United States EPA/300-R-99-004

 Environmental Protection Compliance Assurance June 1999

 Agency (2201A) www.epa.gov

 Office of Environmental Justice

 1998 Environmental Justice

 Biennial Report:

 Moving Towards Collaborative and

 Constructive Problem-Solving

Enforcement and 
 Table of Contents

PREFACE ............................................................... iii 

CHAPTER 1: Background and Introduction ................................. 1 

CHAPTER 2: Public Participation, Outreach, and Training .................... 2 

General/Multiple Issues ..................................................... 2.1 

Indoor Air ............................................................... 2.5 

Waste .................................................................. 2.7 

Other Federal Agency/State Training ........................................... 2.9 

Tribal Empowerment ...................................................... 2.11 

Grants Workshops ....................................................... 2.12 

Other ................................................................. 2.12 

CHAPTER 3: Assessment Methodologies, Community-Based Studies, Targeting, and 

Science .................................................... 3 

Assessment Methodologies .................................................. 3.1 

Environmental Justice Assessment Guidance ..................................... 3.1 

Targeting Studies .......................................................... 3.2 

Community Assessments. ................................................... 3.4 

Exposure Studies/Other. . . . . . . . . ............................................ 3.5 

CHAPTER 4: Confronting Environmental Justice Problems ................... 4 

Pesticide Problems and Solutions .............................................. 4.1 

Lead Problems and Solutions ................................................ 4.3 

Subsistence Populations Problems and Solutions .................................. 4.6 

Mexican Border Problems and Solutions ........................................ 4.7 

Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations ....................................... 4.8 

Communities With Multiple Problems; Working Toward Solutions .................... 4.9 

Permits - Environmental Justice Problems and Solutions ........................... 4.10 

Supplemental Environmental Projects ......................................... 4.11 

Relocation Problems and Solutions ........................................... 4.12 

Other Problems and Solutions ............................................... 4.13 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Working Towards Collaborative Problem-Solving v 
 Table of Contents

CHAPTER 5: Environmental Justice at the Federal Level ...................... 5 

National Environmental Protection Act Implementation ............................ 5.1 

NEPA Examples ........................................................... 5.1 

Examples of Interagency Cooperation .......................................... 5.4 

Federal Agencies Implementing the Executive Order ............................... 5.5 

Department of Justice .................................................. 5.5 

Department of Transportation ............................................. 5.6 

Department of Health and Human Services ................................... 5.7 

Department of Defense ................................................. 5.10 

Department of the Interior .............................................. 5.13 

Department of Energy .................................................. 5.13 

Department of Agriculture .............................................. 5.14 

APPENDIX: Some EPA Grant Programs .................................. A 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Working Towards Collaborative Problem-Solving vi 
 Table of Contents

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Working Towards Collaborative Problem-Solving vi
 Preface 

Dear Reader: 

The Office of Environmental Justice is committed to assuring that all communities have a 

full and fair opportunity to participate meaningfully in the environmental decision-making process 

and receive equal enforcement of protective environmental laws, rules, regulations and policies. 

This report documents actions taken by Federal departments and agencies to address 

environmental justice issues including: (1) targeting resources and providing information to the 

public regarding actions; (2) engaging all stakeholders involved in the environmental justice 

dialogue in outreach efforts; and (3) initiating effective compliance and enforcement actions. In 

particular, this report demonstrates, through case studies, that opportunities for achieving 

environmental justice do exist for community groups, grassroots groups, and industry to work 

collaboratively with government departments and agencies to address pressing environmental and 

public health needs. 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s experience shows that appropriate use of 

collaborative approaches to decision-making can result in decisions and agreements that all 

stakeholders consider fair, wise, efficient, and superior to the alternatives achievable through other 

processes, such as litigation or civil disobedience. Experience also shows (contrasting with 

litigation) that stakeholders who develop a solution through a collaborative process have better 

ongoing relationships, leading to fewer disputes in the future. A precondition to success, however, 

is the willingness and interest of all stakeholders in “coming to the table”, and each stakeholder’s 

ability to engage meaningfully in informed, principled negotiations. 

Resolving disputes without litigation sometimes involves risks -- both real (i.e., commitment 

of time and resources) and perceived (i.e., fear of appearing weak). While risks may be involved, 

the Office of Environmental Justice believes that the earlier stakeholders begin to work together 

the more likely they are to prevent or resolve their differences. Using techniques such as 

negotiation, facilitation, and mediation, in addition to focusing Environmental Protection Agency 

resources on consensus building efforts and making technical resources available to communities, 

the Office of Environmental Justice hopes to engender greater trust, better understanding of 

stakeholders’ issues and concerns, and a firm commitment to environmental justice. The case 

studies illustrate that all stakeholders have the sensitivity and capacity necessary to engage, as 

equal partners, in effective and constructive problem-solving. 

This is the fourth report to be published since the creation of the Office of Environmental 

Justice in 1992. The other reports listed on the inside front cover are available for review at 

http://www.epa.gov/oeca/main/ej/annreport.html. 

Barry E. Hill

Director

Office of Environmental Justice

iii 
 Chapter 1

Background and Introduction

Background 

The goal of environmental justice is to 

ensure that all people, regardless of race, national 

origin or income, are protected from 

disproportionate impacts of environmental 

hazards. To be classified as an environmental 

justice community, residents must be a minority 

and/or low income group; excluded from the 

environmental policy setting and/or decisionmaking process; subject to a disproportionate 

impact from one or more environmental hazards; 

and experience a disparate implementation of 

environmental regulations, requirements, practices 

and activities in their communities. 

Environmental justice is about real people facing 

real problems and designing practical solutions to 

address challenging environmental issues. The 

environmental justice movement advocates 

programs that promote environmental protection 

within the context of sustainable development. 

Utilizing various methods, including traditional 

knowledge about the eco-system and community 

mobilization, the environmental justice 

community has become a formidable force in 

protection of both the urban and rural 

environments. 

Early in 1990, the Congressional Black 

Caucus, a bi-partisan coalition of academicians, 

social scientists and political activists met with 

EPA officials to discuss their findings that EPA 

was unfairly applying its enforcement inspections 

and that environmental risk was higher in racial 

minority and low-income populations. In 

response, the EPA Administrator created the 

Environmental Equity Workgroup in July 1990 to 

address the allegation that “racial minority and 

low-income populations bear a higher 

environmental risk burden than the general 

population.” The Workgroup produced a final 

report “Reducing Risk in All Communities” in June 

1992 which supported the allegation and made 

recommendations for addressing the problem. One 

was to create an office at EPA to address these 

inequities. Another was to make environmental 

justice a national policy. The Office of 

Environmental Equity was established November 6, 

1992. The name was changed to Office of 

Environmental Justice in 1994. 

