NEBRASKA 11 IOWA KANSAS 'MISSOURI To the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, and consistent with the principles set forth in the report on the National Performance Review, each Federal Agency shall make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low income populations... Presidential Executive Order 12898 EJ Staff Co ntacts Grant Contacts Cecil Bailey (913) 551 -7642 Kimberly Hill (314)8212630 1-800-771-1376 Publications Daphne King (913)551-7815 EJ Update Winter 2000 An Environmental Justice Update for EPA Region 7 Customers A Message Region 7's EJ Coordinator Federal Fiscal Year 2000 represents a milestone year for the Region 7 F.nvironmental Justice (EJ) Program in which implementation of Environmental Justice principles into our polices, programs, and procedures is our primary focus. The following goals have been set: all Regio nal EP A staff w ill have th e oppo rtunity to take EJ training, EJ Implementation tools such as GIS will be made available, and interim Regional guidance will be developed. The program will continue to maintain its outreach and education activities in the grants programs and participation in community activities. Althea Moses, EJ Program Manager Region 7 Millennium Recognition: Partnership Awards Partnerships promote creativity, efficiency, economy, good relationships between the parties,, and enhanced customer service to the public . On January 12, 2000 the following organ izations w ere reco gnized for their exemplary contributions from efforts to educate communities on Environmental Justice in Region 7: " U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development/Great Plains Region " Metropolitan Energy Center (MEC), Westside Sustain ability Partnership Community, Kansas City, MO " Dallas County Public Health Nursing, Lead Awareness in Hispanic Community/Perry, IA QFnahan5rit»e of Nebraska Household Hazardous Waste Project EPA funde d a com prehen sive Ho useho Id Hazardous Waste program with the Environmental Protection Department of the Omaha Tribe. Underthis grant the the Omaha Tribes Environmental Protection Department built awareness of the dangers to health and the environment caused by hazardous wastes. An educational program was undertaken to educate the members of the Omaha Tribe and other residents of the Reservation, on the importance of implem enting a Solid Waste ordinance to protect health and safety, and to encourage proper disposal of solid waste and household hazardous wastes, A Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day was established and announced in the local news media. Prior to the collection day, a survey was developed and conducted within the Tribal Housing Units to determine the types of wastes would be collected. This enabled the propertraining to be provided in the handling of these wastes both for the safety of the volunteers as well as the environmen t. What is Environmental Justice? Why is Environmental Justice of Concern to EPA? How did EPA become involved with the Environmental Justice ------- Community Activities and Opportunities. . . EJ Calender of Events 1999 Missouri Black Expo The Missouri Black Expo has once again drawn a huge crowd to downtown St. Louis. The Expo celebrated its eighth year on August 14-15, 1999. This Expo was designed to: (1) provide the community with access to resources and information; (2) allow the community to support black-owned businesses; and (3) provide opportunities in the areas of education, health and self-improvement. The emphasis at this year s display was Children s Health. The six threats to children s health featured were asthma as a result of indoor/outdoor air quality, lead poisoning, carbon monoxide poisoning, pesticides, sun exposure, and radon. WANTED... Bridging The G ap is looking for groups/individuals involved in environmental/co mmunity work in the O Id Northe ast section o f Kansas City, Missouri to work with the steering committee of our Community Recycling Buy-Back Centers. Buy-Back Centers located in low- income neighborhoods, and teach residents about environmental issues and the economic incentives of recycling. Contact Katie Nielsen at (816)561-1061 xl22 March 2 Love the Earth and your neighbors-join an EcoTeam. Attend an informational gathering at the Westport Library, 7:00 PM. There have been 70 EcoTeams formed in KC to date! For more information call June Hoite at 816-513-3480. March 22 Speakers Bureau Training Class at Bridging The Gap. Learn how to be an effective public speaker at our program on recycling. Free class. Cal Shelley at 816-561- 1061, ext. 109 to register. March 29-31, Garden City Multi-Cultural Conference; Garden City Community College; Garden City, KS. For more information contact Joe Solis at 913-551-7203. Celebrate Earth Day 2000, Choose it, or lose it! Participate in events and activities to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Earth Day. For more information, call 913-Earth Day or visit the website www.earthdaykc.org April 15 Earth Day 2000; 9:00am-1:00pm; Jack Reardon Civic Center 500 Minnesota Avenue Kansas City, KS. For more information contact Bill Landis at 913-551-7314. April 22 Walk for Environmental Excellence. Raise pledges and walk at this event at the Kansas City Zoo, kicking off Kansas Citys 30 Days Of Earth Day celebration. Call Tracey at 816-561-1090 to volunteer. May 10 Clean Out Your Files Day. Join businesses across the area by sorting and recycling, or donating, items and files your office no longer uses. Call Kay 816-561-1061, ext. 119 for more information. May 10 Green Vendor Fair— Learn how to purchase with the environment in mind, 9:00-4:00 PM at the Downtown Airport. Call Peter Shemitz 816-513-3483 to register. May 23 - 26 National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. The focus will be public health. For more information about NEJAC, please visit: http://es.epa.gov/oeca/oej/nejac Volunteer for Clean Sweep. The 2000 schedule is complete. Help make a sweeping change in Kansas City! Call 816-513-3464 to find out the dates and locations of the 13 Clean Sweep events in KC. If your organization would like to submit events, please e-mail them to King. Daphne@epa.gov. EPA reserves the right to edit submittals ------- Funding and Technical Assistance. . . Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative Demonstration Pilots Bridging The Gap, Inc. (Kansas City, MO) - Youth household hazardous wastes, waste reduction, resource conservation, recycling, and energy efficiency project; Operation SafeStreet (St. Louis, MO) Team Sweep Environmental Education Pollution Prevention project; EPA s Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields . For additional information on Brownfields please visit http://www.epa.gov/brownfields Job Training & Development Purpose: to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields, to facilitate cleanup ofbrownfields, and to prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field. Eligible applicants: Colleges/universities, incorporated non- profit training centers, community job training groups, states, cities, towns, counties, U.S. Territories & federally-recognized tribes. Award Amount: Up to $200,000 awarded nationally Applications deadline: March 2, 2000 Contact: Maureen Hunt (913)551-7722 Metropolitan Energy Center (Kansas City, MO) - Neighborhood Environmental Justice Tools Development; and Junior College District of the Mineral Area, MO (Park Hills, MO) - environmental justice issues of Madison County, MO. Request for Proposals: Environmental Justice Small Grants EPAEPA has approximately $1.5EPA has approximate eligibleeligible organizations; $5eligible organizatior available for Superfund projects only. ApplicationsApplications must be mailed no later tha Friday, March 3, 2000 to: United States Environmental Protection Agency 901 N. 5th Street Kansas City, KS 66101 Attn: Cecil Bailey, RA/ECO $1.5 MiEPA has a $50eligible orgai Applications mus Brownfields Targeted Assessments Eligible applicants: States, cities, towns, counties, U.S. Territories, federally-recognized tribes Award Amount: Technical assistance equivalent to $5,000 $20,000 Applications deadline: Ongoing Contact: Shane Reed (913)551-7988 Environmental Justice Grants Program Update EPA Region 7 awarded $ 107,5 00 to 7 out of 28 applicants to the EJ Small Grants Program. The selected organizations are: * Dallas County Pub lie Health Nursing (Perry, I A) - Children s Lead Project; * Leadbusters, Inc. (Kansas City, KS) -Environmental Awareness Lead campaign; Fair Treatment and Meaningful Involvement. Iowa Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: Race Relations in Waterloo, IA On December 20, 1999 the Iowa Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held a community forum, Race Relations in Waterloo. The purpose of the community forum was to review the status of race relations and to provide information on government complaint processes. In addition to general race relations issues, the Advisory Commission was also interested in receiving information regarding: 1) police and community relations; 2) fair housing and equal opportunity in community development; and 3) equal education opportunities in the local school district. The Wyman Center (Eureka, MO) Youth education project; Solid Waste and Water The Advisory Committee also received infomiation on the status of race relations from a Black Hawk County supervisor, the county sheriff, the chief of po lice and two city officials. EPA Region 7 was represented by Althea Moses ------- (Environmental Justice program) and Pradip Dalai (EEO). Their presentations included information regarding EPA s Environmental Justice Program and its efforts to address fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all populations; and EPA s Title VI complaintprocess. Currently, there is no focus on civil rights issues in the Waterloo area by EPA Region 7. Ensuring Fair Treatment: How to File a Title VI Complaint Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 19 64 prohibits recipients of federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin in their programs or activities. Title VI itself prohibits intentional discrimination. Under EPA's Title VI implementing regulations found at 40 C.F.R. Part 7, EPA-funded agencies are prohibited from taking acts, including issuing permits, that are intentionally discriminatory or have a discriminatory effect based on race, color, or national origin . EPA's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for the Agency's administration of Title VI. All Title VI administrative complaints are processed and investigated by OCR. To file a complaint alleging a violation of Title VI or EPA's Title VI regulations, you must submit a written, signed, and dated statement that: (1) provides an avenue for the Office of Civil Rights to contact you; (2) describes an alleged discriminatory act that, if proven true, may violate EPA's Title VI regulations; (3) is filed within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory act; and (4) identifies a recipient of EPA financial assistance that allegedly committed a discriminatory act. (You can search the EPA Grants Information system to identify direct (but not indirect) recipients of EPA financial assistance.) You should mail your complaint to the address below or you may send it via facsimile (FAX) to (202) 260^1580. If you fax your complaint, you must also mail a signed copy within the 180-day time period. www.epa.gov/civilrights Write: Director of the Office of Civil Rights U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Mail Code 1201 401 M Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20460 Or Call- (202) 260 - 4575(Voice) (202) 260 - 4565 (TDD) or Fax (202) 260-4580 Environmental Justice Q&A What is Environmental Justice? Environmental Justice (EJ) means the fair treatment of people of all races, income, and cultures with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. Fair treatment implies that no person or group of people should shoulder a disproportionate share of negative environmental impacts resulting from the execution of environmental programs. How did EPA become involved with the Environmental Justice movement? On February 11,1994, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, to focus Federal attention on the environmental and human health conditions in minority and low-income communities. The executive order directed all Federal agencies to develop an Environmental Justice Strategy. As a result Region 7 has developed an Environmental Justice Strategy that identifies and addresses disproportionate environmental effects in our programs, policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations Why is Environmental Justice of Concern? Communities are sometime unaware of their rights and opportunities to participate in environmental decision making. The EJ movement was characterized by community activism before it was formally recognized by the federal government. In 1982, the EJ movement grew out of a grassroots protest against the siting of a PCB landfill in a predominantly African- American community in Warren County, North Carolina. The protest led to an investigation by the General Accounting Office which concluded that there was a correlation between the siting of hazardous waste landfills and the race of the host communities. ------- |