NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
ADVISORY COUNCIL
FEBRUARY 2020 MEETING
Jacksonville, Florida
February 25 - 27, 2020
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PREFACE
The National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) is a federal advisory committee that
was established by charter on September 30,1993, to provide independent advice, consultation,
and recommendations to the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on
matters related to environmental justice.
As a federal advisory committee, NEJAC is governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).
Enacted on October 6,1972, FACA provisions include the following requirements:
• Members must be selected and appointed by EPA.
• Members must attend and participate fully in meetings.
• Meetings must be open to the public, except as specified by the EPA Administrator.
• All meetings must be announced in the Federal Register.
• Public participation must be allowed at all public meetings.
• The public must be provided access to materials distributed during the meeting.
• Meeting minutes must be kept and made available to the public.
• A designated federal official (DFO) must be present at all meetings.
• The advisory committee must provide independent judgment that is not influenced by special
interest groups.
EPA's Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) maintains summary reports and/or transcripts of all
NEJAC meetings, which are available on the NEJAC web site at
https://www.epa.gov/environmentaliustice/national-environmental-iustice-advisory-council-
meetings. Copies of materials distributed during NEJAC meetings are also available to the public
upon request Comments or questions can be directed via e-mail to neiac@epa.gov.
NEJAC Executive Council - Members in Attendance
Richard Moore, NEJAC Chair, Los Jardines Institute
Sylvia Orduno, Vice Chair, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization
Michael Til chin, Vice Chair, Jacobs Engineering
April Baptiste, Colgate University
Cemelli de Aztlan, El Paso Equal Voice Network
John Doyle, Little Big Horn College
Jabari Edwards, J5 GBL, LLC (via telephone)
Jan Fritz, University of Cincinnati
Venu Ghanta, Duke Energy
Rita Harris, Sierra Club
Cheryl Johnson, People for Community Recovery
Virginia King Marathon Petroleum LP
Deborah Markowitz, University of Vermont (via telephone)
Mildred McClain, Harambee House
Melissa McGee-Collier, Mississippi Department of Environmental Equality
Ayako Nagano, Common Vision, NorCal Resilience Network
Jeremy Orr, Natural Resources Defense Council
Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance and Proctor Creek Stewardship Council
Benjamin Pauli, Kettering University
Dennis Randolph, City of Grandview, Missouri
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Jerome Shabazz, JASTECH Development Services and Overbrook Environmental Education Center
Jacqueline Shirley, Rural Community Assistance Corporation
Karen Sprayberry, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
Pamela Talley, Lewis Place Historical Preservation Inc.
Hermila "Mily" Trevino-Sauceda, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
Sandra Whitehead, George Washington University
Sacoby Wilson, University of Maryland, Maryland Institute of Applied Environmental Health
NEJAC Executive Council - Members not in Attendance
Lisa Finley-DeVille, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation Tomorrow
Kelley Wright, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
Millicent Piazza, Washington State Department of Ecology
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NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ADVISORY COUNCIL
Jacksonville, Florida
February 25-27,2020
MEETING SUMMARY
The National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) convened on Tuesday, February 25,
2020, Wednesday, February 26, 2020, and Thursday, February 27, 2020, in Jacksonville, Florida.
This synopsis covers NEJAC members' deliberations during the three-day meeting. It also
summarizes the issues raised during the public comment period.
1.0 NEJAC MEETING
This section summarizes NEJAC members' deliberations during the three-day meeting, including
action items, requests, and recommendations.
1.1 Welcome, Introductions & Opening Remarks
Karen Martin, the NEJAC Designated Federal Official (DFO), welcomed attendees and gave an
overview of the public comment procedure.
Richard Moore, the NEJAC Chair, welcomed everyone and briefly summarized the Council's
activities prior to this meeting. He reminded public commenters about the time window allotted for
comments and encouraged them to speak specifically to their issues and recommendations. He also
noted that Spanish translation services were available.
Council members introduced themselves and stated their affiliations.
1.2 Public Comment Period
On February 25, 2020, the NEJAC held a public commentperiod to allow members of the public to
discuss environmental justice concerns in their communities. A total of 14 individuals submitted
verbal public comments to the NEJAC. An additional 8 individuals had signed up to speak but were
not in attendance. Each speaker was allotted seven minutes.
1.2.1 Chip Hughes
Chip Hughes spoke about the intersection between natural disasters and environmental justice.
There is an opportunity for federal agencies and community partners to plow new ground on this
issue and develop new processes and procedures to serve environmental justice (EJ) communities
in a way that they have never been served. They have been able to learn from grassroots
movements such as Occupy Sandy and the Cajun Navy but have not yet been able to integrate that
into the federal response, where the EJ lens could make a real difference.
1.2.2 Eric Bason
Eric Bason spoke about anti-black racism in the EJ community, which is well-documented and
must be addressed before the EJ movement can progress. Dr. Bason has done EJ work for 25 years
and spoke about his experience with the lack of black representation at E J meetings. The issue is
systemic and extends to funding for organizations, a dearth of black executive directors, and the
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disparate treatment of different races that are grouped under the label "people of color." Some
black environmental advocates are hesitant to speak out because of potential negative
consequences, but if no one talks about anti-black issues then nothing will ever be done. When
asked for specific recommendations, Dr. Bason said that a tangible solution would be holding
people in power accountable for hurting black people.
1.2.3 Stephanie Herron
Stephanie Herron shared a video (https: //comingcleaninc.org/fencelinesl that addressed fence
line zones and the risks that they pose to millions of Americans. Black, Latino, and low-income
communities are disproportionately affected, and many fenceline zones are in areas that are
vulnerable to severe weather events. Ms. Herron acknowledged the work that goes into scheduling
NEJAC meetings but asked for more public notice for future meetings. She asked NEJAC members to
advocate against proposed changes to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), including
eliminating the requirement to consider cumulative impacts; limiting public participation; and
allowing categorical exemptions for certain types of developments. She thanked NEJAC for their
letters to EPA from May 2019 and asked if there was any response from EPA.
Chair Moore invited Council members to ask questions of Mr. Hughes, Dr. Bason, and Ms. Herron.
John Doyle asked Ms. Herron if the Environmental Justice Health Alliance (EJHA) considered tribal
communities when they looked at fenceline communities. Ms. Herron said that she was not an
author on that report, but she believed that the answer was yes. Michelle Roberts from EJHA
confirmed that they had looked at U.S. Census and National Air Toxics Assessment data to inform
their report and that data did include tribal communities. Melissa McGee-Collier asked how much
notice EJHA had of the meeting and Ms. Herron said about one month. Ms. McGee-Collier asked
about the NEJAC letters to EPA and Ms. Herron summarized the contents: one was a
recommendation to preserve the Chemical Disaster Safety Rule and the other was a
recommendation to regulate ethylene oxide and use the conclusions of the Integrated Risk
Information System (IRIS) in regulatory determinations. Chair Moore briefly explained the process
of sending the letter to the EPA Administrator. Na'Taki Osborne Jelks said that EPA responded to
both letters and noted that those responses could be found on the NEJAC website.
Karen Sprayberry said that NEJAC also wrote a letter to the Administrator about NEPA and Chair
Moore commented that they might have more testimony around NEPA later in the meeting. Ms.
Osborne Jelks asked for further suggestions on making NEJAC meetings more accessible to the
public and acknowledged Ms. Herron's comment that many of her colleagues and other EJ
advocates were attending the NEPA hearings in Washington, D.C., and were unable to come to the
NEJAC meeting because of the scheduling conflict Ms. Herron said that as much notice as possible
was always ideal. Matthew Tejada said that they would continue to try to provide as much notice
as possible. Chair Moore suggested that the Council might want to address the conflict between
scheduling NEJAC meetings around other important events in the business session.
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1.2.4 Patrick Barnes
Patrick Barnes spoke about his experience working on Superfund sites and observing their
impacts on EJ communities. When he started his own company, he promised himself that he would
introduce a workforce development program to help EJ communities participate in the restoration
process of their own communities. He went on to successfully implement these programs in
multiple communities following natural disasters, including the Hurricane Katrina/Rita impact
zone, and started a nonprofit called Limitless Vistas. He said that there is no environmental justice
without economic justice, and economic justice is achieved through workforce development and job
training. The NEJAC should look at some sort of policy to require contractors working in
communities that have been impacted by disasters to train and hire local residents to work on
restoration projects.
Chair Moore brought up the example of Region 6's cleanup of West Dallas, which was a
recommendation that came out of NEJAC and was achieved through collaboration with the
Interagency Working Group (IWG). Dr. Sacoby Wilson said that it would be helpful to look at
which entities are part of the IWG or should be part of the IWG as it relates to workforce
development and to track the contracts that receive funding for disaster recovery. NEJAC should
consider forming a working group around this and conferring with outside experts. Cheryl
Johnson said that her organization's goal was to create an environmental remediation workforce,
but the problem was that they could not identify contractors that looked like their community.
There should be an investigation at the federal level to see how many black contractors are
permanently on the list to get these contracting opportunities.
Ms. Orduno said that oftentimes the jobs that are given to black and brown people are the most
menial and harmful jobs. She asked Mr. Barnes what he and his organization do to protect their
communities from that phenomenon and how smaller contractors can better leverage to get
contracts. Mr. Barnes said that unbundling contracts is important for giving small businesses an
opportunity to participate in larger work and having more black and brown people involved in the
process will help to level the playing field. Ms. Osborne Jelks drew a comparison to EPA
Brownfields cleanup grants and wondered if language could be put into the Requests for Proposal
to make it favorable to hire the local workforce. In Atlanta, the EJ community is pushing the city to
make sure that the people who sounded the alarm about the flooding and lack of green space are
the same people who get jobs and workforce training development from the city's green
infrastructure projects.
Ms. McGee-Collier said that federal agencies need to require that state agencies hire minority
contractors in order to receive federal funding. April Baptiste asked Mr. Barnes how he ensures
that individuals in his job training programs have long term jobs and sustainable opportunities. Mr.
Barnes responded that Limitless Vistas partners with community colleges and receives funding for
scholarships from AmeriCorps. Chair Moore commented that the historical and written memory on
this topic was very important because many of these comments have been heard in various forms
in the past and the Council has made recommendations around the same subjects.
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1.2.5 Jeannie Economos
Ms. Economos said that the elephant in the room was agriculture, which is simultaneously the
single biggest contributor to climate change and also has the biggest solutions. Changing the way
that we do agriculture by creating healthier soils that sequester carbon and looking at food
sovereignty instead of food security could help to mitigate and possibly reverse climate change.
Using toxic chemicals hurts the environment and our most vulnerable communities. EPA has
approved the use of antibiotics to be used as pesticides on citrus crops, which hurts the soil and the
farmworkers who are on the frontlines of exposure to chemicals, as well as their families. EPA
needs to work with USD A rather than chemical corporations to reduce the chemical input into the
agricultural system, and they need to change their risk assessment mechanisms and the way that
they approve pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
Mr. Shabazz asked if she was interested in having a chemical by chemical restriction or restricting
classifications of chemicals. Ms. Economos said that it does not do any good to only ban one type of
chemical. Instead there should be a conscious, committed transition away from chemical pesticides
and the control of the companies that make them.
1.2.6 Linda Lee
Ms. Lee shared her experience as an agricultural worker directly affected by pesticides. She has lost
most of her sisters to pesticide-related diseases, and the neighborhood where she lives has been
heavily affected as well. They have gotten limited response from the health department, and though
the people who worked on the farms were proud of their livelihood and their work, they are looked
down on and treated as less than.
Dr. Wilson suggested that the NEJAC look back at some of their previous reports, like the one on
concentrated animal feeding operations, and get a report from USDA on their EJ 2020 plan. Ms.
Johnson asked if NEJAC had ever investigated the American Chemical Society (ACS) and their
future plans to correct the effects of harmful chemicals and suggested that they invite a
representative from ACS to a future meeting to question them. Mily Trevino-Sauceda said that
California's regulations ensure that companies have to apply and register every time they apply
chemicals and there are currently many lawsuits related to agricultural chemicals.
1.2.7 Michelle Roberts
Ms. Roberts noted that the Black National Anthem was created 125 years ago by James Weldon
Johnson, a Jacksonville native. She played a video called No Community Left Behind
(https://youtu.be/i-uSVrHIt4A) and asked NEJAC to look into a relocation process that speaks to
fair and just relocation to address legacy communities, as well as communities like Mossville,
Louisiana, whose lands are being sequestered under eminent domain. She noted that Mossville
community members have come to NEJAC meetings again and again to address these issues, and yet
nothing substantive has been done. NEJAC also needs to address the ways that public health issues
are incorporated into the conversation.
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Chair Moore noted that Region 6 representatives were present at the meeting, and Mossville is
located in Region 6. Rita Harris said that it hurts to realize that EPA is permitting these plants to
continue to exist, and it is getting worse even as the climate crisis continues to worsen. Ms. Roberts
noted that there have been many buyouts in the Mossville community, but many residents chose
not to take the buyout because they were not receiving fair compensation or long-term medical
coverage. Chair Moore commented that some African American legacy communities have received
good support from EPA staff, but there are still many, many others that are suffering and need
intersectional support from the NEJAC, the IWG and health agencies.
1.2.8 Sylvia Orduno
Ms. Orduno spoke about issues in her home state of Michigan. Many commenters have spoken
before NEJAC about the lead crisis in Flint and in 2017 NEJAC wrote a letter to the EPA, but they still
have not received a response. Despite comments about the failings of the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality and the need for more review of the regulatory enforcement that EPA
delegates to states, there was still no response from EPA. In March of 2019, NEJAC completed a 79-
page document on urgent water infrastructure needs, and they received three paragraphs back
from the Administrator. Ms. Orduno played a video (https: //www.nodefensedoc.com/) detailing
the consequences of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
in a Michigan community and said that five days before the meeting EPA announced a proposed
decision for an action plan to regulate PFOA and PFAS in drinking water. She asked NEJAC to: ask
the administration for a status report about the water charge; attempt to get a charge issued about
assessing regulatory oversight and compliance of states; follow up on a request to see how EPA
scientists can talk to DoD scientists about PFAS contamination on military bases; and ask what
more the military is doing to contain the fire retardant foams that they use.
Benjamin Pauli noted that PFAS is difficult to remove from water and installation of filters tends to
be very expensive. Dennis Randolph asked if the problem with oversight of states was due to a
lack of uniformity in how EPA operates between regions. Ms. Orduno said that they need to figure
out if EPA will play a role in enforcement, because currently it does not seem like they do.
1.2.9 Cemelli de Aztlan
Ms. de Aztlan played a video for the Council and spoke on behalf of the El Paso Equal Voice
Network. She said that the EPA needs to have a protective presence and pay attention to what is
happening in public schools in low income communities. In El Paso, the school district targets
children of low-income Spanish-speaking immigrant families and places them in schools that are
contaminated by toxins while the community's concerns and requests for environmental impact
studies are ignored. The El Paso Equal Voice Network is asking for an independent environmental
health impact study and air monitors to be placed where they will capture the true data about
pollution in the neighborhood.
Ms. Orduno asked what allows additional development and traffic to come through vulnerable
communities and why the schools believe that they do not need to respond to community concerns.
Ms. de Aztlan said that the school district claims to be its own entity that does not need to abide by
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city regulations. Ms. Sprayberry said that Texas was just awarded money under the Water
Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to test schools for lead and suggested contacting
the state about that grant money. Ms. de Aztlan said that they did a preliminary study with the
University of Texas which found lead contamination in the school playgrounds, and the school
district responded by putting three inches of dirt on top of the lead. Chair Moore asked what kind
of interaction the community has had with the EPA office in El Paso and Ms. de Aztlan said that
they have submitted public comments and while there seemed to be interest in doing studies there
was not a lot of interest in funding communities to create change.
Dr. Wilson said that NEJAC needs to be decentralized. There should be NEJACs at the regional level
that can be active all the time in the regions with constant contact and discussions. He spoke about
communities collecting their own data and submitting it to EPA and challenging them to disprove it.
Ms. de Aztlan said that they had attempted to install their own air quality monitors in the
community three times and had encountered obstacles, but they are currently collaborating with a
university to install and manage the monitors.
1.2.10 Clay Adcock
Mr. Adcock talked about an ongoing disaster in the state of Mississippi. He summarized the history
of the pumps and levees in the state and said that areas of the Mississippi Delta region were flooded
for seven out of the twelve months in 2019. Mr. Adcock said that the Yazoo Backwater Project has
gains in every environmental resource category and balances flood control with environmental
concerns. The EPA's manmade disasters have an environmentally sound solution and he asked
NEJAC to instruct the EPA to release its original veto on the Yazoo Backwater pumps and allow the
project to be completed.
1.2.11 Victoria Darden
Ms. Darden, another resident of the Yazoo backwater area in Mississippi, expanded on Mr.
Adcock's comments. She talked about the members of their community, many of whom are elderly
and need assistance to deal with the climate events that impact them. Without a pumping station,
the rural agricultural community delta cannot survive back-to-back floods.
1.2.12 Larry Walls
Mr. Walls spoke about his experience with the floodwaters in the Mississippi Delta and their effect
on his farm, his livelihood and his community. He echoed Mr. Adcock's and Ms. Darden's comments
about the need for the Yazoo backwater pump and a manmade solution to a manmade problem.
Mr. Shabazz asked why the EPA did not support the Yazoo Backwater Project. Mr. Adcock said
that he believed the legal battles were a source of funding for environmental groups. Mr. Shabazz
asked if there was a documented EPA response where they rejected the pumps and Mr. Adcock
said that it was contained in an Environmental Impact Study (EIS). Ms. Sprayberry asked who
would have paid for the pumps and Mr. Adcock said that they were authorized by Congress in
1941, so the taxpayers would pay for them if they were completed. Mr. Randolph asked if the
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) letting more water through into the Mississippi River was part of
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the flooding problem, and Mr. Adcock said that their problem was primarily excessive rainwater.
Ms. McGee-Collier said that her understanding of EPA's veto was that acres of critical wetlands
would be destroyed by installing the pumps, and Mr. Adcock said that that was misinformation and
every environmental impact from the pumps was a net positive gain. Ms. McGee-Collier asked if
their representatives in Mississippi had mentioned using restoration money from the BP oil spill to
address other environmental issues outside of coastal counties, and Mr. Adcock said that they had
not discussed that
Dr. Wilson asked if there was any information to provide more background around economically
marginalized groups that would benefit from the pumps, and Mr. Adcock said that he could provide
that to NEJAC. Dr. Wilson challenged NEJAC to think about whether they need to have more
discussion around natural disasters and flooding, and possibly a work group. Ms. Orduno asked if
there were proposals for other actions that could be taken short of a pumping station and Mr.
Adcock said that the EIS study had seven alternatives, but the pump was the most environmentally
and economically friendly solution. Ms. King asked what EJ analysis was done on the pump and
whether they have talked to USACE about reopening that analysis. Mr. Adcock said that he thought
there had been some discussion. Dr. Baptiste asked whether there had been any conversation
around relocation and buyouts. Ms. Darden said that there has been some discussion, but
community members feel that they should not have to move. Chair Moore commented that more
information needed to be gathered on this situation, and there is something the Council wants to
do, they just don't know what it is yet.
1.2.13 Bradley Marshall
Mr. Marshall spoke about the Chemical Disaster Safety Rule rollback and told the Council that on
February 18th of this year, Earthjustice filed a petition for reconsideration on behalf of several
environmental organizations. He asked NEJAC to pursue any possible follow-up actions to ask EPA
to reconsider the rollback. He also talked about the Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing
National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (MON) rule. Earthjustice agreed with
NEJAC's letter on ethylene oxide and they recommended that NEJAC reiterate to EPA the
importance of using the best available science and urge EPA to properly apply the 2016 IRIS-
derived ethylene oxide cancer risk estimate in the MON rulemaking.
Chair Moore said that NEJAC made recommendations to the Administrator and received a
response back, but there is some question about whether certain recommendations were not
addressed or constituted a difference of opinion between NEJAC and EPA. He said that it would be
important for the Council to review these recommendations in their business session and make a
decision about how to remedy some of these issues. NEJAC should consider whether sending a
letter with a recommendation is enough or if something further needs to be done. He encouraged
commenters to submit their comments in written form as well. Ms. Martin said that comments
could be submitted until the end of the meeting and if people needed more time, they could email
her to request an extension.
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1.2.14 Juan Rosario
Mr. Rosario mentioned several of the natural disasters that have affected Puerto Rico. He spoke
about the disposal of coal ashes from power plants, which spread across the island despite
promises that they would be removed. EPA was the organization that allowed the original contract
to be violated and they should address the problem now. EPA should also address the interminable
problem of landfills, which are polluting the environment. He asked NEJAC to be an intermediary
between Puerto Rico and EPA Region 2 and facilitate a conversation and a solution to these two
problems. After Hurricane Maria people came to the island to help, but Mr. Rosario said that as a
result he is afraid that Puerto Rico will become the most sophisticated colony in the world. They
might have renewable systems and renewable energies, but they will be a colony nonetheless
because the way that it is being done now is just creating a market for the industry rather than
liberating the people in any way.
Chair Moore said that there has been a recommendation in the past for NEJAC to meet in Puerto
Rico and OEJ staff was still following up on that request There is an EPA office in San Juan and Chair
Moore and the regional administrator went and toured Puerto Rico and some success came from
that visit. Mr. Rosario said that they also wanted to have a conversation with Region 2 separately
from the local office to talk about a different way of doing things, because EPA has always been part
of the colonizing force of the environment in Puerto Rico.
1.3 Closing Remarks and Adjournment
Chair Moore thanked everyone for attending the public comment session. Ms. Martin thanked
commenters and briefly outlined the schedule for the next day. Chair Moore adjourned the meeting
for the day at 10:31 p.m.
2.0 Welcome, Introductions, Day One Recap and Opening Remarks
On Wednesday, February 26, 2010, Karen Martin opened Day 2 of the NEJAC meeting and began
by conducting roll call. Ms. Martin confirmed the presence of a quorum and turned the meeting
over to NEJAC Chair Richard Moore.
Chair Moore and Mr. Tilchin summarized the previous day's meeting and said that the quality of
the public testimony the night before was fantastic, as was the quality of the Council's involvement.
Chair Moore invited NEJAC members to give their opinions about the public comment period.
Deborah Markowitz said she was impressed by the quality of the public comments and how much
she learned from hearing from folks on the ground in effected communities. Jacqueline Shirley
thanked members of the public for traveling to speak with NEJAC and encouraged communities to
continue lining up champions to fight for their causes. Virginia King echoed comments praising the
quality and preparedness of the public comments. She also expressed her belief that one of the
matters raised in public comments could afford NEJAC the opportunity to achieve a real victory in
environmental justice. Ms. King drafted a letter related to that case and distributed it to Council
members via email and encouraged their comments. Dr. Wilson said he always finds the public
comment session to be the most informative portion of NEJAC's in-person meetings and noted that
he often becomes emotional and frustrated as a result of what he hears during the session. NEJAC
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has to be focused on how to translate what NEJAC hears in the comments into real action, no matter
the current political climate. Ms. Osborne Jelks also found the public comments to be moving and
striking and expressed the concern that the Council's agenda did not leave enough time to discuss
these matters. Mr. Randolph said he found this public comment session to be one of the most
organized and well-conducted sessions he's seen during his time on the Council. In cases like the
trucks in El Paso and the Yazoo Backwater flooding, NEJAC perhaps has a role to push back against
decisions made by government agencies using insufficient or selective information. NEJAC can also
serve as an outlet for those experiencing the consequences of these decisions. In regard to the
Yazoo Backwater situation, Ms. Orduno noted that this might be an example of where NEJAC and
the EPA finds itself choosing between no-win options, between how to reconcile protecting the
environment and protecting communities. By all accounts, this particular decision was made in the
best interests of the environment, and NEJAC will have to figure out how it will confront these
situations when they also cause apparent injustice to local individuals and communities.
Dr. Mildred McClain echoed and agreed with comments asking that NEJAC put more efforts
towards helping communities discover and implement their own solutions to their problems.
NEJAC will also need to help the EJ community react to the proposed NEPA rollbacks and
amendments, should they be enacted. Chair Moore applauded the new Council members for how
smoothly and quickly they have integrated themselves and begun participating in the meeting. He
agreed with the sentiments expressed by Council members and sympathized with the frustrations
expressed in the public comments. NEJAC's role is to provide advice and recommendations to the
EPA, but the Council finds itself in a position where it does not feel its advice and recommendations
are being listened to and acted upon.
2.1 Welcome & Dialogue with U.S. EPA Office of Policy: Brittany Bolen, Associate
Administrator
Mr. Tejada introduced Ms. Brittany Bolen, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Policy (OP),
the top political representative in the Office of Policy, which is the office responsible for
environmental justice at the EPA. Ms. Bolen spoke to the Council via telephone.
Brittany Bolen thanked the NEJAC members for their work and service on the Council. She assured
the Chair and the Council that her office and the Administrator listens to and appreciates the
Council's advice on this very important topic which is integral to the Agency's mission. The Office of
Policy is the chief policymaking arm of the EPA and directly advises the Administrator on ways to
fulfill the Agency's mission of protecting human health and the environment. This work is
conducted along two tracks: the regulatory and permitting-focused side and then the more
collaborative, community engagement arm, which includes EJ, community revitalization, and
climate adaptation, among other activities. NEJAC provides a critical role advising the Agency in
both arenas, and Ms. Bolen said she and the Administrator are looking forward to meeting with
NEJAC members in Washington, D.C. on March 16. She noted that EPA's Assistant Deputy
Administrator, Henry Darwin, had spoken before NEJAC at their last in-person meeting and had
discussed a potential charge for the Council regarding the Lean Management System and measures
for the EJ program. EPA hopes to be able to continue that discussion at the March meeting in D.C.
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Regarding EPA's recent EJ activities and achievements, Ms. Bolen began by referring the Council to
EPA's FY19 Environmental Justice Progress Report The report describes the efforts OP has made to
integrate EJ into the work of EPA's programs and regional offices, particularly after the 2018
reorganization that brought the Office of Environmental Justice under OP's umbrella. Ms. Bolen
highlighted EPA's technical assistance and $100 million in grant funding, a significant portion of
which went to economically distressed communities. Two examples were significant sums in small
grants related to revitalizing Brownfields sites and Diesel Emission Reduction Act programs. A big
portion of EPA's technical assistance has been focused on activities in Opportunity Zones, which are
designated areas in underserved communities that allow for preferential tax treatment in order to
spur business opportunities and job creation. Ms. Bolen also touched on activities related to
Superfund sites. Lastyear EPA deleted all or part of 27 sites from the National Priorities List (NPL),
which is the largest batch of deletions since 2001. The Superfund program is closely intertwined
with environmental justice and Ms. Bolen thanked the NEJAC for their support on this matter
through the Superfund Task Force. Finally, Ms. Bolen noted that 2020 marks the 50th anniversary
of the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA will have a number of commemorative
activities throughout the year, many of which will highlight the Agency's EJ accomplishments over
the years.
Chair Moore thanked Ms. Bolen for her comments and for joining the Council, and then opened the
floor for member comments and questions. Ms. Sprayberry noted she had worked on the last EPA
Strategic Plan. She asked if EPA had begun work on a new plan for the coming years. Ms. Bolen
said EPA is currently operating under a strategic plan that operates through 2021. EPA is in the
beginning stages of drafting the next plan and will be engaging with the Office of Environmental
Justice and NEJAC as that progress gets further along. Mr. Randolph noted that there is more to
progress than economic development Health should be the most important measure, and when
communities are sick the workforce and the economy suffers as a result. He gave his own
community as an example, where the industry is there but the populace cannot fully provide the
staffing needed due to health concerns from a history of industrial pollution. Ms. Bolen agreed
wholeheartedly that you need both: a healthy environment and robust public health framework is
needed to foster and support economic growth. This is part of why the EPA works to take a holistic
approach and attempts to avoid its offices operating in silos. Mr. Doyle raised the topic of climate
change and its effects where he lives on the Crow Reservation in Montana. The tribe is isolated and
struggles economically and is now having to deal with climate-related effects on local game
populations. The tribe has applied for job training grants but has had limited success.
Ms. Bolen said tribes are an important stakeholder in EPA's work and she thanked Mr. Doyle for
bringing those concerns to her attention. Ms. Osborne Jelks congratulated EPA on the deletion of
27 sites from the NPL but noted that in the past those deletions have occasionally occurred against
the local community's ongoing concerns about the cleanup methods chosen and the quality of the
work. Ms. Osborne Jelks asked Ms. Bolen if she felt all the recent deletions were conducted in a
collaborative manner with local stakeholders. Ms. Bolen said the accelerated deletion activity was
in part related to the work of the Superfund Task Force. She expressed her belief that all the
deletions were received positively by local stakeholders. Regarding the strategic plan, Ms. Osborne
Jelks asked whether EPA was going to compare the previous strategic plan with actual results and
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compare how well the Agency did. Ms. Bolen distinguished between the Agency-wide strategic plan
and the EJ goals that the Agency is working towards. Much of the Agency's current activities are
forward-looking, particularly in the strategic planning arena. Dr. Wilson listed issues he hoped the
Office of Policy would keep in mind, some of which drew on public comments: cumulative impacts,
Title VI complaints, developing appropriate metrics for progress in Opportunity Zones, rural water
systems, and air quality. Ms. McGee-Collier raised the topic of investigation and enforcement of
environmental laws. In particular, she pointed to the case of a lab director in Greenville, Mississippi,
who was recently convicted of falsifying documents related to over 1,000 facilities while working in
the Division of Marine Resources. This individual was only charged with wastewater sampling-
related activities, but he was also involved in agricultural and drinking water reporting. EPA should
ensure that bad actors are investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Regarding Opportunity Zones, Chair Moore said that in actual practice thus far these zones might
be more properly referred to as Opportunist Zones and one might reasonably ask who the
opportunity is actually for. He also told Ms. Bolen that NEJAC was displeased that this meeting in
Jacksonville happened to coincide with important EJ-related congressional hearings in D.C., which
made attending both impossible for most members and the public. He also noted that grants needed
to be assessed to ensure that funds are actually going to grassroots organizations. Concerns around
NEPA revisions, Title VI, the Risk Management Plan Rule, and just relocation are other topics that
NEJAC is likely to raise with the Administrator. Dr. McClain wanted further explanation about how
EPA leadership defines progress in environmental justice. She also wanted more information about
how EPA intends to put more tools, technical assistance, and grant money in the hands of low-
income communities. She also had concerns about unfunded mandates and how the EPA intends to
assist coastal communities in the face of climate change. Ms. Bolen thanked the NEJAC for their
questions and comments and said she looks forward to continuing the discussion in D.C. in March.
