is that the - there are certain communities that, because of the historic land uses, they are - that there is both industrial operations, proximate historic Superfund sites proximate, and residential areas proximate, and, you know, I think that probably I would guess that we would be on the same page with respect to issues of self-determination. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Absolutely. MR. TARG: But - MS. YEAMPIERRE: And, you know, and honestly - that is funny - and honestly, like in New York, the performance standards predate the Clean Air Act for the significant maritime industrial areas. So we are working on that. But, yes, absolutely. All of these are in EJ communities in New York City. Every single last one them is in an EJ community, and then all of them have environmental justice leadership within them, so, yes. But that is for New York, and so, you know, we are talking about coming up with recommendations that are going to benefit similarly situated communities across the country. But, yes, absolutely. MR. TARG: My concern is, given the breadth of the issue, I don't know - I would have a hard time saying, "Let us go and draft a letter" without actually making sure that it has been fully reviewed and we have had an opportunity to engage in a deliberative dialogue around it. MS. V. ROBINSON: Oh, you would have to engage in a deliberative dialogue most definitely before any such letter could go forward. We - the - I know that the Steering Committee, if you guys agree to go ahead and have the Steering Committee begin looking at drafting - or a process to - for drafting, whether they ask or task one or two members to start doing something like that, but then it has to be done in a very public manner, any deliberation whatsoever. So, yes, we would definitely have to have it. It would not be something that would occur next week and go out. Far from it. But, yes, and that is a good caution to remind ourselves that that is something that would have to be vetted overall. Vernice, I think you had a comment? MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: I just wanted to add to that, and Elizabeth has already spoken to this, but somehow that the language be massaged that this issue came forward from several impacted communities in New York City but we know this is an issue that impacts communities and then list many of those communities. For most of the State of Maryland, two-thirds of the State of Maryland, we all live next to the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore City is, you know, just a classic example of where this is a big issue, and just so many, so many places - Bayview-Hunters Point in San Francisco - just, you know, we know that it is happening in all the places, and that is the point that you are trying to make, Elizabeth. But maybe we could, you know, try to do a census. It may not be a replete census, but just list some cities that - so they know that this is a really big issue for so many communities across the U.S. MS. V. ROBINSON: Good point. Okay. So my takeaway is that the Steering Committee again will put this on the list for items for the Action Agenda. In terms of the letter, looking at a framework for a process to move forward. But then the Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 47 idea of the working group we will explore as part of the science working group that we may be doing with ORD. But we will be getting back and having a conversation with the full body about where the proposed next steps are that the Council, the Steering Committee, is proposing. Nia? MS. N. ROBINSON: And if it does become a part of the working group for the safe and sustainable communities, will we have the opportunity to have broader conversations around climate adaptation, because I do think that this is very narrow? There are communities that are waterfront communities that aren't faced with serious issues from industry. There are communities that are landlocked that are faced with serious issues and needs around climate adaptation. And I would - and I feel like a lot of us on this body represent a lot of those different communities. So I was just wanting to make sure that we can have a full and broad and inclusive conversation around adaptation that includes a lot of various different needs based on geography. MS. YEAMPIERRE: You know, one of my concerns, I guess, is that we have had initiatives that have focused on very specific, targeted communities, like we have done a lot of work on the Gulf Coast and we are doing a lot of work on the Gulf Coast. We have had attention paid to rural communities. We - there are communities that need particular attention. And so the NEJAC also serves that, I think, that purpose of addressing the needs of communities that need particular attention. So, for example, in Appalachia there is particular attention because that community has different needs. And so I don't want urban communities to sort of have to be in the background when our communities are so densely populated and because - and attention not paid to that. At every NEJAC that we have had, we have spent a lot of time on issues having to do with indigenous peoples, on rural communities, all of that, because all of that