United States

Environmental Protection

Agency
OVERVIEW

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Program 

offers communities an innovative way to reduce the risks from pollution in their environment. The CARE process 

helps communities build capacity to reduce toxics through local collaboration. CARE provides on-the-ground 

technical assistance and funding to communities to help them understand, prioritize and address environmental 

health threats from all sources. A recent evaluation by the National Association of Public Administrators (NAPA) 

recognized CARE as a solid tested framework for engaging communities and other stakeholders. Currently, there are 

68 CARE communities in 34 states and territories.

DOCUMENT PURPOSE

This publication shares promising practices and tips for communities seeking to reduce environmental health 

risks. Lessons learned and anecdotes from one CARE community can inspire and fuel ideas and action in 

another community. CARE seeks to promote peer-to-peer learning and this document is one way to promote 

that goal. This report describes 14 successful practices CARE communities have employed to reduce risks and 

improve environmental quality while creating sustainable programs. All of the examples illustrate the power of 

collaboration, inclusion and being willing to take risks and do things differently. 
1

Tips to Improve Performance and Sustainability....................................................................................................................2

Tip 1: Foster Environmental Sustainability .......................................................................................................................2

New Haven, Connecticut

Tip 2: Engage Local Associations and Faith-Based Organizations.................................................................................4

Marquette, Michigan

Tip 3: Focus Actions around Children’s Health Protection...............................................................................................6

Kent County/Grand Rapids, Michigan

Tip 4: Build the Trust of Local Businesses...........................................................................................................................8

Boston, Massachusetts

Tip 5: Leverage University Resources.............................................................................................................................. 10

Wheeling, West Virginia

Tip 6: Broker Cooperation among Local Interests......................................................................................................... 12

St. Louis, Missouri

Tip 7: Emphasize a Bias for Action................................................................................................................................... 14

Pueblo, Colorado

Tip 8: Create a Partnership Agreement......................................................................................................................... 16

West Oakland, California

Tip 9: Conduct Outreach through a Neighborhood Educator.................................................................................... 18

Rochester, New York

Tip 10: Empower Environmental Ambassadors ............................................................................................................ 20

Tucson, Arizona

Tip 11: Understand Local Risks by Engaging Residents................................................................................................ 22

Martinez, California

Tip 12: Enlist Multiple Generations to Drive Change .................................................................................................... 24

Seattle, Washington

Tip 13: Utilize Resources in Indian Country.................................................................................................................... 26

Billings, Montana

Tip 14: Access EPA Brownfields Funding to Revitalize Abandoned Properties........................................................... 28

Los Angeles, California

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................ 29

Table of Contents

The CARE Process

CARE grantees follow a series of four 

steps to successfully complete their 

CARE projects:

1. Join Together

A broad-based partnership is 

formed. Partners could be non-profit 

groups, community organizations, 

businesses, schools and state, Tribal 

and local government agencies, EPA 

and other federal agencies.

2. Identify Problems and Solutions

Working together, this stakeholder 

group assesses toxics problems in their 

community and considers options for 

reducing risks. Many of the emission and 

exposure reductions will result from the 

application of EPA partnership programs.

3. Implement Solutions/Reduce Risks

The partnership identifies the 

combination of programs that best meet 

the community’s needs. EPA funding 

helps to implement these projects. 

The community begins improving its 

environment.

4. Become Self Sustaining

The community develops new ways to 

attract funding and partners into their 

broad-based collaborative to build on its 

success. New problem assessments are 

completed and new solutions identified. 

The result: the partnership becomes 

self-sustaining and continues working 

to improve their environment where 

community members live, work and play.
2

Key Actions 

•	 Hired an environmental engineer to move the city

to environmental stewardship as a core mission 

•	 Rewrote city policies, zoning, and standards to

improve the environment

•	 Created an Office of Environmental Sustainability in

the city government

Tip 1: Foster Environmental Sustainability

New Haven City Government

New Haven, Connecticut

Concerned about a mix of air 

quality, land use, and water quality 

issues, New Haven, Connecticut, 

a community with environmental 

justice concerns, was searching for 

ways to develop a comprehensive 

air, water, and land stewardship 

program. The city used its CARE 

grant to hire an environmental 

engineer to manage environmental 

initiatives and coordinate a broad 

range of projects that “greened” 

municipal operations and created 

the regulatory framework for a 

sustainable community. Now 

the city views environmental 

stewardship as one of its core 

missions.

A continuing thread in the project 

was to build in the concept of 

environmental sustainability 

into city projects and policies. 

These changes are expected to 

be systematic and last beyond 

the project’s time frame, and they 

culminated in the city’s recent 

establishment of an Office of

Environmental Sustainability. 

In the CARE priority-setting process, 

the city identified diesel emissions 

as a high-priority air toxic risk and 

was subsequently awarded an 

EPA Diesel Retrofit Grant. The city 

immediately retrofitted its school 

bus fleet and is in the process of 

retrofitting construction equipment 

used near schools and vulnerable 

communities as part of the $1.5 

billion School Construction 

Program. It implemented the use 

of B50 biodiesel and introduced 

more hybrid vehicles into the city’s 

fleet, including the mayor’s car. The 

city also focused on its port area, 

created a no-idling program with 

outreach and signage to reduce 

harmful diesel emissions. Also, 

the city is constructing a 14-space 

electrified truck stop in the port 

district to provide waiting trucks 

with an alternative to idling. 

To address additional air emission 

sources, the CARE project:

•	 Conducted a series of pollution

prevention workshops and 

mentoring for New Haven 

manufacturing facilities

•	 Worked with a hospital to switch

to low-sulfur fuel

This brownfields/river site was 

cleaned up and will be redeveloped
3

•	 Negotiated with the utility

company to operate a new 

facility with a net zero increase in 

emissions 

•	 Created an active Asthma

Coalition to improve residential 

indoor air

•	 Worked with the New Haven

school system to implement 

EPA’s Tools for Schools, a 

program that promotes the 

voluntary adoption of sound 

indoor air quality management 

practices

•	 Trained and enlisted students in

monitoring of ambient air

•	 Installed new bike trails and bike

racks throughout the city and 

promoted the use of Zipcars 

Finally, in partnership with the Yale 

Urban Resources Initiative, the city 

developed a quantitative estimate 

of the ecological system services 

derived from its 32,000 street trees 

and partnered to plant more than 

200 trees per year. The program 

encouraged planting a tree in 

someone’s honor and won the 

Mayor’s Prize for green suggestions.

The city rewrote numerous zoning 

regulations and standards including 

those related to waste stream, 

stormwater, soil erosion, anti-heat 

islands, anti-light pollution, and 

bike parking. It changed its waste 

processing facility regulations 

to incorporate environmental 

standards and updated its Coastal 

Program to better reflect current 

best practices for protecting coastal 

resources, including enhanced 

review for construction projects 

within the defined coastal area 

management zone. 