2.2 Welcome & Opening Remarks: Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Greg Strong welcomed the NEJAC to Jacksonville on behalf of the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (FDEP). Mr. Strong is the Director of FDEP's Northeast Office, which is
based in Jacksonville. Mr. Strong introduced FDEP staff in attendance, many of whom NEJAC will be
hearing from later in the meeting. Environmental and climate justice are highly complex issues, and
open forums such as this involving a diverse array of organizations and voices are vital for a
productive exchange of ideas. Mr. Strong gave a brief overview of the day's agenda. Local
partnerships, collaboration, and innovation will be themes throughout the day. Florida is an
incredibly diverse state, both in its environment and its population. The current governor has made
the environment a priority of his new administration, as evidenced by the executive order he issued
48 hours after taking office. While we all may have differing views on how to best solve the
challenges we face, when all parties come together in open dialogue and listen to each other and
respect individual perspectives, that is when the best solutions are uncovered. Ms. Martin and
Chair Moore thanked Mr. Strong and his staff for their assistance in putting together this meeting
on behalf of NEJAC and the EPA.
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2.3 Welcome & Dialogue: U.S. EPA Region 4 Leadership
Ms. Martin turned the meeting over to EPA's Region 4 Regional Administrator, Mary Walker.
Region 4 is comprised of the Southeast United States, including Florida. Ms. Walker welcomed
NEJAC to Region 4, particularly the new members of the Council. She noted that two other Regional
Administrators will be in attendance, Ken McQueen from Region 6 and Pete Lopez from Region 2,
along with some of their staff. Ms. Walker began by providing a general overview of Region 4,
which covers 8 states and 6 tribal nations, 14% of the country's watershed, one-third of the U.S.
coastline, 460,00 miles of rivers, and nearly one-third of all continental U.S. wetlands and major
estuaries. The region is environmental diverse, ranging from the Smoky Mountains to the
Everglades and the Florida Reef, the only living coral barrier reef in the continental U.S. The region
is experiencing rapid population growth, which creates unique opportunities and challenges.
The birth of the environmental justice movement can be traced, in part, to the hard work of activists
and communities in what is now EPA Region 4. Ms. Walker pointed to the protests of the Warren
County, North Carolina PCB landfill in the early 1980s as a prime example. EJ has been an official
part of EPA's work since 1994 when President Clinton's Executive Order 12898, "Federal Actions to
Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations," was enacted.
Ms. Walker next reviewed the history of EPA's activities and achievements throughout the
Southeast since its founding 50 years ago. One early example was air quality in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, which was named the worst city in America for particulate air pollution in 1969 due to
heavy industry and lack of regulation. Today, the city is in complete attainment for all federal air
quality standards.
Ms. Walker presented EPA National Air Quality Standards data showing improvements in
attainment throughout the Southeast over the past decades, and also areas where more work is still
needed. Ms. Walker next discussed the region's Superfund activities, using the Valley of the Drums
in Bullitt County, Kentucky as an example of a major achievement in this mission area. The Valley of
the Drums was one of the early sites that reached national attention and spurred the passage of the
Superfund Program's enabling law, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act (CERCLA). This site is just one of over 150 sites that Region 4 has returned to
beneficial use under CERCLA. In addition, Region 4 leads the nation in Brownfields site
assessments, and FDEP is one of the region's major drivers in this effort Ms. Walker discussed a
number of examples of the region's successful Brownfields partnerships, including one at the
Columbus, Mississippi Kerr-McGee site, which has been led on the community side by NEJAC
member Jabari Edwards.
Ms. Walker next discussed Region 4's water-related activities, including National Estuary Program
work in Whitaker Bayou at Sarasota Bay and Three Mile Creek in Mobile Bay. Ms. Walker also
touched on Region 4's partnership on the Proctor Creek Watershed in Atlanta, Georgia, where the
EPA's Urban Waters program works with NEJAC member Ms. Osborne Jelks' organization on
cleanup and education and outreach activities. Ms. Walker also talked about the region's disaster
response and recovery efforts, which is of particular importance in a geographic region subject to
annual hurricane threat. Disaster response is one arena that requires all of the region's program
and arms working in concert and close communication with the recovering communities. While
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FEMA takes the overall lead when disasters are declared, EPA takes charge of hazardous spills and
oil spills and matters related to water contamination and safe drinking water.
In recent years, EPA has begun taking a larger role in the recovery stage, as well. In other drinking
water-related activities, Ms. Walker also touched on EPA's proposed revisions to the Lead and
Copper Rule which are designed to strengthen protections across the board and to identify
communities with the greatest need of investment, among other improvements. Finally, Ms.
Walker briefly described the College/Underserved Community Partnership Program (CUPP),
which aims to expand the availability of resources to underserved communities by forming
partnerships with academic institutions, particularly Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs) and colleges serving tribal and Hispanic communities. To date, this program has worked
with 73 schools in 20 states in support of 65 communities. The CUPP program has also supported
disaster recovery efforts in Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico.
Ms. Orduno thanked Ms. Walker for her informative presentation and opened the floor for NEJAC
member comments. Ms. Shirley asked Ms. Walker what her stance was on the Yazoo Backwater
situation and EPA's veto which led to there not being a flood pump in that area. Ms. Walker said
she was pleased to see Mr. Adcock and the other members of the Yazoo community. She visited that
region during the floods and is very aware of the impacts on the community. Unfortunately, at the
region level, there is not much to be done regarding the veto itself, but Region 4 is actively working
with the Corps of Engineers and the community to find remedies and a path forward.
Ms. Harris asked for more information on the CUPP program grants. Ms. Walker said that effort
was the brainchild of a Region 4 staff member who wanted to connect community needs with
academia as a way to supplement federal or state monies. EPA's role is more of matchmaker rather
than providing direct funding. Regarding the Lead and Copper Rule update, Dr. Pauli noted that a
recent analysis by a coalition of grassroots clean drinking organizations had a number of criticisms
of the proposed revisions, and he would be happy to share that study with EPA staff. He also noted
his interest in the interface between state and federal agencies and local community groups and
noted that it is just as important to hear about the challenges in this relationship as it is to hear the
success stories. Ms. Walker acknowledged that EPA's actions in safe drinking water more directly
impact Americans' lives than anything else it does. EPA current activities are an attempt to refocus
its drinking water protections, particularly in the wake of the Flint crisis. Another aspect of this
effort was last year's National Compliance Initiative directed towards tightening safe drinking
water enforcement
Dr. Wilson raised a number of concerns about ongoing matters throughout Region 4. In North
Carolina and Mississippi, pollution from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) has not
been fully addressed, even after a related Title VI complaint and settlement. Affected communities
need continued assistance, particularly in light of attempts to pass so-called right-to-farm laws that
limit communities' ability to push back against CAFOs. Fly ash ponds are another ongoing issue in
North Carolina. Dr. Wilson next pointed to other areas for EPA and regional agencies to consider
and provide a response to NEJAC: goods-movement emissions in communities near the Port of
Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia; the interplay between climate change and
gentrification; water safety in well- and septic-based, and therefore not federally regulated, rural
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communities; hydrogen sulfide burrow pits in Pensacola, Florida; the disproportionate impact of
disasters on black communities, which have been historically placed in more flood-prone areas due
to the legacy of racism; the status of the Tallassee and Uniontown, Alabama Title VI complaints; the
need for EPA funding to further support the CUPP partnerships; the need for a new Community
Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program; the inability of current regulatory air
monitoring networks to adequately safeguard and accurately measure multiple hazards and
cumulative impacts; and the importance of requiring the Community-Scale Air Toxics Ambient
Monitoring grantees, the air pollution control agencies, to partner with local organizations during
their work.
Ms. Nagano raised concerns about the recent rollbacks of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule in
which wetlands were redefined as only those which are directly connected to oceans. Who will
protect those areas that are no longer considered wetlands under the rule? Chair Moore noted
several important achievements made possible by EPA partnering with grassroots groups,
particularly Dr. McClain's work in Savannah and the ReGenesis Project in Spartansburg, South
Carolina. He also stressed the importance of knowing the history of each site, and that the
relationship with federal and state partners wasn't always so rosy. Chair Moore lauded the hard
work in recent years of Cynthia Peurifoy, Environmental Justice Coordinator at EPA and former
grassroots activist in her own right One area he highlighted where more work and focus is needed
is the ongoing efforts in the Rubbertown community in Louisville, Kentucky.
Ms. Osborne Jelks seconded Chair Moore's praise of Ms. Peurifoy and added her plaudits to other
involved EPA employees. She noted the importance of corporate and federal partners in her own
work in Proctor Creek in Atlanta but emphasized the importance of all parties keeping in mind the
needs of the affected community and including them at all stages of the process, not only for the
process to run smoothly but for it to have a chance at success at all. Ms. Osborne Jelks invited Ms.
Walker to visit Atlanta and meet with Proctor Creek community groups.
Dr. McClain seconded Chair Moore's comments about remembering history and Dr. Wilson's
comments about the need for hyper-local air monitoring networks. Regarding the latter, Dr.
McClain raised the example of the Savannah port-adjacent neighborhoods of Hudson Hill,
Woodville, and West Savannah which begged for years for a more comprehensive air monitoring
regime to assess the air pollution they were subjected to. EPA's Near-port Community Capacity
Building Project has been vital in addressing this matter, but communities need a great deal more
support managing complex projects of this nature. Dr. McClain also pointed to the workforce
training grant criterion that requires community groups to have gone through a financial audit,
which is frequently cost-prohibitive to small, grassroots organizations, as a topic that needs to be
addressed. Finally, Dr. McClain wanted information on how EPA interacts with Department of
Energy activities at the Savannah River Site, particularly as it relates to community engagement. Dr.
McClain invited Ms. Walker to visit Savannah and meet with affected communities.
Sandra Whitehead noted that public health is a crucial piece to environmental justice outcomes
and expressed disappointment that no state public health representatives are in attendance at the
meeting. Dr. Whitehead echoed Dr. Wilson's comment about Pensacola, particularly the North
Pensacola and Molino areas which have several industrial plants and landfills in close proximity.
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Dr. Whitehead invited Ms. Walker and Region 4 to visit these areas, as well. Ms. Trevino-Sauceda
noted a lack of reference to farmworkers in general, and women farmworkers in particular,
throughout Ms. Walker's presentation, and wondered whether EPA is aware of the needs and
problems faced by this large and important group of people. Jan Marie Fritz noted that she is a
Florida resident and asked for information on what efforts are underway to address pollution in
Lake Okeechobee and its dispersal via outflowing waterways. Ms. Walker thanked all the NEJAC
members for their comments and invitations and said she will take these questions with her and
respond in due course.
The Council took this time to discuss their concerns about the lack of in-person representation from
EPA leadership and to confer about their plans for the meeting with the EPA Administrator on
March 16. Ms. Orduno said she was glad Ms. Bolen was able to join the Council briefly via
telephone, but felt that in the spirit of mutual respect an in-person appearance matters. Mr. Tejada
prefaced this discussion by noting that it will be important for NEJAC to hone in on specific issues
and priorities that it wants delivered by the Council delegation traveling to D.C. Although it would
have been ideal for this meeting to occur in addition to in-person presence at the Jacksonville
meeting, rather than in lieu of it, this is still a great opportunity for NEJAC to raise its top concerns
directly with EPA leadership. Chair Moore noted that D.C. meetings usually entail meetings with
staff in addition to the meeting with the Administrator. Nevertheless, he found it to be disrespectful
for the Agency to expect NEJAC members to travel from their homes across the country for what
amounts to a one-hour meeting. He acknowledged that the Administrator has a busy schedule and
asked that the Agency do the same and recognize that NEJAC members have busy lives, as well. He
suggested that NEJAC should demand that the meeting with the Administrator be expanded to two
hours as a condition for their visit.
Ms. Harris thanked the Agency for their support in allowing the work of NEJAC to continue, but
concurred with Chair Moore's sentiments. If the Administrator can't be present at Council meetings,
there should be a procedure in place for subordinates to be present in his or her place. Ms. de
Aztlan felt NEJAC should take the opportunity of the D.C. meeting to confront the Agency with their
dismissal and disregard for the Council's work and this Administration's continuation of policies
that push pollution into under resourced communities of color and neighboring nations. Ms.
McGee-Collier hoped that the NEJAC would not allow the Administrator to use this meeting as
photo op and a means to placate the EJ community, which is what she felt happened at the last
meeting in D.C. with the previous Administrator. Ms. Orduno thanked members for their comments
and said the Steering Committee would work on a draft priority list to bring before the Council later
in the meeting.
2.4 Community Voices: Fairfax Street Wood Treaters Superfund Site
Ms. Orduno reconvened the meeting after a lunch recess and introduced the next panel in the
afternoon agenda, which would be focused on local communities in the Southeast. The first panel
would discuss remediation efforts regarding the Fairfax Street Wood Treaters Superfund site here
in Jacksonville.
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2.4.1 Leigh Lattimore - Remedial Project Manager - U.S. EPA Region 4; Miranda McClure -
Environmental Consultant - Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Dr. James E.
Parris, Jr. - Executive Director -Faith Deliverance Church and Temple College Prep School;
L'Tonya Spencer-Harvey - Community Involvement Coordinator - U.S. EPA Region 4; Ron
Tolliver Harvey - Community Involvement Coordinator - U.S. EPA Region 4
Ms. Lattimore began the presentation by discussing some unique characteristics of the Fairfax St
WoodTreaters site. The company began operations in 1980 and went bankrupt in 2010 and
subsequently abandoned the site. The site is next door to two schools, with which it shared a
retention pond for 10 years before the company built its own pond. It is surrounded by residential
neighborhoods in the remaining three directions. EPA tests found elevated contamination levels in
soil on the schools during the remediation design process and the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection took immediate steps to clean up the school grounds. Once fully
underway in March of 2019, remedial actions on the site itself and 50 nearby properties were
completed in less than a year. Ms. Lattimore reviewed a timeline of EPA's involvement, from
emergency response in 2010 to the site being listed on the NPL in 2012 and then the subsequent
remedial investigation and action through 2019. She noted that EPA chose to remediate the site to
residential standards so that it could be fully reutilized by the community as it saw fit EPA also
took action on off-site properties because the neighborhood is considered an EJ community and
suffers from cumulative negative environmental impacts and health stressors.
Ms. McClure discussed FDEP's activities at the schools and elsewhere in the neighborhood. FDEP
worked collaboratively with EPA throughout the entire site process, but took the lead on the school
cleanup because EPA had not yet received full funding for remedial process. Ms. McClure walked
through the soil sampling and remediation process at the Susie Tolbert Elementary School, which
took place over the summer. FDEP held meetings with the community to explain what was
happening and keep stakeholders abreast of the cleanup activities. The remediation itself involved
the removal of 60,000 tons of contaminated soil and 300,000 gallons of contaminated water.
Ms. Lattimore also talked about EPA's Superfund Job Training Initiative, which was utilized on this
site to provide 13 community members with job training, 9 of whom were employed onsite during
the remediation. She also described EPA's extensive community outreach and engagement
activities. Community trust was vital throughout the process, particularly given the behavior of the
company and its abandonment of the site. EPA maintained a hotline for the community, held 8
public sessions, put up information signs around the area, and mailed out 4,000 fact sheets to the
neighborhood. Over 100 people attended the cleanup kickoff meeting in March 2019. The job
training program was also crucial for maintaining trust and transparency with the community. Ms.
Lattimore concluded her remarks by highlighting some lessons learned: the importance of
appropriately balancing speed and accuracy, partnering and working with credible stakeholders is
essential for a successful project, and the value of listening to understand. Dr. Parris, who is a
member of the community, said the EPA did a fantastic job throughout their 10-year presence in the
community and applauded their professionalism and work ethic.
Ms. Orduno thanked the panelists and invited NEJAC members to comment Dr. McClain asked if
the impact analysis conducted for this site was tied to the NEPA review process, which is currently
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under threat by the EPA's proposed NEPA revisions. Ms. Lattimore said actions at this site
followed the specific process that is laid out for remediation of sites on the NPL under the
Superfund Program. Mr. Shabazz asked for more detail on EPA/FDEP's engagement with the
school. Ms. Lattimore said they were in contact with the school throughout the process and held a
number of meetings at the school itself. The number one priority was the safety of the children at all
times. Mr. Shabazz gave an example he has seen at other sites where the schoolchildren are
engaged directly to help understand how the cleanup works. He also asked whether the contractor
performed well. Ms. Lattimore said Black & Veatch performed very well and was very engaged
throughout the entire cleanup. Ms. Spencer noted they were partners in the job training initiative.
Dr. Baptiste asked if EPA or FDEP had any information on the current status of the training
program graduates. Ms. Lattimore said several of the workers remain employed with Black &
Veatch's subcontractor out of state while others are looking for opportunities in the local area. Dr.
Baptiste also asked Ms. Lattimore to discuss whether EPA addressed conducted studies on
existing health concerns in the community. Ms. Lattimore said EPA had county health
professionals onsite to answer questions, discuss best practices for prevention, and otherwise
encourage individuals to see their doctors for testing. Larger scale health studies and interventions
are outside the Superfund purview.
Ms. Orduno invited two members of the community who were unable to attend the public
comment session to deliver comments to the Council. Thomas Waters serves as a consultant to the
Fairfax Environmental Committee for Justice, Inc., which is a local EJ organization. Mr. Waters
introduced Mr. Aerial "Pat" Flo, a former employee at Fairfax St Wood Treaters who is also a
member of Fairfax Environmental Committee for Justice. Pat Flo said his years of employment at
the facility, as well as living in the community throughout its years of operations, had left him and
many people he knows with serious health issues. In response to earlier Council questions
regarding health effects and governmental response, Mr. Waters said the community's health
concerns have not been addressed, nor have concerns related to diminished property values after
the plant closure and cleanup. While EPA's community outreach efforts were laudable, they were
insufficient and often confusing, particularly for the elderly members of the community. Mr. Flo
was particularly dissatisfied by the local government's response to his community's concerns and
said they often felt shunned and ignored when they attempted to raise their concerns to city
government. Ms. Orduno thanked Mr. Waters and Mr. Flo for their heartfelt comments and asked
for NEJAC member volunteers to take time to meet further on the side as the meeting continues and
hopefully bring in local health officials, as well. Dr. Wilson added that NEJAC should consider
formulating a recommendation around Superfund health assessments and health surveillance and
providing funds for addressing health impacts. He also noted that sites like this might be fertile
ground for the CUPP program.
2.5 Community Voices: Eastside Environmental Council
Ms. Orduno next welcomed introduced representatives from another Jacksonville organization, the
Eastside Environmental Council, to discuss their efforts to address environmental injustice in East
Jacksonville and how they help empower citizens to create positive change.
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2.5.1 Wynetta Wright - Founder - Eastside Environmental Council; Teena Anderson -
Development Manager - Eastside Environmental Council
Wynetta Wright began by discussing her own personal journey in environmental justice growing
up in the Eastside neighborhood leading up to the founding of the Eastside Environmental Council
(EEC). EEC has three main purpose areas: addressing environmental injustice, raising
environmental awareness, and promoting environmental education. Teena Anderson gave the
NEJAC a brief overview of the East Jacksonville community and EEC's history and structure. East
Jacksonville is located east of downtown and north of the Jacksonville Expressway. Local challenges
include Superfund sites, Brownfields, polluted air and waterways, low household incomes, and
significant health disparities. The area also lacks sufficient access to public transportation, has
limited access to affordable healthcare, and does not have a full-service grocery store or markets
within walking distance. The Eastside neighborhood is a big part of why EPA chose Jacksonville
Health Zone 1 as Region 4's Environmental Justice Showcase Community.
EEC was founded in 2004 and received its first EPA EJ grant in 2009. One of EEC's early activities
was helping create community gardens at local schools. EEC's work is heavily focused on
community outreach and working with students is one avenue for this process. The group relies on
grant funding and donations for its continued operation. In 2010, the Eastside Kerr-McGee site was
added to the Superfund NPL, which opened up funding avenues for local organizations. In 2013,
EEC received its second EJ grant, and in 2015 it was awarded an EPA Technical Assistance Grant
(TAG) for work on the Kerr-McGee site. One of EEC's major community partners is the Matthew
Gilbert Middle School. EEC holds workshops, walking tours, and educational sessions at the school
for both the students and family members. EEC's other areas of focus include empowering and
educating residents of the Urban Core neighborhood; helping to make Eastside a better, healthier
place by promoting access to healthcare, fresh produce, jobs, and more; addressing concerns that
pollution from local contaminated sites may be impacting health of residents, and advocating for
community and raising awareness about the cleanup of the Kerr-McGee Superfund site and Deer
Creek. Ms. Anderson detailed one TAG-funded program called the Go Green Soil Shop where EEC
and its partners offered free soil screenings for lead, free back-to-school health screenings for
children, and fitness activities and backpack giveaways for attendees. EEC's School and Community
Gardens program is another major initiative to help encourage healthy diets and address
neighborhood food deserts.
Ms. Orduno thanked the EEC for their presentation and noted the importance of hearing from
community members in the town NEJAC is visiting. Chair Moore suggested EEC look in to applying
for an EPA Environmental Education Grant He noted that EJ grassroots groups used to be excluded
from TAG grants and it was through efforts of the NEJAC that those mechanisms were opened up to
the community. Ms. Sprayberry applauded EEC for their ability to empower themselves without a
great deal of traditional technical expertise on-staff. Ms. Wright emphasized the importance of
collaboration with local experts and academic institutions and personal relationships in general.
Dr. Wilson pointed the EEC to potential grant and partnership opportunities via the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation Community Health Interdisciplinary Research Leaders grant, the NIEHS
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Partnerships for Environmental Public Health research action programs, the Citizen Science
Association EJ Work Group, and the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health.
2.6 Community Voices: Florida Department of Environmental Protection Partnership with
Clara White Mission
Ms. Orduno welcomed representatives from FDEP and the Clara White Mission to present to NEJAC
on their collaborative activities.
2.6.1 Ju'Coby Pittman - CEO/President - Clara White Mission; Mallory Schott - Farm Manager
- White Harvest Farms; James Maher - Assistant Director, Northeast District - Florida
Department of Environmental Protection; Sheena Chin-Greene - Program Coordinator,
Florida Green Lodging Program and Florida Green School Designation Program - Florida
Department of Environmental Protection
James Maher began by praising the value of the Clara White Mission's work in the Jacksonville
community and how FDEP's partnership with the organization has been the most rewarding
collaboration of his career. He introduced Ms. Pittman, who is the driving force and spiritual
successor of the Mission's founders, Clara White and her daughter, Eartha White. The focus of this
presentation will be on the Clara White Mission's community farming project, White Harvest Farms,
which is designed to address the pervasive food deserts that low income and minority communities
in the city often face.
Ju'Coby Pittman thanked the NEJAC for inviting her organization to speak before the Council and
gave a brief overview of the Mission's history and programs. The activities of the Clara White
Mission fall into six main categories: Feeding Program, Educational Programs, Housing Program,
Clara at the Cathedral, Ashley Street Catering, and White Harvest Farms. Though these programs
cover many different areas, they are all focused on the goal of helping at-risk individuals return to
dignity and productivity by gaining new perspectives on life. White Harvest Farms was established
in 2012 on property that had been in the Mission's hands for some time. The property was a former
contaminated ash site, so the Mission reached out to FDEP to clean up and remediate the site for
beneficial use. As the cleanup concluded, the Mission and FDEP looked at ways to continue their
partnership to help turn the site into something that could provide ongoing benefits to the Mission
and the community. After performing a soil safety confirmation test, the Mission went forward with
the decision to turn the land into a community farm. In 2014, the Mission purchased 3 blighted
parcels adjacent to the property, bringing the farm's size to 10.5 acres. The ultimate goal is to
promote, sustain, train, and provide access to nutritional produce to residents in the community
while creating jobs and revitalizing underserved parts of Jacksonville.
Mallory Schott provided a more detailed look at the farm itself and the Mission's long-term plan to
develop and grown the initiative. White Harvest Farms is located in the heart of Historic Moncrief
Springs flanking both sides of the tranquil Moncrief Creek, which provides additional preservation
and recreation potential. The Mission recently received a $1.5 million grant from the City of
Jacksonville to continue modernizing the farm, and the Mission plans to use that funding to build
permanent structures to house a farmer's market, storage facilities, outdoor classrooms, and a
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special events hall. These additions are scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2021. White
Harvest Farms' vision is to stimulate and redevelop this site not only as a training facility, but also
an opportunity to generate additional revenue to re-invest into the land for continuous produce
production, to create jobs, and to increase local commerce. Ms. Schott briefly reviewed volunteer
activities offered on the farm, current farm production, and ongoing educational programming. The
farm operates an open market that provides access to fresh vegetables to farm volunteers six days a
week and offers produce for sale every Saturday. Ms. Pittman also highlighted the farm's outreach
to local schools and community groups and the farm's mobile market that brings produce to
underserved portions of the community. Mr. Maher noted the Mission's complementary projects
through its culinary school and janitorial training program.
Ms. Orduno opened the floor for NEJAC member comments. Dr. Wilson noted that the issues of
food insecurity and food deserts have been raised throughout this meeting, but really what is going
on is food apartheid. This can be combatted through food sovereignty and White Harvest Farms is a
great example of bringing control of the food-shed back to the community. Another part of the food-
shed and local ecology to consider is the fishing community and the potential for urban aquaponics.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Kellogg Foundation, the Kresge
Foundation, and the Small Business Administration are potential sources for additional grant
funding. Dr. Wilson emphasized the need to map the food-shed and work with the city to create a
land trust to further develop the community's food infrastructure. The topic of food security might
be fertile ground for a NEJAC work group and White Harvest Farms would be a good case study. Ms.
Orduno asked whether the Mission proactively reaches out to deliver produce to specific
communities of need in exigent circumstances.
Ms. Pittman said that, given budget constraints and the Mission's goal to help the homeless, all of
the farm's surplus produce currently goes towards feeding the local homeless community. As the
program gets on more stable footing and starts expanding, those opportunities may become more
feasible. Ms. Orduno encouraged the Mission to stay connected and open to potential interventions
despite budget strictures, which will likely always exist
Ms. Nagano mentioned some best practices she has seen in her work in food justice and food
resiliency: using biochar to sequester carbon in community gardens; using community farms and
gardens as resilience hubs for showcasing disaster preparedness practices such as water catchment
and solar panel usage; and establishing community gardens in local public schools to connect
children to the soil. Ms. Pittman thanked Ms. Nagano for her comments and added that the
Mission has worked to begin recruiting scientists and subject matter experts to its board in order to
help with these more advanced techniques.
Ms. Sprayberry mentioned the Department of Justice's Innovations in Community Based Crime
Reduction program as another potential source of funding and collaboration. Mr. Shabazz asked
whether the Mission conducted any epidemiological studies of the communities the farm serves.
Ms. Pittman said they had not, but they did look at existing state and city data which showed high
incidence of conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension. Mr. Shabazz said this conforms to data
from low income and African American communities throughout the country, which only
emphasizes the importance of fostering healthy diets and encouraging exercise in these
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communities. Local health systems might be potential partners in this light Dr. McClain brought up
NIEHS' Environmental Career Worker Training Program as another potential resource.
2.7 Community Voices: Community Resilience and Natural Disasters in Savannah, Georgia
Ms. Orduno welcomed NEJAC member Dr. Mildred McClain to deliver her presentation on her
organizations' work on community resilience in Savannah, Georgia.
2.7.1 Dr. Mildred McClain - Executive Director - Harambee House/Citizens for
Environmental Justice; Dawoud Shabaka - Associate Director - Harambee House/Citizens
for Environmental Justice
Dr. McClain began by mentioning a number of community groups and councils that she serves on,
emphasizing the importance of networking and building relationships in the EJ community.
Individual neighborhoods and towns gain strength and confidence when they join forces and learn
that they are not alone. In partnership with the Deep South Center, Harambee House has been
delivering workforce development training for 14 years through funding provided by the NIEHS
Environmental Career Worker Training Program. Harambee House also trains community
members in disaster response and works to build resiliency hubs in vulnerable neighborhoods. The
program offers HAZMAT and HAZWPOPER classes and other disaster preparedness training
classes. Building capacity in the EJ-affected communities in Savannah is another top priority.
Thanks to partnerships with EPA, Dr. McClain's group has helped establish a Community Business
Roundtable, comprised of residents, local business, industry, state and local government, and
academic institutions. The Roundtable has an Environmental Response Working Group tasked with
developing disaster response action plans, running simulations, and other resiliency and
preparedness activities.
Dawoud Shabaka went into further detail on Harambee House and Citizens for Environmental
Justice activities in the neighborhoods of Hudson Hill, West Savannah, and Woodville. Hudson Hill
in particular is located right next to several chemical facilities and storage sites that line the
Savannah River and surround the Port of Savannah. Residents report frequent residue on their
property, noise pollution at all hours, and fears of toxic emissions. Mr. Shabaka presented a list of
dozens of chemical companies that have facilities at the Port of Savannah, which make up only a
portion of the hundreds of industrial companies present in the area. In 2017, Savannah was one of
three sites selected to be part of EPA's Near-port Community Capacity Building Project, which
finally led to actions the community had been demanding for years. The project aimed to equip
industry and community stakeholders with information, skills, and tools to effectively develop and
implement collaborative actions leading to shared prosperity and better quality of life conditions.
Following this 18-month engagement, the community drafted an action plan that called on
responsible agencies to implement and conduct air monitoring studies and train community
members in low cost air monitoring practices. With the help of Dr. Wilson and his students, the air
monitoring training program is underway and has shown a great deal of success thus far. Harambee
House is also working with the Hudson Hill community to draft and finalize a Neighborhood
Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan and is partnering with Georgia Tech on installing sea
level monitoring arrays throughout the area.
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Dr. McClain noted another historic partnership with the city's Office of Sustainability and stressed
the importance of treating community members as the subject matter experts that they are and the
accompanying respect experts are due. Dr. McClain added her group is open to partnering with
large national environmental groups but warned that these groups often attach strings to the large
amounts of money they offer. The Savannah City Council has become more receptive to concerns of
the EJ community in recent years due to changing political winds. The entire project is built on the
innate power of residents and Harambee House sees itself as facilitating and supporting the
expression of this power. Dr. McClain believes this model is transferable to communities
throughout the Southeast
Ms. Orduno invited NEJAC members to comment Ms. Shirley talked about the importance of
resilience and adaptation in EJ communities using her home community in Alaska as an example.