is really important, and all of that matters, and all of it requires targeted, specific attention. And so I think the same is required for urban communities. And so if it becomes something like that, it may end up with urban communities not getting attention paid to and we will be in a situation where as a NEJAC we won't be addressing the potential storm surges that have been projected for our communities. So that is my big concern, because all of these communities matter, and all of these communities have had an opportunity, will continue to have an opportunity, to advocate for the interests of their folks. MS. N. ROBINSON: And I am not doubting that. I was simply talking about the safe and sustainable communities piece. I wanted to ask if the focus would be broad in that, not taking away from that. And also understanding that I am from Detroit, and so I know what urban communities face and I wasn't saying that urban communities should be counted out, or discounted, or not focused on. I was simply asking a question about time and ability to focus on adaptation and something broader, that is all. MS. V. ROBINSON: I think that is something we will make sure we will bring to the table at the Steering Committee and when I talk - when we work with ORD in terms of the scope of the work for the work group. The point - both points are well taken. So that is what we will do, move forward on that. There were several individuals who talked - I am sorry. Sue? DR. BRIGGUM: I think we created the problem when we put the climate adaptation into the science thing because the science was broader. And maybe if we Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 48 think about do we really want to do that, that would make sure that all of the issues Nia wants to bring up are part of the science but we have a separate, very specific to coastal impacts and climate mitigation at urban areas. MS. V. ROBINSON: That is how, I think, why there is the letter and the work group approach, two separate things, to explore. Wynecta? MS. FISHER: And the only other thing I want to add is that if we do find in the Steering Committee that we need to possibly have two separate work groups, that would be good. That is something that we came up with in the Gulf Coast document, is that we - that an issue that a lot of communities have is that D.C. comes down with the way things need to be done, but the way things are done in D.C. are not necessarily the way things are done in other places. So I am really thinking about those rural communities that are now impacted by the Mississippi River and that because they are not, you know, New York, Chicago, or major cities, they are not going to make the news but they are going to definitely get hit with those impacts, so we might need to have two separate groups working at the same time. MS. V. ROBINSON: Oh, I am personally an advocate of looking and see how you can shape the question within a policy context applies to multiple things. But in terms of the targeted one, we are - you know, possibly the letter that is being proposed, but then also looking at a broader thing because we can't piecemeal and attach it like a - approach it like a puzzle, which I think is one of the issues that community advocates have said, cited in the past, is that you are approaching us with a very fragmented approach. And I think our response should not be as fragmented, but we should consider and try to make sure that the recommendations can apply and explores the different types of communities. But you raise a good point, okay? Okay, the - we had a couple of individuals talking yesterday about transportation in Public Comment and elsewhere about transportation impacts, and one of the public commenters raised this, and I think John also - and Lang was also interested in this - was an update on the progress made in the last two years since the NEJAC came up with its recommendations for goods movement for - and so the question is: Does the NEJAC want to have an update about any progress, something like maybe either in a public teleconference call possibly scoped out in the October meeting, but having an update about some progress? Is that something - Lang, do you want to respond to that? MR. MARSH: Yes, I have been working a little bit with Region IX on developing further the model that Omega came up with the addition of the collaborative governance piece, and I would - I think that would make - appropriate to have a discussion, not a very long one necessarily, at the next meeting and have, as part of that, this report on the overall implementation because I think there is some very substantial progress being made in areas like electrification and so on that would be - that were responsive to many of our comments. But there may also be some opportunities for suggestions as to how to move that - the recommendations further. MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay. So, is that a "yes" from everybody? (Nodding of heads) MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay. There also is a related topic, is there was about the stricter limits for fine particulate matter. It was a subject that was brought up Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 49 by Nicky