New Haven is one of three 

municipalities statewide to receive 

a small, 10-kilowatt wind turbine 

as part of a pilot project with the 

Connecticut Clean Energy Fund 

(CCEF), which plans to test the 

effectiveness of wind turbines in 

Connecticut. These turbines are 

expected to generate 6,000-7,000 

kilowatt hours of power each year. 

The city also worked with a printing 

press facility to install a 100 kW 

wind turbine that will provide 

approximately half of the facility’s 

energy.

Project Results 

•	 Over 12,000 households made a renewable energy purchase commitment, 50

businesses signed up for an energy efficiency program, and the city purchased 20

percent in renewable energy

•	 Revitalized brownfield site and installed wind turbine

•	 No-idling zones reduced emissions from 1,000 trucks and hundreds of school buses.

Retrofitted 150 vehicles and 300 school buses in city fleet to run on biodiesel fuel

•	 Reduced rate of asthma and lead poisoning from home/school visits programs

•	 Built bike paths, installed bike racks across the city and distributed 5,000 green maps of

city 

As part of its commitment to 

implement 20 percent renewable 

energy by 2010, New Haven 

participated in the CT Clean Energy 

Options program also sponsored by 

CCEF. The city has signed up over 

1,200 households and businesses 

(#1 in the state) and has earned 

21 kW of solar arrays. The city also 

partnered with Yale University 

students to reach out to ethnic 

businesses and encourage them 

to sign up for utility efficiency

programs. Over 50 businesses 

signed up through this program, 

delivering lasting energy savings. 

The city created a green New Haven 

brochure and a New Haven green 

map to promote the sustainable 

activities of the New Haven CARE 

program. These are distributed 

to residents at public events, 

information kiosks, and through 

partner organizations. A “Lean and 

Green” workshop was also held for 

businesses throughout New Haven.
4

 Tip 2: Engage Local Associations and 

Faith-Based Organizations 

Key Actions 

•	 Shared scientific data with local and state

associations

•	 Provided cost-effective solutions to encourage

business participation 

•	 Involved 150 congregations/churches of various

faiths in collection efforts

Earth Keepers

Marquette, Michigan

People living in Marquette, 

Michigan were faced with 

elevated levels of mercury 

entering Lake Superior, as well 

as other threats to water quality, 

including the improper disposal 

of pharmaceuticals and electronic 

waste (e-waste). The challenge for 

the community was identifying 

the sources of this contamination 

and engaging local businesses and 

residents to implement change.

To address mercury contamination, 

Earth Keepers used its CARE grant 

to work with the Marquette Area 

Wastewater Treatment Facility 

to uncover a link between the 

high concentrations of mercury 

in wastewater to dental offices,

specifically mercury amalgams 

used in dental fillings. Since the 

wastewater treatment facility is not 

capable of filtering the mercury, 

it was providing a direct source of 

mercury to the Carp River and Lake 

Superior.

Earth Keepers teamed up with the 

Superior District Dental Society 

to quickly develop a communitybased mercury reduction 

program. The Superior Watershed 

Partnership attended a meeting of 

the Superior District Dental Society 

(consisting of 57 members) to 

inform area dentists of the extent of 

the problem and provide assistance 

to develop and implement a 

mercury reduction plan utilizing 

amalgam separators in their offices.

This was a low cost solution ($500 

- $1,000 to install) compared to the 

alternative, a costly retrofit of the 

wastewater treatment facility. 

Dental Society members voted 

unanimously to pass a resolution 

to voluntarily install amalgam 

separators in their offices. The

Superior Watershed Partnership 

provided technical assistance in 

identifying the appropriate mercury 

amalgam separator and facilitated 

a group discount through the 

manufacturer. The manufacturer 

that was chosen also provided a 

convenient method for recycling of 

the mercury amalgam. 

Success of this program caught 

the attention of the Michigan 

Dental Association, which then 

recommended this as a best 

management practice for all 

their member dentists statewide. 

Subsequently, EPA’s Office of

Over 320 tons of e-waste were 

collected by this CARE project
5

Water shared the success of the 

project with the American Dental 

Association (ADA) and facilitated a 

national Voluntary Dental Amalgam 

Discharge Reduction Program via 

a Memorandum of Understanding 

(MOU) between EPA and the ADA 

to have dental offices nationally

install amalgam separators and 

recycle the collected amalgam 

waste.

To tackle the issues of the improper 

disposal of pharmaceuticals 

and electronic waste (e-waste), 

the project engaged Earth 

Keeper’s unique coalition of faith 

communities working to improve 

the environment in Michigan’s 

Upper Peninsula. This network 

includes 150 congregations/

churches and over 50 communities 

representing approximately 70 

percent of the Upper Peninsula’s 

total population including Catholic, 

Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal, 

Jewish, Presbyterian, Buddhist, 

Unitarian, Quaker, and Baha’i 

faiths. This far-reaching network 

facilitates information being 

disseminated to a much broader 

range of individuals than traditional 

public outreach programs. Other 

partners, including representatives 

from the environmental sector, 

industry, government, human 

health, business, law enforcement, 

recreation, Tribes, and academia, 

further expanded the ability of the 

Earth Keepers to inform and involve 

the community. 

In 2006, to reduce electronic 

waste in landfills by increasing 

recycling, Earth Keepers tapped its 

vast network by using church and 

temple parking lots as collection 

sites. Earth Keepers collected 320 

tons of defunct computers and 

other electronic items that were 

then refurbished, recycled and 

properly disposed. Lead, mercury, 

cadmium and brominated flame 

retardants in electronics were 

properly managed. By reusing 

and recycling these materials, 

Project Results 

•	 19 percent reduction in community’s mercury effluent to Lake Superior

•	 State Dental Association recommended the installation of mercury amalgam

separators as a best practice to all members

•	 EPA’s Office of Water signed an MOU with the American Dental Association (ADA) and

the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) to establish a national

program

•	 One ton of pharmaceuticals, including $500,000 in narcotics collected on annual Earth

Day “Clean Sweep”

•	 Over 320 tons of e-waste collected and disposed of properly

natural resources were conserved 

and air and water pollution and 

greenhouse gas emissions that 

are caused by manufacturing new 

products were avoided.

Then in 2007, the Earth Keepers 

Network expanded to include local 

pharmacists and law enforcement 

to facilitate the collection of unused 

pharmaceuticals and prevent 

improper disposal. Again, using 

church and temple parking lots, the 

collection effort collected, properly 

disposed of or provided for reuse 

of over one ton of pharmaceuticals. 

This responded to studies showing 

that pharmaceuticals are present 

in water bodies and may cause 

ecological harm.