Executive Order 12898 “Federal Actions to 

Address Environmental Justice in Minority 

Populations and Low-Income Populations” was 

signed by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 

1994. Executive Order 12898 “Federal Actions to 

Address Environmental Justice in Minority 

Populations and Low-Income Populations” was 

signed by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 

1994, to focus federal attention on the environmental 

and human health conditions of minority and lowincome populations with the goal of achieving 

environmental protection for all communities. The 

Order directed federal agencies to develop 

environmental justice strategies to aid federal 

agencies identify and address disproportionately high 

and adverse human health or environmental effects of 

their programs, policies, and activities on minority 

and low-income populations. The Order is also 

intended to promote nondiscrimination in federal 

programs substantially affecting human health and 

the environment, and to provide minority and lowincome communities access to public information on, 

and an opportunity for public participation in, matters 

relating to human health or the environment. The 

Presidential Memorandum accompanying the Order 

underscores certain provisions of existing law that 

can help ensure that all communities and persons 

across this nation live in a safe and healthful 

environment. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative Problem-Solving 1.1 
 Chapter 1

Background and Introduction

The Executive Order established an 

Interagency Working Group (IWG) on 

environmental justice chaired by the EPA 

Administrator and comprised of the heads of 

eleven departments/agencies and several White 

House offices. These include the EPA, the 

Departments of Justice, Defense, Energy, Labor, 

Interior, Transportation, Agriculture, Housing and 

Urban Development, Commerce, and Health and 

Human Services, the Council on Environmental 

Quality, the Office of Management and Budget, 

the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the 

Domestic Policy Council, and the Council of 

Economic Advisors. 

Because of the Agency’s strong belief that 

all Americans regardless of race, color, national 

origin, or economic circumstance are important to 

the future of our nation and should be able to live 

in a clean, healthy environment, EPA 

Administrator Carol Browner made environmental 

justice one of EPA’s highest priorities and 

established environmental justice as one of the 

seven guiding principles in the Agency’s strategic 

plan in 1993. In an Agency-wide meeting, she 

stated that “many people of color, low-income and 

Native American communities have raised 

concerns that they suffer a disproportionate 

burden of health consequences due to the siting of 

industrial plants and waste dumps, and from 

exposure to pesticides or other toxic chemicals at 

home and on the job ... EPA is committed to 

addressing these concerns and is assuming a 

leadership role in environmental justice to 

enhance environmental quality for all residents of 

the United States.” 

Since the Office of Environmental Justice 

was created, late in 1992, there have been 

significant efforts across EPA to integrate 

environmental justice into how the Agency 

conducts its day-to-day operations. Information 

on these activities can be found throughout the 

Agency. The Office oversees the integration of 

environmental justice into EPA’s policies, programs, 

and activities throughout the Agency. Every 

Headquarters Office and Region has an 

environmental justice coordinator to serve as a focal 

point within the organization. This network of 

individuals plays a key role in outreach and education 

to external as well as internal individuals and 

organizations. The Office also serves as the lead on 

the Interagency Working Group called for in the 

Executive Order. 

EPA had begun developing an environmental 

justice strategy to address the issues prior to the 

signing of the Executive Order. The final document, 

Environmental Justice Strategy: Executive Order 

12898, published in 1993, is consistent with the 

Executive Order and ensures the integration of 

environmental justice into the Agency’s programs, 

policies, and activities. The strategy contains five 

major areas: 1) Public Participation and 

Accountability, Partnerships, Outreach, and 

Communication with Stakeholders; 2) Health and 

Environmental Research; 3) Data Collection, 

Analysis, and Stakeholder Access to Public 

Information; 4) American Indian and Indigenous 

Environmental Protection; and 5) Enforcement, 

Compliance Assurance, and Regulatory Reviews. 

Introduction To This Report 

As this report demonstrates, EPA continues 

to work to keep the environment clean so that all 

people can have clean air, clean water and a safe and 

healthy environment in which to live. The title of the 

report reflects the federal government’s experience 

with the issue of environmental justice. Recently, 

federal departments and agencies have begun 

working proactively with communities, states, tribal 

and local governments, industry and others to address 

concerns of the communities. The efforts have 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative Problem-Solving 1.2 
 Chapter 1

produced “win-win” solutions in many cases, and 

contrast with a more reactive approach in which 

agencies wait for issues to grow into disputes. As 

a result of working together, divisive conflicts are 

reduced, allowing parties to resolve issues faster, 

fairer, cheaper, and more effectively. 

Involving all stakeholders in the problemsolving process as early and as often as possible is 

a key to collaborative management of 

environmental justice concerns. As part of this 

process, stakeholders are encouraged to discuss 

their underlying interests, rather than attempting 

to package concerns within a formal legal 

argument as they would in court. Litigation and 

enforcement actions continue to play an important 

role in achieving the goal of environmental justice 

for all Americans, regardless of the race, ethnicity 

or economic status. However, principled 

negotiation, up-front consensus building, and 

public participation in the environmental decisionmaking process are increasingly becoming the 

norm. 

Many projects in this report describe the 

Environmental Protection Agency’s attempts to 

foster partnerships, find, define, and resolve 

allegations of environmental injustice, or involve 

a broad group of stakeholders in a process to solve 

pressing problems or issues of concern. 

Background and Introduction 

This report differs from the prior Annual 

Reports issued by the Office of Environmental 

Justice (OEJ). It is organized by “subject matter” 

and contains information on the implementation 

of Executive Order 12898 by other federal 

departments and agencies. Chapters 2-5 describes 

EPA efforts, and include a mix of headquarters 

and regional projects. Those projects that have an 

EPA regional lead are identified. Projects that do 

not specify a region are led by headquarters. The 

subject matter chapters cover a number of similar 

topics: 

C Chapter 2 describes projects related to 

public participation, outreach, and training. 

C Chapter 3 primarily contains a “report” on 

the developing field of environmental justice 

data analysis and analytic methodologies. 

The chapter also describes several recent 

community assessment projects. 

C Chapter 4 describes activities which look at 

some environmental justice problems. 

C Chapter 5 covers many examples of how 

federal departments and agencies and 

stakeholders are working together to resolve 

and examine environmental justice issues. 

C The appendix includes a description of some 

of EPA’s assistance programs. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative Problem-Solving 1.3 
 Chapter 2 

Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

EPA-sponsored public participation, outreach, 

and training programs bring together federal, state 

and local governments, industry and community 

stakeholders to develop workable solutions to 

allegations of environmental injustice. These 

programs have grown and matured as stakeholders 

have become more familiar with the issue of 

environmental justice and ways of collaboratively 

participating in the decision- making process. 

While five years ago such projects were mostly 

lead out of EPA’s Headquarters Office of 

Environmental Justice and consisted of basic 

environmental justice training courses, today each 

region sponsors these programs. The vast 

majority of current projects involve EPA outreach 

to, and involvement with local communities, joint 

investigations of specific areas of concern, 

community capacity- building and development of 

workable solutions. Following is a discussion of 

the regional environmental justice initiatives. 

General/Multiple Environmental 

Justice Activities 

REGION 3 

City of Chester Initiative 

During the week of April 20, 1998, 

Region 3 participated in a highly successful Earth 

Week celebration in Chester, Pennsylvania. 

Activities included the refurbishing of a garden at 

the Pulaski School, which Region 3 “adopted,” 

the donation of ten new computers, and the 

planting of trees at the school. 

In addition, the initiative included the 

Chester Lead Poisoning Prevention Project, 

funded by an EPA-funded Supplemental 

Environmental Project (SEP). The project works 

with community residents and leaders, on a 

voluntary basis, to collect and distribute 

information about lead poisoning and to help 

residents remove lead from their homes. The 

project has trained two community coordinators 

and has begun the enrollment of participants in the 

lead project. 

REGION 4 

North Carolina Environmental Justice 

Conference/Workshop 

Region 4's Waste Division worked with a 

coalition of North Carolina environmental justice 

groups and their steering committee to design and 

support the first environmental justice workshop 

in that state. In addition to funding this workshop, 

a senior EPA official delivered the keynote speech 

and other EPA staff participated on several 

panels. The workshop set a positive precedent for 

future collaborative work. 