Partners and champions can be found in surprising places, as this meeting has shown, and
communities need to continue to seek out more champions. Ms. Nagano asked whether NEJAC had
a role in pressing FEMA to release more disaster preparedness funds to community organizations.
Dr. Wilson shared his reflections on his work with the community in Savannah. He noted that
HBCUs are located throughout the Southeast, often near EJ communities, and could be an untapped
resource for collaboration and CUPP partnerships. EPA's Environmental Justice Screening and
Mapping Tool (EJSCREEN) should be expanded to track programmatic resources in greater detail so
the EJ community can know how money is being spent, who it is going to, and how effective projects
are. Many communities have the capacity now but still lack the necessary funding to take action. He
also believes community sensors and monitoring systems are another area ripe for investment The
EJ Interagency Working Group and the NEJAC have a role to play in pushing for these
improvements. Ms. Orduno expressed her belief that the federal government has been pulling
away rather than reaching out towards EJ communities in recent years in terms of funding. The
federal government has a responsibility to return citizens' tax revenue into these communities.
Dr. McClain thanked the NEJAC for their comments. While Harambee House uses a number of
grants to support itself, it does not want to be grant-dependent; she wants her organization to be
able to survive and assist the community no matter the grant climate.
2.8 Community Voices: Environmental Justice Concerns of Farmworkers in Florida
2.8.1 Jeannie Economos - Coordinator, Pesticide Safety and Environmental Health Project -
Farmworker Association of Florida; Linda Lee - Community Leader - Farmworker
Association of Florida; Antonio Tovar - Farmworker Association of Florida
Ms. Economos said her panel's presentation would be focused on a major EJ concern of the
farmworker community, namely the continued use of dangerous pesticides in agriculture.
Farmworkers are frequently overlooked as an EJ community, partly due to the fact that a large
segment of the population is migratory and not rooted to one particular community where they can
be organized. Farmworkers speak many different languages and come from diverse cultural and
national backgrounds, which add another layer of complexity to organizing efforts. There are
approximately 1.5 to 2 million farmworkers in the United States, and an estimated 2 million minor
children of farmworker families, according to the Department of Labor's National Agricultural
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Worker Survey. EPA data says an estimated 900 million pounds of pesticides are applied to crops in
the United States each year. By some estimates, 25 million agricultural workers worldwide
experience unintentional pesticide poisonings annually. The Agricultural Health Study, a large
prospective study of pesticide users in the United States, estimated that 16% of the cohort had at
least one pesticide poisoning or an unusually high pesticide exposure episode in their lifetime. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated that 50 million people in the United States obtain
their drinking water from groundwater that is potentially contaminated by pesticides and other
agricultural chemicals.
Studies have shown that children come in contact with pesticide residue brought into the home on
worker clothing and scattered on toys and carpeting. Ms. Economos returned to the subject of her
public comments, the pollution of Lake Apopka here in Florida from organochlorine pesticide
caused by farm runoff. A number of studies have shown how this contamination spreads
throughout the environment and the food chain, but no studies have ever been conducted on the
farmworkers themselves. African American farmworkers were subjected to many of the worst
pesticides, such as DDT and chlordane, long before they were banned, which remains a serious
historical injustice. Ms. Lee talked about the effects in her community from long-term exposure to
bioaccumulative pesticides. Ms. Lee herself has lost an inordinate number of friends and close
relatives to lupus, kidney disease, blood diseases, and lung disease. The community has been
abandoned and ignored by local politicians and health agencies, who say her family's issues are
congenital. The Apopka farmworker is dying and needs help, but Ms. Lee will keep fighting.
Antonio Tovar discussed the Farmworker Association of Florida's partnerships to conduct
community surveys and research. One such study was on pregnancy health and occupational health
for women among Florida farmworkers, conducted in collaboration with Emory University. The
survey interviewed 260 women and Mr. Tovar presented some of the survey results, including
incidence of health-related symptoms while at work, workplace conditions, and results of biological
samples taken from participants. Regarding the latter, the biological analysis looked at
organophosphate exposure, which showed levels far above the CDC national average. Other
chemicals of concern for the Farmworker Association are chlorpyrifos, which is a highly potent
insecticide that can cause acute poisoning and nervous system malfunction in high doses, and
Mancozeb, which is a potential human carcinogen and suspected endocrine disrupter. Mr. Tovar
noted the tragic case in Immokalee where a number of infants were born with severe deformities
after their mothers were each exposed to pesticides during pregnancy while harvesting tomatoes.
Mr. Tovar introduced two current farmworkers to deliver their comments to the Council.
Yesica Ramirez discussed her employment in agricultural nurseries where she mixed pesticides to
put in composts for the plants. She became pregnant during this period, which coincided with her
supervisor leaving the company, leaving Ms. Ramirez in sole responsibility over the pesticide
mixing process. She worked throughout her pregnancy, despite her concerns about pesticide
exposure, because she needed the income. She was not provided protective equipment by her
employer. Her child was born with craniosynostosis, which required surgery when her daughter
was four months old. Her child also has sleep apnea, which required further surgery when she
turned three, and eczema, which has required continuous treatment. Elvira Lopez talked about her
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experiences working in nurseries for 10 years. At one location workers had to work without clothes
or masks and had to eat lunch inside the workspaces. On a number of occasions, she developed
rashes and difficulty breathing while working. Many workers are afraid to speak out for fear of
losing their jobs. Ms. Lopez mentioned one case where she developed a severe rash and brought it
to her boss's attention, and he told her he couldn't let her leave. Ms. Lee added her own experiences
in earlier days where workers weren't provided with water or toilets.
Ms. Economos concluded with some specific topics were NEJAC can support efforts to protect
farmworkers' health and safety:
• Support stronger Worker Protection Standards for farmworkers, including buffer zones
around homes, schools, churches, playgrounds, etc. In particular, NEJAC should oppose
current efforts to roll back pesticide application exclusion zones (AEZs) in the EPA's
Agricultural Worker Protection Standard.
• Support efforts to ban chlorpyrifos, atrazine, paraquat, and Mancozeb, and ensure they are
not substituted with equally toxic alternatives. Support U.S. Representative Nydia
Velazquez's bill to ban all organophosphates.
• Oppose the use of antibiotics as pesticides.
• Promote the need for bilingual English and Spanish pesticide labels.
• Lobby for Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) reform of the current
method of assessing pesticides for registration
• Help incentivize development of agro-ecological principles in agriculture as opposed to
chemically intensive agriculture.
Ms. Trevino-Sauceda thanked Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Lopez for their powerful and emotional
remarks. She seconded previous comments about the seeming invisibility of the farmworker
community and their history of mistreatment but the corporate world and federal agencies. She
pointed out that agriculture is the only industry that allows children down to the age of 12 to work,
yet this is the community that is ignored by the powers that be.
Mr. Tovar added that compliance monitoring for the Worker Protection Standards are left to
individual state departments of agriculture, which leads to great disparity in monitoring standards.
It is also a conflict of interest because the state agricultural community has a stake in maintaining
and promoting high production levels.
Ms. Economos added that the injustice is magnified and made more intolerable by the fact that
these workers are responsible for the very food our country eats, our very wellbeing as humans,
and are working arguably the most important jobs in the country. Regarding specific pesticides the
Farmworker Association is requesting NEJAC support in addressing, Mr. Tilchin asked for more
information on the usage of the chemicals to help inform the Council's decision. Ms. Economos said
she will provide that information if it is available, but she noted that some states, such as Florida, do
not have pesticide use reporting requirements.
Chair Moore thanked the panel for their moving presentation. He noted that this is far from the
first-time farmworkers have come before the Council and he will do what he can to encourage
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NEJAC to support the recommendations made by the Farmworker Association today. It is an insult
on the government's behalf to roll back rules and laws that were put in place on behalf of
farmworkers and communities around the country and all the nation's citizens.
2.9 Adjournment
Chair Moore adjourned the meeting for the day at 6:15 p.m.
3.0 Welcome and Day Two Recap
On Thursday, February 27, 2020, Karen Martin reconvened the NEJAC and confirmed the presence
of a quorum. Ms. Orduno began the morning by continuing the Council discussion regarding the
upcoming meeting with the EPA Administrator on March 16th in Washington, D.C. The NEJAC
Steering Committee, after consultation with OEJ, proposed sending a delegation of approximately
10 members to the meeting. Members of the Steering Committee - which includes Chair Moore, Ms.
Orduno, Mr. Tilchin, Ms. McGee-Collier, and Mr. Randolph - would be five members of the
delegation. Ms. Orduno felt it would be best to fill the rest of the group with representatives from
the stakeholder groups and EPA regions not already represented, as well as members local to D.C.
to save travel expenses. Ms. Orduno recommended Dr. McClain, Mr. Doyle, Ms. Trevino-Sauceda,
Dr. Wilson, Dr. Whitehead, and Mr. Ghanta. NEJAC members expressed consensus in support of this
group as a good list of representatives.
The Council next discussed a proposed agenda for the meeting with the Administrator and EPA
leadership. One topic was the concerns previously discussed about the lack of in-person presence
from leadership at NEJAC meetings and related concerns about responsiveness. Another proposed
topic was policy follow-up regarding particular NEJAC charges or letters and areas in which the
Council has received little or no response. The Council could also raise some of the urgent matters
and action items related to issues raised in public comments.
Ms. Shirley said she would be interested to hear how the EPA treats its other federal advisory
committees. Mr. Shabazz said raising the issue of reforming funding criteria to help community
groups increase access to federal dollars might be another topic area to discuss. Mr. Randolph said
the Council should setup work groups to address specific projects and draft proposed letters, in
addition to raising them with the Administrator at the meeting. He noted that the agenda would
cover a lot of points fairly quickly and the Council should be sure things don't get lost in the shuffle
after the meeting. Ms. Nagano worried that the proposed agenda was too packed for the time
allotted and said the Council should consider narrowing the agenda down to three items. She
suggested one procedural on NEJAC's relationship with EPA, and two focused on substantive issues
of high priority. Ms. Sprayberry agreed that NEJAC should hone its message so that it can get its
point across to the Agency. Dr. McClain said NEJAC needs a mechanism to track all the issues and
action items it is juggling so it knows the status of a given topic at all times. This would also help the
Council keep pressure on the Agency.
Chair Moore said the visit to D.C. will likely include two meetings, one with the Administrator and
another with other members of leadership, such as Office of Policy representatives. He agreed that
the more pressing items should be raised with the Administrator and then the delegation can
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discuss the longer list of items with EPA staff in the subsequent meeting. Ms. Markowitz said the
Council should consider what it wants to hear from the Administrator and how best to get his
attention about the importance of NEJAC's work. It might be helpful to bring a couple stories from
this meeting to help show why environmental justice matters. Dr. Whitehead seconded other
comments that the delegation should be organized and succinct in its message to the Administrator.
The Council should also bring a document of pressing concerns that it can leave behind with the
Agency.
3.1 Disaster Recovery and Community Resilience in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Mr. Tejada welcomed the first panel of the day and thanked the participants for traveling to speak
before the Council and taking time away from their work back at home.
3.1.1 David Kluesner - Acting Director, Strategic Programs - U.S. EPA Region 2
Mr. Kluesner introduced the panel members and briefly discussed their backgrounds and current
employment. The presentations are focused on disaster recovery in EPA's Region 2, which includes
New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and eight tribal nations. A representative
from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Kurt Marsh, was scheduled to be part of the panel but was unable to
make the meeting due to travel complications.
3.1.2 Peter Lopez - Regional Administrator - U.S. EPA Region 2
Mr. Lopez thanked the Council for their leadership and said EPA looks forward to hearing their
input during this session. It takes collective engagement from all parties and EPA and the
community to effect meaningful change. He focused his presentation on disaster recovery efforts in
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) in the aftermath of the devastating hurricanes that
have struck the region in recent years; in particular, Hurricane Irma, which did significant damage
to the USVI, and Hurricane Maria, which Puerto Rico bore the brunt of. The hurricanes struck the
region on the same week in 2017 and left unprecedented damage and loss of life in their wake. The
Caribbean islands found their roads and bridges damaged, their towns and roadways strewn with
debris, widespread loss of power, sewage plant failures, and pressing drinking water shortages. In
many ways, the normal civil functions of both territories were completely incapacitated. As is often
the case in disasters, the poorer communities and most vulnerable populations were the most
hardly hit and faced the most difficult and urgent obstacles in recovering. The federal response
required an incredible amount of collaboration, both among federal agencies, and with nonprofits,
community organizations, and local government Some of EPA's early actions included assessments
of wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations and rural drinking water systems. Workers also
helped made sure remote communities had access to clean drinking water. Agency partners
collected over 320,000 containers of hazardous materials and 60 tons of solid hazardous waste,
assessing potential spill sites and disposing of medical waste.
Mr. Lopez next touched on some forward-looking activities EPA took as part of their response.
They helped replace Puerto Rico's entire air monitoring network by restoring the Environmental
Quality Board's Environmental Laboratory to working status. EPA helped support efforts to
strengthen infrastructure in both Puerto Rico and USVI. One of the lessons of the hurricanes was
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that disasters lay bare and exacerbate weak infrastructure and lack of resources in underserved
and low-income areas. Some of these pre-existing conditions include disparate ability to manage
critical infrastructure, financial struggles at the local government level due to fiscal debt, ongoing
strain from repeated storm impacts, and earthquake vulnerability in Puerto Rico. EPA has over $40
billion of investment funds to deliver to the region. The Agency has begun community engagement
and works with FEMA to identify and target critical infrastructure needs. One example Mr. Lopez
highlighted was a Memorandum of Understanding signed in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico with a
group of local and international nonprofit organizations to provide sustainable, clean drinking
water and more reliable power to communities across the island. This program leverages $13
million in funding and is particularly focused on strengthening resiliency in rural communities.
Another partnership co-sponsored with the Department of Commerce has allocated $4.1 million to
a solar microgrid project to strengthen energy resiliency on the island of Culebra in Puerto Rico.
3.1.3 Carmen Guerrero - Director, Caribbean Environmental Protection Division - U.S. EPA
Region 2
Ms. Guerrero further discussed some examples of EPA's recovery projects in the Caribbean:
additional funding for the Puerto Rico Clean Water & Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, the
Healthy Buildings Recovery Task Force, funding to address leaking underground storage tanks,
support of the Caribbean Septic Systems Working Group, Brownfields and workforce development
training, programs to support energy efficiency and Energy Star certification in the Caribbean, and
early participation in a proposed Caribbean Disaster Recovery Collaborative. This list highlights the
importance and power of relationships and collaborations. Ms. Guerrero sees EPA's role as being
enablers and facilitators for community groups, academia, and nonprofits in support of projects like
those listed above. As an example, Ms. Guerrero pointed to EPA-assisted efforts to strengthen solid
waste management practices and infrastructure using the supplemental funding provided by
Congress. Mr. Lopez added that Region 2 works under the principle that change should be driven
from the community up.
3.1.4 Juan Rosario - Director - Alliance for Sustainable Resource Management
Mr. Rosario began discussing his personal journey that led him to a life devoted to environmental
justice and his home of Puerto Rico. With regard to the recent disaster, he emphasized that this
wasn't just one storm, but a series of Category 5 hurricanes that threatened the region which
culminated in Hurricane Maria's devastation of Puerto Rico. He emphasized Puerto Rico's particular
vulnerabilities: a bankrupt government; half the per capita income of Mississippi, the poorest state
in the U.S.; the highest asthma rate in U.S. jurisdiction; and a recent history of droughts of increasing
frequency and other climate change-related crises. When Hurricane Maria hit, low income Puerto
Ricans were hit hardest. Mr. Rosario called the hurricane "a great unnatural selector," dividing the
people between those whose houses were strong enough to withstand the storm and those whose
weren't, between those who could afford a power generator and those who couldn't, those who
could buy fuel and those who couldn't, between the poor and those with means.
Mr. Rosario next discussed his organization's response efforts. They did not act immediately
because they knew the areas would be crowded with international agencies, government
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responders, and nonprofits. They waited a couple weeks for those groups to leave and then started
work on identifying long-term solutions. These solutions should be:
1. Be simple enough to be deployed quickly;
2. Be developed and implemented by common people mainly with their own resources;
3. Democratic in nature, with significant community participation (national/regional system),
community control (municipal);
4. Replicable;
5. Foundational and scalable;
6. Science supported;
7. Systemic and collaborative.
The government, at all levels, needs to be an ally in this struggle, not an opposition that sets up
obstacles in the way of community-led action. Mr. Rosario showed pictures from several rural
communities that survived the disaster for months with no help from government agencies; with
proper funding and technical assistance they could achieve so much more to protect and strengthen
their communities.
3.1.5 Dr. Cecilio Ortiz Garcia - Professor - University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; Co-Founder -
National Institute of Energy and Island Sustainability
Dr. Ortiz Garcia's presentation was on his work on equity in academic interventions in disaster
recovery efforts. He is one of the founders of the RISE Network, which seeks to re-envision how
universities interact with communities, NGOs, private sector partners, and local governments and
how to match the knowledge and capacities of an extended partner network with community
needs. The organization believes academia needs to work to move beyond a humanitarian aid
approach in the aftermath of disasters to find new ways of building collaborations that can enhance
resilience and foster convergent projects among diverse disciplines and sectors. When disasters
strike, academic institutions frequently send researchers to study disaster response and
community resilience. While well-intentioned, these activities highlighted several areas of the
university-community relation that need to be studied, both pre-disaster and post-disaster.
The RISE Network held a conference in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico to help begin this work, which led to
the RISE 2019 Conference, which was held inNovember atthe University ofAlbany. Oneofthe
conclusions of the conference was that a new organizational model is needed based on
collaboration, respect for the community, and acknowledgement of local knowledge. The University
of Puerto Rico's National Institute of Energy and Island Sustainability (INESI) is one such example.
Conversely, communities that partner with governmental bodies are susceptible to political
interference and manipulation, as most notably seen in the case of the Hurricane Maria death toll.
Puerto Rican organizations had the data and conducted the studies, but the government refused to
acknowledge it and instead manufactured ignorance for political purposes. Nonprofits and external
academic institutions are guilty of the same type of "parachuting," where they flood the country in
the aftermath of a disaster, conduct their research and perform their charity according to their own
desired outcomes, not the needs of the community they are ostensibly serving, and then promptly
depart after national public attention has moved on.
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Dr. Ortiz Garcia focused on the behavior of academic institutions, in particular, which are highly
competitive, both in terms of grant funding and research output Being first is of the utmost
importance and communities are often treated as the means to an end. This can, and does, result in
significant environmental injustice. RISE Network was created to address this unbalanced
community-university relationship. RISE developed a new conceptual framework that
acknowledged that universities are critical infrastructure, but the local institutions should take the
lead in EJ communities. The paradigm needs to change from observing and studying to acting. The
university must involve itself in policymaking and policy reform, provide multisectoral
collaboration and vision building, and work to develop networks of pre-established relationships.
Dr. Ortiz Garcia asked that NEJAC consider becoming a space to bring together RISE Network-
affiliated universities with HBCUs and Hispanic-serving universities to further the goal of ensuring
a just response to disasters in EJ communities.
3.1.6 Dr. Carmen Concepcion - Former Dean - University of Puerto Rico Graduate School of
Planning
Dr. Concepcion thanked NEJAC for inviting this panel to speak before the Council. She emphasized
the importance of preparedness in the face of potential disasters, both at the local level and at the
state and federal level. This is especially important for vulnerable and low-income populations.
Recent experiences with earthquakes in Puerto Rico have led Dr. Concepcion to worry that this
lesson has not been fully internalized by the responsible parties. People displaced by the
earthquakes are demanding community participation in the response and recovery decision-
making process, just like the victims of Hurricane Maria, particularly related to relocation policies.
If communities are going to be relocated, they need to be fully involved in the process; likewise, if
they are to return to the places disaster struck, they need to be assured their communities are safe
and prepared for future disasters. This is part of a larger discussion of how Puerto Rico shapes its
future to ensure a stable, resilient and vibrant community.
3.1.7 Council Comments and Questions
Chair Moore thanked the panel for their participation and stressed that the Caribbean is one of the
major areas of focus for NEJAC. The Council and the EPA are discussing holding one of NEJAC's
meetings in Puerto Rico in the near future. Mr. Lopez said he would welcome and do everything he
can to assist and support any visit to the island. He also noted that Region 2 was honored to attend
and present at the RISE Conference in Albany last fall. Mr. Randolph thanked EPA region
representatives for attending the meeting. Their participation is just as vital to NEJAC's work as
EPA headquarters, if not more so due to their practical knowledge base. He concurred with
presenter comments regarding the importance of local determination in EJ communities. Dr. Pauli,
using his home of Flint, Michigan as an example, noted the persistent conflict and interplay between
EJ communities demanding self-determination with the often desperate need for outside resources
to make that possible. This often leads to these communities feeling forced to accept help from
anyone who offers it, which can cause serious problems at times. This balancing act should be an
area of focus for NEJAC. Ms. Shirley stressed the importance of timely response, particularly in U.S.
territories, EJ communities, and tribal nations, which deserve the full rights and respect of other
Americans and to be treated like anyone else in the continental U.S. Dr. Baptiste asked for input on
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how to get more partners involved in the RISE Network project She also asked for more
information on the U.S. Virgin Islands to fill in for Mr. Marsh being unable to attend. She also
highlighted the importance of taking cumulative impacts into account in the Caribbean. Dr. Ortiz
Garcia said RISE's objective is to create a framework for just intervention that is valid not only in
Puerto Rico but in all U.S. jurisdictions. One concept, for example, is community institutional review
boards (IRBs) that can decide when external organizations enter communities to conduct research
and on what terms. RISE is taking a low-tech approach to recruiting new members and publicity:
personal relationships and word-of-mouth. Regarding USVI, Mr. Lopez said that community has
unique challenges due to its small size and limited resources at hand. EPA's engagement there is
very remedial, focused on making sure residents have water, food, shelter, and working to rebuild
basic infrastructure. EPA is working closely with the USVI leadership in this process.
Ms. Guerrero noted USVI had some successes, particularly related to reestablishing power and
water services promptly and power resilience due to the ubiquity of home generators. One ongoing
issue is solid waste management Dr. Wilson suggested NEJAC look into data surrounding
extractive grant behavior, perhaps via NIEHS or National Science Foundation resources. Ms.
McGee-Collier mentioned the importance of maintaining residential zoning standards in disaster-
stricken communities so industrial factories don't replace abandoned homes. Dr. McClain asked for
more EJ-specific information from the Region 2 representatives. She also asked for comments on
the contracting process and the need for local contractors. Mr. Lopez said EJ is a major focus of his
region's work and does its best to find communities in need and fill the gaps. EJ is not just a
catchphrase for Region 2; it's the lens through which the region interacts with the communities it's
responsible for. Ms. Guerrero added that partnering with contractors and holding local workforce
training programs are a major part of EPA's footprint in Puerto Rico.
Mr. Rosario reminded the Council and other participants that the ultimate goal was to create
communities that need no response at all, whether from the government or academia. EJ
communities don't need help; they need justice, collaboration, and the power of self-determination.
Ms. Orduno added that there were significant corporate, political, and economic reasons for
maintaining the status quo to the detriment of EJ communities. Mr. Lopez said award matching,
capacity building, and loan forgiveness are some of the mechanisms EPA and its sister agencies
have to do what they can to move this process forward.
3.2 National Environmental Policy Act Discussion
Mr. Tilchin introduced Edward Boling, Associate Director, Council on Environmental Quality, to
deliver a presentation on proposed revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act
3.2.1 Edward Boling -Associate Director- Council on Environmental Quality
Mr. Boling thanked the NEJAC for inviting him to deliver this update and offered the Council on
Environmental Quality's (CEQ) appreciation to NEJAC members for their ongoing participation in
the NEPA rulemaking process. Mr. Boling began by giving a general overview of NEPA and its
history, and its implementation regulatory guidelines as promulgated by CEQ back in the 1970s.
The NEPA implementing regulations have remained mostly unchanged since their original
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promulgation. Under the current regulations, there are three levels of environmental review to
comply with NEPA: categorical exclusions (CEs), environmental assessments (EAs), and
environmental impact statements (EISs). CEs are granted for projects the Agency determines do not
substantially impact the environment. EAs are concise assessments for projects that cannot be
categorically excluded. EISs are reserved for projects the Agency determines could have a
significant impact on the environment. These are thorough and intensive reviews for which the
Agency reserves the majority of its assessment resources.
Each year, agencies prepare approximately 170 EISs and 10,000 EAs, and CEs are granted to
approximately 100,000 actions. CEQ conducted a study of the years 2010-2017 to determine how
long the average EIS process takes and their length in pages. Using federal highway projects as an
example, CEQ found that the average length of a final EIS is 645 pages, and the average time to
conduct these NEPA reviews is 7.3 years. The numbers vary by agency, however, and Department of
Transportation projects had the longest average time in the federal government For comparison,
the average EPA EIS during this period was completed in about 3.5 years.
There are many factors at play that contribute to the length of the process, not all of which are
solely attributable to NEPA itself. Nevertheless, the Administration identified the environmental
review process as a governmental process overdue for an update and assessment to see where
efficiencies can be made and streamline the review approval process for infrastructure projects. On
August 15, 2017, President Trump issued EO 13807, "Establishing Discipline and Accountability in
the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects." The EO directs CEQ
to enhance and modernize the federal environmental review and authorization process to (1)
ensure optimal interagency coordination of review and authorization decisions; (2) ensure that
multi-agency environmental reviews and authorization decisions are conducted in a manner that is
concurrent, synchronized, timely, and efficient; (3) provide for use of prior federal, state, tribal, and
local environmental studies, analysis, and decisions; and (4) ensure that agencies apply NEPA in a
manner that reduces unnecessary burdens and delays, including by using CEQ's authority to
interpret NEPA to simplify and accelerate the NEPA review process. Ultimately, the goal is to lower
the EIS process to an average of 2 years.
CEQ published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, "Update to the Regulations for
Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act," for public
comment on June 20, 2018. CEQ received over 12,500 comments during the public comment
period, which closed on August 20, 2018. The goals of the rulemaking are to modernize and clarify
the regulations, reduce paperwork and delays, promote better decisions, and to respond to
numerous questions that have been raised over the past four decades by codifying guidance, case
law, and agency practice.
Mr. Boling walked through the specifics of the proposed rulemaking and highlighted notable
updates. For example, the rulemaking would require joint schedules, a single EIS, and a single
record of decision (ROD) for EISs involving multiple agencies. It would strengthen the role of the
lead agency and require senior agency officials to timely resolve disputes that may result in delays.
One of the other major overarching goals is to clarify terms, application, and scope of NEPA reviews.
The public is one of the major audiences for these changes; CEQ hopes to make the whole process
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clearer and more responsive to public comments. The rulemaking requires comments to be specific
and timely and submitted early in the process to ensure their consideration. It would also require
agencies to summarize all alternatives, analyses, and information submitted by commenters and to
certify consideration of such information in the ROD. Mr. Boling next described the changes that
codify legal rulings and precedent established in recent decades. To relieve some burdens on
applicants, the rulemaking would allow applicants and their contractors to assume a greater role in
preparing EISs under the supervision of an agency and allow for certain activities to proceed while
environmental reviews are pending. There are also significant changes to the involvement of tribal
nations in the NEPA process. The update would ensure consultation with affected tribal
governments and agencies and eliminate the provisions in the current regulations that limit tribal
interest to reservations.
Chair Moore mentioned five areas of concern that have been raised at the meeting, both in public
comments and by NEJAC members, regarding the proposed changes to NEPA: cumulative impacts;
the importance of engaging impacted communities at the beginning of the process and including
them in the decision-making process; NEPA must continue to consider the human environment,
including socioeconomic and health factors; NEPA must consider pre-existing conditions in both the
human and natural environment; NEPA must consider impacted nonresident populations, such as
seasonal workers and farmworkers; indigenous people and sacred sites must be respected; and
NEPA must consider unique impacts to the community separate from general impacts to the
environment alone.
Ms. de Aztlan noted that her experience in her community in El Paso, Texas is that the community
is rarefy consulted or considered in major infrastructure projects. Highways frequently cut through
communities and displace schools, among other negative impacts. She raised concerns that
simplifying public comment might be a means to limit public comment She also strongly disagreed
with the proposal to allow projects to conduct construction activities while the EIS is pending.
Regarding allowing certain activities, Mr. Boling clarified that it would be limited to activities that
do not directly affect the project area under review or that would preserve the status quo at the
site. Ms. McGee-Collier expressed concern about provisions that would allow state or contracted
assessments to supplement or replace federal assessments, particularly since the former are often
less thorough and rarefy account for cumulative and socioeconomic impacts. Mr. Boling
acknowledged that this was a commonly raised concern. He noted that the existed regulations do
not require draft EISs to be published. The regulations require that the public be involved in the
development of an environmental assessment; the goal is to increase the flexibility of the
environmental assessment process. Individual agencies will have to develop their own
requirements that address the peculiarities of their agency.
Dr. McClain expressed her disapproval of the short windows for public comment for the proposed
rulemaking. She asked CEQ to extend the comment period. Mr. Boling said he does not have that
authority. Chair Moore asked Mr. Boling if he would make that recommendation to the CEQ. Mr.
Boling said his recommendation was between him and the chair of the CEQ. Ms. Osborne Jelks
asked who defines what "specific" means when the rulemaking says that all public comments
should be specific to the application. Mr. Boling said the purpose of this language is to inform
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parties on existing case law governing agency decision-making. This is to encourage actionable
comments, not discourage generalized comments, which will still be allowed. She also asked
whether the rulemaking would shorten the public time period. Mr. Boling said the 30-day window
only refers to comments on the adequacy of the summary of community impacts in the final EIS.
This comment period is not an existing regulatory requirement She expressed her opinion that
allowing the applicant to be involved in the EIS reeks of conflict of interest and predetermined
outcomes.
Mr. Boling said this was a common topic of public comment. The logic is that the applicant is
allowed to participate in EAs, so it should be allowed to do so in EISs, as well. Ms. Osborne Jelks
said agencies should never be allowed to limit accessibility to online-only. She also strongly
objected to any attempt to not consider cumulative impacts in the NEPA process. Mr. Boling said
the purpose is to clarify definitions around cumulative impacts, not to remove all consideration.