Faith-based collection efforts get big results
6

Tip 3: Focus Actions around Children’s Health Protection 

Key Actions 

•	 Prioritized environmental health concerns based on

their impact on children

•	 Piggy-backed on existing in-home social service

providers network to include numerous children’s 

environmental health issues

•	 Engaged same households to participate in broader

community efforts to protect the environment

West Michigan Children’s Environmental Health Initiative

Kent County/Grand Rapids, Michigan

In Grand Rapids, where 20 percent 

of children live below the poverty 

line, data showed high rates of 

childhood asthma (caused by 

tobacco smoke, pests, mold, 

and other air pollutants), lead 

poisoning, mercury exposure, and 

carbon monoxide poisoning caused 

by poorly functioning appliances. 

Focused on creating “healthier 

homes for healthier children” in 

Kent County, Michigan, the West 

Michigan Children’s Environmental 

Health Initiative (CEHI), a 

collaboration of community-based 

and advocacy organizations, 

together with federal, state, and 

local government agencies, began 

to tackle these problems.

After prioritizing in-home 

environmental issues throughout 

the community, CEHI received a 

CARE grant and used children’s 

health as a focal point and 

organizing principle to deal 

with children’s environmental 

health issues. The goal of the 

program is to empower families 

to understand and take steps to 

reduce environmental hazards to 

children in their homes. The three 

components of the program are: 

•	 Use the existing network of social 

and health in-home service 

providers to assess environmental 

health problems and make 

referrals. CEHI identified inhome social service and health 

providers (e.g., case managers 

for children with asthma or 

lead poisoning, high risk 

pregnancies) and created a 

joint, more comprehensive 

in-home assessment tool. Now, 

referrals for multiple community 

resources can be made on the 

basis of a common assessment. 

For example, if a case manager 

for lead poisoning sees cigarette 

butts in ashtrays and cockroach 

signs throughout the house, 

he/she can now make referrals 

for smoking cessation and for 

integrated pest management 

services available from CEHI 

partners. 

•	 Follow-up with direct services 

and Family-Centered Action 

Plans. ClearCorps /Healthy 

Homes Coalition and Kent 

County Health Department now 

provide direct services for the 

comprehensive set of issues 

including lead hazard reduction, 

integrated pest management, 

provision of smoke and carbon 

monoxide detectors, and other 

services. 

EPA and CDC together invest in 

children’s environmental health
7

Project Results 

•	 175 in-home assessments completed and referrals made 

•	 100 families created Family Centered Action Plans. Over 200 homes received lead or

radon testing. 187 homes installed with 72 Carbon Monoxide alarms and 311 smoke

alarms

•	 67 service providers and community members trained on healthy homes principles and

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

•	 Over 5,000 community members reached through health fairs and community

meetings

•	 Residents now engaged in community-led groups addressing lead in community

gardens, trash and pests, recycling, and air quality impacts of incinerator

•	 Empower these families to be 

community leaders for local 

projects. Local communitydriven projects have emerged 

to address: lead in community 

gardens; peer support for 

parents of lead poisoned 

children; trash and pest 

management; low recycling 

rates; and the community 

incinerator’s impact on local air 

quality.

The program has been extremely 

successful. $435,000 in additional 

funding has been leveraged from 

CDC, an EPA vulnerable populations 

lead grant, and FEMA.

Children’s health was used as a focal 

point for this CARE project
8

Key Actions 

•	 Responded to needs expressed in focus groups

•	 Provided free services in exchange for participation

in the program, including monthly on-site health 

screenings, EPA’s Design for the Environment 

(DfE) health training, and business development 

assistance

•	 Required automotive shops to follow best practices

as prerequisite to securing government contracts

Tip 4: Build the Trust of Local Businesses

Boston Public Heath Commission

Boston, Massachusetts

The Boston Public Health 

Commission had been 

struggling for years with how 

to tackle the health and safety 

problems associated with 

about 600 automotive shops 

disproportionately located in low 

income, minority neighborhoods. 

Case files painted an alarming 

picture of improperly stored 

chemicals and wastes, hazardous 

waste disposal, uncontrolled 

releases of hazardous chemicals 

into the air, and unsafe working 

conditions. These dangerous 

work practices were taking a toll 

on employee health through 

environmental hazards and direct 

physical injury. Unfortunately, the 

city could not shut down these 

shops without severe financial 

repercussions. 

Through its Safe Shops 

Program, the Boston Public 

Health Commission – a CARE 

grantee - worked to reduce the 

environmental risks associated 

with automotive shops. This 

program helps businesses improve 

operations, reduce pollution, 

protect workers and neighbors, and 

comply with regulations. 

Focus groups had previously 

identified worker and employer 

needs, including what should be 

included in a community safe shops 

educational project. A recurring 

concern that surfaced was that 

employees lacked health care. Auto 

shop workers work day-to-day with 

chemicals yet often have no access 

to health care for themselves or 

their families. To respond to these 

and other needs, shops would 

receive the following free services 

in exchange for participating in the 

program:

•	 Monthly visits from the Public

Health Van to give on-site health 

screenings to shop employees 

•	 On-site workplace safety and

environmental health training 

at a time convenient for the 

business. The key component 

of this was EPA’s Design for the 

Environment (DfE) workplace 

safety training.

Boston Public Health’s Safe Shop 

Training completed at a local shop
9

•	 Technical assistance and

other resources for business 

development and environmental 

compliance

The ability of the project to build 

trust and gain entry into auto shops 

and work in a highly collaborative 

fashion set the foundation for 

significant change in workplace 

practices. These practices include 

switching to aqueous brake cleaner, 

reducing perchloroethylenecontaining aerosols, using 

hydrophic mop technology, oil 

and solvent recycling, waterborne 

coatings to eliminate volatile 

organic compounds (VOCs) as well 

as labeling waste containers, oil, 

anti-freeze, paints and solvents 

and improving sanitary conditions. 

Moreover, the project will be 

sustainable beyond the EPA grant 

period and replicated in other 

sectors.

Project Results 

•	 Reduced outdoor and indoor air pollutants, hazardous waste, and improper disposal

•	 90 to 100 percent proper use of best work practices in 175 participating shops 

•	 702 workers trained and 428 shops inspected

•	 Model now being replicated in hundreds of other local businesses including nail salons

•	 Model used to help develop an EPA campaign to achieve Clean Air Act regulations

faster

Instruction on Personal Protective Equipment 

(PPE) was provided to workers
10

Key Actions 

•	 Used the CARE Roadmap to prioritize environmental

concerns 

•	 Supported community concerns with scientific

evidence

•	 Held forums where community members interacted

with researchers

Tip 5: Leverage University Resources

Wheeling Jesuit University

Wheeling, West Virginia

Citizens in the Central Appalachians 

have often described themselves 

as “forgotten,” as they watched aid 

and assistance come and go over 

the generations. When armed with 

scientific knowledge, however, they 

felt empowered to make informed 

environmental health decisions. 

Wheeling Jesuit University 

recognized that the local area 

communities’ primary need was 

a sustained effort to use scientific 

evidence to provide credibility for 

environmental decision-making. 

The university’s partnership, 

which consists of seven rural West 

Virginia communities, used the 

CARE Roadmap to prioritize 140 

environmental concerns voiced by 

citizens, the most pressing of which 

was drinking water quality. 