Sheats yesterday that could possibly - I know that the consumer report addressed fine particulate matter. Is that - maybe that is something that could be explored as part of that update on the progress made for - in response to the recommendations. Is that okay? (Chorus of "yes") MS. V. ROBINSON: Wonderful. All right. Before we go on to the next topic here, I would like to recognize and call to the table Bob Perciacepe, our Deputy Administrator, because I know you have got to go to the IWG thing, correct? MR. PERCIACEPE: — (Away from microphone) MS. V. ROBINSON: And - yes. Okay, you want - did you want to come and say remarks and they want to hold you up or anything? MR. PERCIACEPE: Well, thank you, Victoria, for saying hello. I am just enjoying listening to all of you work. It is great to be here to hear a little of your meeting. I know you are getting near the end and my babbling here may just extend it a little bit, but I am looking forward to the listening session we are going to have starting at 1:00 for folks in New York. New York is my hometown. I live about four blocks from here, so I - but ironically I woke up in Washington, this morning, so - (Laughter) MR. PERCIACEPE: - but I am looking - I don't know how that happened! So I am really looking forward to the listening session and I think we will continue to learn a lot from those and obviously we will continue to learn a lot from those, and obviously we will continue to learn a lot from you all. I don't really have any report to give unless you want to have me give a report. MS. V. ROBINSON: No. I knew you wanted to say "hi" - MR. PERCIACEPE: Yes. MS. V. ROBINSON: - so I started to call you. I didn't want to hold you up. MR. PERCIACEPE: I appreciate it. Thank you so much. MS. V. ROBINSON: Thank you. I know we have got a couple more items and then I will turn it over to you for any closing remarks. The last couple items we have I think are - one is real quick. During the working - the work of the work group on the Gulf Coast ecosystem restoration issues, they came back several times to the model plan for public participation and everybody is excited about how it has been such a useful document. The document was prepared - 1996, I think, was the last time it was updated - and they recommend, and this was not in the report because this is not a report to the - because it wasn't a recommendation to the Administrator, but rather, they wanted to recommend to the Council to update the model plan for public participation to include such things as recognizing there is new technology out there and to push for Web2.0, but also the cautionary limitations on who has access to that, so basically, updating the public - the model plan to reflect current technologies and the like. So they want to put that forth to the Council for you to consider to update the model plan. Any thoughts on that? John? MR. RIDGWAY: I absolutely agree that it is appropriate that EPA have a current EJ support of the model plan for public participation. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 50 My one concern is: We have talked about a handful of new work groups here just in the last few minutes and I would like to respectfully suggest that EPA would take the lead on updating this kind of dynamic, or guidance or a plan, and then we as an advisory committee can review that and support and advise relative to that. But to put a workload on us to write another report or a plan, I don't know if we have the resources to do that and I would kind of like to challenge EPA to take the lead on that. But that is just my own personal thought, so - MS. V. ROBINSON: Vernice? MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: I support that, and I would like to recommend that maybe we ask the Office of Environmental Justice to take this up as they were the body of folks that shepherded the creation of the plan and brought it to fruition along with the NEJAC in the first place. MS. V. ROBINSON: All right, I will bring it to the Office. Thank you. All right, I am going to turn it over to John. He had a - wanted to put forth - I think John and Jolene had wanted to put forth and say a few things about Number 8 about a work group for the indigenous people environmental justice issues. MR. RIDGWAY: Thank you. This is, of course, a long-standing element of our work and we have, as we heard, over 500 indigenous peoples' tribes, communities, et cetera, as well as populations in the territories that really need to provide us with focused thought and advice such that we can appropriately pass that on to EPA on so many issues. So I would like to recommend that we ask EPA to set up, or approve, a work group for this topic of indigenous peoples, work group for the Council, so that we have a better resource to incorporate those perspectives that without that representation, we just cannot adequately address. So that is my proposal, and to follow up that if the Council agrees to this, that we can work to get that implemented and maybe even strategically set up such that it can be part of the Albuquerque meeting. MS. V. ROBINSON: Jolene? MS. CATRON: I would also like to voice my support of that. I have been asking for that for a while now and Peter has, too. But I also would