Finally, she asked Mr. Boling to address rumors that the rulemaking would require community
organizations to submit a bond in order to challenge agency decisions or request holds. Mr. Boling
said that language is a reference to existing abilities agencies have in the administrative appeals
process. CEQ has no ability to impose bond requirements.
Ms. Nagano asked for clarification on why types of public engagement will be required under the
rulemaking. Mr. Boling said public hearings are specifically mentioned in the regulations; the
purpose of the rulemaking is to expand that to include other public engagement options. The
emphasis will remain on affirmatively involving the public, which is the requirement under the
existing regulations. Dr. Wilson seconded comments stressing the importance of considering
health impacts when assessing cumulative impacts. Ideally, NEPA would provide for data collection
and epidemiological assessments. Plain language guidance for EAs and EISs would also be very
valuable. Dr. McClain requested that CEQ/EPA provide resources after the rulemaking is finalized to
train communities on the new regulations.
3.3 Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group Focus Group Update
Mr. Tilchin welcomed Mr. Chip Hughes to present an update on the EJ Interagency Working Group
(IWG) Focus Group session that was held here in Jacksonville immediately prior to NEJAC
convening for its meeting.
3.3.1 Chip Hughes - Branch Chief, Worker Education and Training Branch- National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences
Mr. Hughes started off by providing an overview of the NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP),
which used to be part of EPA and was created as part of the original CERCLA legislation. The
program has three main goals: to increase worker safety and health across the country, increase the
country's capacity for disaster preparedness and emergency response, and provide a job and life
skills training program to unemployed and underemployed individuals. Since 1987, the program
has trained approximately 4 million workers, and trained thousands of workers in direct response
to many of the worst natural and manmade disasters in the U.S., including the Exxon Valdez spill,
the World Trade Center disaster; Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Florence; and
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the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill. Mr. Hughes then discussed the work of the IWG, which was
created as part of the 1994 EJ Executive Order. The IWG is chaired by the EPA Administrator and
was established to provide a forum for federal agencies to collectively advance EJ programs,
policies, and activities. Mr. Hughes has been tasked by the IWG to head up its EJ and Natural
Disasters Subcommittee, which was created to look at disaster response and preparedness in EJ
communities. In particular, the group hopes to identify time sensitive solutions to address natural
disaster preparedness, response, and recovery in vulnerable, overburdened, and underserved
communities.
The subcommittee is comprised of representatives from 10 departments and agencies across the
federal government and is in the early process of data collection and public outreach. The
subcommittee hopes to submit a final report to the IWG in September. Mr. Hughes presented a
summary of comments received at the focus group meeting, which he divided into three general
categories: preparedness, response, and recovery. One cross-cutting comment, which has been
made elsewhere in this meeting, was that environmental, racial, cultural, climate, and other justice
issues in disadvantaged communities are even more pronounced before, during, and after natural
disasters. This fact, and government's actions to address it, is even more vital in the age of climate
change and more frequent severe weather events. Mr. Hughes also noted the importance of
language justice, dedicated funding for recovery, long-term mental health needs of those affected by
disasters, and responder resilience programs.
Chair Moore stressed that the farmworker community needs to be considered throughout this
process, as well as the most vulnerable populations within the EJ communities. He recommended
working with academic institutions, particularly those that serve or are located in EJ communities.
Superfund sites should be required to work with impacted communities, not recommended to do
so. Ms. Orduno and other members raised concerns about how disasters are defined and how
federal or state action typically requires an official disaster declaration; many EJ communities have
been dealing with undeclared disasters for decades. Dr. McClain talked about her experiences with
Harambee House's partnerships with the Worker Training Program. She expressed her concern
regarding diminishing federal resources and the need for more grant opportunities for frontline
organizations. Ms. de Aztlan asked that the IWG subcommittee look at potential impacts of the
Trump Administration's border wall on the Rio Grande flood plain and environmental impacts in
general along the trajectory of the proposed construction, such as the vulnerable Quitobaquito
Springs in the Sonoran Desert, along with cultural impacts on sacred lands of the Tohono O'odham
Nation. Ms. Osborne Jelks highlighted the need for funding to be made available to EJ communities
for disaster response assessment, action planning, and disaster-related citizen science activities.
3.4 Resiliency: Social Vulnerability and Housing in the Context of Coastal Resiliency
Mr. Tilchin welcomed the next panel to deliver their presentations on the effect of climate change
on housing and other social impacts.
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3.4.1 Whitney Gray - Administrator, Florida Resilient Coastlines- Florida Department of
Environmental Protection
Ms. Gray discussed the State of Florida's programs for helping coastal communities adjust to the
effects of sea level rise, particularly vulnerable housing communities and populations. Starting in
2011, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, in partnership with NOAA, funded the
Department of Economic Opportunity to provide technical assistance to coastal communities for
innovative planning and development strategies. These activities include funding opportunities, a
statewide focus group, developing and piloting the Adaptation Action Areas program, conducting
vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans for three pilot areas, and developing technical
assistance documents. The Florida Resilient Coastlines Program (FRCP) was stood up two years ago
as a result of these efforts, with the goal of synergizing community resilience planning, natural
resource protection tools, and funding to prepare Florida's coastal communities for the effects of
climate change, especially coastal flooding, erosion, and ecosystem changes from sea level rise.
Ms. Gray said the program works with communities through three primary avenues: resources,
funding, and coordination. She described particular examples of these technical assistance
resources and funding opportunities. One primary example is the Adaptation Planning Guidebook,
which stresses the importance of reaching out to engage vulnerable populations of all stripes. She
suggested FRCP's efforts to encourage projects supported by the program take into account social
vulnerability in order to receive preferential consideration. These projects should use best
practices for identifying and analyzing social vulnerability, such as those identified by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control. And the projects should produce reports that show graphically the
impacts of sea level rise and associated flooding on vulnerable sectors, narrative descriptions of the
methods used in any analysis, and any goals and policies to be adopted into the community's
comprehensive plan. For illustration, Ms. Gray presented data from the CDC's Social Vulnerability
Index on Duval County, in which Jacksonville is located. She also pointed to the Southeast Florida
Regional Climate Change Compact, which has social equity as one of its main planks. FRCP is
encouraging its grantees to do the same.
3.4.2 Bill O'Dell - Director- University of Florida Shimberg Center for Housing Studies
Mr. O'Dell delivered his presentation focused on the effects of climate change on at-risk affordable
housing in Florida. The Shimberg Center for Housing Studies was founded in 1988 by the Florida
Legislature, with the mission of helping to promote safe and affordable housing and related
community development throughout the state of Florida. The center produces the Florida Housing
Data Clearinghouse, a free source of data on housing supply and demand for Florida cities and
counties. Its current research focuses on documenting Florida's housing market conditions;
preserving affordable rental housing; linking affordable housing with land use, transportation and
resiliency decisions through GIS modeling; supporting the development of energy efficient and
healthy homes; and investigating the impacts of hazard and disaster on affordable housing. Housing
data shows a growing gap between housing costs and what people can afford to pay, both in Florida
and around the country. This state of affairs used to be considered a crisis but it now appears to be
a permanent structural condition. In Florida, the proportion of cost-burdened households is
growing. While the decline is still small, Florida is experiencing a net loss of so-called affordable
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rental properties, and the gap between demand and supply of affordable and available rental units
is growing.
With the exception of the Orlando metropolitan area, most assisted and public multi-family units
are located on Florida's vulnerable coastlines. Disasters exacerbate the existing affordable housing
problem through a combination of dislocation, physical loss of inventory, and short-and long-term
impacts to the local housing market Housing must be considered one of the social determinants of
health in low income populations because rent money often cuts into available funds to be spent on
appropriate food, medical treatment, and other health-related needs. Mr. O'Dell presented data
showing current affordable housing stock in Florida, where they are located, gaps in housing needs,
rent pricing data over time, and tenant characteristics. Many properties will be leaving the
inventory as the result of assistance contracts ending and the conclusion of mortgage terms. Many
structures are aging and rapidly deteriorating, as well. He also presented images from a coastal
flooding vulnerability mapping application developed by the Shimberg Center. This tool suggests
that half of Florida's affordable housing stock faces at least some risk of flooding in the coming
years.
Dr. Wilson mentioned the Rural Resilience Index and the Coastal Community Resilience Index as
other valuable resources to consider. He also noted the Cumulative Stressors and Resiliency Index,
which is being developed by one of his partners in Charleston, South Carolina. Maryland is working
on integrating climate models and green infrastructure tools into Maryland EJSCREEN. Ms. Gray
said the more tools available, the better, particularly because sellers in Florida are not required to
disclose when their property is located in flood zones. Ms. Shirley raised the issue of community
relocation and asked whether that is being discussed in Florida. Ms. Gray said the rate of sea level
rise has thus far been very gradual and the state has not seen significant subsidence or land loss; as
a result, relocation is not being considered at the moment Mr. Doyle asked whether local tribes are
involved in the assessment process, and whether the state is tracking individuals that voluntarily
move due to climate change or flooding. Ms. Gray said the communities are conducting their own
assessment and adaptation plan. The state does not formally track people who relocate because of
flooding, although informal data may exist elsewhere. She has heard anecdotal reports along those
lines, but noted that Florida is still bringing in new residents at a very high rate. Ms. Baptiste asked
Mr. O'Dell if any of the data he presented could be broken down into demographic categories. Mr.
O'Dell said that would be the focus of future research, but that data currently does not exist
3.5 NEJAC Superfund Task Force Work Group Update
3.5.1 Michael Tilchin - NEJAC Vice Chair and Jacobs Engineering; Tai Lung - Program Analyst
- U.S. EPA
Mr. Tilchin presented a progress report on the activities of NEJAC's Superfund Task Force Work
Group. The Superfund Task Force's Recommendation 42 charged NEJAC to work with a broad array
of stakeholders to identify barriers and opportunities related to cleanup and reuse of Superfund
sites in a manner that takes central consideration of the unique burdens and vulnerabilities of EJ
populations living in and around these sites. The work group finished Phase 1 of its project, which
focused on how the EPA Superfund program can build stronger, more strategic relationships with
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impacted populations and ensure clean-up and site reuse supports the impacted community's
needs. Phase 1 also considered what should be done to facilitate effective, efficient, and consistent
decision-making regarding remediation and reuse of NPL sites. The Phase 1 report has been
completed and is available on the NEJAC website. Phase 2 will tackle three questions related to the
Task Force charge:
1. What are examples of case studies and models that illustrate best practices and lessons
learned which can inform ways to elevate equity in Superfund cleanup and redevelopment
to ensure all have a voice in EPA decisions?
2. Which additional resources can be realized to support reuse and redevelopment of
remediated Superfund sites from other programs?
3. Are there any additional issues related to the clean-up and redevelopment of Superfund
sites that are not captured in the charge?
Mr. Tilchin next mentioned the members of the work group, its guiding principles, and the process
it takes in receiving input and drafting its recommendations. He presented slides showing a
summary of the Phase 1 recommendations. Major topics covered in the recommendations include
community engagement and advocacy, training (of both EPA staff and the community), guidance
and decision-making, grants and resources, and risk communication, among others. Regarding
Phase 2, multiple case studies are currently being prepared and will be added to the Case Study
Repository. Mr. Tilchin gave the Council an outline of what the Phase 2 report will look like
structurally and a timetable of its work. The work group hopes to finalize the Phase 2 report by
October, and NEJAC will receive draft versions and have options to present input at several points
along the way. In particular, the work group is looking for additional case study sites.
Mr. Shabazz asked for a list of completed and ongoing case studies so Council members don't make
duplicative recommendations. Mr. Tilchin said a list would be compiled and provided to the
Council. Ms. McGee-Collier said it is important to acknowledge many of the things the Superfund
does right, adding that many best practices have come out of that program. Ms. Shirley underlined
the importance of fiscal literacy in helping communities understand these complex federal
processes. For potential case studies, Mr. Doyle recommended the uranium tailing piles on Navajo
land in Arizona and Northern New Mexico, as well as tailing sites on Northern Arapaho lands in
Wyoming. Chair Moore mentioned the South Valley Superfund site in Albuquerque, New Mexico as
another case study option.
3.6 NEJAC Business Meeting Reflections and Conversation
Ms. Martin opened the Council business discussion by listing some of the major items raised by the
public and Council members throughout the meeting. The Council spent some time discussing the
draft recommendation letter regarding the Yazoo Backwaters flooding issue that was brought up
during public comments. The draft letter was written up immediately after the public comment
session circulated among Council members for comment, some of whom requested further
discussion during this session.
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Ms. Collier-McGee noted that the Mississippi congressional delegation was well aware of the Yazoo
situation and has been active in bringing it to the attention of the administration at the highest
levels. She expressed her opinion that NEJAC's efforts might be better spent on other, less
supported topics. Mr. Edwards concurred. Ms. Shirley expressed concerns and confusion, as a new
NEJAC member, around the letter drafting process in general. Ms. Martin said all members are
welcome to draft recommendation letters, but these letters will always be circulated to the
members for comment and must be approved by the full Council before they are made official.
Chair Moore proposed creating a letter writing work group to conduct additional research on this
topic and discuss it further. Mr. Randolph felt it wasn't NEJAC's role as an advisory board to
conduct research. He believes the public deserves a response in the form of a letter, either asking
for more information or indicating that some kind of action will be taken. He added that support
from NEJAC could assist and support congressional efforts already underway. Mr. Doyle said
NEJAC should try to stay out of politically charged issues where possible. Ms. Harris agreed and
said she was hesitant to call for overturning an EPA decision and felt more information would be
needed before this step should be taken. Mr. Shabazz said members should be encouraged to draft
letters and create templates for potential Council actions. When members take matters into their
own hands and are proactive it improves the efficacy of the Council as a whole.
Mr. Tejada listed some action items that OEJ will be tackling, including translation accessibility and
equity, efforts to visit Puerto Rico for a future NEJAC meeting, additional support on worker
protection standards, and agenda topics for the March meeting with the Administrator in D.C. EPA
will also be working to provide better advanced planning for future meeting dates and locations.
Mr. Shabazz raised Dr. Garcia Ortiz's offer to collaborate with the RISE Network in Puerto Rico as
another potential action item. There was some discussion regarding voting on action items or
recommendations prior to the meeting with the Administrator. This possibility was complicated by
the fact that the official meeting summary will not be available prior to then, and some Council
members preferred waiting until that document was ready before beginning the deliberation and
voting process.
Mr. Tejada confirmed that it would be impossible to complete the letter writing and deliberation
process before the March 16th meeting given the Federal Advisory Committee Act public meeting
notice requirements. The delegation would be able to hold conference calls beforehand to prepare
for the meeting. Ms. Orduno asked if there was any written document the Council could prepare to
deliver to the Administrator at the meeting. Mr. Tejada said the Council could empower the Chair to
compose a Chairman's Letter consisting of a summary of action items from this meeting which
could be left with the Administrator. However, the Council would not have the opportunity to
review the letter before March 16th. Ms. McGee-Collier made a motion for the Council to wait for
the finalized and complete meeting summary before deliberating on potential action items. Mr.
Tilchin seconded the motion and said the Council should develop a detailed agenda for the meeting
with the Administrator in order to support its request for a two-hour meeting. The Council
approved the motion.
Chair Moore said the Council and EPA staff needs to make an effort to not overload the agenda for
future NEJAC meetings. While the Council heard many valuable and important presentations at this
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meeting, there wasn't sufficient time left for Council business discussion by the end. Chair Moore
and other members applauded EPA staff for their hard work putting the meeting together and EPA
regional staff for attending and engaging with the Council.
3.7 Adjournment
Chair Moore officially adjourned the NEJAC meeting at 5:28 p.m.
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APPENDIX A AGENDA
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ADVISORY COUNCIL PUBLIC MEETING
February 25 - 27, 2020
OMNI JACKSONVILLE HOTEL
245 WATER STREET
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32202
Day 1: TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25, 2020 - FLORIDA BALLROOM
3:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. REGISTRATION - FLORIDA BALLROOM PREFUNCTION AREA
3:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP FOCUS GROUP
This focus group will discuss major environmental justice issues for vulnerable, overburdened, and
underserved communities in natural disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
o Chip Hughes - National Institute of Environmental Health Services
o Connie Thomas, Mayor - Town of Orange Park, FL
o Melissa McGee-Collier- Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
o Dr. Sacoby Wilson - University of Maryland - College Park
6:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS, & OPENING REMARKS
o Karen L. Martin, Designated Federal Officer - U.S. EPA
o Matthew Tejada, Director, Office of Environmental Justice - U.S. EPA
o Richard Moore, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Chair - Los Jardines Institute
o Sylvia Orduno, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Michigan Welfare
Rights Organization
o Michael Tilchin, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Jacobs Engineering
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6:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Members of the public will be given seven (7) minutes to present comments on their issue or concern to
the NEJAC.
8:15 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
BREAK
8:30 p.m. — 11:00 p.m.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD CONTINUES
11:00 p.m.
CLOSING REMARKS & ADJOURN
DAY 2: WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 26, 2020 - FLORIDA BALLROOM
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
REGISTRATION - FLORIDA BALLROOM PREFUNCTION AREA
9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS, DAY ONE RECAP & OPENING REMARKS
o Karen L. Martin, Designated Federal Officer - U.S. EPA
o Matthew Tejada, Director of the Office of Environmental Justice - U.S. EPA
o Richard Moore, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Chair - Los Jardines Institute
o Sylvia Orduno, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Michigan Welfare
Rights Organization
o Michael Tilchin, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Jacobs
Engineering
9:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS: FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
o Greg Strong, Director of the Northeast District Office - Florida Department of Environmental
Protection
9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
WELCOME & DIALOGUE: U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION 4 LEADERSHIP
o Mary Walker, Regional Administrator - U.S. EPA Region 4
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10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
BREAK
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
NEJAC DISCUSSION
o Richard Moore, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Chair - Los Jardines Institute
o Sylvia Orduno, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Michigan Welfare
Rights Organization
o Michael Tilchin, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Jacobs
Engineering
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
LUNCH
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
COMMUNITY VOICES: FAIRFAX ST. WOOD TREATERS SUPERFUND SITE
This session will highlight the successful collaboration and coordination with stakeholders throughout
the Superfund process at Fairfax St. Wood Treaters.
o Dr. James E. Parris, Jr., AIA, CGC - Faith Deliverance Church and Temple College Prep School
o Leigh Lattimore, Remedial Project Manager - U.S. EPA Region 4
o Miranda McClure, Environmental Consultant - Florida Department of Environmental Protection
o L'Tonya Spencer-Harvey, Community Involvement Coordinator - U.S. EPA Region 4
o Ron Tolliver, Community Involvement Coordinator - U.S. EPA Region 4
1:45 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
COMMUNITY VOICES: EASTSIDE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL
This session will highlight the work of Eastside Environmental Council to address environmental issues
and injustices in east Jacksonville to empower residents for positive change.
o Wynetta Wright, Founder - Eastside Environmental Council
o Tena Anderson, Development Manager - Eastside Environmental Council
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2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
COMMUNITY VOICES: FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PARTNERSHIP WITH
CLARA WHITE MISSION
This session will highlight the collaborative partnerships of the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection and the Clara White Mission.
o Ju'Coby Pittman, CEO/President - Clara White Mission
o James Maher, Assistant Director, Northeast District - Florida Department of Environmental
Protection
o Sheena Chin-Greene, Program Coordinator - Florida Green lodging and Green School
Designation Program- Florida Department of Environmental Protection
3:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
BREAK
3:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
COMMUNITY VOICES: COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND NATURAL DISASTERS IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
This session will highlight the work of Harambee House with the City of Savannah to identify better
ways to address the challenges faced before and after a natural disaster. Harambee House has
worked closely with the community to identify what those challenges are as well as effective ways to
address them.
o Dr. Mildred McClain, Executive Director - Flarambee Flouse/Citizens for Environmental Justice
o Dawud Shabaka, Associate Director - Flarambee Flouse/Citizens for Environmental Justice
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4:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
COMMUNITY VOICES: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONCERNS OF FARMWORKERS IN FLORIDA
This session will highlight the work of the Farmworker Association of Florida to build power among
farmworker and rural low-income communities, to respond to and gain control over the social,
political, economic, workplace, health, and environmental justice issues that impact their lives.
o Jeannie Economos, Coordinator, Pesticide Safety and Environmental Health Project -
Farmworker Association of Florida
o Linda Lee, Community Leader - Farmworker Association of Florida
o Antonia Tovar - Farmworker Association of Florida
5:45 p.m.- 6:00 p.m.
CLOSING COMMENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
o Karen L. Martin, Designated Federal Officer - U.S. EPA
o Matthew Tejada, Director, Office of Environmental Justice - U.S. EPA
o Richard Moore, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Chair - Los Jardines Institute
o Sylvia Orduno, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Michigan Welfare
Rights Organization
o Michael Tilchin, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Jacobs
Engineering
6:00 p.m.
ADJOURN
DAY 3: THURSDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2020 - FLORIDA BALLROOM
7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
REGISTRATION - FLORIDA BALLROOM PREFUNCTION AREA
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8:15 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
WELCOME & DAY TWO RECAP
o Karen L. Martin, Designated Federal Officer - U.S. EPA
o Matthew Tejada, Director, Office of Environmental Justice - U.S. EPA
o Richard Moore, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Chair - Los Jardines Institute
o Sylvia Orduno, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Michigan Welfare
Rights Organization
o Michael Tilchin, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Jacobs
Engineering
8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
DISASTER RECOVERY AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE IN PUERTO RICO & THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
This session will discuss the response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and long-term recovery efforts
underway in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Discussions will also include resiliency and
environmental justice issues that Caribbean communities face during response and recovery.
o Juan E. Rosario, Director-The Alliance for Sustainable Resources Management
o Kurt G. Marsh Jr., Former St. John Community Liaison - U.S. Virgin Islands Hurricane Task Force
o Peter Lopez, Regional Administrator - U.S. EPA Region 2
o Carmen Guerrero, Director, Caribbean Environmental Protection Division - U.S. EPA Region 2
o Dr. Carmen Concepcion, Former Dean - University of Puerto Rico Graduate School of Planning
o Cecilio Ortiz Garcia, Professor - University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and Co-Founder of the
National Institute of Energy and Island Sustainability
o David Kluesner, Acting Director, Strategic Programs - U.S. EPA Region 2 - Panel Moderator
10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
BREAK
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10:45 a.m. — 11:30 a.m.
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT DISCUSSION
This session will discuss the Council on Environmental Quality's proposed update to the National
Environmental Policy Act.
o Edward A. Boling, Associate Director - Council on Environmental Quality
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
LUNCH
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP FOCUS GROUP UPDATE
This session will provide an update on the focus group discussion held on the first day of the meeting.
o Chip Hughes - National Institute of Environmental Health Services
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
RESILIENCY: SOCIAL VULNERABILITY AND HOUSING IN THE CONTEXT OF COASTAL RESILIENCY
o Whitney Gray, Administrator, Florida Resilient Coastlines - Florida Department of Environmental
Protection
o Bill O'Dell, Director, Shimberg Center - University of Florida
o Anne Ray, Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse Manager, Shimberg Center - University of Florida
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
NEJAC SUPERFUND TASKFORCE WORKGROUP UPDATE
This session will provide an update on the charge to the National Environmental Justice Council on
Superfund remediation and redevelopment for environmental justice communities.
o Tai Lung, Workgroup Designated Federal Officer - U.S. EPA
o Michael Tilchin, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Jacobs
Engineering
o Kelly C. Wright, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Member - Shoshone Bannock
Tribes
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3:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
BREAK
3:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
NEJAC BUSINESS MEETING REFLECTIONS AND CONVERSATION
The NEJAC will use this time to reflect on the meeting proceedings of the last two days, develop
action items and discuss new or emerging environmental justice issues across the United States and
its territories.
o Karen L. Martin, Designated Federal Officer - U.S. EPA
o Matthew Tejada, Director, Office of Environmental Justice - U.S. EPA
o Richard Moore, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Chair - Los Jardines Institute
o Sylvia Orduno, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Michigan Welfare
Rights Organization
o Michael Tilchin, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Vice Chair - Jacobs
Engineering
5:30 p.m.
ADJOURN
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APPENDIX B
MEETING ATTENDEES
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In-Person Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
Gerardo
Acosta
EPA Region 6
Clay
Adcock
Community Member
Lisa
Aley
Army Corps of Engineers
Teena
Anderson
Eastside Environmental Council
Beverly
Banister
EPA
Alvin
Barker
OPED
Patrick
Barnes
BFA Environmental
Eric
Bason
Shoreline EJ
Samantha Phillilps
Beers
U.S. EPA Region 3
Terrivs
Bruce
FAMU
Anthony
Bucci
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Darlene
Byrd
US EPA
Sarah
Campbell
Town of Orange Park
Pat
Carey
LTM Properties
Terry
Carr
City of Jacksonville
l-jung
Chiang
U.S. EPA, Region 6
David
Clay
Eric
Coker
University of Florida
Rochelle
Cole
EPA Region 4
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In-Person Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
Carmen
Concepcion
University of Puerto Rico
James
Cromartie
Victoria
Darden
L & R Farms
Glenn
East
Clay County
Jeannie
Economos
Farmworker Association of Florida
Richard
Elliott
Greenfield Environmental Trust Group
Cynthia
Ferguson
US DOJ / Environment and Natural Resources
Division
Nicolette
Fertakis
EPA
Mark
Fite
USEPA Region 4
Aerial
Flo
Fairfax Environmental Committee For Justice, Inc.
Sheryl
Good
EPA, Environmental Justice and Children's Health
Section
Whitney
Gray
DEP
Donna
Gray-Banks
Consultant
Carmen
Guerrero
EPACEPD
Vernell
Gutter
GREEN
Reginald
Harris
USEPA Region 3
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In-Person Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
Amanda
Hauff
EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention
Patrick
Hayle
Mercy Support Services
Holly
Henderson
Duke Energy Florida
Stephanie
Herron
Environmental Justice Health Alliance for
Chemical Policy Reform
Katrina
Hill
Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection
Brian
Holtzclaw
US EPA Region 4
Chip
Hughes
HHS-NIH-NIEHS
Brandi
Jenkiins
U.S. EPA - Region 4
Phillip
Jernigan
FEMA
Aaryn
Jones
EPA Region 4
Towana
Joseph
U.S. EPA Region 2
Tom
Kellerman
FDEP
Charles
King
USEPA/Superfund
Toshia
King
US EPA/OLEM/ORCR
David
Kluesner
U.S. EPA - Region 2
Kay
Larson
Listening Visitor
Paul
Larson
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In-Person Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
Leigh
Lattimore
EPA
Charles
Lee
U.S. EPA
Joy
Lee
NIEHS DERT WTP
Linda
Lee
Farmworker Association of Florida
Heidi
LeSane
USEPA
Peter
Lopez
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Peter
Lormis
LETC
Tai
Lung
EPA
James R.
Maher
Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection
Joelle
Marquis
Legacy in Action
Bradley
Marshall
Earthjustice
Karen L.
Martin
U.S. EPA
Ken
McQueen
U.S. EPA Region 6
Matthew
Miller
Neal R. Gross & Co.
Marsha
Minter
US EPA
Saundra
Morene
Althea
Moses
EPA Region 7
Bryan
Myers
US EPA, Region 4
Jennifer
Nazak
Daytona Beach Permaculture Guild
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In-Person Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
Cesar
Ortiz
University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Joseph
Parker
Harambee House
James
Parris
Faith Deliverance Church/Temple Prep
Mary
Parris
Faith Deliverance Church
Cynthia
Peurifoy
EPA Retired
Kenneth
Pinnix
Florida Brownfields Association
Charles
President
HUD / Office of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity
Yesica
Ramirez
FWAF
Nikita
Reed
City of Jacksonville
James
Richardson
Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board
Michele
Roberts
Environmental Justice Health Alliance for
Chemical Policy Reform
Kareem
Ross
Suzi
Ruhl
EPAOEJ
John
Russell
FEMA, Interagency Recovery Coordination
Sharon
Saucier
EPA/GMD
Alesia
Scott Ford
US HUD
Dawad
Shabaka
Harambee House
James
Smith
•
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In-Person Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
L'Tonya
Spencer-Harvey
US EPA - Region 4
Matthew
Stewart
US HUD
Greg
Strong
Department of Environmental Protection
Matthew
Tejada
U.S. EPA
Connor
Thomas
Town of Orange Park
Tami
Thomas-Burton
EPA - Region 4
Ron
Tolliver
EPA
Antonio
Tovar
Farmworker Association of Florida
Rachael
Uhland
Earthjustice
Gloria
Vaughn
EPA - Region 6
Kathleen
Voight
NFLT
Claudette
Walker
EPA/GMD/SEE
Mary
Walker
USEPA
Ronald
Wallace
GREEN
Larry
Walls
Walls Enterprise
Thomas B.
Waters
SUMMITcrod.com FAIRFAX
Maxine
Watson
Daphne
Wilson
EPA
Helena Wooden-Aguilar
Wooden-Aguilar
EPA
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In-Person Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
T
Woods
Tina Anderson Group
Davon
Harris-Young
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Teleconference Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
David
Ailor
American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute
Bren
Ames
Aye Open Outcomes
Christine
Amrhine
Greenfield Environmental Trust Group
Deyadira
Arellano
TEJAS
Sharon
Baxter
Virginia DEQ
Leann
Bing
ATSDR R4
Brittany
Bolen
EPA
Joy
Britt Lex
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
Raven
Brown
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
James
Burke
JPBurke& Associates
Bill
Burns
Environmental Awareness Foundation
Stan
Buzzelle
EPA
Sylvia
Carignan
Bloomberg Environment
Elizabeth
Carter
CDC (CTR)
Sue
Casteel
ATSDR
Suhani
Chitalia
American Rivers
Kelly
Crain
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
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Teleconference Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
Valincia
Darby
DOI
Monica
Dick
AES
A.
Edwards
EPA
Christine
Ellis
Winyah Rivers Alliance
Lena
Epps-Price
EPA
Monica
Espinosa
US EPA Region 7
Ericka
Farrell
Environmental Protection Agency
Gabby
Fekete
EPAOIG
Timothy
Fields
MDB, Inc.
