&EPA www.epa.gov/research science in ACTION INNOVATIVE RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE EPA's Community-Focused E What is C-FERST? EPA's Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST) is a web-based tool that provides information to help users: • Identify environmental issues in their communities; • Learn about these issues; and • Explore exposure and risk reduction options. Communities and decision makers can use C-FERST along with local information to advance community environmental health and wellbeing. Community engagement is crucial in helping citizens define and prioritize environmental and public health issues where they live, work and play. What information is in C-FERST? C-FERST provides access to resources that can help communities learn more about their environment, exposures, and demographic characteristics; compare conditions in their community with their county and state averages. The tool includes local maps and data, reports, fact sheets and links to other environmental and public health tools, information about other community projects, and structured guides to help communities plan their projects to assess local environmental conditions. Who Should Use C-FERST? C-FERST is intended to serve the needs of a broad range of users, including the general public, environmental and public health sure and Risk Screening Tool professionals, state and local risk assessors, EPA community involvement coordinators and environmental justice coordinators, and academic institutions serving local communities. It may be mutually beneficial for community members and groups to work with regional, state or local environmental experts, and local academic institutions to learn more about the community, identify and explore local issues, and interpret C-FERST data and results. How Was C-FERST Developed? EPA scientists partnered with a variety of community groups in designing, piloting and testing C-FERST, including a number of communities who participated in EPA's former Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) grant program. 1 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development ------- What Can I Do with C-FERST? • View maps of your community C-FERST maps contain information on pollution sources, estimated concentrations, exposures, and risks for select pollutants, demographic data, and other key community characteristics. Users can also supplement C-FERST maps with local information, and add their own maps. • Compare local, county and state estimates C-FERST's "Community Data Table" provides a summary of environmental conditions for a community, including estimated concentrations, exposures and risks for select pollutants, as well as demographic information. • Explore and learn about issues in your environment C-FERST's "Environmental Issue Profiles" contain links and information from various EPA and non-EPA sources for issues and concerns commonly identified by communities. C-FERST contains hotlinks to exposure and risk reduction options in addition to projects implemented by other communities. • Find additional resources C-FERST's "Additional Tools" link contains a searchable list of tools available for conducting community exposure assessments. The "Environmental Measurement Methods" section in C-FERST provides links to key EPA resources related to citizen science air monitoring and other available measurement methods. • Plan your project with guides for conducting community assessments: Community guides in C-FERST can provide information to help community groups systematically conduct an environmental health assessment in their locality. Guides in C-FERST include: EPA's former Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Roadmap; and the National Association of County and City Health Officials' Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE-EH). • Interact with other C-FERST users C-FERST contains a forum for users to ask questions, provide comments, and share stories about their experiences using C-FERST. C-FERST: A Screening-Level Tool C-FERST is intended to provide screening-level information to help users learn about community environmental and public health issues; however, it does not quantify risk values, and is not intended to be the sole basis for any public health decision. C-FERST Specifications C-FERST is available to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. No special software is needed, however the tool runs most effectively with a high-speed internet connection. Some familiarity with geographic information system (GIS) mapping software is helpful in using C- FERST Find C-FERST Online https://www.epa.gov/c-ferst Contact: CFERSTMail@epa.gov September, 2016 2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development ------- |