The partnership established a 

working dialogue among citizens 

and researchers from regional 

universities to provide citizens 

access to the academic expertise 

necessary to plan remedial actions. 

Through public forums, citizens 

were able to ask researchers about 

their environmental and health 

concerns. University experts 

met with citizens in comfortable 

environments such as churches, 

colleges, and homes so they could 

speak freely about their concerns. 

Wheeling researchers asked for 

and received funding from private 

foundations to test well water 

in communities where heavy 

metal pollution was suspected. 

Test results confirmed residents’ 

suspicions of pollution and 

consequently attracted additional 

funding for more detailed studies. 

In light of the new data, the Agency 

for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry (ATSDR) then re-evaluated 

and changed their previous finding 

of “no public health concern” to 

“health concern.” 

Experts from regional universities 

shared test results and explained 

the water problems. Through 

this process, researchers gained 

the trust of individuals and 

citizens began to develop 

strategies for getting help. More 

knowledgeable and empowered, 

many of these same citizens 

Coal sludge impoundment plant and nearby 

community, one CARE project focus area
11

provided testimony about their 

water issues before West Virginia 

legislative subcommittees. Citizens 

proclaimed, “CARE has given us a 

voice.”

The work completed as part of the 

CARE project got the attention 

of the state legislature, which 

mandated a study of underground 

injection of coal slurry on 

groundwater and community 

health. Two outcomes of that study 

were a temporary moratorium 

on the underground injection of 

coal slurry and the extension of 

water lines into the three rural 

communities through funding 

from the state legislature and 

the West Virginia Department of 

Environmental Protection (WV 

DEP). 

Collaborative negotiations are 

currently being held among 

community residents, the coal 

industry, and key legislators to find 

technology-based solutions for the 

problem of coal slurry production. 

The legislature is investigating 

the economic and technological 

feasibility of alternative coal 

processing methods that would 

protect human health and the 

environment. Through the work of 

the CARE project, the public and its 

elected officials have moved from a

discussion on the potential impacts 

of coal slurry to discussing how the 

state can stop producing slurry and 

how much it will cost. 

The grantee is now replicating 

the CARE model in neighboring 

communities, leveraging additional 

funding from three other 

foundations, working with MSHA, 

the U.S. Geological Survey, WV 

DEP, local organizations, and other 

universities. With additional access 

to data and additional state and 

local partners garnered during the 

CARE process, the Wheeling Jesuit 

University will continue to help the 

local communities address their 

environmental concerns. 

Project Results 

•	 Three communities and 500 families were provided with temporary potable water

supplies

•	 Municipal water lines were extended to hundreds of families

•	 State legislature mandated a study of the underground injection of coal slurry

on groundwater and community health. A temporary moratorium was placed on

underground injection of coal slurry. Additional testing has been initiated

•	 Model now being replicated to reach other West Virginia communities
12

Key Actions 

•	 Served as a catalyst for change by brokering

dialogue between numerous parties

•	 Established“no-idling” zones at all schools

•	 Achieved voluntary participation of businesses to

reduce air pollution

Tip 6: Broker Cooperation among Local Interests

Grace Hill Settlement House

St. Louis, Missouri

A number of low-income 

neighborhoods in St. Louis were 

impacted heavily by air pollutants, 

including diesel particulate 

matter. Grace Hill Settlement 

House, a nonprofit organization 

in St. Louis and a CARE grantee, 

engaged citizens in reducing 

a range of indoor and outdoor 

air toxics. Grace Hill successfully 

brokered among local interests 

to leverage community resources 

and build new relationships in the 

community.

Grace Hill was well-known and 

respected in the community for 

their previous work helping lowincome residents. This served 

as an entre to its role as broker, 

convener, and catalyst for the 

CARE project, even though 

environmental protection was 

a new arena for it. It was able 

to leverage existing knowledge 

of the city’s bureaucracy and 

decision-making processes, which 

helped the organization achieve 

real environmental changes. They 

brought in and engaged multiple 

stakeholders to remove obstacles 

by being open to different 

solutions, while acknowledging 

that the parties (e.g., school boards, 

chemical companies) had many 

other pressing issues. 

Grace Hill involved the St. Louis 

school district, parents, principals, 

school bus drivers, and bus 

company managers to create an 

Anti-Idling School Campaign, which 

ultimately resulted in measurable 

air emissions. Businesses and 

governmental entities followed 

suit with bus and truck anti-idling 

practices. The St. Louis Equipment 

Services Division also implemented 

“no-idling” practices for its fleet of 

2,500 diesel vehicles. Now St. Louis 

school children and other residents 

are exposed to considerably less air 

pollution each day.

To expand upon these successes, 

Grace Hill worked with local 

businesses, some of them 

significant contributors to pointsource emissions on pollution 

prevention strategies. A local coal 

distributor, located near a school, 

reduced its fugitive air emissions by 

75 percent and agreed to contain 

the coal piles drifting into the 

school buses. St. Louis Covidien 

Efforts with local businesses included work with a local 

coal distributor to move coal piles away from school
13

Project Results 

•	 Anti-idling zones reduced emissions of 1,102 tons of nitrogen oxide, 29 tons of

particulate matter and 2,491 tons of carbon dioxide near schools

•	 Three school bus companies have saved an estimated 224,000 gallons of fuel, worth

approximately $785,610

•	 The children of St. Louis are exposed to considerably less air pollution at school each

day

•	 75 percent reduction in fugitive air emissions from a local coal distributor, located near

a school 

•	 Local pharmaceutical company installed new scrubber and new filters

Chemical Company, heavily 

dependent on truck transportation 

for the operation of its plant in 

north St. Louis, volunteered to post 

“no-idling” signage at its facility 

as well. A local pharmaceutical 

company installed a scrubber and 

new filters after collaborating with 

Grace Hill.

Additional work with other 

community representatives 

and local businesses resulted 

in further building the capacity 

of the community to address 

its environmental issues. Grace 

Hill took care to value these 

voluntary partnerships between 

the companies and the local 

neighborhood residents, serving 

as a broker of dialogue among the 

parties, and ultimately developing 

positive relationships where none 

previously existed.

Experience gained from the CARE 

project allowed the grantee to 

secure an additional $3 million 

dollars for diesel engine retrofits 

(including 520 school buses, 91 

airport support vehicles, 50 fire 

department trucks, 33 refuge 

haulers, 35 commercial trucks, and 

a tugboat). An additional 929.8 tons 

of emissions and 98,430 gallons of 

fuel will be saved annually. Anti-Idling poster contest
14

Key Actions 

•	 Empowered community members to believe they

could make a difference in their community 

•	 Engaged a variety of stakeholders in projects

•	 Responded to flooding as it happened

Tip 7: Emphasize a Bias for Action

Citizensfor Clean Air in Pueblo

Pueblo, Colorado

In Pueblo, Colorado, air emissions 

of mercury from the steel mills and 

a power plant comprised more 

than half of the mercury emissions 

in the state. A coal-fired power 

station was under construction, 

and a limestone strip mine and 

coal-fired cement kiln were in their 

first year of operation. In spite of 

or perhaps because of this legacy, 

Pueblo neighborhoods never came 

together to resolve air pollution 

issues. 

