Spring 2015
S CDA in the Pacific
V/tr/i	Southwest
Environmental Justice Update
Welcome to the spring edition of EPA Region
g's Environmental Justice Update. Starting with this
issue, you'll find a section highlighting progress on
selected commitments we made in ou EJ Action Plan
for 2015. We highlight some of the ways we're using
contract resources to help communities address their
priorities. This is consistent with Administrator
McCarthy's theme of Making a Visible Difference in
Communities which calls for each of EPA's 10 regions
to focus on a handful of communities to better
coordinate our efforts through 2016. Our Agency's strategic plan makes a priority of
ensuring that EPA's resources reach communities, especially those disproportionately
impacted by pollution, economic distress, and other related challenges.
In Region 9, although we work with hundreds of communities every year, underthis
initiative we'll focus on American Samoa; the Gila River Indian Community in
Arizona; Gilroy and Imperial County in California; and Las Vegas, Nevada. Check out
th>- clickable map ~id watch this video of the Administrator to learn more.
NEJAC TO MEET IN SAN DIEGO
IN MAY
Registration is now open for the May 20 - 21
meeting of EPA's National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council (NEJAC). The meeting, in San
Diego, will focus on goods movement, climate
change and border issues. There will be a public
comment period on May 20 on issues related to
these and other topics. The NEJAC last met in
Region 9 in 1999 in National City, Calif.
i-i"
Click to view an interactive map of
MVP communities
1RREA HAY QUE DARIE L1
NEJAC's Report of the 1999
Roundtable

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Registration is also open for the April 22, 2015, NEJAC Public Teleconference call,
when three topics will be covered: EPA's Refinery and Clean Power rules and Title VI of
the Civil Rights Act. Registration and the deadline for public comment close at 3 pm
PST, on Monday, April 20. Pre-register here.
EPA Region g's 2015 EJ Action Plan Progress Highlight
The 2015 EJ Action Plan for EPA Region 9 was informed in part by input from a "teach-
In" held in March 2014 where we heard about issues of importance to communities. The
plan includes a number of commitments. Our EJ Update will regularly highlight
progress towards selected commitments.
Our plan reflects some of the input we heard about supporting community priorities
related to data and to community-driven problem-solving processes. IVAN (Identifying
Violations Affecting Neighborhoods) is one such model and EPA, along with many
other government agencies, participate on a number of IVAN task forces in California.
IVAN started in Imperial County with Comite Civico del Valle and the California
Department of Toxic Substances Control. EPA is working with Comite and their
partners to collect input from government agency representatives to help develop
performance measures for the six IVAN networks. Comite is also partnering with the
California Environmental Health Tracking Network on the Imperial County Community
Air Monitoring Study, and our contractor will develop recommendations for the project
team on how to display the data collected by the study.
A second effort is in response to open dumping in Fresno County, Calif., based on
multiple reports of dumping documented through the Fresno Environmental Reporting
Network CFERN). With input from FERN Task Force members and agency participants,
our contractor is developing easy-to-understand materials to raise awareness about
resources to both prevent and clean up open dumps.
Finally, we're working with Global Community Monitor and their partners to
support the updating of the quality assurance project plan for citizen-collected
environmental monitoring data so that it can be reviewed by EPA's quality assurance
program.