Environmental Justice Summit 

The “Environmental Justice Summit II,” 

held in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 6-7, 1998, 

was co-hosted by Region 4, the African American 

Environmental Justice Action Network, and the 

Southern Organizing Committee for Economic 

and Social Justice (SOC). The purposes were to: 

(1) continue fostering partnerships between EPA 

and impacted communities; (2) improve 

regulatory decision-making (e.g., selection 

processes and remedial action options) with 

respect to communities near hazardous waste sites 

in the southeast; and (3) develop 

recommendations on how EPA can improve its 

customer service responsibilities. 

More than 100 participants attended and 

included representatives from: numerous local 

environmental justice groups; the Clark Atlanta 

University Environmental Justice Resource 

Center; Spelman College; the Department of 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.1 
 Chapter 2 

Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

Housing and Urban Development (HUD); the 

Agency for Toxic Substance Disease Registry 

(ATSDR); the Army Corps of Engineers; the 

Department of Defense (DOD); the EPA; the 

environmental regulatory offices of North 

Carolina and Georgia; and the Medical University 

of South Carolina. 

Outreach to Environmental Justice 

Communities 

Region 4 conducted a series of outreach 

meetings with community-based organizations. 

EPA initiated the meetings to learn about 

environmental justice concerns of, and to foster 

stronger working relationships with, the 

communities. These meetings were conducted in 

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Bennetsville and 

Spartanburg, South Carolina, and several cities in 

Georgia including Fort Valley, Brunswick and 

Savannah. A large number of community and 

grassroots groups participated in the various 

meetings such as: the Southern Organizing 

Committee for Economic and Social Justice; 

People Working for People; Save the People; 

Citizens for Environmental Justice; Woolfolk 

Citizens Response Group; Scarboro Community 

Environmental Justice Council; Oak Ridge Health 

Liaison; Re-Genesis; and the People of Color & 

Disenfranchised Communities Environmental 

Health Coalition. 

These meetings resulted in on-the-ground 

results. For example, in Bennetsville, South 

Carolina, participants discussed ways to obtain 

assistance for the community to help with health 

problems resulting from a former industrial 

facility, now a Comprehensive Emergency 

Response Compensation Liability Act (CERCLA 

or Superfund) removal site. The sponsoring 

partners were the ATSDR and a state 

representative. 

In Spartanburg, South Carolina, state 

agencies and federal agencies provided vital 

health care information and resources to an 

impacted community. Meeting with members of 

the community at a health fair, the South 

Carolina’s Office of Workmen's Compensation 

provided the forms necessary for community 

residents to apply for benefits. The Social 

Security Administration of the U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services sent a local 

representative who provided information on how 

to apply for social security. South Carolina’s 

Office of Health Care provided a pulmonary 

specialist to speak about asbestos-related illnesses 

and how to obtain health care necessary to receive 

a diagnosis. The health fair brought together both 

government resources and information necessary 

for the community to better protect their health 

from environmental irritants. 

REGION 5 

Environmental Justice Stakeholder 

Partnership Network 

On November 10, 1998, Region 5 held its 

first Regional Environmental Justice Stakeholder 

Partnership Network (RESPN) forum in Gary, 

Indiana. The goals of the forum were to: (1) bring 

community members together to share information 

and learn about issues of most importance to 

them; (2) provide environmental education; (3) 

assist communities in developing and enhancing 

leadership skills; and (4) facilitate the 

development of local partnerships and networks 

by providing tools to help communities organize. 

EPA worked with the City of Gary, the 

local community, and federal government 

agencies to develop an informational forum that 

would be of interest and benefit to Gary residents. 

The Mayor of Gary, Scott L. King, greeted the 

more than 100 conference participants. Attendees 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.2 
 Chapter 2 

Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

included community members and environmental 

professionals from various fields. The attendees 

participated in panel discussions and exchanged 

information and ideas on a wide variety of issues 

including job training, land redevelopment, and 

community organizing. 

An educational tool kit containing “how 

to” information on organizing a community and 

developing leadership skills was distributed to 

participants. As a follow-up to the conference, all 

participants were sent a resource guide containing 

information on: the background of the 

environmental justice movement in the U.S.; the 

purpose of the RESPN project; highlights from 

the forum; and the methodology used to develop 

the Gary RESPN project. The resource guide can 

be found on the Internet at: 

http://www.epa.gov/envjustice/resguide.html 

REGION 6 

Environmental Justice Newsletter 

Region 6 published the first edition of its 

quarterly Environmental Justice Newsletter in 

November 1998. The newsletter featured 

community input and up-to-date environmental 

news and information of interest to the public. 

The public has been invited to provide ideas to 

Region 6 on possible features, and improvements. 

You can find the newsletter at: 

http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6ra/ej/ej.ht 

REGION 8 

Brownbag Series 

Beginning in 1997, the Region 8 

environmental justice program sponsored a yearlong brownbag series, to which more than 600 

groups and individuals were invited. Topics in 

1997 included: a discussion of migrant farm 

worker issues by a local activist, Lalo Delgado; a 

panel of community representatives speaking on 

challenges faced in environmental problemsolving; and a talk given by Stephen Pevar, 

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Staff 

Counsel, and author of “The Rights of Indians and 

Tribes,” on the topic of EPA’s Indian trust 

responsibility. The community panel brownbag 

was repeated for the Region's Senior Leadership 

team, upon the invitation of the Regional 

Administrator. 

In 1998, the brownbag series featured 

Scott Jones, of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, who 

commented on the topic of cultural resource 

implications of management of the Missouri 

River. Other speakers included Reggie Harris, 

EPA Region 3 toxicologist, on the “stressed 

communities” concept, and Gerald Carney, EPA 

Region 6 toxicologist, on a methodology for 

incorporating environmental justice into a risk 

assessment. The fourth brownbag session 

featured Ann Goode, Director of the EPA Office 

of Civil Rights, who spoke on EPA’s Title VI 

Interim Guidance and the process for issuing the 

final guidance document. The discussions helped 

to disseminate information within the Agency and 

to the stakeholder community and provided an 

informal opportunity for discussion between 

federal government representatives and 

stakeholders. 

REGION 10 

Health and Safety Training 

For the last three years, Region 10 has 

sponsored a 40-hour Health & Safety Training 

program known as “Hazwoper.” EPA provides 

the course in areas where there is a potential for 

local residents to be employed on or near 

hazardous material cleanup sites. Courses have 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.3 
 Chapter 2 

Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

been taught in native villages in rural Alaska and

in Colville, Washington, where many of the

students were from the Colville Indian

Reservation. Native American populations

account for 95% of the students 

in these classes. The Alaska Department of

Environmental Conservation cosponsored classes

taught in Alaska.

1998 ECO/EPA Partnership HighlightsDiversity Program 

The seven-year training partnership 

between EPA and The Environmental Careers 

Organization (ECO) continues to evolve. In 

1998, EPA sponsored 313 student “Associates.” 

The Agency carried over 60 of the 247 Associates 

from 1997. This level of participation marked an 

increase of more than 25% from 1997. The 

Associates trained at eleven headquarters offices 

and in all ten EPA regions. 

Consistent with the Agency’s goal of 

increasing workforce diversity and minority 

representation in the environmental-oriented 

profession, 54% of the Associates were people of 

color, representing 76 different academic 

disciplines. The Associates were geographically 

diverse as well, coming from 120 different 

colleges and universities - a record high. 