like to add that we have draft documents, draft language, that we have been working on and crafting throughout all these iterations that we have been asking for this. And so I would be more than happy to share that with the rest of the NEJAC Council. MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay, that is great. You have got everything , all you can - and share that. And then I will take it back to EPA, to Office of Environmental Justice, and - because this would involve coordinating with American Indian Environmental Office, and I will be working with Lisa and everybody else for that and we will get back with you on that. The last item, before we turn it over to Elizabeth for closing remarks - oh, I am sorry - Lang? MR. MARSH: Too excited. (Laughter) MR. MARSH: Is it open to discuss other areas of potential for the Action Agenda, not necessarily a work group? Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 51 MS. V. ROBINSON: I think what we are going to have to do is when we get back, we need to frame out what we are putting down and see where any holes are and then look at a timing - MR. MARSH: Okay. MS. V. ROBINSON: - in terms of, you know - it may not be something for this year. It may be on the Action Agenda - MR. MARSH: Yes. MS. V. ROBINSON: - or something for next year. But, yes, I know that when we have our business meeting calls, I think we are going to definitely need next month a call to really look at the draft Action Agenda and making sure I have the right people on the call and see if there are any other items up for discussion to fill in over the next couple years. MR. MARSH: Okay. Can I just mention the subject? MS. V. ROBINSON: Sure. MR. MARSH: In the Plan EJ 2014, particularly in the community-based actions program, there is a call for a work group to be set up by - and I am not sure whether it is for just internal or not, that was a question - on Activity 9 about - MS. V. ROBINSON: Which is this? Which implementation plan is this? MR. MARSH: This is the community-based action program - MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay. MR. MARSH: - plan. So I wasn't sure whether EPA was going to ask us to be part of that work group. And then the other part of it is I think there are a number of issues that they have raised that probably need advice from somebody in order to make that action plan really sing the way I think it should. So I am just interested in making sure that we either, A, are responsive, or, B, you know, if there is energy to provide some advice or put it on our action program at some point. MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay, yes, I will bring this to - Lisa, did you want to say something or - yes? Go ahead. MS. GARCIA: I guess for right now it is internal, but the work group and the folks are looking to who would participate on that group, so I appreciate you mentioning it. Would it be - I don't necessarily think it would be a NEJAC work group, but we may have your recommendations come in to participate. So, thank you. MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay, great. Now, the last item. Any more ones before I go to the last item? (No response) MS. V. ROBINSON: All right. You have heard us mention that the next NEJAC meeting, the next face-to-face public meeting, will actually occur in October in Albuquerque. Right now, we are looking at the third week of October. That is like the week of October 17th in Albuquerque. We know that the Steering Committee is going to be working hard to help tee up items for that agenda as well as to - so we can scope it out, have everything planned and ready for the conversation. What I am going to ask is that: Please check your calendars to make sure you are available. Block that time. Let me know ASAP if there is no way you can make it during that time. Number two, if you have - okay, Peter? MR. CAPTAIN: ASAP, I can't make it. That is - Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 52 (Laughter) MR. CAPTAIN: - the week of the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Alaska, so - MS. V. ROBINSON: What about the week before? MR. CAPTAIN: The week before will be fine. MS. V. ROBINSON: Okay. No, Teri can't make it? Okay, I tell you what: We won't waste time here. We will send out some emails. I didn't - we can't do it the first week of October because that is the balloon thing and I am surprised that most people don't know about the balloon - the big, huge balloon festival in Albuquerque, but MS. : Hot air balloons. MS. V. ROBINSON: Hot air balloons, yes. I mean, big thing. So, we will look - we are looking at October, but we will explore some dates. But ideally we would like to do it in October so it is before bad weather hits and things like that. But we will try to work with Teri and Peter in those weeks. Vernice? MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: Just I don't know if you have done your customary practice of sending the previous Chairs their - you know, their Certificate for Service et cetera, et cetera. I don't know if you have done that already for Richard Moore, but I just want to lift up that maybe we could have some kind of celebration with Richard. Of course, I know you are going to invite him to the