A bias for action involves looking 

for and acting on opportunities 

to proactively engage in projects 

that make a community healthier 

and safer. This engagement can 

bring diverse neighbors together to 

improve the community and create 

an appreciation for the power of 

collective action. Citizens for Clean 

Air in Pueblo formed a coalition 

called PuebloCARES, which 

would use its CARE grant to help 

community members strengthen 

their capacity for environmental 

decision making.

PuebloCARES reached out a 

number of times to demonstrate its 

concern for the larger community. 

None of the projects initially 

tackled by Pueblo CARES were an 

expected part of their CARE Work 

Plan; however, together, these 

efforts worked to bring more 

neighbors and organizations onto 

the CARE team and, thereby, make 

the CARE project a more powerful 

and vital force in Pueblo.

PuebloCARES assisted the 

Peppersauce Bottoms community 

in its efforts to remove a hazardous 

rail facility from this residential 

neighborhood. This small Latino 

community within Pueblo is located 

in an area subject to serious, 

periodic flooding and close to a rail 

facility with thousands of creosotetreated railroad ties. Ultimately, as a 

direct result of community action, 

the rail facility relocated. 

In 2006, PuebloCARES responded 

to local flooding issues by 

providing labor and materials 

to clean up and rebuild flooded 

homes. PuebloCARES also used EPA 

Brownfields funding to assess the 

contamination of the largest lake in 

Pueblo and the area surrounding it. 

The assessment cleared the way for 

Pueblo to acquire and develop the 

property as a recreational area that 

will also help with flood control. 

Railroad ties burning in Peppersauce Bottoms 

before CARE engaged with the community
15

Project Results 

•	 50 percent reduction in particulate emissions inside buses

•	 Reduced radon levels. Leveraged radon grants to test and initiate radon program

•	 Leveraged EPA Brownfields funding to revitalize land and transform it into a park

•	 Relocated rail facility, cleaned up or rebuilt flooded homes

•	 Agreement with steel mill to track mercury emissions data

This new park project is valued at 

approximately $20 million. 

The grantee also worked with 

local school districts, the Pueblo 

City/County Health Department, 

a local energy company, the 

State of Colorado and statewide 

environmental groups to retrofit 

all of the publicly operated buses 

in Pueblo County to reduce inside 

particulate emissions by more 

than half. Subsequent to that, 

the grantee applied for and was 

granted two awards to allow 

for testing for radon across the 

county. Radon levels were found 

to be, on average, more than twice 

the EPA recommended Action 

level at which remedial action is 

recommended. The community 

now has an active radon testing 

and mitigation program underway. 

Finally, collaborative efforts led 

to the local steel mill agreeing 

to install a Continuous Emission 

Monitoring System (CEMS) on its 

stack to provide continuous data 

on mercury emissions.

Each of these efforts brought new 

partners to the table. In acting 

on each of these issues, residents 

began to develop confidence in 

their ability to cause change. This 

sense of community contributed 

to a robust engagement in the 

process of identifying and ranking 

the environmental issues of 

greatest risk and importance for 

the residents of Pueblo. A bias for 

action can help neighbors come 

together to better serve the entire 

community.

Creosote-treated railroad ties stored in the 

neighborhood prior to CARE engagement
16

Key Actions 

•	 Developed written, formal partnering agreement

for the CARE partnership

•	 Hired a neutral facilitator to be present at all

partnership meetings

•	 Ensured that residents co-chaired each of eight

action teams 

Tip 8: Create a Partnership Agreement

West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (EIP)

West Oakland, California

Entirely surrounded by freeways 

and located directly adjacent to the 

Port of Oakland, the fourth largest 

container port in the United States, 

West Oakland was the community 

most highly impacted for air toxics 

in the San Francisco Bay area. Using 

its CARE grant, the West Oakland 

Toxic Reduction Collaborative 

successfully broadened an existing 

set of stakeholders and established 

a structure in which to operate.

After concluding a small-scale 

study of the air quality impacts 

of diesel trucks including 13 

recommendations, the West 

Oakland Toxic Reduction 

Collaborative brought together 

a broader set of stakeholders 

to address air quality and a 

broader set of toxics issues facing 

the community. To structure 

the CARE partnership, the 

Collaborative worked with EPA 

Region 9 to develop a formal, 

written partnering agreement 

providing for a neutrally facilitated, 

multi-stakeholder collaboration. 

The agreement defined the 

collaboration and its goals, as well 

as the roles of the co-leads (EIP and 

EPA), the steering committee, and 

member partners, and includes 

community co-chairs and neutral 

facilitation. Defining goals and roles 

helped to minimize conflict and 

increase partner understanding of 

the purpose of the collaboration. 

Several key aspects contributed to 

the effectiveness of the agreement.

•	 Representatives of the impacted

community co-chaired the 

collaboration at every level, 

including every workgroup and 

the steering committee. 

•	 A paid neutral facilitator

knowledgeable about the 

community’s environmental 

issues attended meetings to 

ensure that all the key sectors 

were equally represented and 

heard. 

•	 The collaborative was

orchestrated so that all 

key sectors are effectively 

represented and heard. 

Workgroup members meet to tackle issues and 

are guided by the partnering agreement
17

Project Results 

•	 Adoption of 85 percent risk reduction goal for port-related diesel pollutants; significant

progress underway

•	 Resident training on indoor air, clean truck pilot programs, land use siting

•	 Plans developed for reusing Army base and relocating industrial recyclers

•	 Established a truck information center to support the 2,000 truckers serving the port as

their industry is converted to cleaner technologies

•	 A special emphasis was placed

on actively engaging the 

impacted community, because 

low-income communities lack 

the resources and capacity 

in comparison with other 

sectors such as industry and 

government agencies. This led 

to the first-time appointment of a 

“fenceline” community member to 

the port commission. 

•	 On-going evaluation was

essential. Not all of the 

workgroups or all aspects of 

the project were seen by the 

community as productive. 

Evaluation of such less successful 

aspects of the program and 

incorporation of changes are 

ongoing.

The success of this collaborative 

structure has served as a model 

for other agencies that foster 

community engagement and 

multi-stakeholder involvement. 

Project partners have observed 

that collaborations often work best 

when it is generally understood 

that other less collaborative 

options, such as lawsuits and 

political action, remain available “in 

the wings” if progress is not made 

during the collaborative process.