The Office of Environmental Justice has 

been a sponsor of the National Environmental 

Career Conference (NECC) for several years. In 

1998, the Office of Environmental Justice 

provided scholarships f or 27 Associates to attend 

the NECC in Boston. In addition, EPA provided 

conference speakers for panels on environmental 

justic e, Native American environmental issues, 

careers within the EPA, and several other topics. 

Where Were the 1998 Associates Trained in 

the EPA? 

Headquarters #Trained 

Office of Administrator 5

Office of Administration/Resources 

Management 14

Office of Air and Radiation 33

Office of Enforcement and

Compliance Assurance 12

Office of Chief Financial Officer 6

Office of International Activities 19

Office of Policy 18

Office of Prevention, Pesticides and

Toxic Substances 39

Office of Research and Development 14

Office of Solid Waste and 

Emergency Response 2

Office of Water 26

Office of Environmental Justice 6

Regions

Region 1 9

Region 2 4

Region 3 5

Region 4 21

Region 5 59

Region 6 1

Region 7 5

Region 8 2

Region 9 8

Region 10 5

TOTAL 313

For more information about the ECO 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.4 
 Chapter 2 

Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

Program, call, write, or send an E-Mail message to 

one of the following: 

Linda K. Smith, Project Officer 

202-564-2602 

smith.linda@epa.gov 

Renee L. Goins, Program Coordinator

202-564-2598

goins.renee@epa.gov

or visit the EPA Program Team/Boston Office 

web site at http://www.eco.org. 

The Environmental Careers Organization 

179 South Street, 5th fl. 

Boston, MA 02111 

Tele: 617-426-4783 

Fax: 617-426-8159

Jing Yang - USEPA National Partnership

Manager, ext. 129, jyang@eco.org, 

Stephanie Dacko - Internship Program

Coordinator, ext. 147, sdacko@eco.org, 

Genevieve Coutroubis - Internship Program

Coordinator, ext. 121, gcoutroubis@eco.org

Melodie Sitkowski - Internship Program

Coordinator, ext. 142, msitkowski@eco.org 

Compliance Assistance Centers 

Overview 

EPA partnered with private sector trade 

associations and nonprofit groups to establish nine 

sector-specific Compliance Assistance Centers. 

The centers help small and medium-sized 

businesses better understand and comply with 

federal environmental regulatory requirements. 

The centers serve the following sectors: 

(1)agriculture; (2) automotive service and repair; 

(3) metal finishing; (4) printed wiring boards; (5) 

printing; (6) chemical industry; (7) local 

governments; (8) transportation; and (9) paints 

and coatings. 

The Compliance Assistance Centers 

provide information via Internet web sites, tollfree telephone assistance, fax-back capabilities, 

and distribution of hard copy materials. Some 

centers have special features such as virtual shop 

floors, state regulations on-line, expert help desks, 

and video conferencing capabilities. 

The centers are making the environmental 

justice community aware of their services and 

products through speaking engagements (e.g., at 

the Enforcement Subcommittee of the National 

Environmental Justice Advisory Council and at 

the National Association of Black County 

Officials), distribution of compliance assistance 

materials, and through the centers’ Internet web 

sites. For example, the Agriculture Compliance 

Assistance Center develops and distributes fact 

sheets to help agricultural employers protect 

migrant and seasonal workers from exposure to 

pesticides through compliance with the Worker 

Protection Standards. 

Indoor Air 

Indoor Environments Program 

Region 1 

The Region 1 Indoor Environments 

Program works actively to assist New England 

schools to adopt the EPA’s “Indoor Air Quality 

Tools for Schools” (TFS) Action kit. The 

program targeted several of the largest school 

systems in New England, introducing students to 

concepts about indoor air pollutants and steps that 

they can take to reduce indoor pollution at home 

and school. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.5 
 Chapter 2 

Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

Jointly, the Connecticut Council on 

Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) and the 

Latino Parents’ Organization sent a letter to the 

Hartford School Superintendent recommending 

adoption of TFS system-wide (33 schools). Other 

pilot schools implementing TFS programs have 

been initiated in the school systems in Boston, 

Massachusetts and Manchester, New Hampshire. 

EPA also has recruited schools in the New Haven 

and Bridgeport, Connecticut School Districts. 

Indoor Air Quality in Schools 

Region 10 

The Region 10 Indoor Air Quality 

program is funding TFS training and school walkthrough/site visits in all four states that comprise 

the region. The funding is provided through 

small grants to: (1) the Idaho Health Division; (2) 

the Oregon State University Cooperative 

Extension Energy Program; (3) the University of 

Alaska (Fairbanks) Cooperative Extension Energy 

Program; and (4) the Washington State University 

Cooperative Extension Energy Program. Each of 

these entities has committed to conducting at least 

four school walk-throughs and TFS training in 

the respective states. This program has a direct 

impact on student and community health and 

government regulatory compliance. 

National Hispanic Coordinating Center on 

Indoor Air 

The National Coalition of Hispanic 

Health and Human Services Organizations 

(COSSMHO), working with the Office of Radon 

and Indoor Air (ORIA), has served as the National 

Hispanic Coordinating Center on indoor air 

pollutants for many years. COSSMHO’s many 

activities include, but are not limited to: (1) 

coordinating training sessions and workshops; (2) 

conducting national project meetings; (3) 

providing technical assistance; and (4) translating 

and distributing bilingual documents. 

ORIA supports the operation of the 

National Hispanic Indoor Air Quality Hotline (1-

800-SALUD-12) at COSSMHO’s national 

headquarters in Washington, D.C. The hotline 

receives thousands of calls per year, reflecting 

successful outreach efforts at the national, state 

and local levels. 

Indoor Air Outreach 

Asians and Pacific Islanders 

The Association of Asian and Pacific 

Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) and 

ORIA entered into a multi-year cooperative 

agreement to develop outreach materials for Asian 

and Pacific Islanders, especially the medically 

under-served. The AAPCHO program includes 

the following activities: (1) translating indoor air 

outreach materials into Asian languages, including 

Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese; (2) sponsoring 

workshops for health care workers to work in 

communities on indoor air quality issues; and (3) 

supporting community-based outreach projects in 

targeted communities. 

Indoor Air Outreach 

Local Communities 

The National Association of Counties 

(NACo) and the National Organization of Black 

County Officials (NOBCO) are working 

collaboratively with ORIA to establish local 

outreach programs. These programs teach local 

government officials how to address and respond 

to indoor environment health risks. 

ORIA is entering its third year of 

cooperation with NACo and NOBCO to develop 

and administer training courses designed to 

provide indoor air quality health risk information 

to local officials. The training workshops support 

sustained local outreach efforts and are targeted to 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.6 
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Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

communities with significant low-income and/or 

minority populations. 

Additionally, many county health 

departments represented by NACo have utilized 

resources from other programs to address indoor 

air quality issues in low-income communities. 

Using local residents hired by counties under the 

Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)--a summer 

youth program--local health departments can 

educate low-income communities about indoor air 

quality health prevention. Youth in the JTPA 

program, who must meet income-eligibility 

requirements, are trained by the health 

departments, and then work directly with residents 

in the communities where they live. 