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KEEN TASK FORCE TOURS COMPOSTING PILOT PROJECT
The Bakersfield, Calif., municipal waste management and composting facility was the
focus of a tour on March 16, 2015 for leaders of KEEN, th Kern Environmental
Enforcement Network part of the IVAN network), Kern County residents, and EPA
representatives. Led by Kevin Barnes, the city's Solid Waste Director, the tour
highlighted pilot practices that reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
by 98% and significantly reduce water use. Traditional practices rely on mixing the pile
with a large machine (left-most photo above). In the pilot, the pile is left undisturbed
with an organic filter layer on top of finished compost. New material to be composted
is piled on top of solar-powered air blowers and then the whole pile is capped with at
least six inches of finished compost which is occasionally watered by irrigation
sprinklers.
The tour was a preview of the type of operations community members are hoping to
see from Recology, which took over the Community Recycling & Resource Recovery
Facility outside Lamont, in Kern County, in early March. Recology is introducing a new
aeration method to reduce VOCs.
WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EJSCREEN?
Webinar For Community Organizations on May 7
EJSCREEN is EPA's screening tool for identifying geographic
areas with potential environmental justice concerns. In advance
of the public release later this year, we are offering webinars and
outreach sessions to help the public better understand the tool and how EPA is using it.
Register for an introductory online session, to be held on May 7, 2015, from 1pm to 230 pm
PST. Contac: Chuck Swanson or Deldi Reyes if you'd like a session for your organization and
stay tuned for additional offerings.
EPA OFFERS COMMUNITY AIR
MONITORING WEBINAR ON JULY 9	Sensor
Measure • Learn - Share
Live Webstream 6:00 am to 9:30 am
Citizen Science Toolbox
EPA is hosting a nationwide training webinar to share tools used to conduct citizen science
projects involving Next Generation Air Monitoring fNGAM) technology and to educate interested groups
and individuals on best practices for successful air monitoring projects. Register here Space is limited to
500 webinar registrants.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Georges Benjamin, M.D., Executive Director of the American Public Health Association,
moderates a five-part webinar series on Safeguarding Communities from Harmful Chemicals,
beginning with a webinar on April 14, 2015, focusing on the role of the Agency for
Toxic Disease Registry (ATSDR). Register to learn more.
RSVP by April 15 for an in-person discussion with Professor Dorceta Taylor on the State of
Diversity in Environmental Organizations at the EPA Region 9 Office at 75 Hawthorne Street

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in San Francisco. Learn more here.
Register by April 24th forthe May 13, 2015 training, Healthy Homes for Community Health
Workers, a free one-day course designed for community health workers, also known as
promotores, and community health and housing advocates, to be held in El Centra, Calif.
Register for the National Health Impact Assessment Meeting, to be held June 16 to 18, 2015,
in Washington, D.C.
Register for Equity Summit 2015, to be held October 27-2gth, in Los Angeles, Calif.
Hold the date of November 21 for the 2015 Environmental Health Leadership Summit in
Imperial County, Calif.
Did you miss the March 7 Silicon Valley Transportation Choices and Health Communities
Summit organized by TransForm and their partners? Check out the materials here.
GRANT AND GRANTEE NEWS
U.S. EPA announces the posting of the Request for Applications forthe 2015 EPA Science to
Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study with the goal of
offering graduate fellowships for master's and doctoral level students in environmental fields
of study. Subject to availability of funding and other considerations, EPA plans to award
approximately 55 new fellowships in the fall of 2015. Master's level students may receive a
maximum of two years of support ($88,000). Doctoral students may be supported for a
maximum of three years ($132,000), usable over a period of five years.
Congratulations to Urban Habitat and partner Public Advocates on their receipt of one of six
grants awarded nationally by the Transportation Equity Caucus, co-chaired by The
Leadership Conference Education Fund and PolicyLink. Partnering with Public Advocates,
Urban Habitat will use their grant to convene a Transportation Justice Working Group to
identify transportation policy, investment, and program priorities to inform and shape
federal policy and advocacy.
Efforts to protect the community of nail salon workers from workplace hazards are featured
in the latest newsletter from the American Public Health Association. Asian Health Services,
a past recipient of EPA Environmental Justice small grants, sponsors the California Healthy
Nail Salon Collaborative, whose work is described in the newsletter.
JOBS
Check out the opening for a Coalition Coordinator at the Environmental Justice Coalition for
Water, a statewide coalition of grassroots groups and other organizations building a
collective, community-based movement for democratic water allocation, management and
policy in California.
The California Environmental Justice Alliance is looking to hire a Communications Manager
.to help lift up the voice and vision of communities of color across California.
Urban Habitat is looking for a Program Director of Training and Advocacy. Apply by April 30.

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US EPA E.T Update: NE.TAC Meeting; E.T Action Plan Highlight; Jobs

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