Reducing port-related diesel pollutants 

is a priority for the CARE collaborative
18

Key Actions 

•	 Hired a neighborhood toxics educator

•	 Developed a toxic education program to explain

toxic issues in plain terms to residents

•	 Formed relationships with citizen leaders, block

clubs and neighborhood groups 

Tip 9: Conduct Outreach through a 

Neighborhood Educator

Center for Environmental Information

Rochester, NewYork

Residents living in Rochester 

were exposed to some of the 

highest levels of toxic emissions 

in the northeast. Lead, household 

hazardous materials, air pollution 

from mobile and stationary 

sources, water pollution, mercury, 

radon, pesticides, and indoor air 

pollutants, were among the issues 

that residents faced. Like many 

communities across the country, 

Rochester did not have the means 

to access information on toxic 

pollutants; much less access it in a 

form they could understand. 

A neighborhood toxics educator, 

trusted by the community, can 

deliver information so that 

residents can take preventive 

measures to reduce exposure to 

pollution sources. The Center for 

Environmental Information (CEI) 

in Rochester successfully used this 

approach. Those most affected 

by toxics in the community are 

those least knowledgeable about 

toxics and their effects. After 

examining the needs of the city, 

CEI recognized that there was an 

urgent need for a “neighborhood 

toxics educator.” A Neighborhood 

Toxics Education program was 

developed to disseminate 

information on selected toxics 

issues (e.g., lead, household 

hazardous materials, air pollution 

from mobile and stationary 

sources, water pollution, mercury, 

radon, pesticides, and indoor air 

pollutants). 

The neighborhood toxics educator 

delivered toxics information 

directly to urban neighborhoods by 

reaching out to the citizen leaders 

of each city sector, including the 

39 resident-driven neighborhood 

associations and block clubs. 

Through this mechanism, the 

educator reached approximately 

2,000 residents with environmental 

health information. 

Rochester’s Healthy Home Learning Center
19

Project Results 

•	 More than 50 percent of those reached reported changing their behavior

•	 39 groups and over 2,000 residents reached with environmental health information

•	 Improved responses to health emergencies due to greater coordination with the

Department of Health

The program effort included 

presentations at health fairs, 

strategic door-to-door work, and 

outreach to the media to ensure 

the program and its information 

were disseminated widely. Eastman 

Kodak provided in–kind support to 

this neighborhood work through its 

Neighbor Information Center and 

its technical and outreach staff and 

programs. As a result of improved 

coordination with and referrals 

from the neighborhood educator, 

the Monroe County Department of 

Health improved their responses to 

health emergencies. For instance, 

one family was relocated due to the 

extremely poor indoor conditions. 

The Neighborhood Educator 

program was just one of the CARE 

grantee’s six mini-projects. The 

program also worked in concert 

with the City of Rochester’s 

Neighbors Building Neighborhoods 

program to address local 

environmental concerns.

Residents learn how to reduce 

household environmental health risks
20

Key Actions 

•	 Used the promotora model to gain community trust

and change practices

•	 Provided skills, training and opportunity for local

college credit

•	 Visited homes, businesses and schools

Tip 10: Empower Environmental Ambassadors

Community Assist of Southern Arizona Program of

the Sonora Environmental Research Institute, Inc. 

Tucson, Arizona

Southern metropolitan Tucson is a 

low-income, predominantly Latino 

community heavily impacted by air 

toxics emissions from commercial 

businesses in the residential 

areas as well as lead and asthma 

problems. For years the community 

unknowingly consumed drinking 

water from a contaminated aquifer 

and was affected physically and 

emotionally by the experience. The 

community felt disenfranchised by 

the minimal input they had in the 

groundwater remediation efforts 

underway, and people developed a 

distrust of the government.

The community sought a model for 

educating businesses and homes 

about tangible practices to improve 

their environmental health. 

As part of their CARE project, 

Sonora Environmental Research 

Institute, Inc. (SERI) partnered 

with neighborhoods that were 

under economic, environmental 

and health stress to help them 

determine the environmental risks 

and possible actions to reduce 

those risks. 

SERI’s Community Assist of 

Southern Arizona (CASA) program 

utilizes the promotora method 

of community outreach and 

provides services in a culturally 

appropriate manner and 

language. The promotora idea, 

which was developed in Mexico, 

is slowly being adopted in the 

United States. Promotora, the 

Spanish word meaning “expert” 

or “advocate,” is used to describe 

a lay health advisor within the 

Latino community. The promotora, 

usually a woman, is accepted and 

trusted in the community where 

many times agency personnel 

are not. SERI, in collaboration 

with its partners, trained 105 

individuals from the neighborhood 

in environmental health issues 

and then conducted community 

outreach and assistance.

These environmental ambassadors 

visited homes, schools and 

businesses to provide information 

and training that resulted in real 

changes in their neighborhoods. In 

a period of three years, they visited 

over 3,500 homes, conducted over 

50 outreach events at schools, 

neighborhood centers and 

community fairs and distributed 

relevant outreach materials. They 

Promotoras after completing their training
21

provided information through 

peer interactions by developing 

trust in the community where they 

spoke the same language, shared 

a similar cultural background, and 

shared some life experiences with 

the community members that they 

served. All educational materials 

were translated into Spanish.

Through their training and 

community achievements, 

promotoras developed a selfconfidence that empowered 

them to become community 

leaders. Training topics included 

air and water quality, household 

hazardous waste, asthma triggers, 

lead analysis and prevention, and 

leadership and communications 

skills. In addition, for every visit 

that a promotora makes to a home 

or business, she may get credit 

toward the Community Health 

Advisor certificate at the local 

community college. This program 

gives residents access and entry to 

a college program, encouraging 

some to take additional courses 

and others to complete a four-year 

bachelor degree program.

Finally, the project has developed 

a broad-based partnership with 

23 members from educational 

institutes, businesses, and local 

and state agencies. $734,000 in 

additional funding was leveraged 

from EPA’s Pollution Prevention 

program, EPA’s Indoor Air program, 

the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development (HUD) and the 

City of Tucson.

Project Results 

•	 Reduced over 30,000 pounds per year of volatile organic compounds from businesses;

saved over 138,000 kWh in electricity per year

•	 105 promotoras trained in environmental health issues

•	 3,608 home visits and many revisits, referrals for lead testing and asthma care

•	 803 visits to auto, print and woodworking shops, hair and nail salons, drycleaners

•	 Provided access to colleges and increased employment opportunities

County Supervisor distributing certificates 

of training completion to promotoras
22

Key Actions 

•	 Surveyed community perceptions of health risks

using non-EPA funds

•	 Held in-depth workshops to educate residents on

specific risks 

•	 Engaged residents to be part of the process to

prioritize risks

Tip 11: Understand Local Risks by Engaging Residents

Bay Point Latino Environmental Action Project

Bay Point, California

The city of Bay Point, California, 

is an environmental justice 

area of concern that has been 

disproportionately impacted by 

toxic emissions from industrial 

facilities, refineries, railroad lines 

and a heavily used highway, as well 

by drinking water contamination. 

Although toxic health exposure 

had been documented, community 

residents had not been adequately 

engaged on these issues, and 

a plan for action needed to be 

developed.