Indoor Air Outreach 

Self-Reliance Foundation/Hispanic 

Radio Network 

The Self-Reliance Foundation /Hispanic 

Radio Network provides indoor air quality health 

risk prevention information to Spanish-speaking 

populations in the U.S. through a broad radio 

media outreach campaign. The Self-Reliance 

Foundation fosters indoor air quality health risk 

prevention through: (1) distribution of radon test 

kits; (2) live radio talk shows; (3) support of a 

toll-free Spanish speaking information line; and 

(4) syndicated newspaper columns in Spanish 

newspapers.. 

The Self-Reliance Foundation also links 

listeners with local social and health professionals 

who work “hands-on” in the communities. These 

professionals are trained and educated about 

indoor air quality issues to provide direct outreach 

services to community residents. 

Waste 

Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilots -

Region 2 

Region 2 has 26 Brownfields Assessment 

Demonstration Pilots: 12 in New York, 12 in 

New Jersey, and 2 in Puerto Rico. The 

brownfields program identifies, remediates, and 

puts into active use former contaminated 

properties frequently located in urban areas. 

These pilot projects in the various cities and 

counties must submit environmental justice and 

community involvement plans that incorporate 

mechanisms to ensure active community 

involvement in the decision-making process. For 

example, Jersey City held three neighborhood 

planning charettes to solicit local guidance for 

redevelopment activities in the mixed-use, 

brownfields-laden Lafayette area of New Jersey. 

A “Life After the Grant Study and Pilot” 

meeting held by EPA found that pilot projects 

can be sustained, communities improved, and 

brownfields sites reused by actively addressing 

environmental justice concerns and involving the 

community early in the project and on a 

continuing basis. Region 2 publishes the 

“Brownfields Community Involvement Quarterly” 

which it distributes to more than 3,000 regional 

stakeholders, including community organizations. 

The brownfields pilot projects and the evaluations 

help communities improve their environment and 

public health, and help provide models for other 

communities, municipalities, industry and 

politicians to follow in initiating brownfields 

redevelopment efforts. 

Superfund Community Outreach 

Region 2 

At the request of Region 2, EPA’s 

Headquarters Community Outreach and 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.7 
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Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

Involvement Office, in the Office of Solid Waste 

and Emergency Response (OSWER), created a 

Spanish language version of the “Superfund 

Community Advisory Group” toolkit. This 

document gives Spanish-speaking communities in 

Puerto Rico, and throughout the United States, a 

greater opportunity to participate in the Superfund 

cleanup process. EPA has found that community 

advisory groups (CAG) can be very effective in 

enhancing public involvement at Superfund sites 

and facilitating regular and direct consultations 

between EPA and community members. CAGs 

are initiated and directed by local community 

representatives who work with EPA throughout 

the Superfund cleanup process. 

Community Involvement Criteria for 

Brownfields Redevelopment 

Region 10 

In 1998, Region 10 staff worked with 

community groups in Portland, Oregon to revise 

EPA’s Pilot Project Guidelines to better address 

community involvement issues. These revisions 

were incorporated into the National Pilot Project 

Guidelines issued in October 1998. Specifically, 

the National Pilot Project Guidelines addressed 

community concerns by emphasizing the 

following three points: 

• Statistics on the demographics and 

employment areas in each proposal must 

be tailored to the impacted community. 

Proposals should demonstrate that the 

project has been developed with 

community involvement and support, and 

will involve the community throughout 

the project. 

• Proposals should describe how the project 

will address the environmental and public 

health priorities of the impacted 

community. 

Social Siting Criteria Brochure 

The Office of Solid Waste’s, Permits and 

State Programs Division is working on a brochure 

that addresses community quality-of-life concerns 

(i.e., those concerns that are often social, cultural, 

or economic in nature) related to the siting and 

permitting of Resource Conservation and 

Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste facilities. 

The brochure is intended as an 

educational tool. The Office of Solid Waste 

hopes to improve cooperation and communication 

among all parties involved in the RCRA facility 

siting and permitting process by increasing 

awareness of, and sensitivity to, the quality-of-life 

concerns raised by communities. Additionally, 

the brochure examines ways in which EPA 

regional offices, state and local governments, land 

use planning agencies, and hazardous waste 

facilities address quality-of-life concerns raised 

by communities. 

The target audiences are the regulated 

community, federal, state, and local government 

permitting authorities, and land use planning 

agencies. The information provided in the 

brochure may be viewed as a starting point for 

creatively addressing and possibly resolving 

quality-of-life concerns raised by environmental 

justice communities related to the siting and 

permitting hazardous waste facilities. It is 

scheduled to be completed September 1999. 

Public Participation in RCRA 

Corrective Action Rule 

The Office of Enforcement and 

Compliance Assurance (OECA) and the Office of 

Site Remediation and Enforcement, in conjunction 

with the OSWER, developed language on public 

participation for revisions to the Post-Closure 

Permit Requirements and Closure Process under 

the RCRA. The closure regulations require 

owners and operators of hazardous waste 

management units to close those units in a way 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.8 

C 
 Chapter 2 

Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

that is protective of human health and the 

environment. 

The procedures for issuing post-closure 

permits provide an opportunity for public 

comment at the time the permit is issued (i.e., the 

public may comment on the plan for investigating 

suspected releases at a facility). Additionally, the 

permit modification procedures provide 

opportunities for public comment when the permit 

authority selects a remedy and when the permit 

authority concludes that corrective action is 

complete. 

Other Federal Agency/State 

Training 

Outreach to States - Development of 

State Environmental Justice 

Programs/Task Forces 

Region 2 

Region 2's Environmental Justice Program 

directed its efforts toward its state and local 

government partners, after having, in past years, 

trained approximately 900 EPA regional managers 

and staff on the issue of environmental justice and 

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 antidiscriminatory requirements. Introducing state 

and local government agencies to EPA’s policies, 

Region 2's outward-looking emphasis will help 

improve coordination, compliance, and 

achievement of program goals. To date, outreach 

efforts have resulted in the following: 

For New Jersey -

C New Jersey Department of Environmental 

Protection (“NJDEP”) accepted Region 

2's invitation for NJDEP’s managers and 

staff to attend a region-wide 

environmental justice training course. 

C NJDEP’s Commissioner became a 

member of the Title VI Federal Advisory 

Committee. 

C NJDEP developed and is in the early 

stages of implementing its Environmental 

Equity (EE) Policy and Program. A Task 

Force was created to advise the state on 

the development of its environmental 

equity policy. 

C NJDEP was a recipient of the Office of 

Environmental Justice’s State and Tribal 

Environmental Justice (STEJ) Grants, 

receiving $100,000. With matching funds 

of approximately 23%, NJDEP plans to 

further develop and implement its EE 

program, and to implement an innovative 

permitting process. NJDEP has 

developed this permitting process to 

address Title VI concerns through an 

“Interest-Based Alternative Dispute 

Resolution Process.” NJDEP plans to 

conduct a pilot of the process with 

Region 2. 

C NJDEP and Region 2 are in the final 

stages of incorporating EE into the state’s 

Performance Partnership Agreement. 

For New York -

C Following several high-level meetings 

between Region 2 and the New York 

State Department of Environmental 

Conservation (NYSDEC), the State of 

New York is forming a workgroup to 

consider integrating environmental justice 

into its State Environmental Quality 

Review Act (SEQRA) process. 

Environmental Justice Training for 

Federal and State Agencies 

Region 5 

Region 5 has provided environmental 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.9 
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Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

justice training to interested federal and state 

agencies. The region designed the training to 

provide the audience with a background and 

overview of environmental justice, an 

understanding of Region 5's roles in addressing 

environmental justice issues, and an update of 

current EPA environmental justice activities and 

case studies. 