Jeanine
Finley
EPA
Joan
Flocks
University of Florida Levin College of Law
Megumi
Fujita
Office of Equal Rights, FEMA
Sabre
Germnao
EPA Region 7
Sandra
Glenn-Vernon
Nemours
Marcia
Gomez
HHS/NIH/NIMHD
Yvonne
Gonzalez
Office of Ground and Drinking Water
Stephanie
Hamlett
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
James
Harper
Encore
Anita
Harrington
Detroit BSEED_EA
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Teleconference Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
E Fatimah
Hasan
MD-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
Declan
Hayes
U.S. EPA
Angela
Hessenius
Duke University
Charlie
Howland
USPS
ShihMing
Huang
Sonoma Technology, Inc.
Rebecca
Huff
EPA
Jackie
Jackson
Louikencia
Jean
FANM
Nancy
Jimenez
Hispanic Family Counselor
Doris
Johnson
CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Megan
Johnson
Florida DEP
Marian
Johnson-Thompson
Retired
Darcy
Jones
SC Energy Office
Gregory
Joseph
Centers for Disease Control
Susan
Julius
US EPA
Ntale
Kajumba
US EPA
Emily
Kroloff
EPA
Sheila
Lewis
EPA/Office of Environmental Justice
Ellen
Manges
EPA
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Teleconference Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
Vincent
Martin
V Martin E J
Imogene
McClendon Covin
CME Church
Nettie
McMiller
EPA
Julia
Meltzer
The New School
Lisa
Mifflin
US Treasury | Office of the Comptroller of the Currency |
Tampa Field Office
Patti
Miller-Crowley
FEMA
Kait
Morano
Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission
Kristine
Nelson
Jacqueline V
Norris
Prince George's Environmental Social Equity Marginalized
Community Collaborative
Leanne
Nurse
US EPA
Chavonne
Odom
Granicus
Clive
Ormsby
Lily
Otsea
EPA
Victoria
Phaneuf
BOEM
Karen
Pierce
SF DPH
Steven
Ramsey
Social & Scientific Systems, Inc.
Myra
Reece
SC DHEC
Byron
Reed
Florida A&M University
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Teleconference Attendees
First Name
Last Name
Organization
Dawn
Reeves
Danielle
Ridley
EPA
Sarah
Sanchez
Northeastern University
Latonya
Sanders
EPA
Ellie
Schiappa
Department of Environmental Conservation
Richard
Gragg
Florida A&M University
Gabby
Sekete
EPA
Yodit
Semu
UCLA- LOSH
Samia
Singleton
The City of Kissimmee
Dezmond
Smith
EPA
Diamond
Spratling
Emory University
Joanna Mounce
Stancil
USDA/Forest Service
Kayla
Stanton
FAMU
Lisa
Stuart
USDOL
James
Summers
US EPA
Elyse
Sutkus
EPA/OLEM/OBLR
Lior
Vered
Toxic Free NC
Nicole
Vermillion
Georgia EPD
Diana
Wahler
EPA
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Teleconference Attendees i
First Name
Last Name
Organization i
Leah
Weightman
MWWPR
Shanika
Whitehurst
EPA
Dianne
Wilkins
Wilkins & Associates
Dana
Williamson
Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
Suzanne
Yohannan
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APPENDIX C
WRITTEN COMMENTS
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Testimony of Juan E. Rosario on Behalf of AMANESER 2025 on the situation of Puerto Rico
Juan E. Rosario, AMANESER 2025
(787- 462-5088) amaneser2020@gmail.com
My name is Juan E. Rosario. I am the executive director of AMANESER 2025 a small NGO that work
with communities all around Puerto Rico promoting mitigation and adaptation mechanisms to cope
with Climate Change. We do not work for the communities we work and collaborate with them. We
promote resiliency by fostering self-suffiency and work from the ground up.
As one of my beloved teachers would say: first things first I want to express my gratitude to all the
good people from NEJAC and EPA. My gratitude and admiration to Richard Moore who have always
shows his solidarity with the people of Puerto Rico and a profound respect to the work of our local
groups and their self-determination. My gratitude and respects to Karen L. Martin for her diligent
work and patience with an old man that still have problems dealing with the emails and to all the
people who did the work that allowed me to be here of behave of my beloved people. As I always
warned, in the town where I was born and raised, we speak English as a third language. I may do a
lot of mistakes using a language which is not native to us and I hope that you stop me before I get
into troubles. The other clarification I want to make is that for many years we had an excellent
relation with local EPA officials and with some at the Federal level. Many times, local we could
address local specific environmental problems because these officials were very diligent and willing
to act So, anything in my testimony should not be used to construe a criticism of them.
I am here, testifying in a NEJAC meeting for the third time in my life. First time was in Detroit in
1996. There we spoke about our colonial situation and all the social, political economic and
environmental injustices that colonialism entails. After that, there was a visit of some NEJAC
members to Puerto Rico with some positive results.
We were, also, in the meeting that took place in Massachusetts in 2018. We spoke about the
aftermath of the 2017 Hurricane Season, namely Irma and Maria, the later being a very powerful
hurricane that devastated the island killing thousands of people and destroying its electrical
system. In that meeting, we stated that the government was hiding the death toll of Maria. For many
months they said only 16 people died, when we came here they were already admitting that
probably 1,000 died and we thought that as many as 2,000 were killed.
We testified about the incredible lack of diligence and recklessly disregard to people's needs and
sufferings both from local and federal institutions.
Unfortunately, the situation has not changed much. Two and a half year after Maria people are still
struggling with the electrical service and some people are still living in houses that were partially
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destroyed. Incredibly, there are still hundreds of houses shielded from the sun and from the rain
only with the blue "provisional" tarps that were provided by FEMA to cover the roofs that were
blown away by the hurricanes.
Two and a half year later time keep unveiling what is a story o corruption, incompetence and
political powerlessness. Now we know that more than 3,000 people died as a consequence of Maria.
That only takes into account the people that died in first 5 month after the hurricane. The majority
of these people died due to the total collapse of the electrical system that, in many cases, lasted for
months and in some instances for up to a year. This is the longest blackout in USA history.
The followings are some direct quotations of an article of The Center for Investigative Reporting:
"The majority of these deaths occurred at the hospitals¦, where the death rate increased by
32.3% and were practical inoperable without electricitywithout onsite power generators or
with deficient generators, and without fuel reserves to operate according to the testimony we
compiled and the visits we made"1.
" Other death causes of death that showed significant increases from 20% to 45%, were
neumonitis due to solidsy liquids¦, essential hypertension and renal malfunction, pneumonia
and influenza,y respiratory diseases, Alzheimer and heart diseases"
"suicides were up 43.9%"
"According to the data, the population segment with the highest death increased rate during
the 3 months after the hurricane were young adults, in their productive age, from 30 to 44
years, with a rate increased from 23% to 39%, when compare to the 3 previous years".
"Among the young people, 30 to 44 years, the principal causes were accidents and heart
attacks."
"In dozens2 of instances the relatives, attributed the deaths to lack of dialysis, insulin or
oxygen"
"Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness of the Public
Heath School of Columbia University in Nueva York, agreed that the death could have been
avoided with a better preparation and a better response to the emergency"
"Although (Redlener) admitted that, the mistakes of the Government of Puerto Rico,
during the preparation and the response to emergency were huge, Redlener established
that the greater responsibility was that of the Federal Government of the United Sates, that
11 The Deaths of Maria, Omaya Sosa Pascual, Ana Campoy and Michael Wesseinstein; Center for Investigative
Reporting, September 14, 2018.
2 decenas which in Spanish mean groups often.
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having the resources to make the timely and forceful response, that was necessary to avoid
the deaths that occurred and i did not acted accordingly
"Puerto Rican institutions simply did not have the resources and the experience that were
needed" "The US Government was negligent by not sending the resources that was needed
according to the scale of the disaster".
The hurricanes unveiled the vulnerabilities of our island to cope with Climate Change and its
consequences but the earth tremors that started on December of 2019 and had it climax with a 6.4
earthquake, follow by hundreds of replicas many of them higher than 5 in the Richter Scale3
reminded us that Climate Change is not our only natural threat. Thousands of houses were
damaged, hundreds were destroyed and again thousands of our people are living in despair
because 3 months after they began earth tremors have not stop.
I hope that the preceding statement has provided this Commission with a clear idea of the situation
of our people in Puerto Rico. We want to address two very specific problems in our island that
illustrate some of our environmental justice concerns:
The first one is related to the disposition of coal ashes from the AES plant in Guayama.
Since the original proposal, we at Industrial Mission of Puerto Rico4 began our educational work
with the communities and the government to demonstrate why the plant should not be built Our
most important argument was that the island did not have an suitable place to deposit the 700 tons
of ash the plant will produce every day. To silence our voice they promised and eventually put it in
the Power Purchase Agreement that the combustion residues were not going to be storage in
Puerto Rico for more than six month unless they could find " beneficial and commercial uses" for
them.
In our society a contract is almost sacred, when signed it becomes the law of the land. In spite of
their contracted promise during 16 years AES spilled, all over our island, over 4 million tons of coal
ashes laced with heavy metal and pollutants that could contaminate the soil and water and harm
humans and other species. Many lab tests by private groups and even some requested by EPA5
show that often pollutants in water below ash deposit violates the standards in some cases by a
3 As reported by the local media. The Ritcher Scale has been replaced by other more robust and precise scales.
44 Industrial Mission of Puerto Rico was the dean of Environmental Justice organizations. Since 1969 and until 2010
when mainland environmental groups began creating branches in PR it worked creating a grassroots movement
that in which environmental, social, economical and political justice were all part of the same equation.
5 2018 CCR Annual Groundwater Monitoring Report AES Puerto Rico LP, Guayama, Puerto Rico; January 31, 2019,
Project No. DNA-180161
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very wide margin. Before that Judith Enck, Administrator of de la Region 2 of EPA admitted to a
local reporter that: Our general concern is the heavy metals. We found high levels of arsenic, which
put us in a very solid position to request that (AES) stop spilling their ashes all over Puerto Rico"6
Some local institutions like the Medical College, and some health professionals has found that there
is a significant correlation between living near the AES power plant and some health conditions.
Some goes even further and makes an association with the increased rate of death7.
However, instead of forcing AES to comply or suspending their permits EPA decided to "help" AES
to find a way to dispose their ashes by allowing them to use our landfills to deposit them. In order
to do that the PPA with PREPA was amended to remove the self-assumed prohibition against
disposing them locally. The proposal from the EPA Region 2 Administrator, Judith Enk, came in the
form of a recommendation in a letter to Laura Velez Velez, President of the Environmental Quality
Board and Juan Alicea Flores, Executive director of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, on August
14,2014.
If you look closely at which are the communities affected you will notice that they are
disenfranchised communities: Puente de Jobos in Guayama a poor community that was polluted by
many industrial sources for decades, including a Superfund Site; Tallaboa Encarnacion in Penuelas;
one of the communities that suffered for decades the pollution of the CORCO Petrochemical
Complex, where pollutants were found nor only in the soil and the air but also hundreds of feet in
the underground water and Buena Vista Humacao in which the community have been suffering
from the operation of a dumpsite (they call it landfill) that is so obnoxious that the operator
installed citric perfume dispensers around the premises to hide the intolerable odors from garbage
decomposition. Not what we expected from EPA.
The second specific problem related to environmental justice in the garbage crisis that has been
going unabated for more than 40 years. Year after year, for decades, we warned EPA's officials that
the way our local government was handling the problem could not even make a dent in the crisis.
Every decade the same headlines in the local newspapers make the dire premonition: our landfills
are very polluting, and we are running out of space. A year ago, quoting EPA a local newspaper
reported that only 29 landfills remain open and that only 11 of them are in compliance with the
regulation. The numbers came from a Report commissioned by EPA to Weston Solutions. According
6 PREPA amends its contract with AES, Omar Alonso, March 16, 2016, Periodico la Perla.
7 Mortalidad y contaminacion de aire en los municipios de Guayama y Fajardo, Puerto Rico: un estudio ecologico
de series de tiempo. Luis A. Bonilla Soto, PhD Departamento de Salud Ambiental Director y Catedratico Christian E.
Cruz Cruz, BS, MPH Departamento de Bioestadistica y Epidemiologia, 2019.
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to the report even if the landfill that are not in compliance now can be used to deposit our trash the
remaining capacity will only be 2.91 years. That is if we rely on the numbers of garbage generation
of the government if we use the data from the landfill's operator on the trash, they actually receive
which are 1 million tons less (30%) we have a little bit more than four years of remaining capacity.
One way or the other we are a running out of space.
The traditional crisis was worsened by the way the residues from hurricanes Irma and Maria were
handled or more precise mishandled. Between September 2017 when the hurricanes hit Puerto
Rico and June 2018, 2,660,000 tons of debris were sent to the landfills. Most of this monumental
disaster was created by US Corp of Engineering and FEMA that had no idea and no plans on how to
deal with the huge amount of vegetative residues that were generated by the hurricanes. They
poured huge amounts of money (millions) moving these residues around the island.
But there is hope, so we believed when the reported quoted local and federal officials saying that
they have a strategy to deal with the problem: "As part of the study it was analyzed how many
landfills could be expanded, and it was find that 15 had manifested in building new cells to deposit
trash. So according to the operator almost 50 million tons of trash could be received.
Now we see EPA and the Federal Government doing the same thing that brought us here, spending
millions of dollars doing ill designed composition studies and expanding the landfills so we can
keep discarding the future. These facilities are dumpsites in the middle of disenfranchised
communities. Most of them have been decades suffering the impacts of the pollution of out of code
and ill operated installations. We call these communities "The Wretched of the Earth" for them
environmental justice is a fallacy.
We are not asking EPA or NEJAC to solve our problems, that is our duty. We are saying that most of
these inequalities and oppressive mechanisms were nourished by the government policies and
practices, both Puerto Rican government as well as federal government We are not asking for help,
we just want a leveled playing field. The field is not leveled when millions of dollars are poured into
the same agencies that have not been able to deliver any results in the past; the field is not leveled
when the voices of the communities and local grassroots groups are not on the table. The field is not
leveled when EPA and other Federal Agencies look for solutions on the experts and the merchants
outside de community and worse outside the country. That was precisely what the Secretary of
Natural Resources Department told the reporter; "on April 30 we will celebrate the summit call
"Puerto Rico is Open for Green Business" where many global recycling industries will attend".
According to the secretary, they will identify raw materials in our residues and will export them
abroad.
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The market may be a problem, but it is not the problem. The problem is the repetitions on the same
false solutions based on a flawed paradigm.
We want to finish by asking this Environmental Justice Commission if there is any possibility that it
can intervene to facilitate a conversation with EPA officials so we can put together a no-nonsense
proposal to address the solid waste problem in Puerto Rico in a different way. We do not believe
that it is an outrageous proposition, after all, our local and federal government have spent tens of
millions of dollars, trying the same solutions for decades without any results a nd I am afraid that
they on the verge of doing the same thing.
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NEPA Comment, Denver
2-11-20
My name is Lisa DeVille, I am an enrolled member of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara (MHA)
Nation also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes. I am a leader of grassroots group Fort Berthold
Protectors of Water and Earth Rights (Fort Berthold POWER) and North Dakota Native Vote. I live
with my husband, five children and five grandchildren. I am here today because I oppose the
proposed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rollbacks.
Native communities have very few opportunities to voice our concern about major project
such as drilling, highways, pipelines rights-of-way, and industrial waste sites in our backyard. Yet
the Trump Administration is trying to remove the few opportunities we do have by gutting the
NEPA. I stand in strong opposition to the proposed changes, which will without a doubt add poison
to our air, dirty our water, and impact our health for generations. Gutting the 40-year-old NEPA
regulations will result in less public comment, companies writing their own environmental reviews,
and bulldozing burial sites. We cannot afford to lose our voice in what happens in Fort Berthold
and beyond.
For tribal communities like Fort Berthold, which bear the brunt of health problems such as
heart disease and asthma from the poorly planned federal projects, NEPA isn't just an
environmental protection law, it's a critical tool for ensuring our voice. We cannot afford to lose it.
Any law that provides broad opportunities for public participation in government decisions that
affect the environment and local communities shouldn't be rolled back, rather laws like NEPA
should be embraced and strengthened. NEPA is one of the only avenues for tribal people to have
any form of input on federal actions. Tribal communities need to protect NEPA.
NEPA is the main law which gives citizens in Fort Berthold protection from the widespread
negative impacts of energy development This is because NEPA gives communities like Fort
Berthold a voice in the decision-making process surrounding energy development In addition to
giving us a voice, NEPA protects indigenous significant historical and cultural sites, burial sites,
endangered species, and water.
Our indigenous beliefs are unique. That is, we came from mother earth, our creation stories
come from. For centuries our ancestors warned of the environmental genocides. You destroy
Mother Earth you destroy yourself.
"The ultimate goal of the NEPA process is to foster excellent action that protects, restores,
and enhances our environment This is achieved through the utilization of environmental
assessment (EAs) and environmental impact statement (Els), which provide public officials with
relevant information and allow a "hard look" at the potential environmental consequences of each
proposed project" NEPA.GOV
I encourage United States delegation to reconsider their public support for the wholesale
rollback of NEPA and for the public to comment on the NEPA rollback.
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NEPA Comment, Denver
2-11-20
My name is Walter DeVille, I am enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes known as
the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) Nation on Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North
Dakota. I am also a member of the grassroots group Fort Berthold Protectors of Water & Earth
Rights (Fort Berthold POWER). I am here today because I oppose the proposed NEPA rollback. The
Trump administration's changes to NEPA is a sellout to corporate polluters at the expense of me
and my family's clean air, water, and health.
We have been dealing with the impacts of oil and gas since 2009. We were not given the
option to decline the federal drilling program as tribal citizens. Now we have been surrounded by
well pads, flares, pipelines, venting, and leaking methane and VOCs for more than two decades.
NEPA was passed by Congress in order to give the public the right to know, and comment on, how
infrastructure projects may impact their communities or how they are currently affecting their
lives. NEPA is already failing tribal communities like mine -- making it weaker is a breach of their
trust responsibility to the native people in this country.
Oil and gas development has changed how we live our lives day to day. I am an avid hunter
and fisherman and have spent days hunting wild game for a food source for my family. NEPA is one
of the only laws allowing for public input in decisions that affect the health and safety of our home
on the reservation, and it should be strengthened, not gutted.
The Federal Government has a duty to uphold the trust responsibility to the people in tribal
nations. Our government has abused the trust of native people so many times that we need federal
protections in place to start safeguarding our interest in the air, water, land, animals and people.
NEPA is a law that can do that as it is implemented now. NEPA law is our advocate to counter that
abuse by letting Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara people have a voice in the decision-making process
surrounding energy development The proposed gutting of NEPA is an affront to our environment,
our way of life, and our civil rights.
I would like to end with this, "Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last
river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught. Only then will you find that
money cannot be eaten." Cree Indian Prophecy.
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Clay and Paige Adcock
Bonnie Farms
P.O. Bos 159
Holly Bluff, MS 39088
(662) 571-5582
davadcock11 i;m.i il.com
In the aftermath of the 1927 flood. Congress enacted the Flood Control Act of 1941 as a
massive plan for alleviating flooding in 41% of the nation to the detriment otf the Yaioo
Backwater Area of Mississippi, To offset the unnatural and undue burden placed on
this area, Congress authorized the Yazoo Backwater Project which consisted of
drainage structures, levees, and pumps to remove excess rainwater from the Delta
during high water events on the Mississippi River. Construction on this project began
in the 1960s, and the drainage structures and levees were completed in 1978, The final
critical component of this project, the Yazoo Backwater Pumps, has vet to be completed
due to pressure from environmental groups. The delays caused bv these environmental
groups eventually paid off for them when, in 2008, the EPA vetoed the pump project
entirely. An agency of the same government: that authorized this flood control
protection vetoed the critical final phase of that protection after all other phases of the
project had been completed. This has, left the most economically depressed area of the
country vulnerable to man-made catastrophic flooding year after vear.
There have been devastating consequences to this ill-conceived decision made by
people sitting behind desks who willingly ignored the volumes of well researched
technical arid scientific data that conclusively proved completion of the Yazoo
Backwater Area pump project would benefit the area by improving water quality and
recreational opportunities, expanding endangered species' habitats, increasing
wetlands, terrestrial, aquatic, and waterfowl resources, and offering economic benefits
to one of the most economically depressed and undeserved populations in the nation.
Further, there are three other hackv. . Ler areas along the Lower MS River VaUey which
were also authorized by the same 1941 Flood Control Act, the St. Francis and White
River Backwater Areas of Arkansas and the Red River Backwater Area of Louisiana.
All three have similar rural agricultural economies and wetland ecologies. All three
have their authorized pumping stations installed and operational. They perform as
predicted, giving us confirmation that such projects function as designed. The IP A
could have looked at actual examples of backwater pumps in action, as opposed to
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4 „ eru^ntaiion of the possibility of environmental
vetoing a pumping plant based on it. . p
damage.
For example in 2019 while Mississippi South Delta wa. flooded by Sapped rainfall to
qg 5 (afl devalionswilh no crops planted for an entire year and thousand* o people
jobless and displaced (or months, directly across the MS Rrver at V,d«fcur&^Lou.s'ana
farmers' crops wen- RrowinR as use.,, on kind elevations ot 85 feet. The only
SS^-Lwana'. backwater area project has been fully completed, and Us pump,
were operational. Mississippi already suffers the bane of last place m almost every
national contest available with the Lower MS Delta ranking last W.thrn Missel We
cannot get much lower or more ignored, and yet it seems we are slowly being destroyed
by the institutions that were supposedly created to help us.
Since the EPA vetoed the pumps, the Yazoo Backwater Area has flooded ten times.
Prior to 2019, the total cost of agricultural losses alone for these floods totaled $3/5
million. The cost to complete the project in 2007 was budgeted at $220 million. In 201
the Yazoo Backwater Area suffered a major catastrophic flood. Over 548,000 acres were
flooded for seven months, with over 231,000 acres of cropland going implanted for an
entire farm year, an unprecedented event in the area's farming history Hundreds of
homes were flooded, and three major highways were overtopped for months. Greg
Michel, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director, estimates the monetary
damages from the 2019 flood will exceed $1 billion. The wildlife population, which
makes its home on 100,000 acres of federal and state wildlife refuges within the area,
was decimated, t he entire 60,000 ane Delta National Forest, the only bottomland
national forest in the nation, remained closed to the public due to flooding for ten
months. Usually ranked among the nation's top three in number or variety of
butterflies. Delta National Forest was unable to participate in the July 2019 North
American Butterfly Association Count due to flooding.
The Yazoo Backwater Area is extremely rural, and its economy is dependent on
agriculture and hunting. Flooding and the constant threat of Hooding are destroying
both, The holocaust we witnessed among wildlife over seven months of flooding was
nauseating and impossible to describe. For this reason, I've provided you with a few
pictures to give you just an inkling of the horror caused by this type of man-made
flooding. We have had many nature-lovers tell us that animals are innately equipped to
survive natural disasters such as flooding. We agree, but flooding within the Yazoo
Backwater Area is by no means natural. This area is leveed in a manner that
unnaturally traps animals on small plots of high ground until eventually there is no
more high ground, The few who managed to find unflooded ground found themselves
1 See attached fetter from Mississippi's Lower 'Delta 'Partnership's Coordinator
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trapped with no food source, no shade, and no hope for seven months, As the pictures
clearly show, even fish do not thrive? in floods.
The continuous flooding in our rural area also poses health risks to our people. Most of
our homes utilize individual septic systems When excessively flooded, these systems
malfunction releasing raw sewage into the water. In 2019 that stagnant water along
with bloated animal carcasses, leaking fuel tanks, and all manner of floating debris sat
for months in the heat of the summer. Our area also has numerous community
cemeteries where the flooding caused caskets to float out of the ground, "Hits is
horrifying for the families of the deceased. It i.s impossible to explain how disgustingly
inhumane it is to live in such conditions.
We are third and fourth generation farmers. My wife's grandfather handed over land
to the government in the 19511s for drainage purposes to benefit his neighbors in the
north Delta, While he was disappointed at the loss of his farmland, he understood the
benefits of proper drainage in farming. He also knew Congress had promised his area
the Yazoo Backwater Project, and he could wait until it was completed knowing his
children and grandchildren would reap the benefits making it all worth it in the end.
My wife's dad died in 1986, never seeing the benefit of his own dad's sacrifice come to
fruition but confident that his daughter would see it soon, My dad moved out of the
backwater area in 2011 at 76 years of age saying he was just too old to fight it anymore.
In the last 13 years, we have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop losses and
personal property damage due to flooding. I have seen community churches and
schools close their doors for good. No one can stand the insecurity of continuous
flooding. My son graduated from college in 2018 and began farming with me. He had
worked his way through college and graduated with no debt and owned a very modest
but paid-for home. On February 9, 2019, he got married. On March 19, 2019, the power
company pulled the meter to their home saying it was too close to the rising flood water,
which forced them to move out immediately. The home eventually flooded and was
completely destroyed. On November 30, 2019, my first grandson was born, Mv son
and his family are still struggling through the FEMA process and temporarily living in
a rental cabin with a newborn baby and no prospect of permanent housing.
We are now two months into 2020 and three weeks ahead of the flooding schedule as it
developed in 2019, We haven't even come close to recovering from the devastation of
the 2019 flood, yet flooding levels in the Yazoo Backwater Area are 3 feet higher today
than they were on this day in 2019, For the third year in a row. Delta National Forest is
closed to the public, and hunting season was prematurely closed due to flooding. Our
local businesses are suffering, and many have already closed. Farmers will not be able
to survive another year with no crop at all. The agricultural support industries are
barely hanging on, and many have already begun laying off employees.
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In 2007, the U5ACE included an Analysis of Environmental Justice Considerations in
the Yazoo Backwater Area Reformulation Study. This report, which was base J on
considerable on the ground research within the Yazoo Backwater Area, concluded, "the
groups that suffer the most from not building the YBW Project are the minority and
low-income populations in the YBW Area of which many cannot afford to renovate,
rebuild, or move," With each flood, fewer people return to their ruined homes. This
causes the tax base to shrink, public school funding to decrease, and job opportunities
to disappear as businesses shut down, We who live in the Yazoo Backwater Area know
this to be true, and the data clearly shows that while other areas of the Mississippi Delta
are seeing economic boosts, the Yazoo Backwater Area is clearly disadvantaged by its
incomplete flood control project.
In his veto of the pumps, Benjamin H, Grumbles wrote," The Corps stated that it does
not believe that the proposed project would adversely impact subsistence fishing
and/or hunting as it relates to communities with l :j concerns. Recent studies conclude
that subsistence fishing and hunting in the Mississippi Delta is conducted by members
of communities with potential EJ concerns. (Brown, Xu and Toth 1998). EPA notes that
those practices could be affected by the proposed project's adverse impacts on the areas'
fisheries and wildlife resources." The report Mr. Grumble referenced is a sociological
report conducted in an area of the Mississippi Delta over one hundred miles north of
the Yazoo Backwater Area and not subject to backwater flooding. When actually
applied to the Yazoo Backwater Area, Mr. Grumbles' conclusion completely invalidates
his argument. Subsistence fishing and/or hunting in the Yazoo Backwater Area is
impossible due to flooding, further adversely impacting any segment of the population
with environmental justice considerations seeking to supplement their food supply by
hunting and fishing.
The EPA's veto acknowledged the genuine need for flood protection for the residents of
the Yazoo Backwater Area and asserted a belief that alternatives to the pumps are
already available, At the height of!h*2019 flood, when over 650 families had lost their
seven-month fight to save their homes, Louie Miller, Director of the Mississippi Sierra
Club, hosted a news conference far from the flooded muck of the Yazoo Backwater
Area. He aimed to educate desperate flood victims on these existing alternatives,
According to Mr. Miller, the federal government would buy out and relocate
homeowners who wished to move and would elevate the homes for those who wished
to remain. Well, that buyout program never materialized, and like most theoretical
educational programs, they don't work when put into practice, Homeowners returning
to their homes located on higher elevations or raised off the ground to heights well
above the floodwaters were shocked to find their non-flooded homes ruined just the
same. While their homes had remained dry, flooded roads had prevented access. Upon
returning home, they found the rising water had trapped small animals on their
property, and these animals gained entry, destroying the interiors of their homes.
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are not viable solution^ l'lcvaSiriE hurries to "*¦!» them flood-free yet inaccessible
PL1. yl1 kmm ^ P°*nt' no reasonable explanation for opposing the
EX. th ?rebCm>h^lmm mslamn«t«*m. EPA .Udn tp^ lv
T!l ^ Uala V™* * 2019; however, after last year, there is no milking the fJC*
i txact * ^,w horrifying ,i. disastrous hackwikter flood can be. We now
n^ri^ '.-t1JrVr i atl??tm1, atluatic9r hirmojrs. CttOamunities, forests, wetlands, and watv
i[ 'n " ' 'nL'iii Jrom pumps, and nothing will continue to survive in the V,vw
¦H u ¦ 11 l r Arc, without them. We are asking you to seek justice for the undeserved
anu torgntten people ol the Yazoo Backwater Area and ask the EPA to rescind its veto
"l!l' ' pumpsbefore it is tixi l.iie.
References
¦Simvn, Riifph ®. iiricJ Totht John 'R. tufafResource J^ccessatm
fnte? -ractjj / \ssoc ut turns: 'Midi ami b'fiite Subsistence Jisfimt? m M
.Mississippi&e//a. Southern KurafSot ivfbgy, 2001.
Brown, Ha(phy Xiu Xia, itnd Tot ft, John r. 1'if est yfeQptimis and Tci >namic
Strategies: Sn&sistence Activities m tfie SAtississipi f>e/fa. 'Rural
Sociology,
final-Determination of t tie 'US, Tnvironnmitaf Protection Agency's
Assistant Administrate.- for Water 'Pursuant to Section 404(C) of
the Clean "WVifer j\ct Concerning the Proposed yazoo Backwater
Area 'Pumps PrajfiCt, Issaquena County, Mississippi 2voS.
Xen M'eeden & Associates, Ttanmmi Gmsu&ants, "Analysts of
¦Environmental Justice Consideratums." 200?«
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P.O. Box 214
Rolling Fork, MS 39159
Phone 662.873.6261, fax 662.B73.6903
www.lowerd elta .org
Dear Clay,
NaHml toSt 2 hlJh'1 befhaV'n§ on the butterf,y ssecies that ^ wrniiJlY have in Delta
and tragic flood. NABA count ar,d ho*il be affected by this historic
f , h^V *1" Sutferfly Association has run the Butterfly Count Program in the United States,
Kiit -fy " J" elt'CJ SinCe Eactl of the approximately 450 counts consist of a compilation of all
hr h'tf0 SerV6t' J' "K"^',,a lS-mile diameter count circle in a one-day period. The annually
pu is e reports provide a tremendous amount of information about tne geographical distribution and
relative population sizes of the species cowwed. Comparisons of the results across years can be used to
monitor changes in butterfly populations and study the effects of weather and habitat change on North
American butterflies.