Following the CARE Roadmap 

as a guide, the Bay Point Latino 

Environmental Action Project 

(LEAP) developed a 43-question 

survey of community perceptions 

of health risks using non-EPA funds. 

Bay Point community members, 

including Spanish- and Englishspeaking adults and students, 

took the survey door-to-door to 

144 homes. After the results were 

tabulated, a town hall meeting was 

held to discuss the top health issues 

identified by the survey as well 

as the results from a 2006 study 

on toxic emissions. The meeting 

and a voting process identified six 

primary environmental concerns: 

outdoor air, accidental releases, 

indoor air, waste and illegal 

dumping, drinking water, and water 

availability.

To discuss these primary concerns, 

the CARE collaboration hosted 

11 workshops for residents and 

students. These workshops 

provided in-depth information 

about the issues and associated 

health risks. Comparative risk 

training classes were also provided 

to residents as well as other 

members of the collaborative in 

order to identify which pollutants 

would be more harmful than 

others. These workshops were 

critical in engaging residents 

and empowering them to fully 

participate in prioritizing risks 

when the entire partnership was 

convened.

Once the community was educated 

about their various environmental 

concerns, the collaboration 

convened a meeting where small 

groups of citizens discussed the 

pollutants of greatest concern, 

based on their known risks. Each 

group was composed of four or five 

members of the partnership and 

one EPA or county leader. Then, 

through facilitated consensus they 

were able to rank the risks from 

more risky to less risky. 

Residents meet at a public forum to share 

information on local health issues
23

Project Results 

•	 144 homes surveyed on community perceptions of health risks

•	 11 workshops hosted for residents on specific issues

•	 Detailed action plan developed to address indoor and outdoor air, water quality, and

illegal dumping

To prioritize issues, a facilitated 

roundtable meeting was held in 

which the collaboration members 

brainstormed the feasibility of 

various projects to address each of 

the ranked risks. With the guidance 

of a skilled facilitator, members 

considered: 

•	 Was the project addressing the

issue feasible 

•	 Was there political support for

the issue or political pressure 

against the issue 

•	 Was the project cost-effective

•	 Was funding available to support

the project 

•	 Could the project be completed

in a timely manner

•	 Was there community and/or

institutional support

•	 Was there a need for social

change and regulatory change 

A voting process ranked all issues 

and a consensus was reached 

on the order in which each issue 

would be addressed. As a result 

of this consensus building, LEAP 

developed a detailed action plan 

to reduce environmental toxics 

that community members plan to 

implement.

Residents prioritize environmental health issues
24

Key Actions 

•	 Empowered local youth to become environmental

leaders

•	 Engaged youth and elders to identify and

investigate hot spots

•	 Performed outreach campaign on environmental

issues

Tip 12: Enlist Multiple Generations to Drive Change

International District Housing Alliance

Seattle, Washington

With more than 40 different 

ethnic groups, the International 

District of Seattle is one of the 

oldest and most ethnically 

diverse neighborhoods in Seattle, 

Washington. Addressing issues 

such as air toxics as well as lead 

paint, mold, and asthma within 

such a diverse community 

presented challenges, but also 

presented a wealth of resources 

to leverage the variety of 

backgrounds and perspectives. In 

this community, the majority of 

residents and business owners are 

immigrants with limited English 

proficiency, almost 50 percent of 

the population lives below the 

poverty level, and many are elderly. 

The International District Housing 

Alliance (IDHA), a CARE grantee, 

crafted a unique program in which 

youth and elders (residents are 

called “elders” in this community) 

collaborate to tackle community 

environmental concerns. By 

working together on community 

projects, IDHA’s Wilderness InnerCity Leadership Development 

(WILD) program’s youth gained 

a greater commitment to their 

community while improving their 

leadership capabilities, cultural 

understanding, and language 

skills. IDHA and its partners would 

first train the youth to be local 

environmental leaders. The youth 

would then reach out to the elders 

through workshops and home visits 

to raise awareness about the issues 

and encourage them to actively 

participate in and help the CARE 

project. 

Working together, youth and 

elders used a survey system called 

ComNet. Hand-held computers 

were used to identify issues and 

investigate ‘hot spots’ or areas of 

concern for specific toxics within 

the community. ComNET surveys 

served as a useful monitoring 

tool for observing change over 

time in a manner that was easy 

for community members to use 

and understand. This information 

was key in helping CARE project 

partners identify and then prioritize 

issues.

A massive outreach campaign was 

launched by youth and elders to 

Elders and youth meet to identify local risks
25

Project Results 

•	 250 neighborhood surveys documented environmental toxics and land-use patterns

•	 90 in-house assessments and guidance to improve indoor environmental health

•	 Over 1,000 individuals and 160 businesses provided with targeted multilingual

information to reduce risks

•	 180 residents trained on recycling and food waste composting and 88 households

educated through door-to-door outreach

•	 2,267 gallons of food waste diverted from landfill; 145 kitchen food scrap containers

distributed

address the priorities. Multilingual 

issue-specific information was 

provided to over 1,000 individuals 

and 160 businesses on indoor air 

quality, recycling, composting, 

pesticide use, energy conservation, 

water quality and conservation, 

seafood safety, household 

hazardous waste, and outdoor air 

quality. Resources were produced 

in five languages and interpreted in 

nine languages/dialects. Business 

owners were trained on green 

business practices in the owner’s 

or manager’s native language. 

One-on-one outreach was given 

to restaurant owners and/or staff 

on alternatives to styrofoam, 

recycling waste oil and grease, 

and composting food waste. The 

youth created a hands-on EcoVillage for the annual International 

District Summer Festival in which 

700 people visited. They also held 

a conference on environmental 

justice providing training for local 

residents, businesses and local 

organizations. 

CARE work continues through 

the Community Advisory Board 

comprised of elders and the 

WILD’s youth. Youth have become 

community leaders and a high 

percentage have sought and been 

accepted into college and local 

government internships. Finally, 

the intergenerational cooperation 

that took place during the project 

educated and engaged youth and 

elders about pressing problems in 

their community, and promoted 

a sense of community essential 

for tackling future environmental 

issues. Diesel trucks drive through the 

international district’s downtown
26

Key Actions 

•	 Connected tribal colleges with tribal environmental

departments in four communities

•	 Accommodated a large number of participants with

flexible project timelines

Tip 13: Utilize Resources in Indian Country

Montana Indian Country CARE Project

Billings, Montana

The American Indian communities 

of Fort Peck, Fort Belknap, Northern 

Cheyenne, and Crow shared 

similar environmental challenges 

including emissions from coal-fired 

power plants; close proximity to 

mining activities, cement plants, 

and abandoned mines; leaking 

underground storage tanks; 

hazardous and non-hazardous 

waste; water quality and indoor 

air problems. Located in remote 

areas and with few services and 

little environmental protection 

infrastructure, the tribes felt 

isolated. They knew they could 

benefit from a collaborative process 

and structure such as CARE to 

address their environmental issues. 