Federal and state government personnel 

were given the opportunity to present 

environmental justice activities in which they had 

been involved. Region 5 has conducted training 

for the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Resource 

Conservation Service, the Indiana Department of 

Environmental Management, and the Minnesota 

Pollution Control Agency. 

Training of Federal and State Agencies 

Region 8 

The Region 8 Environmental Justice 

Program has undertaken a major effort to provide 

environmental justice training to state agencies 

and other federal agencies. The training consists 

of a four-hour workshop on environmental justice. 

Region 8 designed the workshop to increase 

understanding of a complex issue and improve 

clarity about basic environmental justice concepts 

and the application of those concepts. The course 

challenges participants to explore the meaning of 

environmental justice first, generally, and then as 

it relates to their day-to-day responsibilities. Case 

studies focus on real life examples, such as: the 

permitting of a wood-fired power plant in Flint, 

Michigan; the cleanup of a Superfund site in New 

York, bordering the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s 

reservation; the building of a highway in 

Lawrence, Kansas, near Haskell Indian Nations 

University; and the siting and permitting of a 

hazardous waste facility in the Silicon Valley. 

To date, Region 8 has conducted several 

training sessions for the Denver Federal Executive 

Board Environmental Justice Task Force. They 

have provided six sessions for the Department of 

the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation in Boulder 

City, Nevada; Sacramento, California; Denver, 

Colorado; Boise, Idaho; and Billings, Montana. 

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land 

Management, the Army Corps of Engineers, the 

Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, and 

the Natural Resource Conservation Service have 

also expressed interest in the training. These 

meetings not only serve to provide consistent 

training but also help state and federal agencies 

work more effectively together. 

Tribal Empowerment 

Tribal Air Quality Control Program 

Training 

In cooperation with Northern Arizona 

University, the Office of Air Quality Planning and 

Standards (OAQPS) has developed two training 

programs for tribal environmental professionals. 

The training is designed to assist Indian tribes in 

forming their own air quality control programs, 

including tribal implementation plans and 

operating permit programs. EPA initiated the 

assistance program in response to the requirement 

that it treat tribal governments in the same manner 

as states. It will be a continuing effort, as OAQPS 

provides more training and guidance to tribal 

governments. 

Opportunities under NEPA for Public 

Participation: A Tribal Focus 

Region 8 

As a result of a written request from the 

National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, 

Region 8 presented a National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) workshop for tribal members. 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.10 
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Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

Staff from Region 8's Ecosystem Protection 

Program, the Tribal Assistance Program, and the 

Environmental Justice Program jointly planned 

and coordinated the one-day workshop on NEPA. 

In April of 1998, in Bismarck, North Dakota, the 

Region, as part of the training program, presented 

a half-day session on NEPA for tribes, including 

a session on addressing environmental justice 

issues in the NEPA process. 

During the second half of the day, Region 

8 staff hosted an interagency panel entitled, 

“Opportunities Under NEPA for Public 

Participation: A Tribal Focus.” Eighteen people, 

representing 10 different tribes attended the 

workshop. EPA coordinated the panel with other 

federal agency panelists, which included 

individuals from the Army Corps of Engineers 

and the Department of the Interior’s Fish and 

Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

and the Bureau of Reclamation. 

Tribal Indoor Air Quality 

Region 10 

The Region 10 Indoor Air Quality 

Program provided the course, “Tribal Orientation 

to Indoor Air Quality,” to tribal members and 

tribal staff in Region 10. In response to comments 

from the Snoquamish Tribe, after attending the 

course, Region 10 worked with the tribe to 

develop a Model Tribal Indoor Air Project. 

Region 10 is using the model to help other tribes 

in Washington. Since the initiation of the 

program, five more tribes from throughout Region 

10 have applied for, and have received, funding to 

develop their own tribal indoor air programs. 

Informing Tribes About OPPT 

Programs 

The Office of Pollution Protection and 

Toxics’ (OPPT) “Tribal Program” was initiated in 

1997. A major focus of the program is to improve 

communications with tribes about OPPT programs 

and activities. 

A comprehensive tribal communications 

package is being developed to make OPPT 

program information available to tribes. This 

information package includes the following: (1) 

staff contacts; (2) Internet access to OPPT 

programs; (3) OPPT and related program grants 

information; and (4) a quarterly tribal newsletter. 

OPPT published the first issue of “OPPT Tribal 

News” in September 1998. This newsletter 

contains articles on toxics and pollution 

prevention and tribal activities. They mail it to 

more than 680 tribes and tribal organizations. 

Grants Workshops 

Grants Workshop for FY97 Small 

Grants Recipients 

Region 4 

On October 30-31, 1997, the Region’s 

Environmental Justice Program hosted its first 

Grants Workshop. More than 30 people attended 

representing 18 organizations throughout the 

southeast. The Region’s Environmental Justice 

Program designed this workshop to: (1) orient 

grantees on Federal grants/financial 

administration processes and procedures; (2) 

provide an overview of Region 4's organization 

and programs; and (3) provide a forum for 

grantees to network and to exchange ideas and 

information. A Small Grants Writing Conference 

was planned for potential grantees during FY99. 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.11 
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Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

Grants Workshops, Networking, and 

Grantee Coordination 

Region 8 

Region 8's Environmental Justice Program 

staff developed and presented a series of 

Environmental Justice Grants workshops for the 

public beginning in September and ending in 

December 1998. EPA made a special effort to 

reach out to communities in more rural areas, 

including: Casper, Wyoming; Meeker, Colorado; 

Jamestown, North Dakota; and the Lower Brule 

Reservation, South Dakota. The staff also 

conducted workshops in Salt Lake City, Utah, and 

Pueblo, Colorado. 

The purpose of the workshops was to 

provide interested organizations and agencies 

information about the Environmental Justice 

Small Grants and the Pollution Prevention grant 

programs, illustrations of projects applicable to 

each of these programs, assistance in preparing 

grant proposals, and information about the life 

cycle of the grants process. The Grants Workshop 

included the development of a 75-page 

overhead/slide presentation, handout materials 

and evaluation forms. Participants were contacted 

after the workshop and the feedback was very 

positive. The success of these workshops will be 

measured by increases in the number of submitted 

proposals and the improved quality of the content 

of the proposals. 

Other 

Lead Outreach and Education 

Region 1 

Region 1 has funded several lead 

outreach projects directed toward low- income, 

minority and disadvantaged “at risk” populations. 

This funding comes from a variety of sources 

within the Agency, including Regional 

Geographic Initiative funds for the Region’s 

Northeast Lead (Pb) Initiative, the Urban 

Environmental Initiative (“UEI”), Toxic 

Substances Control Act (TSCA) State Grants, 

TSCA discretionary extramural funds, and 

EMPACT funds. A partial list of projects 

follows: 

C Through a TSCA grant to the Connecticut 

Department of Public Health, the 

University of Connecticut Cooperative 

Extension Service produced the manual, 

“What You Should Know About Lead 

Poisoning, a Resource Manual for Child 

Care Providers.” The manuals are 

available in both English and Spanish. 

C Through its Northeast Pb Initiative, 

Region 1 funded the development of 

“Healthy Beginnings: Lead Safe 

Families,” which is an “English as a 

Second Language” Curriculum. The 

curriculum teaches immigrants about lead 

poisoning prevention, and other urban 

dangers. 

