CAR E Progra

2005 CARE Communities 

Level I grant 

Level II grant 

International District 

Housing Alliance 

Seattle, WA 

Center for Environmental 

Information, Inc. 

Rochester, NY 

Grace Hill 

Settlement House 

St. Louis, MO 

Groundwork Denver 

Denver, CO 

Northwest New Mexico 

Council of Governments 

Gallup, NM 

Pacoima Beautiful 

Pacoima, CA 

Muskegon Co. Environmental 

Coordinating Council 

Muskegon, MI 

City of 

New 

Haven 

New 

Haven, CT 

DeKalb County 

Board of Health 

Decatur, GA 

RCAP 

Solutions, 

Inc. 

Claremont, NH 

Oneida Co. 

Health Dept. Utica, NY 

Clean Air 

Council 

Philadelphia, PA 

Inside This Premier Edition:

 CARE Communities in Action...... p. 2-4

 2006 RFP Webcasts.................... p. 4

 Tools and Resources...................p. 4 http://www.epa.gov/care 

CARE 

Mail Code 8001A 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 

Washington, DC 20460 

Phone: 1-877-CARE-909 

Community Action for a Renewed Environment 

CAR E Program

Early Success for CARE: 

The Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program was designed by the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) to help communities address risks from various sources of toxic pollutants in their 

local environment. CARE promotes local action by providing technical support and federal funding directly to 

community-based collaborative partnerships. There are four steps in the CARE process: joining together, 

identifying problems & solutions, implementing solutions & reducing risks, and becoming self-sustaining. 

CARE has already seen success with the 12 current CARE communities reporting first-quarter achievements 

in each of these four stages. Nine of the 12 communities have strengthened their capacity to address environmental concerns by holding partnership meetings and adding at least one new partner to their project. Seven 

communities have effectively leveraged in-kind or financial support, and five have already identified problems 

and early opportunities for risk reduction activities. More detailed information about each of the 12 communities’ efforts can be found inside under “CARE Communities in Action”. 

CARE was launched in 2005 with 12 cooperative agreements awarded across the nation. 

CARE will add several more communities to the program in 2006. 

CARE Links to the Public Health Community: 

CARE is helping to link the public health and environmental fields through various efforts, including presentations at conferences for the National Association of County and City Health Officials, Society of Public Health 

Educators, American Public Health Association, and CDC’s National Healthy Communities. 

Support Building 

for CARE: 

EPA’s Brownfields Program 

The Brownfields program will 

provide $50,000 for every 

region to complete a Targeted 

Brownfields Assessm ent 

(TBA) on each project. The 

money is used to provide 

Phase I and Phase II assessments (about $5,000-$8,000 

and $50,000, respectively). 

American Bar Association 

The ABA is inviting publicservice minded attorneys to 

consider volunteering their 

services to help meet the various needs of existing CARE 

communities. 

Quarterly Highlights — May 2006 
Page 2 U.S. EPA CARE Program: Quarterly Highlights - May 2006 

CARE Communities in Action: 

Joining Together 

Working with Governmental Partners 

In addition to the cooperative agreement with each Regional EPA office, 

all of the CARE communities have developed strong county, state or federal partnerships. These additional agencies working along with stakeholder groups are as varied as the communities they support: from the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture partnering with the Muskegon County Environmental Coordinating Council (MI), to 

the New Mexico Environment Department working on the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments CARE 

project. Furthermore, the Clean Air Council (Philadelphia, PA) is broadening its partnership to include the U.S. 

Coast Guard, as this project is seeking to identify strategies to reduce pollution in Philadelphia ports. 

“The CARE team has been wonderful with their 

assistance. I didn’t realize what this partnership would mean to this project. 

Communities are very impressed with the level 

of commitment from EPA.” 

—RCAP Solutions, quarterly report. 

Involving Local Governments 

The Pacoima Beautiful Community Partnership (CA) stressed that it was most important to keep the local elected 

officials knowledgeable about CARE activities. Both the president of the city council and the local city council 

representative are supportive of the project because they are kept informed on the scope of the work involving their 

community. All CARE projects have their local government as a partner and several of the CARE grantees are local city governments. 

Regional Coordination 

EPA’s regional offices are aligning themselves to better target programmatic resources, including CARE, the Indoor 

Air Program, and the Brownfields Program, to name a few. For example, Region 5 has recently established the 

Western Michigan Children’s Environmental Health Initiative, which will coordinate ongoing efforts in Muskegon, 

Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo. The Muskegon County Environmental Coordinating Council CARE 

project will be a member of this initiative. 

Identifying Problems & Solutions 

Addressing Cultural Diversity 

Tagalog, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Spanish are 

just a few of the many languages that are needed for effective community outreach in the current CARE communities. The International District Housing Alliance (Seattle, WA) held a Cultural Competency training session to strengthen the overall coalition. In Colorado, Groundwork Denver is using the Promotora model to provide 

toxic reduction tips to homeowners. The Promotora model is an informal leadership model of creative ways people can meet their 

needs when access to services is limited. Promotoras are trained 

minority health care professionals who speak the same language, 

Community members gather for a training session live in similar communities, understand culture perceptions, and 

with Seattle’s International District Housing Alliance. have the trust of the diverse populations they deal with. 