The Montana Indian Country 

CARE Project (MICCP) found that 

bridging tribal environmental 

departments with tribal colleges in 

all four communities created new 

synergies and new successes. Tribal 

environmental departments served 

an important purpose because they 

can utilize regulatory measures 

and promote environmental 

stewardship and environmental 

best practices. Tribal colleges 

served as neutral forums where 

tribal members could discuss 

local issues and solutions. The 

colleges provided labs, computer 

applications, meeting places and 

held classes for 88 community 

members on GIS/GPS and 21 

members on remote sensing. 

MICCP collaborated with 

Montana State University to 

train tribal members on health, 

housing, environmental threats, 

including asthma, and convened 

environmental professionals 

from 11 different tribes to learn 

about solid waste compliance 

and enforcement. The project 

gained momentum and was 

able to leverage over $100,000 in 

additional resources.

Because CARE focuses on 

community-based identification of 

environmental priorities to facilitate 

change, many organizations came 

together through MICCP because 

they shared a common interest 

in improving the health of their 

community and the environment. 

CARE project residents 

learning about green cleaners
27

The MICCP facilitated partnerships 

that bridged many organizations 

and documented the following 

lessons learned which may be 

useful to other tribal recipients or 

multi-community recipients:

•	 Flexibility in time. The continuum

of time proved both beneficial 

and challenging. Community 

based projects took longer 

than expected, and in general, 

the greater number of people 

involved, the more time taken. 

•	 Monetary support. Partnership

members felt it was important 

to pay project staff for their time. 

Unemployment and poverty 

levels are high. 

•	 Education to see change.

Bringing community members 

into a tribal college to learn 

a new skill relating to toxic 

reduction pays off. This was 

extremely effective in growing 

the partnership and the 

knowledge of communities.

•	 Change as the community

changes. There were a number 

of partners who left the project 

and some new partners that 

joined. The project changed over 

time and modified the work plan 

accordingly.

•	 If a community does not show

commitment to a specific 

project, then stop. There were a 

number of times when original 

activities were cancelled 

because the project did not have 

adequate commitment from the 

community. 

•	 Services to community. It was

important that CARE be visible 

to community members, not a 

brochure. Communities want 

action and results through 

service and opportunities for 

service.

Project Results 

•	 Over 7,000 pounds of hazardous chemicals removed from 13 schools, protecting 1,233

students

•	 295,460 pounds of metal from cars, 34 tires, 780 pounds of toxic fluids, 12 truckloads of

scrap metal, tons of cardboard, rubber carpets, plastic PCB components,102 mercury

switches from cars, 19.2 pounds of mercury from school labs, 57 car transmissions and

oil, and 102 car batteries recycled and/or disposed of

•	 93 homes reached with healthy homes visits on indoor air quality and asthma

•	 3,500 people contacted about illegal dumping, signs posted at 8 sites. Overall Project

touched the lives of 21,910 people.

•	 One size does not fit all. When

there is not a brochure or 

resource available on a certain 

topic (i.e., junk vehicles in Indian 

Country), then make one. It is 

important to share pertinent 

resources with a community that 

will enable them to address their 

needs.

University students sample for 

water contaminants
28

Key Actions 

•	 Worked with EPA to determine opportunities for

additional federal funding to address issues

•	 Prioritized areas close to residential neighborhoods

•	 Used results of assessment to establish a dialogue

with local businesses

Tip 14: Access EPA Brownfields Funding to 

Revitalize Abandoned Properties

Pacoima Beautiful

Los Angeles, California

Pacoima, a low-income community 

in Los Angeles, California, was 

heavily impacted by air and 

land pollution. Abandoned, 

contaminated properties located 

near residential areas were a 

particular cause of concern. 

Cleaning up these sites was 

essential in order to reinvest in 

them, increase the local tax base, 

facilitate job growth, and create a 

healthier, safer community. 

Numerous brownfields were 

uncovered during Pacoima’s 

CARE process of identifying and 

understanding environmental 

health issues from all sources in 

the community. The community 

applied for and received $50,000 

in EPA Targeted Brownfields 

Assessment funding to conduct 

environmental site assessments 

and assist with community 

redevelopment of these sites.1 

Pacoima Beautiful staff worked 

with EPA contractors to identify 

an area with 230 parcels that was 

littered with auto dismantlers, 

plating facilities, construction 

yards and granite cutters. All of 

these were suspected of posing 

potential health and environmental 

risks in the community. The area 

was targeted because of its close 

proximity to residents. Phase I 

environmental site assessments 

were conducted on the 25 

properties. The report found that 

many of the 17 auto dismantlers 

were storing chemicals, waste and 

car parts in unprotected areas; 

allowing liquid waste to empty 

into stormwater drains without 

permits; and storing solvents and 

other chemicals improperly. Similar 

hazards were uncovered at plating 

shops, construction yards and 

granite-cutting operations.

EPA and state environmental 

regulatory staff met with Pacoima 

Beautiful to discuss the results 

of the site assessments, hazards 

from local industries and potential 

next steps. Pacoima Beautiful’s 

staff, health educators from the 

community and others then shared 

the results with businesses and 

obtained agreement on instituting 

more environmentally-friendly 

practices. Pacoima is continuing 

to expand outreach to additional 

businesses.

Seventeen auto dismantlers agreed to 

engage in environmentally sound practices
29

EPA will continue to collect promising 

practices and lessons learned from CARE 

communities and to provide forums 

for exchanging this type of information 

between communities. CARE communities 

can provide valuable information on what 

works and what does not in addressing 

environmental health challenges. If you 

would like to learn more about EPA’s CARE 

program, please see the CARE Web site 

(www.epa.gov/CARE) or www.epa.gov/care/

comments.htm for an updated list of EPA 

CARE Regional Coordinators in the 10 EPA 

Regional Offices.

1

Note: All CARE grantees with brownfields contamination or suspected contamination are eligible for Targeted Brownfields 

Assessment funding. See http://epa.gov/brownfields/mmatters.htm to find out about brownfields funding and the types of 

support provided.

Project Results 

•	 25 properties assessed, including sites of auto dismantlers, plating facilities, lumber

yards, and granite cutters

•	 Agreements with 17 auto dismantlers to engage in environmentally-sound practices

•	 Conference for auto dismantlers to reduce environmental degradation in cooperation

with regulatory agencies, CA Auto-Dismantlers’Association, local officials

•	 34 of 47 unregulated granite-cutting operations trained on practices to reduce air

pollution and worker exposure

Conclusion
United States EPA-530-F-10-005

Environmental Protection June 2010

Agency www.epa.gov

EPA Cooperative Agreements and Technical Support

COMMUNITY

Level I

Agreement

Level II

Agreement

1. Join Together 2. Identify Problems and

Solut oi ns

3. Implement Solutions/Reduce Risks

4. Become

Self-Sustaining

The CARE Process