C Region 1 worked with other local 

governmental, community, and private 

sector experts to produce the following 

documents: “Healthy Yard,” “Is Your 

Yard Lead Proof,” “Controlling Lead in 

Soils, Soil Abatement Specifications,” 

and “Informational Report of the Lead in 

Soils Charette.” The documents are 

targeted at landlords, tenants, and 

homeowners. The Northeast Pb Initiative 

provided funding for these publications. 

Urban Toxics 

Region 1 

Region 1's Environmental Justice 

Pollution Prevention Program and UEI support a 

coalition of six Boston nonprofit organizations to 

prevent urban toxic pollution. This project is in 

its second year. Building on technical assistance 

and tools developed in the first year of support, 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.12 
 Chapter 2 

Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

the coalition links resident-driven environmental 

assessments in six new neighborhoods to a 

citywide network. 

Environmental Justice Stakeholder 

Meeting 

The Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water 

held stakeholder meetings to address 

environmental justice issues arising from the 

implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act 

Amendments in: Boston; New York; Edison, NJ; 

Philadelphia; Atlanta; Chicago; Kansas City; 

Dallas; Denver; San Francisco; and Washington, 

DC. 

The project also provides education 

information about: (1) environmental issues in 

public housing; (2) pollution prevention assistance 

to local small businesses such as drycleaners, nail 

salons, film developers, and printers; (3) 

information addressing resident concerns about 

urban transportation; and (4) environmental 

education information for individuals to prevent 

pollution in their daily lives. 

Environmental Justice Community 

Pilot Training Course 

Region 4 

Region 4 is partnering with local groups 

(Save the People of Brunswick, Georgia, and the 

Southern Organizing Committee for Economic & 

Social Justice of Atlanta, Georgia) in the 

development of the “Environmental Justice 

Community Pilot Training Course.” The goal of 

the pilot training course is to increase overall 

awareness and use community-based monitoring 

and environmental enforcement. The objectives 

of the pilot training course are to: 

C Develop a model framework for future 

community-based training. 

C Provide communities with knowledge that 

will enhance their understanding of 

opportunities for roles in 

community-based monitoring and 

environmental enforcement. 

C Establish partnerships with federal, state, 

and local governments, community 

groups, academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations. 

Office of Ground Water and Drinking 

Water Environmental Justice Stakeholder 

Meeting 

On March 12, 1998, the Office of Ground 

Water and Drinking Water held a stakeholder 

meeting to address environmental justice issues 

arising from the implementation of the Safe 

Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996. The 

meeting occurred simultaneously in eleven cities 

via a video conference to increase the opportunity 

for attendance. The meeting was held in: Boston; 

New York City; Philadelphia; Atlanta; Chicago; 

Kansas City; Dallas; Denver; San Francisco; 

Edison, NJ; and Washington, D.C. 

The purpose of the meeting was to 

identify issues and solicit input from stakeholders 

and the public at large on several proposed 

drinking water regulations. Specifically, EPA 

addressed efforts to develop new regulations for 

radon, arsenic, ground water disinfection, 

enhanced surface water treatment, disinfection 

byproducts, and filter backwash recycling. 

One hundred and sixty nine people 

attended the meeting, of which sixty one were 

EPA employees. The other stakeholders were 

from environmental organizations, church groups, 

community groups, tribes, public health 

organizations, academia, industry, and the general 

public. The stakeholders emphasized that: (1) the 

health effects data should be the most heavily 

weighted issue for setting standards; (2) EPA 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.13 
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Public Participation, Outreach, and Training 

should try harder to reach out to minority and/or 

low-income populations; and (3) EPA should 

provide understandable information to the public 

in a timely manner so that stakeholders have time 

to respond and have their input become part of the 

regulatory process. 

To be sure, the activities described 

above do not solely represent the entire universe 

of governmental activities regarding public 

participation, outreach, and training with respect 

to environmental justice. Rather, it is a 

“snapshot” of activities representing the 

transition to a collaborative and constructive 

problem-solving approach. These examples 

demonstrate the Office of Environmental 

Justice’s mission to engage the community as 

earlier as possible in the process and to provide 

them with the necessary tools to participate 

meaningfully in the decision-making process. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 2.14 
 Chapter 3 

Assessment Methodologies, Community-Based Studies, Targeting, and Science 

The proliferation of environmental justice 

assessment methodologies and community-based 

studies are another indication of the changing 

nature of environmental justice at the Agency. 

Rather than addressing allegations of 

environmental justice issues on an ad hoc basis, 

EPA has begun to systematically identify, assess, 

prioritize, and allocate resources to review those 

concerns. 

In doing so, the Agency expects to manage 

and deliver environmental information in a form 

that is user-friendly to all segments of the public. 

By providing information through various data 

systems (e.g., Internet), educational materials, and 

analytic tools, the Agency anticipates that the 

accessibility of useful material will increase. In 

turn, this increase of available data and tools will 

allow communities to participate more 

meaningfully in the environmental decisionmaking process. 

The following chapter presents a brief 

synopsis of activities that have been performed in 

enhancing our ability to quantitatively address 

situations of environmental injustice. 

Assessment Methodologies 

Potential Risk Indexing System 

The Potential Risk Indexing System (PRIS) 

is a Geographic Information System (GIS) based 

risk screening methodology that ranks areas of 

concern (i.e., facilities, industrial sectors, 

geographic areas) using multimedia chemical 

releases data, chemical toxicities, and selected 

demographics of surrounding populations. Coupled 

with compliance history and complaint patterns, 

PRIS may provide a comprehensive and interactive 

information base for environmental justice 

assessments, comparative risk analysis, and 

enforcement actions. An interoffice workgroup 

supports this project, including: EPA regional 

offices, the Office of Research and Development 

(ORD), the Office of Special Projects (OSP), and 

the Office of Enforcement Compliance and 

Assurance (OECA). 

To access the data, the user specifies any 

state in the continental United States (the 

contiguous 48 states). The system automatically 

creates a color-coded map showing areas of 

relatively high release and toxicity, giving a 

screening estimate of impact. The system also 

contains census data to ascertain minority and 

poverty demographics as well as several other 

factors that may influence the relative vulnerability 

of sub-populations. 

Environmental Justice 

Assessment Guidance 

Environmental Justice GIS Application 

Region 2 

Region 2 developed an Environmental 

Justice GIS application to support the Region 2 

“Interim Policy on Identifying Environmental 

Justice Areas” (IP). The GIS has a user-friendly 

interface that provides Region 2 staff and managers 

with a simple tool for going through the steps 

outlined in the Draft IP methodology for 

identifying environmental justice potential areas 

of concern. 

Currently, the IP pilot group is using the 

GIS to test the approach. They have defined the 

boundaries of five pilot communities using the GIS 

and the demographic statistics for those 

communities and analyzing the information in 

comparison to reference communities. This 

information will be used to determine the existence 

of disproportionate environmental impacts. The 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 3.1 
 Chapter 3 

Assessment Methodologies, Community-Based Studies, Targeting, and Science 

pilot group is currently investigating the utility of 

different methods for assessing allegations of 

environmental justice issues. 

Region 5 

Region 5 developed several tools for 

regional staff to use for identifying and mapping 

potential environmental justice areas/cases. One of 

those tools is the Waste, Pesticides, and Toxics 

Division’s “Region 5 Mapping Data Assessment 

Program with environmental justice Capability” 

GIS program. This program, developed in 

partnership with the Indiana Department of 

Environmental Management, is an interactive GIS 

tool available to Region 5 staff and the public via 

the Internet. 