Butterflies are an indicator species that can tell us about the health of an ecosystem. They react
extremely quickly to even minor changes in the environment making them both a good indicator of
biodiversity and providing an early warning system for other reductions in wildlife. For example, birds
plan their whole breeding season around when caterpillars will be most abundant. If those numbers are
depleted, then there is not going to be much foodi for developing chicks.
Butterflies are also a major pollinator of both wild and cultivated plants, without them and other
important pollinating insects, there could be a significant decline in triable seed produced that provides
food for other wildlife species.
Since 2002, a North American Butterfly Association Butterfly Count has taiten place in Delta National
Forest during July. This count has frequently ranked in the top 3 nationwide for either number of
species observed and/or number of individual butterflies. It Is important to conduct these counts in the
same place and about the same time each year,
-------
So. while it would be interesting to see hew a flood of this duration has affected the butterfly population
in Delta National forest, that will not be possible this year, I can safely assume that any butterfly species
reliant an annual and perennial plants other than trees, as their host plant will not be found n (he
forest, These plants simply cannot exist under water for months on ei>d
The forest being dosed for this length of t.me has also had a devasting effect on what is already a poor
economy. Hunters, Wildlife watchers, and nature photographers contribute to the Sharkey County
economy when they visit, buy food., gas
-------
To whom It may concern.
My name is Victoria Darden I am 28 yean old, I am a resident of Issaquena County in Mississippi
I farm 1100 acres in the Mississippi South Delta we generality grow soybeans I have fanned with my 74
year old father since I graduated Mississippi State University with my B.S. ir Agricultural Science. 2019
was the first year in my fathers SO years of farming that he couldn't plant a crop. In the state of
Mississippi we had over SSO,OQO acres under water. That amount of land is equivalent to the siie of New
York City and Los Angeles combined. That Is over 300 square mites of homes, farmland and wildlife
habitat. The nature of this flooding is due to a levee system being put in place along with a water control
structure but lack there of a pumping station. In 1941 the legislation was passed that if the levees were
built and the gate structure was put in plate that a pumping station must be installed as well to handle
the excess water when the gate closes. So, to put it in very simple terms the levees and structure
created a bathtub affect so when it rains and the gate is dosed it doesn't drain.
During the flood of 2019 my father and » had to boat in and out of our home because our road
was underwater. My mother had to move to Vicksburg because she's deathly afraid of water since she
doesn't swim. We had to stay behind because my fathers house has a levee built around it from 1973
the last major flood in Mississippi, When it rains and the levee is closed off by sandbags the rainwater
must be pumped up and over the levee to keep the house from flooding. We boated for over 6 months
we had obstacles fall in our path as in two trees fell across the creek, we were boating in. One tree we
tad to cut a hole through to get by and one tree we had to motor around and at lower water levels we
boated underneath the tree. We had deer crossing the creek searching for food and shelter. We had
deer also dying along the creek daily because there wasn't sufficient food for them to survive and they
were stressed many fawns were aborted during this time. It was documented that does that usually
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have two healthy fawns in normal conditions in (his area were observed to only have one survive.
Seeing these animals go through this was very emotional and heartbreaking The smell from the
decaying ones was something one person can truly never forget.
Watching the peopte in this community come together to help each Other because there wasn't
any outside help was amazing. There was a lot of frustrating times that I honestly can't pot Into words
Its very difficult when you are parking your vehicle at your neighbor's house overs mite away then
boating to the creek bank of your road where you have a four wheeler or truck parked, (whatever was
funning at the time) Then from the vehicle on the farm you drive down the flooded road that you
marked with dags and then finally get honne The difficulty of Just bringing groceries home or taking out
the trash became painstakingly difficult. Since we weren't avid boaters before the flood our boats and
motors were In the best running condition. We had weeks we would use two or three different boats
due motor issues and must get them repaired. It's really difficult when you aren't used to doing marine
Outboard motor repairs,, but you have no option because no one can get to you.
So many people in this community are elderly and unable to get around with out some sort of
assistance Most of the people are also very prideful they have done things on their own their whole
lives and will not ask for help Its very diffieuft to watch fortunately I grew up with older parents and that
makes It easier for ma to COmmUf»'C?te with thf»m We tfart^d a FarphnnV fwgP
ifiForgottenbackw^terflood in hopes to be a source of news and med»a to represent the flood
accurately I helped teach the older people in the community how to use hashtags and learn to share
things on public settings. This was mounurnental for them most of them had no technology background,
but they saw the importance and wanted to help. We used the hashtags (Hinishthepumps
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ltforgortenbacfcwaterflood frsavpthemsdelTa ttyazotibadmnter these- can be searched on FB Jwitter,
instaRram and see everyone's personal documentation of the 2019 flood and tow the 2020 flood. An
online dhange.org petition was formed and by September we had over 30,000 signatures handwritten
and online thai we presented to (he EPA. Social media is our only source of reaching people the local
news took forever to cover this because they thought it was too contra vefsial. We did have some
national exposure in the New York Times and The Guardian. We contacted many other national news
sources, but they wouldn't resporHJ to our pleas,
Finally, in August 2Q19 we were able to open the Steele Bayou Gates because the Mississippi
Kitfer fell and we could release this backwater that had laid stagnate for over 6 months. The loss of this
water meant so much to the people that had -been forced from their homes. Unfortunately, that also
brought alot\g with it the ugly truth of them having to return to their damaged properties. Many people
are much llfee me in the fact that their land has never flooded like this and they didn't know this could
happen In September the EPA Administrator Mary Walker came to Rolling Fork for a listening session to
hear from the people of the communities that were affected, This meant so much to us to have
someone from the organization that could help come In and listen lo what we went through, During this
meeting we presented Administrative Walker with the printed 30,000 signatures she was very shocked
and appreciative of this gesture.
From September on we received record breaking rainfall for the state. Its really been down hill
ever since. We are now at 95' elevation If we had the pumps it would have crested at S3' which means
instead of having444,000 acres flooded would onty have 226,000 acres. During 2019 the water got to
98.2' 548,000 acres flooded, 231,000 of that was Cropland {our areas main income sourcel 3 highways
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IkMJded, a total of 686 homes were Hooded a net there were 1 fatalities. AH these losses could have been
avoided if the pumping station was constructed and operating.
Tin timeline lor this Ylioo Backdate, project goes all the way bjck to 192B In 1927 16.6 million
acres flooded 264 lives were lost and 700,000 people wen. displaced. lo 1928 toe Flood tontrol act was
authorized by OH*™ to construct torn, floodways, cutoffs and channel improvements The flood
control an of 1936 Congress ertended Federal responsibility to sub-basins i.e. Yatoo Basin. The
backwater flood of 1973 crested at 101.5' which flooded 1 million acres. In 1962 the EIS study showed
we could use a 14.000 CFS pomp instead of the original 25.000 CFS pump. 1986 II* pomp contract was
awarded thev completed the cofferdam, inlet and outlet channels. Also in 1986 Congress stopped full
federal responsibility of f undine the project and males ita cost share. 1996 congress restores Ml
federal responsibility of the project. In 2000 the draft report for the Ymoo Backwater project was
started. In 2007 the Final report for the Yaroo Backwater project was released. 2008 the EP« vetoes Ihe
Yaroo Backwater project. 20.7 Senator Thad Cochran included the reauthorliation language in
appropn,lions bill. The ne« year 2018 congress autbori.es S4O0 million ro build ft. Yatoo Backwater
Project.
Consequently in 2018 we had a backwater flood it crested al 95.!' Which flooded 450.000 aCf».
Following this flood Senator Paul flyan scratches the YBW Project reauthoritation language in final bill
Th. SaOOMillion that was appropriated for ft. Pumps gets transferred to other propels. In 2019 we had
another backwater flood and It «™d al 99.2' flooding over 548,000 acres. Over 250.000 acres of
cropland did not gel planted. Three highways wet* overtopped and impassable with thrw fatalities.
Ultimately the backwaler was over 90- for over 6 months from February until J ul,. Now here we are In
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!020 with mr 9S.2- ovation ot backwate, MAflOO ac.« is underwater yet aS»n im.ooo of that
beint agricultural tond. us still predial ,0 g0 Wehe, a„d ba4Mi o(f water ,KwlJ, „ wi|| a6aln
nem year, There are 21 other pumping italicns along the Mississippi River that help with Backwater
such as this. Our proposed plan will have 19.3% increase in Wetland Resources and increase the
waterfowl resources by $2.3%. If the VBW Project had been in place since 2006 9when the EPA vetoed
the project] it would have prevented $373 million in damages in the past 11 years alone
As you can see this project has a very long history and we finally have the accurate amount of
(lata Id make a proper decision. Unfortunately, this isn't up to US to get corrected and that why we are
reaching out for help. There are so many people here who work in the agriculture industry and have
spent their whole lives living here that need help. We were promised a pumping station to help us
handle this levee system and gate structure that was put in place. Not only do the people deserve to see
that implemented but the wildlife as well no one need* to sufferto do negligence or for people who
don't understand or live here to make those decisions for them without property hearing the full story. I
want Id thank you for your lime and consideration in just hearing our story. If we can provide you with
anymore information please let us know. I have tons of pictures of the homes, wildlife., water levels if
you would like to see first hand just what it was like. I am including my contact Information on the back
page if you have any further Questions.
Thank you,
Victoria Dartten
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Victoria Garden
661 Black BayO" Rd-
Rolling Fork, MS 39159
1601)218-1293
Victoria pmdac.rn s .gov
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APPENDIX D
MEETING PRESENTATIONS
89 |
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WELCOME & DIALOGUE: U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION 4 LEADERSHIP
National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council Public Meeting
February 26, 2020
Jacksonville, FL
Mary Walker
Regional Administrator
EPA Region 4
5C)
IfK I* 1
1
Welcome to Region 4
:r •€ .
*****
r
S)
Ifafl&rH I trtl
2
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Warren County, NC Landfill Protest -1982
oEPA
EJ 2020 ACTION AGENDA
THE LI S. EM'S ENVIROMNENTAL JUSTICE STRATEGIC HAh POf: 20C8 - ED2D
I Tn i {row hrtu
3
Chattanooga, TN - 1960s
r
/ *
ITn 1Im
•i
91 | Page
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NOj from 2005-2016
I fugtr-J. fw I ll>>
5
Savannah Ports
Workshop
5©
?! HT*TTi k-" R+ .-f i
92 | Page
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Ngre*In a i»>«
Valley of the Drums
Brooks, KY
7
Region 4 Brownfields
*i*h rw*a« hrip iilMnim
itarintMiiiy
tsaa
~
Fl«* In f» 4«#*P' ftw * runoff l«»d
hrbra
-------
Brownfields
St)
e
Jacksonville Job Training Initiative
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Columbus Kerr Mcgee
S-)
F«g r; fn ¦ liV<
11
ReGenesis Project: Spartanburg,, SC
by btlng o part of the CPS proctts. wt havt a roadmap
rftof other communities can use to find out what they need to
do and with whom they need to engage, te turn around those
complex issues that art impacting their communities ~
' Harold Mitchell, ReGenesis
N|iEhri^p B6
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Sarasota Bay Estuary Program
Sarasota
Pxit-ifK ¦ lr»«
13
Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
| !i*>H Ir«
14
96 | Page
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15
Proctor Creek
Proctor Creek Watershed
16
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Disaster Response and Recovery
P^r-Fk i feiAfif f#w»
17
Response
3)
Pxt rt- rk I li%»
IS
98 | Page
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Recovery
ID
EPA Actions on Lead
l !***« Ff»"i
20
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College Underserved Community
Partnership Program
SUN
riTii i frfci
21
Environmental Justice in Region 4
22
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Thank You 1
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COMMUNITY VOICES: FAIRFAX ST. WOOD TREATERS SUPERFUND SITE
FAIRFAX ST. WOOD TREATERS
i, SUPERFUND SITE
February 26, 2020
What makes
the site
different from
others?
Fairfax Street Wood Tneaters Site used chromated
copper arsenate (CCA) to treat the wood.
Age of the site.
Industrial area adjacent to a school in an
Environmental Justice community.
During the Remedial Design, Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (FDEP) took an early
action at Susie Tolbert Elementary1 School.
EPA Headquarters-funded job readiness program,
Superfund Job Training Initiative, was deployed.
The Remedial Action took less than 1 Year.
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2010 - Site
Conditions
Timeline of EPA's Involvement at
Fairfax Street Wood Treaters
2010
Emerge ricy
Response
2010-2012
Time-Critical
Removal
Actior
2012 National
Prior rtie:
Lifting
2012-2017
Rerrec al
Invest gation
and Feasibility
Study
2017 Propose
Plan
2017 Record of
Decision
201S Remedial
Design and
Early Ac-ior at
school
2019 Remedial
Action Start
and Comalete
4
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5
Basis for Taking an
Action on Off-site
Properties
¦ Several residential properties exceeded EPA's
acceptable risk range.
¦ EPA made the risk management decision to
include all properties impacted with site
related contamination above the cleanup
levels based on:
• Nagtibortirad is considered an overburdened
community;
¦ ErvirDr.TusTti 'jitice [EJ ¦ car^errs: ar d
¦ Suffers from cun jlsi ve restive environments I
irn 3act3 mc f-ealtft dazeti stres^r:.
6
.. -
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Early Action at the
Susie Tolbert
Elementary School
7
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In early 2C19. IB re;sent: of the irts
area psrtici s ated iti tf-ie EPA
Siizerfund Job Training h itiatr.-e
jSuperJTlji.
Parbtipaiib of Eh* li din ir« Liuip'rlpJ!
ifliid variwd uaflifutium in ilia luiluwirtt
fiMMBHi
1 40-lhi. hijurdtiuai UprrL u i ri and
F"-cik«hlv Swi+iunn
« CP$,"Thfl Aid
1 DEHA Csnali LE.Lkn
' Wuiic SkEIa
A?!*" iIht mantag pragrawi 3
Hi*! juilr-t. wim'v fihCtd hbj fuLb wurkinjt lii
llnr iilf In ihtii' Liffinuihy.
12
^•ailLTid Jcfa
TiiilUn. Yif>at't
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REMEDIAL ACTION
Clea nup included;
* RtttlfWing u:«iiair tinned soil
and secarei-fjit
* SMifi rlj; e Oil t * m i rW 1^1
m.i-mnis ti» an apsjm|)nste
disposal rjcUiiv, *mJ
» ikickril ling and itstonng
cxti**tod 4.feai,
'Tiles* t-fforti resulted in;
o
tans oi contottinftta d
soil taken awray
o
y12.5
acres on site
remediated
®
tomes
mmedialed
v 60,000 v300,000 v/60,000
gallons or toniatninatetf
water taken away
tons OF clean backfall
and tap soil
13
BEFORE
DURING AFTER
14
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BEFORE DURING AFTER
15
—
9 II «
r jm I
•-^SiBr
~^T" ifWJr.
¦-" - - -' * . • -
BEFORE DURING AFTER
16
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Community outreach and cngagcmeru hj; been nn integral port af EPA's approach at the site.
Activities have included puMic meetings arid availability sessions to provide regular site updates as
well as tommunit) wide distribution. effort sheets and other infcirirutian materials.
OVER 100 > fty; 4,000
phone calls received 7 ..HA i rBC* mailed
7 OVER 100
/ pe opi e attended the
cleanup fclektrlf moating
^ in March 2019
sessions
OVER 50 KJHPr
people attended (he
aWAifabiltly SBssicJns ^ V
19
EPA REGION 4
FAIRFAX STREET WOOD
TRFATERS SUPERFUND SITE
CLEANUP PROJECT
for information* call
fVD 1 *>--
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ll.— ---
'////////s
¦Vcrilr Gat Dull in I It Ar
¦ Ssfetj' lis always been s priority
since the beginning of this cleanup
protect.
¦ Measures were Dut in p ace to
prevent any potential exposLie ris-is
or health and safety tnnearts to
workers and the public.
27
28
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BEFORE DURING AFTER
31
~ Balancing speed and accuracy
* Partnering and working with
Lessons
credible stakeholders is
essential for a successful
Learned
project
~ Listen to understand
32
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COMMUNITY VOICES: EASTSIDE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL
Eastside Environmental Council
National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council Meeting
February 26, 2020
1
Eastside Environmental Council
Presented by
Wynetta Wright
EEC Founder and President
and
Teena Anderson
EEC Development Manager
I !nf I
1 • '¦ 1
2
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Eastside Environmental Council
Addressing Environmental Injustice
Raising Environmental Awareness
Promoting Environmental Education
Ft amRM
Ti! -V
3
Eastside Environmental Council
^Our community
J Our founding and history
^ Our mission, goals and priorities
^ Our reliance on grants and donations
^Our partners
^Our community outreach
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Our Eastside Community
i
**"> •. •
I f^^mmm
u
5
6
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Our Eastside Community
^ Lacks public transportation
^Limited access to affordable healthcare
J Lacks full-service grocery store or
markets within walking distance
S Part of an EPA-named Environmental
Justice Showcase Community
EEC Founding and History
S 2004 - Wynetta Wright
and other residents
organize Eastside
Environmental Council
(EEC) ( |
S 200S - EEC incorporates '
as 501(c)(3) nonprofit
J2009 - EEC receives
1st EPA Environmental
Justice Grant
Wynelta Wright
EEC President and
Reel ptentpf the
Environ me ntnl Justice \
Award
*f»t )
A f
; ¥i||5k/
r, >
s
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EEC History
J 2010 - EPA adds Kerr-McGee Site to National
Priorities List
J 2011 - Jacksonville Health Zone 1 is named an
Environmental Justice Showcase Community
by EPA
\.
II S 2012 - Jacksonville
Integrated Planning
Project (J IPP)
v in 3 ID!
J ¦ v, irriiiB inn
9
©ua w
EEC History
V 2013 - EEC is
awarded 2nd EPA
Environmental
Justice Grant
V 2015 - EEC receives
EPA Technical
Assistance Grant
(TAG) for
Kerr-McGee Site
10
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EEC Mission and Goals
J Promoting environmental and economic justice in
underserved Eastside Jacksonville and surrounding
communities
S Empowering and educating residents of urban core
S Making Eastside a better, healthier place by promoting
access to healthcare, fresh produce, jobs, and more
J Addressing concerns that pollution from local
contaminated sites may be impacting health of
residents
^ Advocating for community and raising awareness about
cleanup of Kerr-McGee Superfund Site and! Deer Creek
H U IDI
>11 :VI
EEC Priorities
s Healthcare access
^Sustainable school and community gardens
^Environmental education and awareness
^ Outdoor recreation
^ Workforce development
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EEC Relies on Grants and Donations
^ Grants
- EPA Technical Assistance Grant (TAG)
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Community Conversation and EPA Environmental
Justice
- Community Gardens
^ Donations
- Monetary
- In-kind
- Volunteer time
0MWUU
13
EEC Partners
J Duval County Health Department
^ Cfty of Jacksonville
v^City of Jacksonville Public Schools
^Florida Browrrfields Association
sU.S. EPA
^Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and
Prevention
and...
*1,1,3 IDE
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EEC Partners
J Florida State Community College of Jacksonville
S FAJVIU
^University of North Florida
J Multistate Environmental Response Trust
J East Coast Green way
Alliance
^ Other organizations in
Florida
I a U ID i
EEC Community Outreach
Promoting environmental education and healthy living
- Go Green soil Shops
- Go Green Back-to-School event
-/
Organizing school and community gardens
•/
Fostering outdoor recreation
- Youth Bike dub, Urban Youth Bike Initiative, and Bike Rodeo
- Connecting Faculty to Eastside WalkingTour
- Eastside-Therrted Bike Stroll
Advocating for environmental and economic justice
- Bringing attention to concern about contaminated sites affecting
health of residents and local economy
- St. Johns River economy boat tours for middle school students
•/
Community meetings
1 151] IDF 1
1 ' 11 1
16
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EEC Go Green soilShops
Sl^imkCI Lkmh
ftm
PrU M NT iHL f IE'." AmNLLM
Go Creen
soilShop
July 16, 2016
tMM - JHl MIWiMir, UHHW1M.K tiUH
i-mi Ort.
FPUk«.kiU4iiiuhr'njiNj^hiri k MMRivM I jvn Mi
iIUU*** »
HHIMI K- KMW, IIH HMM^fEKlAn U KV
HTHMmiLMlCjiil^Tm^MniiaMUIUUWl
mmm
rutlilivu h«IRfeHKUi
J Free soil screenings for lead
v Free back-to-school health
screenings for children
S Fitness activities
V Backpack giveaways
Environm
Council
17
EEC Go Green soilShops
E*,iniM: Eiv ¦CMUH-iiicuitii
Ftbhntj r-ir Itcctc tanuu
Go Green
soilShop
SATU RDAY Ap-RIL 29r 2017
¦ hal*3-Mrti ^ei Una, U Uianntiil.K l%i
' -Iw-tf -i-r jOTiOvi
ki«ni ^
«J'
S Best practices to avoid
lead exposure
^ Promoting healthy
eating and healthy living
education
^ Advocating gardening in
urban spaces
J Fresh produce
J Native plants
»*« (*«%?*' ut^ wii wHur
¦Zf T- ».i,-»"n
P - " *>%&!'111 ¦ iii wlw v
MrUl IITIHM
r_ ** ;!j. j.
o mSem*
O W yu
IS
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EEC School and Community Gardens
V Promoting environmental and food justice
J Empowering people
^Addressing the "food desert"
What is a food desert?
A low-income census tract where
at least 33 percent of households are
more than one mile from a grocery store.
EEC School and Community Gardens
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EEC School and Community Gardens
21
EEC School and Community Gardens
v The EEC established gardens in 9 elementary and middle
schools in Jacksonville's Health Zone 1 in 2015-2017.
V A 2015-2017
grant from the
Agency for
Toxic
Substances
and Disease
Registry
helped enable
the EEC to
expand to
these schools.
22
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EEC School and Community Gardens
^ More than
1,160 pounds
of fresh
produce were
grown at the
gardens.
^ The fresh
produce was
given to 2,300
students and
their families.
23
Urban Youth Bike Initiative and Bike Rodeo
A Partnership:
Easts ice
Environmental
Council and
East Coast
Greenway
Alliance
Octbhex f9j 2on
Ci/jf.m..
24
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Urban Youth Bike Initiative and Bike Rodeo
25
Educating Eastside Students about St. Johns River Economy
A Partnership:
Eastside Environmental Council,
JM Family Enterprises, and Southeast Toyota
Providing boat
tours to educate
Eastside 6thf
7th, and Stfi
graders about
the river
economy
26
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Educating Eastside Students about St. Johns River Economy
27
Promoting Environmental Awareness:
28
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Promoting Environmental Awareness:
Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp, Superfund Site
S EEC has been bringing attention and resources to
Kerr-McGee Site and its cleanup.
S EEC serves as neighborhood voice and provides means for
EPA, FDEP, and MultistateTrust to update residents and
receive community input.
EEC was awarded EPA
Technical Assistance
Grant (TAG) to hire
independent technical
advisor to review and
comment on
Multistage Trust work.
I A LIS ID f
29
Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp, Superfund Site:
Cleanup Timeline
Operable Unit i (OUi)
^ OUt Site Preparation Start
Q3 2020
^ OUt Final Remedial Design
Cj4 2020
*¦" OUi Construction Start
Ql 202T
^ OUt Construction Complete
Q2 2022
Operable Unft 2 (OU2)
^ OU2 Rl Work Plan
Cj2 2020
^ OU2 Rl Start
94 202O
OlJh* Lcntanb-atxl mat md|Tnifid«n1r;ciartflntixiid !iL Jahmihv
udkmr^ nl uf^tsa wrig^^li whft«dM< ind pawhwtw arttgihilla; and VR*
ffalad sol nd |ramtMabr csrlerireiefcn an i>d|K«itCUaid JAXfOi.1 prapcrQH.
QL'j, - '4l*-r-»krf:«d MKimani andiurrfKn
i srurririlK'r ti Dmr Lrwfc.
^v
30
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Contact the EEC
Eastside Environmental Council
1637 Walnut Street
Jacksonville, FL 32206
(904) 250-3430
h 11 p://vv w w+T h e E E C o rg
31
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COMMUNITY VOICES: FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
PARTNERSHIP WITH CLARA WHITE MISSION
WhiteHarVest
^ FARMS ^
WHITE HARVEST FARMS
A CLARA WHITE MISSION PROJECT
Education, Outraaeh Arid
Suntahabllty Fram9wort In Partnership With
FDEP
1
COMMUNITY NEED
2
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PARTNERSHIPS
TTie Florida Department of Environmental Protection,
SortTieas: Florida DIstcl demonstrated tftelr
cofncnRrnent Ho Clara wwte Mlsston(OBA) While
Harvest Farms. FDEP provided iftelr sartT, re sou roes
and (eatfersftlp to develop sustainable practices and
to assist the Ctara White Mission in tftelr
susJateiaMHty programming: tte Mission's Janitorial
Environmental Training Program ana me White
Harvest Farms Uroan Apiculture project In a rood
desert community.
VISION &
PARTNERSHIP
FD6P wHafgod ValiivHarVn! Fvrra
ahS iiufc Iliad lln
aapatify Is ¦¦(nnd iruvtDn
•*rdian™ritaih«Brfft p*uur«rTitT*r«Q L* '-uyli
niJvytaicv. arid Tib it"riul'.v -J1
'fjtikm Htfiml Fa inn.
¦1
135 | P a g e
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FDEP tt*l«d up iImIi ilrvm Ijo
pt^idii Lb'Jiii>uI In
sul kiniiui. itlt iBiiiKlMhi, nd
L»n nuiu||rrairi ptaictiun.
Th« Idc-i wax ;• dh !~>#
nixpcndbMi uu >2! pattdaaa,
ird wtlirwfti- ian htsiu i zr- tr*
1 jlzm: r»b iy c-J tTE:**T»-TKr* m
s j/st r«b« jrfavi Item.
ki adbtitar lr rrmriir^i L-hi h=r*a»d
:HT«rd For b#-h:c-« :< ¦%»:
ftuc-i-hy 'f-S rwcKw — p*cl 3 at
rutrfilar, vli :i*r» jig fc-» land r.
«50 MarcrW Road.
White Ha r est
^ FARMS ^
heart of Historic Mranarieff Springs flanking
botf. sides of the tramcrjil MorKxief CreeL
Formcrty an ash ate, the property was
remediated rry the City of iactsonwiie.
The top Mil waa replaced to
BccDrnmoCQte the Misson's newest
inftiaftive - an unban agriajftyre trainir^
crnund - White Harvest Fainns.
&
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WNt*HWV44t
\VY 1 L
i«|j I 36* w
f.vwmrm# * 14» U
. r ,¦»(•»- P-:¦ - * W 8*
TOfAi *¦## 6 J« 1-"
it A'4
-» -."A
. *
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w _l_
^
Q^OlJJ
Lutr-j
^o<
oroo
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wmiwiwt
^ FARMS
G&
^8?
2<
>LU
I—LU
gSc
ii
il
140 | P a g e
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WMttHaiVift
L" FARMS JA
3
%
O
CL
D
O
OUR VISION
Olt v I si or is to at rtiae& and ixoovci go a flora* oriy as a sain na 'arilty. out skso a" GpcDfturiy toQcr«araKr zed tori wwr&jfito fift-cr-vest irtc>
rr& lire to car&ruauE piiodjccfrtMiXtlan.» areaseiofcc ard to ircroisecarr-^roc
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Outdoor Classroom
An hands-on experiential classroom that increases physical activity, social skiiis and
community resiliency
17
WHITE HARVEST FARMS
Trie P
While KbivbI Tarms grow produce ^tkI
impi<5Tiorfl edjc^criai murtrr dasT-ucms
an in 1Q.5 acr«=. TTk oufcwii iri&aftves
create a H$iy wabe syrnbd afhqpe aid
boccrne a signature oarnerslarie far tie Food
D«ht1 aid Nortwesi noghborhciad. TNs
project is sjzpcrted by Ma>
-------
CU RRENT FARM PRODUCTION
« Qrtyrfc uturi agilctjfcjflfi
- Ro*croppra&iCfioriG/! amruai
» Hqh Hatful pfoojcflofio* offl season
CfOpS
• "The p»-co_cc is oonas&aco fission
arid sold to rastaj^rcs M&csay
« Food Safety Focus and Cored arc o
WHAT WE DO
Gkm Qrnartc Prco-co. Ecu; Jo Bdk2 Conr»_rir|i
CURRENT FARM EDUCATION /
PROGRAMMING
Urtaari AgrfcuHUB Far: irtorrshp.
March-JU*
Quksoof Fi-rors AAifkoc or.
•Saunday
Gassos on Co^eosorq >' Osante
'JifbCs-i-Q
Corpora® Gro-o Vo! .tk&I rq
Partly Ran- Vdcrittfir Days
Scsasoral Fazr". Foslveis - H:4cjy
FssSvat, S-p^jQ Fosc
M
FARM WISH UST
* Ftoqicrtfily apttflc febtt r&o cUOvars
¦ Expand U&ar
AgrtcU&jfaErAlforf'Tar&a DoMna
¦ Hqh Quality Compose
» RosCCJofri
- Gate* kJdliCV VcJ^Cto
¦ Wooden Trellis MaMrfals
• Addition *di on &>jr«sida of C-ok
WHATS
GROWING
NOW?
Produce Available 2r24'20
Arugda 6.99 Ib
Pea sroate; 10.99 Ih
WatonftWCon radsh 1.99 lb
Carats wift x*e 2.99 .' Ib
Japanese sdad Urnps yri#i Yjoz 1.99 «' !b
Cdlard grans 1.99 lb
i lybnd baby bak ctary 2.99 f Ib
Cdubage; 25 f Ib
¦3naa pke -3.99 <¦ Ib
Nastrium {ewers .'pea Sewers .15 each
Cilaifra 7.00 i Ib
Pa-siey 7.0Q lb
Dill 12.00 f tb
Cutyk^e 299,'lb
Green wave mustards 1.99 f Ib
Scaiet frills nm-Efcrds 2.99 /lb
Rod gamol mustards 2.'99 .'lb
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OPEN
MARKET
¦¦ (INI
rv -MM
21
'iVTlrle Harvest Farns p-ovktes access 1a ^esh
vege^abea la valLrteers an tie farm 8 days a
Ace<.. Produces aflered fcr sdc every Saixday
rani 10aT! - 2fcm aid seasonally trcugh our
Mdble Market ai local dvd'Ks.