Effectively Using Developed Tools 

National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) encourages community-based environmental 

health initiatives similar to CARE through local public health departments. Recognizing a strategic connection between the two programs, CARE has worked closely with NACCHO over the past three years to promote CARE and to develop 

mutually beneficial tools and resources. NACCHO’s tool, the 

Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental 

Health (PACE-EH), assists communities in creating partnerships 

and assessing their environmental health risks. Over 100 communities have successfully implemented PACE-EH since 1995, 

including three current CARE communities: Oneida County 

CARE (NY), the Muskegon County Environmental Coordinating 

Council (MI), and the DeKalb County CARE Program (GA). Over 90 attendees were present at Oneida County 

CARE’s Showcase Event held November 10, 2005. 
U.S EPA CARE Program: Quarterly Highlights - May 2006 Page 3 

Implementing Solutions & Reducing Risks 

Assisting Locally-Owned Small Businesses 

Nine CARE communities have indicated that they are providing pollution prevention assistance to local businesses. 

Groundwork Denver (CO) is providing bi-lingual assistance to auto repair shops. Over 100 small business owners 

in the International District in Seattle indicated that they would like to learn more about waste prevention and vermin 

management, as well as air quality issues related to transportation, from their local CARE Alliance. 

Working with Water 

Ten CARE communities are working on a range of water 

issues, from protecting Lake Michigan to protecting drinking water in Oneida County, NY. The Green New Haven 

(CT) project developed a coastal benefits initiative that 

integrates toxic reduction efforts as part of its draft Coastal 

Program Plan. The Coastal Program Plan aims to protect 

portions of Long Island Sound, while providing opportunities for public access as well as conservation. 

A potential “before and after” scenario included in New

Haven’s River Street Municipal Development Plans.

Reducing Toxic Emissions 

Emissions from trucks, buses, cars and other mobile sources have been identified by seven out of twelve CARE 

projects as a community problem. The Rochester CARE Collaborative to Reduce Health & Environmental Risks of 

Toxic Substances (NY) worked to improve the air quality and health of students by targeting diesel retrofits for the 

seven refrigerator trucks delivering food to school cafeterias. Resident awareness of mobile source air pollution 

was increased through the inclusion of air quality messages on the trucks. 

Increasing Awareness of Air Quality Issues 

The Clean Air Partnership (St. Louis, MO) held an open house to increase 

awareness about community efforts to improve air quality. Examples include 

local efforts to improve indoor air quality, reduce diesel emissions at area 

schools, establish and maintain a local clean air hotline, and implement an 

environmentally friendly cleaning supplies campaign. 

Becoming Self-Sustaining St. Louis’ Clean Air Partnership Hotline 

Additional Assistance for Brownfields increases awareness of childhood asthma. 

CARE communities are taking advantage of the additional technical assistance provided to them for Brownfields 

assessment. The Clean Air Partnership (St. Louis, MO) is working to conduct a Brownfields assessment on the 

proposed site of the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing, a nationally recognized Underground Railroad site. The 

National Park Service may consider developing this site into a national tourist destination, benefitting nearby lowincome communities. 

Alliances with Academic Partners 

One example of the benefits of leveraging partner resources is the Sullivan County (NH) collaborative formed between RCAP (Resources for Communities and People) Solutions and Antioch New England Institute. Both entities—RCAP, funded by CARE, and Antioch, funded by US Department of Agriculture—formed a joint steering committee and advisory group of 40 members to work in four areas: use of toxic and hazardous materials, recycling and 

composting, education and outreach, and residual management. Another successful university partnership is the 

Seattle International District project that is partnering with the University of Washington. Several University Departments, such as Architecture and Urban Planning, Public Health, and Engineering are working to collect community 

data, including documenting air toxics within the neighborhood air-shed and community illnesses.
Page 4 U.S. EPA CARE Program: Quarterly Highlights - May 2006 

2006 Request for Proposals Webcast Seminars: 

would recommend the seminar to others. 

Select comments from Webcast participants: 

“This is a convenient and easy way to communicate without having to travel. The seminar 

was well organized and implemented.” 

“It was very helpful—you answered my questions clearly, and fielded other questions I 

hadn’t anticipated.” 

Tools and Resources for CARE Communities: 

The 2006 CARE request for proposals was announced February 9, 

and applications were due April 10. This year, CARE conducted two 

national webcast sessions for potential applicants. These webcasts 

allowed potential applicants to ask questions about the CARE program 

and application process. Turnout was strong, with over 200 people 

registering for the training. In addition, participant feedback was highly 

positive, with 78% of participants that provided feedback reporting that 

they had learned a great deal from the seminar, and 88% saying they 

“Since the Clean Air Council’s project addresses port pollution, it was helpful to see a section of this document dedicated to EPA’s 

‘Clean Ports USA’ program. This section was very useful in offering an overview of the program and highlighting accomplishments at other ports.” -- Sean Jacobs, Clean Air Council on CARE’s Community Guide to EPA’s Voluntary Programs 

The Community Guide to 

EPA’s Voluntary Programs: The CARE Resource Guide: 

This is the first guide of EPA voluntary programs 

targeted specifically at communities, such as those 

in the CARE program. The Community Guide to 

EPA’s Voluntary Programs is available online at: 

http://www.epa.gov/osp/care/library/CARE_guidanc 

e2_WEB.pdf 

The Resource Guide enables users to navigate 

EPA's Web site to find on-line resources related 

to toxics that may be found in local communities. 

While designed to help communities in the CARE 

program, it can be used by anyone interested in 

working with communities. Available online at: 

http://cfpub.epa.gov/care/index.cfm?fuseaction= 

Guide.showIntro 

// /

Stay tuned for details on planning for the 2nd Annual CARE National Training Workshop 

to be held in October 2006... 

http: www.epa.gov care