meeting, but since we will be in his hometown, I just thought maybe we could do something to — MS. V. ROBINSON: Oh, actually, we did do that with Richard already. MS. MILLER-TRAVIS: I thought you might have. MS. V. ROBINSON: Yes, we did that. But - and I have already been in communication with Richard in terms of for outreach and so he is excited and so we are working with Richard and his organization about being there. But we will get back to him in terms of the date, so - but also, because you have a Steering Committee of five individuals - raise your hands - Wynecta, Lang, Jolene, John and Elizabeth - send out an email to one of them if you have got something you think that should possibly be teed up so that we can have it as part of the conversation with the Steering Committee. We are going to be - MS. YEAMPIERRE: Please send out the email to all of us. Thank you. MS. V. ROBINSON: As I said, send it out to all three of them - all five of them. MR. : —(away from microphone) MS. V. ROBINSON: Right, right. So - but reach out is what we are asking so that we don't hear later on and we want to make sure that we can try to accommodate and create an agenda that is going to have a direction and a purpose and not be scattered all over the place because I know we won't be able to cover everything in the next meeting but there are ways to team up that might meet your needs and meet the needs of the Council at the time. So that is the - yes, ma'am? MS. PESTANA: Is the DOE going to be present? MS. V. ROBINSON: I have no idea. I have - we have not made any commitments or invitations or any of that stuff, but if you have got a suggestion, let us put it on the table with the Steering Committee and we will see what we are going to do. MS. PESTANA: Okay, I am going to rephrase it. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 53 (Laughter) MS. PESTANA: By popular demand! The Department of Energy should be there. MS. YEAMPIERRE: And, you know, I think that there should be several Federal agencies present at every NEJAC meeting and that before the agenda is set up, we should be submitting a list and an invitation should be sent out to them in a timely manner so that they should be present, particularly if they have a commitment to this interagency effort. A lot of the issues that are discussed, a lot of the testimony that comes from the public, really has to do with attention required from a variety of agencies. So I am always a little annoyed when I don't see DOT in the room, when I don't see DOE in the room. They really should be sending those folks. Especially if they are thinking about integrating EJ into their organizations and they are not coming to the NEJAC meeting? That raises a lot of questions. So I think they should be - so you should submit to us a list so that a letter can go out inviting them so that they are present. And then if they are not, they have to let us know why not. Yes, thank you for that. MS. V. ROBINSON: And just so you know, and this is something the Steering Committee had discussed, one of the - we knew we had a very packed agenda, but we - but one of the reasons why we don't have - did not have the Federal agencies at this particular meeting is because we know we have the IWG meeting going on, starting like now. So - but that is something that we, I think, made a commitment to having some interagency representatives at the NEJAC meeting. So, thank you. MS. PESTANA: Regular — (away from microphone) MS. V. ROBINSON: Yes, I think so, yes. That is what we have been doing. That is what we have been doing. MS. YEAMPIERRE: One of the problems with them having it at the same time, by the way, is that they could say, well, they weren't at the meeting because they were at that. And they have lots of staff people. I just want to say they have hundreds of people, maybe thousands, working for them. They can give somebody up. MS. V. ROBINSON: Thank you very much. And so that is where we are moving. We are progressing down that direction. Okay, I have got Teri and Peter. MS. BLANTON: So if we know organizations, grassroots organizations, working in the Albuquerque area, should we send that list to you to - so that you make sure that they are invited to the meetings or - MS. V. ROBINSON: I will say this: We don't invite specific groups to the meetings unless they are going to be on the agenda. However, we do have outreach in terms of communications about when NEJAC meetings are, where they are going to be, and the topics on the thing. If you have the names of individuals, please send them to our office so that we can ask them if they would like to be on our EJ Listserv to reach - to receive these announcements. But we don't invite a specific group, saying, "Hey, we want you to come and give comment." That is not how that would work. You can reach out to them and maybe suggest, but as for - within the FACA process, we do not reach out to a specific group and individual organizations saying, "We would like you here to do this." But we would certainly be glad to add them to the - our mailing list to make sure that they are aware of these things. And they should be on the list as well, okay? Peter? Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 54 MR. CAPTAIN: Now, whoever is devising that list, you know - there is going to be probably a lot of talk on climate adaptation. I would like to see NOAA on that list. MS. V. ROBINSON: I just wrote - I am writing that down now. All right, Edith? MS. PESTANA: Are we putting any of the local Tribal Nations on the agenda? MS. V. ROBINSON: Are you suggesting that we do? So that we will bring that - MS. PESTANA: All right. I would like to see - (Laughter) MS. V. ROBINSON: That will be a conversation as we are building the agenda. We will - I am sure it is likely there is going to be something related to that, so MS. PESTANA: Because I would like to see them participate and actually be part of it, of the agenda, so they buy into it and they participate more fully and feel that it is - you know, that they actually have a say in it and a part in it. And I wondered, does NEJAC ever advertise on lndianCountry.org? Do you ever send notices to Indian Country or press releases to lndianCountry.org? MS. V. ROBINSON: We send - we don't have press - we don't do press releases for this. We would send out announcements. And I know announcements go out on all kinds of mechanisms. And, *DNI? I don't know if we send that out on that. But I do know it gets forwarded because I would see things coming that are getting posted on Indian - IEN, the Indigenous Environmental Network, I have seen notices of the meetings. MS. : — (away from microphone) MS. V. ROBINSON: Right. But we could - we can certainly expand the list of where we make sure that the announcements go out to. John? MR. RIDGWAY: Just to follow up on that, I think that if we are strategic here, we can think about inviting tribes to - as part of the agenda, part of the Steering Committee conversations. And I think this also gets to the question of how can we work with the local resources, be them people like Richard Moore, to be sure that they help get this message out in ways that the FACA is not officially allowed to? But the point is very well taken that we want to do what we can to engage these local communities. MS. V. ROBINSON: Jolene, first? MS. CATRON: This goes back to the conversation with JoAnn Chase earlier in showcasing best management practices, BMPs, and, you know, there are a lot of really good examples in the area. And so, yes, I definitely am on the same page. MS. V. ROBINSON: Elizabeth? MS. YEAMPIERRE: I think the process of doing extensive outreach should happen for every NEJAC and that we don't just have to rely on EPA to do that for us. We can forward that announcement and circulate it, make it go viral. I think it is our responsibility to do that. MS. V. ROBINSON: Thank you. Okay, Teri? MS. BLANTON: I would like to know who Richard Moore is, other than the man that lives in my house; his name is Richard Moore. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 55 (Laughter) MS. BLANTON: So, okay! MS. : Oh, he left his wife and married you? Well, we love you two! (Laughter) MS. V. ROBINSON: All right. Richard Moore was the second and fifth Chair of the NEJAC. He served in the capacity as the Chair of the Council for many years. He is the - was the founder and formerly the Executive Director of the Southwest Network for Environmental Economic Justice and he still continues to work in the Southwest, both on the U.S. side of the border as well as Mexico, and working with indigenous communities, rural, Hispanic communities - MS. : Latino. MS. V. ROBINSON: - oh, and Latino, I am sorry, throughout the Southwest. And so this is hometown. He lives in Albuquerque and he - in fact, I think our very first NEJAC meeting was in Albuquerque. So, yes, that is - this is who THE Richard Moore that people refer to, yes. Okay. MS. YEAMPIERRE: And he is Puerto Rican. MS. V. ROBINSON: From Pennsylvania. Okay, with that, without any other questions - I don't see any other cards - I am going to go ahead and turn it over to Elizabeth for closing remarks. Thank you. Closing Remarks by Elizabeth Yeampierre MS. YEAMPIERRE: I had to do that. You know, we have to have jokes because life is hard! But it is true. This has been - I have - I don't know if I am alone in this, but I thought this was an amazing gathering. I thought there was a lot of rich information. I feel that the space was really, really blessed with wisdom and blessings coming from each member of the Council and from the public. I want to thank a number of people because there is an enormous amount of work that goes into putting these meetings together, and I know that everybody comes and comes to the mike with the sole intention of using this opportunity to address the needs of the most vulnerable communities in this country, and everyone comes to the mike with that intention when they speak. And it was just a wonderful opportunity to hear so many different voices from so many different places with that singular intention, and that was really powerful and really beautiful. I want to talk specifically before I go on to thanking the members of EPA and the members of the Council about the youth piece that was taking place while we were talking, because you saw a lot of young people testifying. You saw them coming two at a time and who were sitting next to them were executive directors who were actually