Visit the Farm
A healthy space to get hands on experience, connect with others and team a new skill.
' •
U/fufe ?/cwest
inarms
MAMiciir voaviMTrcB
I vt'fcY MONDAY •
»*T «¦¦«.** $ATURDAV
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JACKi£»NVItLt Fl 35309
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COMMUNITY VOICES: COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND NATURAL DISASTERS IN
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
^2'V'b, Hudson Hill
K[\,UtC /y _ J
Savannah, GA
¦ii tf>Ti Head Ji
lAtrport
PtiCJllWf
National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council Meeting
rfO /
, v [
Savannah
-V
February 26, 2020
3
1 tSf^o rn»ro
Ml v*r*wa«
Whi1em« r»h
liliind
i
jtv
Hudson Hill Comm unity
&B¥VEJSCR£EM , ML'* ¦¦I HM Sciiwhief *edlto#*eg T»l|V«i-U£*>tTk)
2
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oEFA EJSCREEN emm
T»1 fVvufcn
MHIMwmBi
NL c«« 0
.•* • *, HwNK«iHN
' 1 / «3b>
1 J 1
t1
3
Chemical Companies at the Savannah Ports
B & B Paint Co - Contractors Equipment & Supplies/Chemicals/Construction &
Building Equipment
Colonial Chemical Solutions -- Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers
Dulanylndustries Inc -- Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers
Kemiron Atlantic- Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers/Chemicals
Morrison Chemical Company -- Chemicals-Wholesale & ManufacturersJanitors
Equipment & Supplies/Janitors Equipment & Supplies-Wholesale
& Manufacturers
Southern States Chemical Inc- Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers/Chemicals
Vopak- Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers/Chemicals
Colonial Chemical Solutions - ChemicaIs-WhoIesaIe & Manufacturers
Arboris - Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers
Chemtrade Logistics - Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers
4
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ryi^ • m
Chemical Companies at the Savannah Ports
Kemira Pigments-- Chemicals-Wholesale £ Manufacturers
Em ndustries :nc - Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers
Geo Specialty Chemicals Inc. - Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers/Chemicals
Hercules Incorporated- :herni :al;-V ho[esate_&JMamjfacti rers
Bonita William Inc — Cheinicals-Whojesaje & Manufacturer;
General Chemical Corp -- Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers/Chemicals
Arizona Chemical -- Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers/Chemicals
Southern States Chemical Inc - Chemicals-Wholesale & ManufacturersChemicals
Savannah Brush and Chemical Co Inc -- Chemicals-Wholesale &
Manufacturers/Janitors Equipment & Supplies/Chemicals
Colonial Oil Industries - Chemicals-Wholesale & Manufacturers/Chemicals
E
/£\
Chemical Companies at the Savannah Ports
Solenis - ChgmicaMfttwtgsajg & Manufaeture[sCtemjca s
Doyle Chemical & Supply - Janitors Equipment &
Supplies/Pa per/Manufacturers/Pa per Products
Kraton Chemical -- Chemicals
Chemical South Transport -- Chemical Plant Equipment & Supplies
Ka Steel Chemical - Chemicals
Terra industries - Chemicals/Fertilizers
Emd Chemicals - Chemicals
Gavilon Fertilizer - Fertilizers/Chemicals
6
148 | P a g e
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149 | P a g e
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Air Quality Improvement Action Plan
for Savannah's Near-Port Communities
DRAFT - October 2018
Y
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Mary Calder G *f dfcwrse ^
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11
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NEIGHBORHOOD EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE PLAN
X# »_B—ewfri-
l-r*v|
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12
151 | P a g e
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rf/j
Harambee House, Inc.
Citizens for Environmental Justice
1115 Habersham Street, Savannah, G 31401
9i2.233.ogo7
cfei .harambee @ smail. com
staff @ thehar ambeehouse. net
https: / / www. thehararnbeehou.se. net
Facebook: win v.facebook,com , hararnbee.house.7Q
Twitter: @CFEJSAV
Llnkedln: https: //wvnv.linkedin.com.- companv/the-harambee-hoiise-cfei/
Instagram: https: / /www, instagrarn. com /haramb eehouseinc /
13
152 | P a g e
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COMMUNITY VOICES: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONCERNS OF FARMWORKERS IN
FLORIDA
Farmworkers and Pesticides
An Environmental Justice Issue
According to the EPA, there are an estimated goomillion pounds of
pesticides applied to crops annually in the United States each year.
.. . - ^
There are
approximately 1.5102 ' . *»
million farmworkers in ' **' ¦ **
» *~-4- ' W
the United States, and . ¦ JK '
an estimated2 million - JE" n
minor children of ** V "¦ v
farmworker families £ V
according to the ¦* ' ^
NAWS. ' . JHl flfc .
Presentation by the Farmworker Aawcidtiottof Florida
1
Farmworkers and Pesticides
It has been estimated that as many
asas million agricultural workers
world wid e experi ence u ni ntenti onal
pesticide poisonings each year.
In a large prospective study of
pesticide users inthe United States,
the Agricultural Health Study, it was
estimated that 16% of the cohort had
at least one pesticide poisoning or an
unusually high pesticide exposure
episode intheir lifetime.
2
153 | P a g e
-------
Farmworkers and Pesticides-An Environmental JifsticeCommunity
The US Department of Agriculture has estimated that 50 million
people inthe United States obtain their drinking water from
groundwater that is potentially contaminated by pesticides and
Dther agricultural chemicals
Children from 3-Syears old received most of their derma I and non-
dietary oral doses from pi ayiig with toys and whileplaying on
carpets which contributed the largest portion of their exposure
4
154 | Page
-------
5
; LAKE APOPKA
FARMWORKER
MEMORIAL QUILT
fljruftdwf Fiiav^u ti Ja/i wu
O* Unur fA'—T| jfc Lifcr ^n|Jn ^ilnAnllad MTa
il-44 la* WU (kro cvnM«> T^mrCm.n hrOa
6
155 | P a g e
-------
Toxic Tour
Presenter:
Jeannie Economas
CDC DtSCLMUBi: Furdrg ir Ya gvnwa modtpanfcte irpv
bj grar xterc K! K>- Xf-Si J Tan 7t >T»a "Cf Gheae Cbnid
•srd PrfK'-ia-'. Tire vie™ a^rear. ris oraerraioi do rrt
r^cszjarfj refcer Teariad i-icm v tie Dqpnrimeni cr - ^etr s-c
-.iThS- Smba ~c cms meib' orti* remca,oyrfTpirci-a/
yariea, or ofgnoafcfaiifif ^Tdjjuiu I ly re JS GswrmB'
Pregnancy Health
Among Florida
Farmworkers
-------
NC Farmworker Advocacy
Network
July 20, 2010
"Approximately one quarter of migrant farmworkers in the US
are female, and a large percentage of these are of
childbearing age. Pregnant farmworkers are at increased risk
for spontaneous abortion, pre-term labor, and fetal
abnormalities as a consequence of exhausting prolonged
manual labort periodic dehydration and exposure to
pesticides, as well as substandard living conditions, poor
health, and malnutrition. Twenty five percent of births to
migrant farmworkers result in insufficient birth weight, pre-
term labor or other undesirable outcomes. Despite this
increased risk, the majority of pregnant farmworkers receive
inadequate prenatal care."
Health Care Provider interviews
Maureen Kelley, CNM, PhD
What do health care
providers (HCP)
understand aboutthe
environmental and
occupational health
issues of pregnant
farmworkers?
157 | P a g e
-------
Overall conclusion
Need for training and "continuing education" for
HCPs about environmental and occupational
health issues
Empowerment of women to ask about issues of
concern
n
11
Highlights from Community Survey
Survey
Demographic
s by site
Age
Country of
Origin
Marital Status
Currently
Pregnant
Nursery
n = 2.16
51.5
US 4.3%
Mexico 53.4%
Haiti 25.5%
Marriad 37.9%
Singls3-a.2%
6,c%
Fernery
n = 1.44
3.1-7
US 3.5%
Mexico 36.5%
Married 53.5%
5 i n g 1 a ±4.6%
2.0.4%
130 biological samples {65 in Apoplca 2nd 65 in Pierson)
were collected from these participants.
All pregnant participants agreed to participated inthe sample collection.
12
158 | P a g e
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Symptoms frequently or sometimes
experienced while working
¦ Fernery
¦ Nursery
, ¦ ^_3.3
Fainting g
* Muscle Cramps b)
Nausea 569
* * Dizzin ess CC'4
Loss of Coordination 3
* Weakness 75
Fatigufr 93
I
U
i t
1 s
I
0 20 40 60 SO 100
* p
-------
Organophosphate Metabolites
TabLa 1. Creatitite-adjustedOPir.ataboLitas it tfcaurLr.*of 9~femala fenr-voifcais
wodung it mmaaj anfl &amy opeartioiK us Central Florida. April-Jime 1011.
unary DAP Le
VSli
¦—1
40.1
314
MM
¦
Nursery (a)
Control
K=iifDpla aiaa GM=g£aD2tricmesK. CI= coriidanca intnal. MiJFmijiinium. Max=maxiinuin.
p-vslua;<001 for dfineooes da&:&i between Nasar? Tscrkersand Far.ay raters and [ha
control sjoip
15
Organophosphates
Nursery Feme:)' tnrtrd CD-C Nursery Fcr-iey tartrai £D£
DMT P | DETP
Figure a. ComparisoiB at creatinine-.adjusted geometric. mean ooitentratiorE of si mmary OP
metabolites in urine of lemale farmworkers, April-June 2011.' Dilterenoes between s u mmary
OP metabolite levees in nuneryand fernery participant! are significant at pcjia.. DETP CDC- HGir
2ad 2 NHANES levels ^percentile values - ja.6 I lor women in US. DMTPCD& jtaeg-acio^
N14ANES levels percentile values - 6^7 | for women in US
IS
160 | Page
-------
Effect of Organophosphates on the
Nervous System
Cholinesterase Inhibition
AChE tKuid la OP cariol treat
ACfi and fie nanrea cxristtrby strrvJ^ded.
17
* Org a nop hosp hate insectickte
* Developed dolingWWIIas a me
jgtnt
Co uses- acute poisoning -at
high disc i
Cholinesterase inhibitor,
causing rae rvous system
ma [function
Registered and usedin US since 15&5
- In itially approved for crop*
- Became one of the most common
psatk-kJ-ffi in U5
- i,cj regrslerec products, half ol all
iiis in non-ay rkulturaJ settings
• i^goa—wmSdy used tocm/trd
Household! ce
-------
* Chtorpyrttos can be hvaimrdirl it rt is- touched, inha led or eaten.
* Child re n, ta rmworke na rvdayicultu Fa I cmniinities dis-jxoportjonBte fy et+ected.
* Severe, adverse reeurodeve topme nta I outcome* in fetuses and irrta rfc with tow
le ve l» uf e xpoiure:
• tower ICLi, reduced1 memory fumttorc, attentioTi tW-krt disorder. nm oft
ie
Pesticide Urinary Metabolite Levels of Children in Eastern
North Carolina Farmworker Households (2007)
* Tested urineof £0 Latino fa rmworker children aged 1-6 for 14
pesticide metabolites
• Conclusion: Children in farmworker homes experience multiple sources
of pesticide exposure. Pesticides may remain in their environments for
long periods and cause long term harm. Environmental and occupational
health changes are needed to address these exposures.
Arciify, TA, Gnysacz, J G, Esn, DB. Tspia, J, Cher, H, Quant SLA. {2307). ftsticide
uriiisiy aatsbdi tewk ofdri Idee. ir. aaefeaiNalh Caelus fefarwariaj baBMnfc
EmrtKMinaitel Italthl^rfsctPSa lli(E'X Eti HllSBStApffiTS
20
162 | Page
-------
Mancozeb Toxicity
• PAMI Bad Actor Chemical
• Probable Human Carcinogen
• Developmental or Reproductive Toxin
• Suspected Endocrine Disrupter
"Mancozeb is a practically nontoxic ethylene
bisdithiocarbamate in EPA toxicity class IV -
practically nontoxic. It is registered as a General
Use Pesticide (GUP). Labels for products
containing mancozeb must bear the Signal Word
CAUTION"
Fungicide
Tib 151 LCT^afEtfijtenalhLcursa (ETU). atjiEfedfctf Cmatiniiii ir. fr.5 isijE
-------
CarlitGs' Mother was exposed to Mancozeb
during her pregnancy
23
Immokalee Birth Defects Cases to Farmworkers
Working for AgMart Farms - FL and NC
• The first baby, the son of twenty-year-old Abraham Candelarioand his
nineteen-year-old wife, Frantisca Herrera, arrived on December 17. They
named the child Carios. Caritos, as they called him, was bom with an
extremely rareconcition cal led tetra-a meia syndrome, which left him with
neither arms nor legs.
• A bout six weeks later, a few cabins away, Jesus Nava rrete was born to
5ostenes Maceda. Jesus had Pierre Robin Sequence, a deformity of the lower
jaw. Asa result, his tongue was in constant danger offal in g back into his
throat, puttingbimat riskofchokingtodeath.The baby hadtobefed
through a plastic tube.
• Two days after Jesus was born, Maria Meza ^ve birtbto J orge. He had one
ear, no nose, a deft palate, one kidney, noanus, and novisiblesexual organs.
A couple hours later, foil rawing a detailed examination, the doctors
determined that Jorge was in facta girl. Herpa rents renamed herVioleta. Her
birth defects were so severe that she survived for on ly three days.
24
164 | Page
-------
A Female Fernery Worker in Pierson, FL
25
room
blO ih*rtgrah1fe-trcJboja
>QCu5QdO ydeportado.
'£ [?S I»ju5ticiq5 y a+rop
^u5£p6ciq' Por ,a sepo
Y dignidad nor tod
SO!
j&ssi
P^sbcnde Ss^menl
26
165 | P a g e
-------
Protecting agricultural workers' health and sal
• Support stronger Worker Protection Standanisforfaimworkeis,
including buffer zones around homes, schools, churches,
p aygrounds, etc.
¦ Ban dikwpyrifos - do not substitute with eq..s y toxtc a te rr at?ves
¦ The need far b ngual pesticide labels - most farmworkers and
handlers srd app cators are Spanisii-speaking
¦ F FRA reform - reform cu^srt method of assessing pest odes for
registration
¦ Incentn/ize deve opment of agroECD og cal principles n agriculture
as opposed to chemically- intensive agriculture
27
166 | Page
-------
COMMUNITY VOICES: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONCERNS OF FARMWORKERS IN
FLORIDA - PRESENTATION VIDEO LINKS
Out of the Muck (short version) - Out of the Muck: Geraldine's Story - YouTube
Pesticide Lake - Pesticide Lake - The Poisoning of the Workers of Apppka. Florida - YouTube
Elvira, a Farmworker - Elvira a Farmworker - YouTube
Rompiendo el Silencio - Pesticide Segment - YouTube
167 |
-------
DISASTER RECOVERY AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE IN PUERTO RICO & THE U.S.
VIRGIN ISLANDS
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 2
Disaster Response, Recovery & Resiliency
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Pete Lopez, EPA Regional Administrator
1
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 2
EPA Region 2 serves New Jersey,
/ , . \
New York, eight Tribal Nations within
f \
the borders of New York State,
.
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
f' O
w)
2
168 | P a g e
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Devastation From Hurricane Irene &
Tropical Storm Lee
: i
3
Hurricanes Irma & Maria in September 2017
4
169 | P a g e
-------
Devastation From Hurricanes Irma & Maria
5
Roads arid Bridges Damaged. Debris. Loss of Power.
Drinking Water Shortages
170 | P a g e
-------
Impacts to the Most Vulnerable Populations
• Lack of Drinking Water
* Seniors
* Raw Sewage
* Infants and Children
* Lack of Electricity
* Persons with Underlying
* Contaminated Waterways
Medical Issues
* Limited Access to Rural
* Lo w Income
Communities
* Communications Failures
* Lack of Medical Care
• Loss of Homes
7
Federal Response in the US Virgin Islands
& Puerto Rico
3
171 | P a g e
-------
Collaborating with Nonprofits & Communities
Regional Administrator Pete
Lopez visited Puerto Rico and
the US Virgin Islands in early
October 2017
EPA expanded its response
efforts with federal,
com m onwe a Ith, territory,
and local partners
9
Working with Communities & Municipalities
Household Hazardous Waste Collection
Collected more than 320,000 containers of hazardous materials - drums,
propane tanks, cylinders, electronics, and batteries - and 60 tons of solid
hazardous waste
10
172 | P a g e
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Assessment of Drinking Water and
Wastewater Systems
Assessed wastewater treatment plants, hundreds of pumping stations
and rural drinking water systems
11
Provided drinking water in remote areas of Puerto Rico
12
173 | P a g e
-------
Facilities Assessment and Medical Waste
Disposal in USVI
13
Restoring Puerto Rico's Environmental Lab
Helped replace Puerto Rico's entire air monitoring network by restoring
The Environmental Quality Board's Environmental Laboratory
14
174 | P a g e
-------
Strengthening Infrastructure
15
Recovery Challenges
* Pre-existing conditions
* Ability to manage critical
infrastructure
* Fiscal debt
* Ongoing strain from the storm
impacts
* Earthquakes in Puerto Rico
175 | P a g e
-------
Community Engagement
Pete Lopez meeting with Water
Mission representatives and
residents at a Non-PRASA system
community in Caguas, Puerto Rico
EPA planning meeting with
partners to discuss
drinking water systems in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
17
Sustainable Drinking Water Solutions
MOU signed in Aguas Buenas with nonprofit organizations provides
sustainable, clean drinking water and more reliable power to communities
across Puerto Rico
13
176 | P a g e
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Solar Powered, Self Reliant Communities
Water Coalition for Puerto Rico Community
$13 M dollars of private funding pledged by NGOs to build capacity,
support infrastructure repairs and make rural drinking water systems
more resilient to power outages.
Provides technical assistance in compliance with local and federal safe
drinking water requirements,
Approximately 3-0 non-PRASA systems installed solar panels and back-up
battery storage, During the island-wide electric poweroutage after the
January 7 earthquake, these systems were ableto continue providing
drinking water to their customers.
19
Microgrids in Culebra
| HNREL V
—^jf ¦
fr»*rpjr K*nc* Mwnnfni to*
FUHDAQON COMUNITAfiiA
DE PUfftTQ HtCO
U.S. Commerce Dept. awards S4.1 million for solar project
in Culebra, Puerto Rico
b> C+D**** .
fundacidn Comunitarra de Puerto Rico to install system
SAN JUAN - U S Owwnerce &eos«afy vmtrn Rom »vw»ocw ^ sr*
Ecopmxtk Deve*apfr«*t MmnsJrafion -;EDA| a a H 1 moton -grant to Fur.3ac«frn
Ctmwvtana de Puerto R»:o la rolaia 1W percent energy syvtem to v-pport
Dwww n tr* teland-*xi»wapatt> oJ Cufefra
20
177 | P a g e
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Strengthening Solid Waste Management
21
Examples of EPA Recovery Projects
• Funding for Puerto Rico Clean Water & Drinking Water (SRF)
• Healthy Buildings Recovery Task Force
• Funding for Leaking Underground Storage Tanks
• Caribbean Septic Systems Working Group
• Brownfields & Workforce Development Training
• Energy Efficiency- Energy Star Certification forthe Caribbean
• Proposed Caribbean Disaster Recovery Collaborative
178 | P a g e
-------
Contact Information
isfc
Pete Lopez
EPA Region 2 Administrator
lopez.peterffiepa.Rov
212-637-5000
179 | P a g e
-------
ENERGY AND POWER
TRANSFORMA TION IN
PUERTO RICO
The Quest for Environmental Justice in the
Century of Climate Change
fan £. tQtiante nmfM£f£RiOiS
a ma rteserZOZO@gma i .com
[7B7] 462-50S8
1
2
180 | P a g e
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3
181 | P a g e
-------
6
182 | P a g e
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34 municipalities on extreme drought
According to the USA Drought Monitor 2,S65.GS0 inhabitants are affected
August 13, 2015
7
Estimated fWswe Ek«s of Moftatef fron Htirtyne in
(H»e»(o ft® bf Mur«cpj| Sopo EewronK Dfi*toptriffll bto; (SEDd)
ill
Qnpttt£!' JflT £|uae||l? 36*4
fit tunryjii
¦> IfcriMW * MtMIII «¦ MlfWMlIB
3
183 | Page
-------
So the solution should:
1. Be simple enough to be deploy quickly;
2. By common people mainly with their own
resources;
3. Democratic: community participation (national
system), community control (local sub-
systems);
4. Replicable;
5. Foundational and scalable;
6. Science supported;
7. Systemic and collaborative.
3
184 | Page
-------
185 | P a g e
-------
9 4m ~ 4 __ _
INESI WRQF
WOUH^ttnKIIIUDll Jw I \ I 4 J I
tM rU » I \ I ^1
i.fcr^»VTY c* mxtrymri?
"The RISE Network:
A New Framework for Just arid Sustainable
Interventions iri Disasters"
CecilioOrlizGarria, PhD
Senior RISE Felow
N ational Coundl for Sciaice and th e E mvironment
National Institutefor Energy and IslandSustajnabflity-UPR
RISE Conference 2019
-------
v IN ESI
Cienctas Mcdicas
^AguddUUi
9 Mayagitez
Arecibo
Bayaftion 9 9 9Cdf0l»13
Rio Piedras
Utuado
UPR
Unkf«rs(4ii if Putrti tic*
M
Cayey
Pomp
n
What is
HunrtdCdO
9
?30kv Tf»nsmisnon linA
Our Maria Experience..
¦
1 lSkv Transmission lirw
• TriitsmiSKrfi C«n1»r
Hurricano Mflris's pssth
s. /
5' :
\ ^
•
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•
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187 | P a g e
-------
188 | P a g e
-------
7
512
Millions of dollars reduced in the UPR's budget
s
189 | P a g e
-------
Universities from the
mainland came to PR for:
- humanitarian aid
- study abroad
- disaster research
r\
Issues
with universities'
interventions
V
190 | P a g e
-------
Lacking contextual knowledge
Academic work
and research
based ori
competition and
extraction
Mibrn iMDvau %dhoai
*'• i7
mojtCT KEroar
ASCERTAINMENT OF THE
ESTIMATED EXCESS MORTALITY FROM
HURRICANE MARIA IN PUERTO RICO
IN COlU **l?KA'TU:'ni MUM fH I m J I « Vt I
~t.'f *I O BtCO oiADUAl f tOIODL Ot» PUBLIC Hf AtlH
191 | P a g e
-------
Unbalanced academic relationships
192 | P a g e
-------
Irrelevant processes
for designing and
evaluating research
with human
subjects
15
Fragmented llflfl
student
mobility
efforts
/ *
16
193 | P a g e
-------
IS
194 | P a g e
-------
RISE:
A New
Conceptual
Framework...
¦ Universities ARE critical
infrastructure
¦ Changing the paradigm from
'observing" to "acting"
¦ Policy entrepeneurship providing
multisectorial collaboration and vision
building
¦ Fact-checking Manufactured
ignorances"
¦ Networks of preestablished
relationships
13
New foundations for universities' interventions
RISE
Displaced students
are both
climate/environmental
refugees and
opportunities for
social change
J ust peer-to-peer
coliabDratiorE
organized in
communities of
practice
Institutional policy
entrepreneurship
Communities are
experts and oc-
producers of
knowledge in a
common learning
landscape
Respect for the
potential
parti ci pants
well being
20
195 | Page
-------
* ,
//%I
/ / // *v
y/ \
/ x
/ _ •#'
ST] « •¦ •• /fl
* * il\
^ r * \V \
a
# > "v't "I
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' &%:¦ \ \ V N
/\ /v\
Why is this important?
21
22
196 | P a g e
-------
The RISE Network's Structure
197 | P a g e
-------
25
The Unfortunate Beta Case
Af*clbo
San jfti
Carelitt.3
DiujilJoAlt*
Guaynabo
M.ry Agu«
RISE
Initiatives
Since
JanuaryO?
Mental
Heath
Service-
leaf nin-g
response
research
RISE
PR
Sustainable
community
wateT
systems
Interconnec
tion
' Fjjardo
Guidelines
26
198 | Page
-------
Our
Proposal
WtRgmfg
X7 Y
to N EJAC
r ^... \
M
es@@ . Dui](teg](j®a©
v "'f"V
(
§gp^s)(afcO©©
27
199 | P a g e
-------
EPA needs to invest more in local
knowledge and innovation
- • t ''S"-','':
.. * . ;•* • ; Hf*1 • ^
\ ;"w \ i •
\ v *
• *
29
Lets Talk!
Cecilio Ortiz Garcia
787-503-5776
National Council for Science
and the Environment
30
200 | P a g e
-------
Council on Environmental Quality
Summary of the Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking:
Update to the Regulations for Implementing
the Procedural Provisions of the
National Environmental Policy Act
85 Federal Register 1684-1730 (January 10, 2020}
httPs://www.regulations.gov/docLiment?D=CEQ-2C)19-OOQ3-QOQl
Overview
Background on the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA)
EIS Duration and Length Data
Overview of Executive Order 13807
Goals of the rulemaking
Prior public input
Summary of proposed rule
Public engagement
How to comment
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT DISCUSSION
201 | P a g e
-------
NEPA Background
CEQ NEPA Regulations
• CEQ promulgated its NEPA implementing regulations in
1978 and made one substantive change in 1986 (revised
40 CFR 1502.22 to replace worst case analysis with
consideration of incomplete or unavailable information).
• Under the current CEQ regulations, there are three levels
of environmental review to comply with NEPA:
categorical exclusions (CEs), environmental assessments
(EAs), and environmental impact statements (EISs).
- Each year, agencies prepare approximately 170 EISs and 10,000
EAs, and apply CEs to approximately 100,000 actions.
NEPA Background
Duration and Length of Federal Highway EISs
• CEQ's current regulations require that an EIS normally
be less than 150 pages or less than 300 pages for actions
of unusual scope and complexity.
• CEQ found that the average length of a final EIS is 645
pages, and the average time to conduct these NEPA
reviews is 7.3 years.
• Sources:
- https://ceq.doe.gov/nepa-practice/eis-iength.html
- https;//c
-------
m
EIS Timeline Data
Average Cftmpteiiaa Time t\OI it ROD)
All EISs ConfkKd 2010- 2017.by DejarantSH
i*
////////
EIS Timeline Data
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047
SM
-------
Executive Order 13807
* On August is 2017. President Trump issued E.0.13807, Esfab/is/itny Piscipiine and
Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for
Infrastructure Projects.
Section 5(eX0 directed CEQ to enhance and modernize the Federal environmental
review and authorization process, including issuing such regulations as CEQ deems
necessary to:
(1) Ensure optimal interagency coordination of environmental review and
authorization decisions;
(2) Ensure that multi-agency environmental reviews and authorization decisions are
conducted in a manner that is concurrent, synchronized, timely, and
efficient;
(3) Provide for use of prior Federal, Slate, Tribal, and local environmental
studies, analysis, and decisions; and
(4) Ensure that agencies apply NEPA in a manner that reduces unnecessary
burdens and delays, including by using CEQ's authority to interpret NEPA to
simplify1 and accelerate the NEPA review process.
Sample Timeline for a Project Subject
to E.0.13807
toiMiiafMfaMl
preparation at ttt &«fl 11$
(MS)
204 | P a g e
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Prior Public Input
CEQ published an advance notice of proposed
rulemaking, Update to the Regulations for
Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National
Environmental Policy Act, in the Federal Register for
public comment. (83 FR 28591, June 20, 2018).
CEQ received over 12,500 comments during the public
comment period, which closed on August 20,2018.
- Comments are publically available in docket number
CEQ-2018-001 on \wvw.reguLations.gov.
Rulemaking Goals
Efficient, effective, and timely NEPA reviews.
- Modernize and clarify the regulations.
Reflect modern NEPA practice.
- Respond to numerous questions that have been raised over the
past four decades by codifying guidance, case law, and agency
practice.
Reduce paperwork and delays, and promote better
decisions.
- Consistent with the goals of the 1978 regulations.
10
205 | P a g e
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Proposed Changes
Modernize, Simplify and Accelerate the NEPA Process
Establish presumptive time limits for completion of environmental
impact statements (EISs) of 2 years and environmental assessments
(EAs) of l year.
Specify presumptive page limits for EISs of 150 pages (300 for
proposals of unusual scope or complexity) and 75 pages for EAs.
Require joint schedules, a single EIS, and a single record of decision
(ROD), where appropriate, for EISs involving multiple agencies.
Strengthen role of the lead agency and require senior agency
officials to timely resolve disputes that may result in delays.
11
Proposed Changes
Coufecri on C,W»y
Clarify Terms, Application and Scope of NEPA Review
« Provide direction regarding the threshold consideration of whether
NEPA applies to a particular action.
• Require earlier solicitation of input from the public to ensure informed
decision-making by Federal agencies.
• Require comments to be specific and timely submitted to ensure their
consideration.
• Require agencies to summarize all alternatives, analyses, and
information submitted by commenters and to certify consideration of
such information in the ROD.
• Define the term "reasonable alternatives" to provide that alternatives
must be technically and economically feasible.
206 | P a g e
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Proposed Changes
Clarify Terms, Application and Scope of NEPA Review
• Simplify the definition of environmental "'effects" and clarify that
effects must be reasonably foreseeable and require a reasonably
close causal relationship to the proposed action, consistent with
Supreme Court case law,
- Focus on considering whether an effect is caused by the proposed action rather
than on categorizing the type of effect as direct, indirect, or cumulative.
- CEQ does not propose to address a single type of effect in the regulations. CEQ
invites comments on whether it should codify any aspects of its proposed GHG
guidance in the regulation.
* Clarify "major Federal action" does not include non-discretionary
decisions and non-Federal projects with minimal Federal funding or
involvement
Proposed Changes
Reduce Unnecessary Burdens and Delays
• Facilitate use of efficient reviews,
- Allow agencies to adopt another agency's categorical exclusion (CE)
determination and establish processes in agency NEPA procedures for
adopting another agency's CEs.
- Expressly permit use of mitigated findings of no significant impacts
(FONSls).
• Allow applicants/contractors to assume a greater role in preparing
EISs under the supervision of an agency.
• Allow certain activities to proceed while environmental reviews are
pending.