raised in the same organizations they were now heading. And for me that is an example of what intergenerational relationships look like, that you have young people that started these organizations at the age of 10 and grow up within the organizations to positions of leadership and are really doing impactful, localized work, and that leadership is defined as a continuum where one generation is not pitted against the Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 56 other but that we set the table by having everyone working together, and I think you saw that. And I was really impressed by the level of the testimony and by how the young people presented themselves because I felt that it is an example of the way that we train young people in New York City. We know that when they come to the mike, they have to understand the responsibility of the mike, and so we don't want them to come out and be props and say "okay, the young people were here and they spoke." We want them to bring it, because we know they can, and historically young people always have in our communities. The - I want to thank Mustafa AN for sharing that vision and for helping support a vision that has been extremely important because we need to know how to grow a movement and we need to be able to sustain ourselves and we know that the way we keep fresh and we keep relevant is by always having new voices at the table, providing them with the technical assistance and the support that they need so that they can engage as leaders in a way that is really meaningful. And I want to thank Rosanna Beltre for doing that and for working so closely with my staff to make that happen. I want to thank Mo - Murad Awawdeh - from my staff who helped organize this event and reached out to young people all over the City of New York so that they could participate. It was something added to his long list of things to do and he did it joyfully and I want to thank him. I want to thank Renee Goins and Aaron Bell, you know, the folks that are sort of back there who are sort of the unsung heroes of this gathering who we annoy, who we give information to at the last minute, who we ask random questions, that we expect them to know about all kinds of random things, all of those folks who are always really positive and always give us everything that we need so that this can come across as a really effortless thing. The members of the public - we - while we are talking to each other, we are watching you, you know, watching your body language. We know you are actively listening, that you are emotionally engaged, and we take our cues from you, we take our leadership from you. Your recommendations, your analysis, your thoughtfulness, your struggle, your pain, your journey really defines the work that we embark on. Without you, we don't exist. Without you, we have no authenticity. We believe that environmental justice is a movement that is accountable to a base, that we don't speak just for ourselves. We are accountable to someone, and collectively we make recommendations that hopefully are in the interests of all of our communities. And so your presence here is extremely important, and we know sometimes it is exhausting and we know sometimes it may be a little dull, and like we tell our young people, we lose our rights when we don't pay attention. And so I want to thank you for that energy and for blessing the space with your wisdom as well. I want to thank all of the members. I know you are all dying to leave - you have got those planes waiting, whatever - for joining us here in Brooklyn. I hope that - I hope you had a good time, and I want to thank you all for your energy and your positive spirit and how you were able to lift the discussion so that we could have discussions that were rich and that will hopefully help us move ahead. Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- 57 I want to thank Victoria Robinson, a sister who I drive crazy. I personally drive her crazy. I send her a lot of text messages, I send her emails, phone calls. I am like, "Where are you?" She is like, "I am around the corner. I am up the block, lam almost there." You know, I have to be in touch with her regularly just so I know that all is well in the world. And so I know I probably missed some folks and I am sorry about that. APEX? Yes, APEX - I - what are their names? MS. V. ROBINSON: There is Samantha, Jennifer - are the two ladies sitting here. And in the back of the room is Suzette, and who is not here in the room is their boss, Joi Ross, who owns the - who - actually, it is her firm. MS. YEAMPIERRE: Okay. That is a hard job. They have to transcribe everything we are saying! You know how much we talk, and you know how fast some of us talk. So - and you heard some of that yesterday. So - and, you know, the accents that we all have, right? So, thank you very much (Speaking in Spanish). I mean, I know that is a really important job, documenting everything that happens here. So, have a safe, peaceful journey, and muchas gracias, and thank you for joining me here in my hometown in Brooklyn, New York. Peace and blessings on your journey back home. The meeting is adjourned. (Whereupon the meeting adjourned at 1:05 p.m.) Audio Associates 301-577-5882 ------- |