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Proposed Changes
Enhance Public Participation
* For actions requiring an EIS, CEQ proposes to require agencies to
solicit comments in the notice of intent to prepare the EIS.
- This solicitation would request comment on potential alternatives and
impacts and identification of relevant information, studies, or analyses
of any kind concerning impacts affecting the quality of the human
environment.
* Agencies are given the flexibility to design and customize public
involvement
* Promote use of modern technologies to expand information sharing
and enhance public involvement, including increasing the
availability of online information.
15
Proposed Changes
Coumc* an tramanmmmt*
Enhance Coordination with States, Tribes, and
Localities
• Reduce duplication by allowing agencies to use
documents required by other statutes or prepared by
State, Tribal, and local agencies.
• Ensure consultation with affected Tribal governments
and agencies.
• Eliminate the provisions in the current regulations that
limit Tribal interest to reservations.
16
208 | P a g e
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• Two public hearings on the proposed rule:
- February 11, 2020 in Denver, CO
- February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC
• Additional details concerning the hearings
and other public engagement available at
www.nepa.gov and
www.whitehouse.gov/ceq.
• CEQ requests public comment on the proposed rule. Submit
comments on or before March 10, 2020.
• You may submit comments via any of the following methods;
- Online or document upload: vwvw.resulations.gov. docket
number CEQ-2019-0003
- By Fax: (202) 456-6546
- By mail: Council on Environmental Quality
17
730 Jackson Place NW
Washington, DC 20503
Attn: Docket No. CEQ-2019-0003
l:-i
209 | P a g e
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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP FOCUS GROUP
UPDATE
Environmental Justice
& Natural Disasters
Focus Group Meeting Update
Chip Hughes
National Institute cf Environmental Health Sciences
Department of Health and Human Services
February 27, 2020
1
FocusGroup MeetingAgenda
lntroducticns(Chip Hughes, NIEHS, HHS)
Focus Group Meeting Findings
Discussion with NEJAC
¦ Next Step5
2
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Malign* IntfSWW «t EmwUrtHWHttl Hwili S<;wrtO»
WTP: Training & Preparing Workers Since 1987
Increasing worker safety
and h ea ith across, the
county
Trained
jp'jwajtimaleij'
4 million workers
since 19S7
11 ^ i bus messes and
municipalities meet
warter training
needs; helm fceea
WQTu'ks and
communities safer
I naeasng the country's
ca pacty for disaster
preparedness and
emergency response
Trained thousands
of workers in
KS ponse to many
of thews is I
natural and
man made disasters
in the Ui,
induding:
* Wcdte TmIii Our^NTk
* Wilktm (riiir^
Vmv, mw, VWiri. irti
* ¦fcflJCT" Gulr
Chi ^11
~ I'tK^crui
Providing a job and life
skiBs training pnognam to
unemployed and
underemployed imfividuals
iReached over JQ4HCI
individuals n 30
communil;'^ across
Ui., with average jab
placement mate of 7094
Annual ledsal
investment of 53.5 M
generate a j 100M
3
NqliOrw! ItiU^wM «* ermnjnnT*rtti HM(Si SOemjw
WTP grantees have trained thousands of workers in response to many
of the worst U.5. natural and man-made disasters, including:
¦ Worid T*ane Centers: Ov er7,000 wsrkers
¦ Humane Katrina: Over S.5Q0 ivorkers
¦ Hurricare Sandy: OverB,000 wwkers
• Dsepwater Horizon G l f Oi Spill: Over 130,000 workers pr p3 in ershipt
¦ Ebs a I infectious Disease Response: Over 7,000 worke
-------
Federal Environmental Justice
Interagency Working Group (EJIWG)
Established bv 1554 Executive Order 12S9B, "Federal Actionsto
Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-
In come Populations"
Ch a i re d by E FA Admin i strato r; i nclud es 17 F ed eral age ncie s an d
White House offices'with standing committees and other
co m m itte e s estab lishe d a s n e cessary to ca rn/ o ut re s p o nsib iilfcie s
Provi desaforumforFed era I ag e ncies to
co I lectn/ely advance EJ programs., policies, and
activities
As s i sts co m m u nities 1 n b u ild ing th e ca p acity
to promote and implement inno vat we and
comprehensive solutions to addressEJ issues
5
EJ IWG Ensures that the Federal
Government Is:
• i* ACCESSIBLE: Easily reached by communities, advocates,
and other stake holders regard ing EJ concerns
@ AWARE: Knowl edge a bl e of EJ concerns a nd issu esth at
• communitiesface in order to facilitate col lab-oration and
coordination
ACCOUNTABLE: Capable of explaining the actions and
de-cisions related to the implementation of Executive
Order 12S93
6
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EJ and Natural Disasters
Subcommittee
P a rt of th e I a rge r ~ I rite ragency Worki ng
Group, with the goal of bringing Federal
cffi c i a I s tcgeth e r to:
- Assess major ~ i ssues as it relate sto natural
d i sa ste rs
I d e ntify time se nsitrve solution sto a d d re ss
n atu ra I d i sa ste r p re pa re dn ess, response,
and recovery in vulnerable, overburdened,
and underserved communities
- Ensure thatthe interests of Federal agencies
are addressed, and that appropriate Federal
~ policies;, programs, and activities are
implemented
i
EJ and Natural Disasters
Subcommittee
I d e ntify w ays to m in'm ize th e im pact o n vu ]nerab le p opu iatio ns from:
A
if
[%1 ^
Major floods Hurricanes Earthquakes Tornadoes
4 A
Wildfires
Other Natural
Disasters
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EJ and Natural Disasters
Subcommittee Members
HHS NatraruJl institute
at Environmental
Hultti SotiKts >|HSXS|
; I jKO'fi m rtree £na.r|
Errviranmem.il
Protection Agency
Department at J turlBC
Department at
Home-Sand Srp
Department at
Transportation
Department at Housing
sod Urban
Development
Departm ent at ttie
Interior
H)C CHtfee art the
Assistant Secretary lor
Preparedness and
Response |AS-PH |
HHS Aje-rKy tor Tin K
:£ j!ki ajxxs and Dtseise
Registry |AI5DR |
EJ and Natural Disasters
Subcommittee Activities
EsLabtisli stakeholder
engagement outreach \c£-,
interviews | La gathe r in put
from those who have been
involved in natural darter
response and recovery
evisi Ls
Conduct several focus group
meetings and participate in
conferences |s.g., NGAC.
National D Conference!
P repjre and capture case
studies documenting best
practices and success stories
involving disaster response
and recovery in vu InerabSe
communities
10
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EJ and Natural Disasters
Subcommittee Activities
Develop, a mode! capacity
building training., and
technical assistance program
far vulnerable comrnu n ity
•i jLj-j disaster
prepared n
-------
StakeholderOutreach Meetings
Partnerships for Environmental Public Health Annual
Meeting (February 12, 2020)
• • •
N ati o n a 1E nvi ron m enta 1J u stice Adviso ry Co u n ci 1
Focus Group Meeting [February 25, 2020)
National EnvironmentalJustice Conference and
Training Program (April 22-25, 2020)
Other Possible Meetings
- Houston, TX; San Juan, PR; Los Angeles, CA
- Stakeholder interviews(11 completed to date;
up to 20 will be done)
13
Key Topics for Discussion
¦ Major EJ issuesfof vulnerable, overburdened, and undeserved
communities in natural disaster preparedness response, and
recovery
Pote ntial w ays to m inimize o r p r event the i mpacts o n affected
co m m u nities of n atural d sasters
Exa rn p les of b est p ract "tees, i esso ns i earn ed, an d success
stori es i n add res ng the EJ co n cerns an d n eeds of affected
communities in naturald'saster preparedness response, and
recovery
Suggested capacity building, training, and technical assistance
prog rams to meet the needs of affected communities in
naturald saster preparedness response, and recovery
14
216 | P a g e
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Key Topics for Discussion (continued)
Existing EJ partnerships existing among Federal, State,
LocaI, or Triba I g ove rnment ag e ncies and com munity-
based organizations on natural disaster preparedness,
response, and recovery
¦ Special natural disaster needs of African American
populations? Hispanic American populations? Asian
American populations? Indigenous populations?
Immigrant worker populations? Children? Elderly
populations?
What else should Federal EJ IWG agencies do to
address the needs of affected populations in support of
natural disaster preparedness, response, and recovery?
15
Focus Group Meeting
Discussion Points
General Comments
= Terms used to define disasters ho ud be reevaluated.
,VD i sasters" s hou Id n ot o nly in du de th e sud den o nset of a n
event, but also the slow- onset impacts (e.g., soil erosion) of
climate change.
- Disaster occurs at all levels-there a re smaller localized
d i sastefs th at d o n ot g et n ationai attentio n.
Recommendatsonsfrom the report must be holEtk: and
add ress a lltyp es of d IsaSLers.
Environmental, radial, cultural, climate, and other justice issues
in d isadvantaged communities are even more pronounced
before, during, and after natural disasters.
16
217 | P a g e
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Focus Group Meeting
Discussion Points
Preparedness
= Pre p a ration should not be right before an event. It should be
done as a continuous p races to ensure that communities
understandwhatneedsto be done v:hen a d isaster strikes
- Keep in mind that evacuation is not alwa/s possible, especialy
for communitiesthat have no whereto go (e.g., Puerto Rico).
= The US n eeds to be proactivety preparing for the effects of
climate change.
= Commun sties m ust b e m eanlngfuly e ng aged at the b eg inning
of any decision-making process, especialy during emergency
planning.
17
Focus Group Meeting
Discussion Points
Preparedness [cont.l
- Private industries that a re located in p roKimity of co m m unities
should include community me mb ers in their emergency p Sens
and make them aware of internal evacuation p lansforthe
industry.
- CI i m ate change an d severe w eather events are s hitting
agriculture acrossthe country, including Florida
= Resources should be in placeto better provide ass stance to
d 1 sad vantag ed co mm unitiesw h en d isasters strike.
= Connections between local state, federailgovernment officials
(including emergency management; pubit health, and others),
EJ co m m u n ities, a nd other stakeholders sh ould b e m ade p rior
to disasters.
IS
218 | P a g e
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IFocus Group Meeting Findings
Response
Federal agencies should learn from local environmental
h isto rians to tru ly u nd erstand th e cu Itural an d p olitical issues
of the areas they work in (e.g.., political culture, local deeds,
housing titles., etc.).
F E MA vo uch e rs sho u id a iso co ns"d er other factors., such as a
h ote I vo ucher n ot covering security d e pest fees orgasm oney
to evacuate.
-- There isaneed to do abetterjob in locating places to di^ose
of disaster debris.
Language is still a barrier. Federal agencies and responders
need to bemoresensitiveto the. oca i culture.
19
Focus Group Meeting Findings
Recovery
FEMA Commun ity PIanning and Capacity BuiJding works closeiy
with localcommunitiesto determine community needs and
work with thesecommunitiesto make them more reslient
overtime.
= It is necessary to make sure that funding dedicated for disaster
re cove ry re ach th ose co m mu nties that n eed it th e m ost.
Need to stop building infloodplains and in wetlands and
p rote ct san d d unes. The Land Tru st Alliance and other reso urce
organizations can serve as a reso urce to support rebuilding.
Funding should be made avaibbleforgrassroots./community-
b a 5 ed o rgan tzations w ho supp ort th e co mm unity f o I lowing
disasters.
2J
20
219 | P a g e
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Focus Group Meeting Findings
Recovery (cont.)
- F u n d ing sho uld also b e p rovided f o r co mm unity e m ergency
planning and community assesment plans.
= Com munltiesshould be taught how to help themselves to
re cove r a nd h ov; to b ecome more resilient a nd s hould n ot j ust
b e h a nded th e d irect reso urces
F a rrn w o rkers are also im pacted v; hen disasters o ccur, as th ey
don't h ave w o rk a nd can't receive i ncom e w hen the farms a re
destroyed.
- The long-term mental health needs of those impacted by the
d i sasters m ust b e co nsidered.
21
Focus Group Meeting Findings
Recovery (cont.]
= Th e re is a n eed to revisit a nd I earn from th e past d ocum ented
lessons learned and incorporate them into current events.
= Funding should also be provided to local universities that serve
the community.
- Th e go ve rnm ent sho uld w ork w ith g rasroots o rganiiations to
h e 1 p p eop le re cover th e a biBty to m eet th eir b asc n eeds.
J2
22
220 | P a g e
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Focus Group Meeting Findings
Tools/Resources
= EJScreen 'is a useful tool, but has inherent biases. Rural
communitiesshould also betaken irrto account.
G ro u n d truthing ca n en hance EJScreen.
- The InternationalTransforrnational ResiienceCoalfcion has a
m e ntal h eaith resiliency training th at advo cates sup porting
co m m u nity s upportfollowing a d saster.
Success stories
= The G u If Coaa: Consortium can serve as a model example of
how universty consortiums can work together to serve the
community.
Graniteville Community Response to thetrain derailment is
a I so a m od el exam p le o n h ow th e co mm unity ca me together
to b u i lid co mm unity ca pacity.
ZJ
23
Focus Group Meeting Findings
Other Comments
= The US Army Corps of Engineers "
-------
Next steps
3 Include these findings in the Subcommittee report
=¦ Continueto conduct outreach
= N ext m e etlng: N atlo nal E nvironn enta IJ ust ice Co nference
and Training Program (April 22-25, 2D2D)
= Oth e r Po 5 5 b le Meetings: Houston, TX; San Juan, PR; Los
Angeles, CA
3 Con d u ct a d d iti on al i nterviews with stak e h olders
3 Con duct monthly Subcommittee meetings
3 Prepare Subcommittee report for EJ IWG during
September 2020
25
Wrap Up
ThankYou!
Contact Info:
Chip Hughes
NIEHS
hughe53ffinieh5.nih.flov
2G
222 | P a g e
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RESILIENCY: SOCIAL VULNERABILITY AND HOUSING IN THE CONTEXT OF COASTAL
RESILIENCY
i
Building on a Strong Foundation
Community Resiliency initiative
Starting in 2011 - in partnership with NOAACoastal Zone Management
Act - the Florida Department of Environmental Protection funded the
Department of Economic Opportunity to provide technical assistance to
coastal communities for innovative planning and development strategies:
Funding opportunities
Statewi d e focus grou p
Developing and piloting Adaptation Action Areas
Vulnerability Assessments and Adaptation Plans forthree pilot areas
Developing technical assistance documents
2
223 | P a g e
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(P^. Florida Resilient Coastlines Program
mi Vision and Mission
Synergizing community resilience planning, natural
resource protection tools and fundingto prepare Florida's
coastal commun ities for the effects of climate change,
especially coastal flooding, erosion and ecosystem
changes from sea level rise.
3
Florida Resilient Coastlines Program
X
F» I
RESOURCES
Florida Adaptation Planning
Guidebook & Technical
Assistance
FUNDING
Resilience Planning &
Implementation Grants
COORDINATION
Quarterly Coastal
Resilience Forum
&
224 | P a g e
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Technical Assistance
Outreach to Local Governments
Hie Nature Conservancy's Coastal Resience Mapper '¦£
fhtto: //maps, ooastalresge nce.org/network /t a"»
NQAAs Coastal Rood Exposure Mapper
I'https: /coast, noaa. gov/iBritalcoast /teds/flood-exposure. htrnf]
NDAA's Sea Level Rise Viewer
ihttps:, / ccast.n caa. gcv/iifl'talccast . tcds/slr. htmll
UFGeoPtan./FDOT Sea Level Sketch Planning Tool
ditto: //sis, geoclan. u)l. edu /#int rol
GulfTREE
Ihtto: //www. gutftree. prg.'"l
Joseph.Bauef@FloridaDEP.gov
0
c«i
Cen^DwPWBw*
Adaptation Planning Guidebook
Topics
• Establishing Context
• Vulnerability Assessment (VA)
• Adaptation Strategies
¦ Implementation of Adaptation Strategies
¦ Specialty Topics
* EconomicValue of Adaptation Planning
* Community Rating System and Adaptation
* H istoric a n d Cu Itu ra I Resou rces
* Adaptation Action Areas to Protect Natural Resources
• Funding Opportunities
• ExampleVA and Adaptation Plan
6
225 | P a g e
-------
Steps to Creating Adaptation Plans
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Funding
306/306A
¦ Coastal Partnership Initiative
¦ State Agency Grants
309
¦ Adaptation Action Initiative
State Funds
¦ Resilience Planning Grants
. Adaptation Implementation
9 9
^ 9
-------
Coordination
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Resilience Planning Grants
Four Project Types:
1. Compliance with "Peril of Flood"
statute (Sec. 163.3178(2)(f) F.S.)
2. Vulnerability assessments, other
than that necessary for compliance
with Peril of Flood
3. Adaptation/resilience plans
4. Regional collaboration efforts
Th ree Annual Priorities:
1. Development of Adaptation Action Areas
2. Analysis of social vuherabijly: development of
plans specificallyfocused on social vulnerability
3. Analysis of natural resource vulnerability;
development of plans specificallyfocused on
n atu ra I re so u rce vulnerability
10
227 | P a g e
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Social Vulnerability
* Projects must use best practices for identifying and analyzing social
vulnerability, such as those identified bythe US Centers for Disease Control
https://svi.cdc.gov.
* Outputs should include products that show graphically the impacts of sea
level rise and/or associated flooding on vulnerable sectors, narrative
descriptions (with references) of the methods used in any analysis, and any
Goals, Objectives, and Policies developed for adoption into the community's
comprehensive plan.
11
What is the SW?
Social vulnerability refers to the resilience of communities when confronted
byexternal stresses on human health, stresses such as natural or human-
caused disasters, or disease outbreaks. Reducing social vulnerability can
decrease both human suffering and economic loss. CDC's Social
Vulnerability Index uses 15 U.S. census variables attract level to help local
officials identify communities that may need support in preparing for
hazards; or recovering from disaster.
12
228 | P a g e
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CDCs Social Vulnerability irvd*.* 2016
OwjiCcuBty. TlorU*
¦liiiiiisliii
rw Hrn( r.tr^T 9* ¦:—* VMt Yr"~fH*r
13
CUMATf ACTION PLAN *
RESOURCES •
EVEN PS "
news *
ABOUT -
SUBSCKIBi
Q
SOCIAL EQUITY
GOAL: Guide and support municipalities and counties in the Compact region to
create equrtabSe climate policies, programs, and decision-mating processes that
consider local socioeconomic and racial inequities and ensure alt can participate and
prosper.
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Equity should bean integral part of policy making at every level of
government within Southeast Florida, and should be understood as a policy
objective in developing plans, budgets, and in prioritizing and designing
climate projects. Historically disadvantaged communities will continue to be
the most vulnerable to climate change threats, unless action is taken to
create targeted policies and resources. In addition, efforts to create more
resilient and sustainable communities, if not designed thoughtfully,
can benefit some residents while harming others. The recommendations
within this section represent tangible actions that local governments can
take in meeting these responsibilities.
EQ-1: Engage with high-vulnerability populations
Encourage dialogue between elected officials, staff and socially vulnerable
populations about local climate impacts and community priorities to inform leaders
of com m unity needs.
Create opportunities for local government administrations to-discuss in,-person wrth socially
vulnerable populations the unique climate challenges and opportunities present in their
community.
Hold meetings that are accessible to the community. Meetings should be;
a.Physically accessible {centrally located and near public transportation)
b.Safe to all members of the community
c.Located in places communities value as gathering spaces (eg,, community centers and
cultural centers)
d.Led in, or translated into, the primary l=nguage(s} of the community
e.5cheduied at various times to accommodate different schedules
Provide resources or compensation to remove potential barriers for community participation,
including:
a.Providing childcare for parents attending
b.Providing food if held in the evening
c. Providing or facilitating transportation
16
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Storm Events, Climate Change and
At-Risk Affordable Housing:
Mapping Vulnerability
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~ Founded in 1 9ft6 by Florida State Ls^dafur«;
~ .Mti®ort lb proiHiteHxfatdeoBnt and affordable hawnig
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'bzn, f hom'ng d ± nhatj Jit o f'« source of
daw on housingi supply and 3«f"orr3 for Fioraaia c-'o: and
OOjrfBSj
~ Cur"on" r®sa«3'd_ifOT.'«:on2ocjj?>aT!r>giFto!iiia"jhofjE:n'3
market oonartcns; Deserving arffocdable rentai houshg;
intdngi affordable hous'ng «#! (and us., trwaportaSan orra
iwaSoncy dedaaa -hrougfri GiS w»d*ig; suDDO'-"ng -he
as^bcnsn' of energyeffd'aT* aind hea +iy' hcfwc; and
¦iTirJijiJgij -he impact of hazard ana dsadw on
affordable housing.
2
232 | Page
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Key Points
The root of the problem: the gap between housing costs and
what people can afford without skimping on other needs;
As affordable housing - housing prices and incomes have
become unhinged and the affordable housing "crisis" is
becoming a permanent structural condition;
Hazards and disasters intensify this gap, vulnerable
populations - low/moderate income renters, frail older adults,
persons with disabilities - and the often more vulnerable
structures they occupy are much slcwe: to recover.
3
More T erminology
~ Area median income (AMI): Used to create standard
income measures across places and household sizes,
eimpressed as % AMI
Extremely low-income: 0-30% AMI ($14,000-24,000 for
household of 3, depending on county)
Very low-income: Up to 50% AMI ($23,000-40,000)
Low-income: Up to 30% AMI ($35,000-64,000)
Moderate income: 80-120% AMI ($56,000-95,000)
~ 6 0% AMI often use d as limit for affordable rental housing
($28,000-48,000)
~ See http: //fib, ou sin g da t a. smmb erguEL edn/incorne-and-
rent-lirnits and choose a county
4
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What happens when a household cannot afford housing
Rent Eats First
Affordable Housing —the Florida context
i. The proportion of cost-burdened households within tenure and
income groups is growing;
ii. Cost-burden is gradually increasing in higher income
categories;
iii. While the decline is yet small, Florida is experiencing a net
loss of'affordable' rental properties, and the gap in demand
for and the supply of affordable and available rental units is
growing;
iv. With the exception ofthe Orlando metro area most assisted
and public multi-family units are located on Florida's vulnerable
coastlines;
v. Disasters exacerbate the existing affordable housing problem
through a combination of dislocation, physical loss of inventory
and local housing market short-and long-term impacts.
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More than 2.5 millionlow- and moderate-income households xn
Florida pay more than 30 % of inc ome for housing. Low-income
renters are the most at risk.
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Florida added hundre ds of thousands of rental units between 2000 and
2017 but lost units renting for Si .000 or less (2011 $).
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~ Net increase
2000-2017:
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rental units
~ $1,000+ units
grew by
7 IS, 166
~ Units at ox
below $1,000
fell by 43.956
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Assisted & Public Housing
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~ Public Housing
228 developments,
33,833 imits
~ Assisted Housing
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USDA RD, LHFAs
2,528 development^
259,085 assisted units
Of these, Florid a
Housing funded 1,620
developments,
197,021 assisted units
11
Preservation Risks: Units cit Risk of Subsidy Ex pi rati on, 2020-2030
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raw uuli xhex xact xut+ xfic* jxmm iati xos xaat in
¦ fc'lDiila Homing ¦ HUD fl Rural Dots JdjzylcdlI
~ 26,71 5 affordable
units at risk
Florida Hsusrtf; 1 5,091
unrts
HLfD= 10,241 wife
[ r sr.tn I AiiKt nn™
contracts may be
rene vea [
Sural Development:
1,383 unfits
~ Half of at-risk units ore
in 4 counties: Orange,
Miami-Dade, Dwvoll, &
H#s borough
12
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Stranglharfrq rental mcriret: occupancy, rents rang; at FHFC
praportws
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AUiSTCD 4 FbBJC KQL3M&
Tenant Characteristics: Income
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SuperfundTask Force
Working Group
Progress Report to the NEJAC
February 27, 2020
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Superfund Task Force Recommendation 42
and Charge to NEJAC
~ Goal 5: Enabling Partners and Stakeholders,
Recommendation 42
Use a Federal Advisory Committee to Work with a Broad Array
of Stakeholders to Identify Barriers and Opportunities Related
to Cleanup and Reuse of Superfund Sites
~ Overview of the Charge to the Superfund Working Group
Identify barriers, solutions, and best practices to achieve
cleanup and reuse of sites in a manner that takes central
consideration of the unique burdens and vulnerabilities of EJ
populations living in and around Superfund sites.
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Working Group Charge Questions
How Should the EPASuperfund program build stronger, more strategic relationships
with impacted populations and ensure that an effective dean-up and site reuse
support the impacted community's needs and desires?
What should be done to facilitate effective, efficient and consistent decision-
making regarding remediation and reuse of HPL sites? W!iat are barriers to this?
Provide examples of case studies and models. Super fund and non-Super fund alike,
that illustrate best practices and lessons learned (cleanup, reuse, risk
communication, federal initiatives) which can inform ways to elevate equity in
Super fund cleanup and redevelopment, to ensure all have a voice in EPA decisions?
Which additional resources(e.g. water infrastructure investment, job creation) can
be realized to support reuse and redevelopment of remediated Superfimd sites from
other resources? (i.e.. Federal, Tribal, state, state and local agencies, private
sector/third party investors)
Are there any additional, issues related to the dean-up and redevelopment of
Super fund sites that are not captured in the q;uestions above?
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NEJAC SuperfundTask Force
Working Group Overview
Subgroups:
~ Community engagement
~ Risk communication and: long ter m
stewardship
~ Integrating remediation and reuse
Co-Chairs
~ Charlie Chase, University of
Colorado
* Kelly Wright, Shoshone Bannock
Tribes
»¦ MikeTifchin,
EPA Core Team;
~ Andrea Bain, Lena Ki m, Tai Lung,
Suii RuM, Matt "Tfejada, Audrie
'W&shi ngton
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iacobE Engineering
WorkGroni Composition
~ Envi ronmentM/Commum'ty NGQs - 5
* Acacemia - 1
~ Tribes-1
~ Private Sector Redevelopment- 2
~ Private Sector Remediation - 3
~ Legal - 1
- Lccal Cover nment -1
* State Cover nment -1
¦ Fed. Cover nment.' EPA - 5
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Working Group Guiding
Principles/Overarching Opportunities
~ AH recommendations are linked to
proposed actions (actionabde, rather
than "do better at X")
~ Mnitipte recommendations are
aligned with tone-standing program
goals and multiple SFTFefforts,
focused on community engagement
and co&aborativeend-state visionireg
~ Mt/ti pfe recommendations focus on
innovation and
evctution/trarsfor mation of SF
program "citture"
~ Recommendations indssde SF
adaptation of tools used to catalyze
redevelopment and investment in the
marketplace
S uccess is best achieved when
remediation and redevelopment
efforts are oriented from the
impacted community's vision
Superfund's roteshcaid be expanded:
from focusing sctely on cleanup to
cleanup + change agent and
facilitator for community asset
creation
The "story form" of capturing case
studies limits utility. To move from
stories to applicabte/repticabte
lessors, develop and maintain a Case
Study Repository, using structured
data collection
Summary of Phase 1 Recommendations
Recommendations (abbreviated titles)
Improve effectiveness in how thesuperfund program
engages with communities
Provide a "knowledge foundation" to impacted
communities
l mprove riskcommunication practices
Better managementof i nfor mation on the Superfund
website
Remedial technology innovation
Establish a Case Study Repository ilessons, not stones}
Engagement geared toward decision maki ng
Practices geared toward ceUafcorative, community
driven end-state visioning
Community-centric, concentric ci rds approach to
stakeholder engagement
I mprove i nfor mation ao^essi bitity and amplify
community voices
Consistency in application of Superfund policies and
promoting best practices
Establish a Superfund "Innovation I ncubator"
Expand15uperfund"s role beyond cleanup to community
asset creation
Increase grant resources for reuse planning assistance
and community engagement
Expand use of Health I mpact Assessments as a planning
tool
Incorporate inclusive market studies to define reuse
opportunities and potential
rtjaraf mie: llaae rtxuniiKnb.ua nwy ckrraj ito 2
243 | P a g e
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Major Topics Covered in the
Recommendations
^ Community Engagement&Advocacy
^ Training (Community & EPA)
Guidance & Decision Making
r Grants & Resources
Planning
^ Superfund Culture & Innovation
> Risk communication
a ririHfir CmjU- That «
Progress to Date
~ Superfund Task Force Final Report, under
Recommendation 42, included narrative of NEJAC Working
Group Phase 1 findings and recommendations, and a case
study
~ Multiple case studies under preparation, actively adding
to the Case Study Repository
~ The completed NEJAC Working Group Phase 1 Report is
available at:
h t tp s: / / www, e pa. go v/ e n vi ro n m e n tali u s ti ce / n ej ac-
superfund-working-group-ph as e-1-report
a
244 | Page
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Phase 2 Draft Outline
~ Cover
» A^KXA'irtxJsfBiiieriLs
• Declaim era
List ar Work wig G'cup Mauliaa
~ Letter from the HEJAC
~ Table of Contents
~ Executive Summary
~ Introduction
> aacJ^roufid ar the T« Farce
effort
PUTgKBC
• Goals
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Phase 2 Report Timetable
k February - Update the HEJAC on the status of our Phase 2 efforts
• March - Collect case studies that HEJAC members wish to share for
inclusion in the Phase 2 report
~ April - Share a rough draft of the Phase 2 report with HEJAC
~ May - Informational conversation with HEJAC members on progress
~ August - Share the draft final Phase 2 report
September- Collect input from the HEJAC and make changes
~ October- Discussion of report at the fall HEJAC meeting a finalize
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10
245 | P a g e
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Engagement with NEJAC on
Phase 2 Report
Input on
Recommendations
• Identify gaps: What other
recommendations should the
Wor king G roup consider?
Charge Question 5
• Id&ntify additional issues that
dioutd be addressed
Case Studies
¦ Seeking input from NEJAC on
additional case studies for
inclusion in the Phase 2 report
Progress Reviews
¦ Establish a structure and
schedule for gathering input on
the drafts of Phase 2 Report
Crete u
T>.W In ret % ICJAL C
Questions 6t Discussion
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246 | P a g e
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APPENDIX D
CHAIR CERTIFICATION OF
MEETING SUMMARY
247 |
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I, Richard Moore, Chair of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, certify that
this is the final meeting summary for the public meeting held on February 25-27, 2020, and
it accurately reflects the discussions and decisions of the meeting.
6/26/2020
Richard Moore, NEJAC Chair
Date
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