Demographic Mapper 

Region 3 

Four divisions within Region 3 have 

coordinated their efforts to create the Demographic 

Mapper, a user-friendly GIS tool. The system 

enables Region 3 to describe the demographics 

surrounding a selected site and identify sites with 

potential environmental injustice concerns. 

The Demographic Mapper includes a series 

of criteria to test the selected site for environmental 

justice issues. These criteria were derived from the 

Vulnerability Index (renamed PRIS - see above) 

and include: (1) minority status; (2) poverty status; 

and (3) other indicators of potential vulnerability 

(e.g., age, education, household environments, and 

employment status). The tool provides a consistent 

approach to the identification of environmental 

justice communities. 

Interim Environmental Justice 

Guidelines 

Region 5 

In June 1998, Region 5 released the 

“Revised Region 5 Interim Guidelines for 

Identifying and Addressing Potential 

Environmental Justice Cases.” This guideline 

outlines a process for Region 5 management and 

staff to use when determining whether an issue 

should be considered a potential environmental 

injustice case. The guideline also recommends a 

variety of options (e.g., EPA-lead enforcement, 

permitting, community involvement activities) to 

address identified problems. 

Stakeholder participation in the 

development of the guidelines was an essential part 

of the design. During the development of these 

guidelines, Region 5 conducted a peer review 

process, requesting review and comment from 

more than 100 Federal, and state government, 

tribal, community, industry, and academia 

representatives. The Revised Interim Guidelines 

document can be found on Region 5's 

environmental justice home page at 

http://www.epa.gov/envjustice/ejguidelines.html 

. 

Targeting Studies 

Sector Facility Indexing Project 

In 1998, EPA launched the Sector Facility 

Indexing Project (SFIP). The SFIP is a program 

that is intended to integrate and provide access to 

more environmental information than has ever been 

available before to the public. The SFIP profiles 

approximately 650 individual facilities in five 

industrial sectors: (1) automobile assembly; (2) 

pulp manufacturing; (3) petroleum refining; 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 3.2 
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Assessment Methodologies, Community-Based Studies, Targeting, and Science 

(4)iron; and (5) steel production and the primary 

smelting and refining of aluminum, copper, lead, 

and zinc (i.e., nonferrous metals). 

Providing ready access to such data gives 

communities the necessary information to engage 

in constructive dialogue and to reach informed 

decisions. Moreover, it also encourages industry to 

take more responsibility regarding their activities 

and the resulting impact on the environment. The 

multimedia information included for each facility 

includes: (1) the number of inspections; (2) 

compliance with Federal regulations; (3) 

enforcement actions taken; (4) chemical releases 

and spills; (5) background on location; (6) 

production capacity; and (7) the population of the 

surrounding area. The SFIP assists in addressing 

allegations of environmental injustice concerns by 

giving both citizens and industry the knowledge to 

work toward creating healthy communities and 

social well-being. EPA also provides all users of 

the SFIP the opportunity to comment on any aspect 

of the project. The SFIP web site is available on 

the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/oeca/sfi. 

Public Access to Information 

EPA has supported and enhanced the 

public’s ability to retrieve and analyze 

environmental information that affects them on a 

daily basis. EPA continues to improve the 

Envirofacts Warehouse Internet access 

(www.epa.gov/enviro). Among other modifications, 

the Agency has increased data availability 

regarding facility-level permits under many 

regulatory programs. 

Additionally, EPA added an EnviroMapper and Maps on Demand function to 

Envirofacts. These new Internet tools will allow 

users to map search/data results for their local 

communities. This tool is available through the 

Agency’s web site at 

http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/qmr.html. 

EPA also opened the doors to the Center for 

Environmental Information and Statistics site, a 

clearinghouse for a wide variety of environmental 

quality data, located on 

http://www.epa.gov/ceisweb1/index.html. 

In 1999, another enhancement has been 

added to the information tools to make the data 

more user-friendly for novice users. This 

enhancement will also expand the mapping 

capabilities to include the relevant health and 

demographic data surrounding a facility. This tool 

will be available through the Agency’s web site 

through Envirofacts at 

http://www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html 

Finally, public access to information about 

enforcement and compliance records continues to 

improve. The Integrated Data for Enforcement 

Analysis (IDEA) allows the public to search 

compliance and enforcement records. This tool 

combines more than ten EPA databases, and 

allows users to compare information in many 

different ways. The year 1998 marked the 

beginning of a new improved Windows version of 

the IDEA system. Enhancements to the IDEA 

system in 1998 included a new “Detailed Facility 

Profile” that provides the inspection, violation, and 

enforcement history of each facility, along with a 

comprehensive demographic profile of the 

surrounding area. 

Targeting Federal Facilities 

Enforcement 

In June 1997, the Federal Facilities 

Enforcement Office (FFEO) of OECA issued a 

report entitled, “Environmental Justice 

Enforcement Initiatives at federal Facilities.” This 

initiative combined the most current Toxics 

Release Inventory (TRI) data, and data reported by 

Federal facilities and enforcement and compliance 

agencies to target facilities in low-income and/or 

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Assessment Methodologies, Community-Based Studies, Targeting, and Science 

minority communities for enforcement and 

compliance actions. 

Targeting - Criminal Enforcement 

Region 3 

In 1996, the Office of Criminal 

Enforcement, Forensics and Training (OCEFT) 

requested the development of a tool that would 

allow EPA criminal investigators to better screen 

cases and decide which cases are located in 

potential environmental justice areas. The result, 

the “Demographic Mapper,” allows users to type in 

a site location and obtain an accurate demographic 

picture of the area’s minority and low-income 

make-up. 

The program officially debuted in FY 1998 

and has been highly effective in creating 

demographic maps and as a screening tool for 

identifying potential environmental justice areas 

of concern. As of this writing, the Demographic 

Mapper program is being placed on CD ROMs to 

be shipped to the regions. 

Enforcement Targeting 

Region 6 

Region 6's enforcement targeting 

procedure ranks industrial facilities by estimating 

the potential risk each facility poses to human 

health and the environment. The system evaluates 

the population demographics of a community 

located within a four-mile radius of TRI industries. 

Each facility’s air and water emissions are scored 

to address the effects of cumulative impacts. 

Communities in proximity to individual or 

clustered TRI industries are identified and ranked, 

based on the potential impacts of the industrial 

facilities on each community. The methodology 

calculates a “Human Health Risk Index” and an 

“Environmental Justice Index.” Those facilities 

located in areas with a high Human Health Risk 

Index and Environmental Justice Index scores are 

targeted for inspection and enforcement activities. 

Community Assessments 

Study of Incinerators’ Impacts, 

Lawrence, Massachusetts 

Region 1 

Region 1 provided a grant to JSI, Inc., to 

assist community groups in addressing 

environmental issues in Lawrence, Massachusetts. 

JSI is a public health, nonprofit, consulting firm 

with extensive experience working with 

community groups. The grant continues EPA’s 

collaboration with the Greater Lawrence 

Community Health Network to assemble and 

compile area health statistics based on 

environmental data collected by different state 

agencies. JSI will also develop a matrix of 

community health and environmental data to 

present to the community in order for residents to 

identify data gaps or areas of additional concern. 

South/Southwest Philadelphia 

Environmental Health 

Characterization Study 

Region 3 

In December 1994, Region 3 began a 

Community-Based Environmental Project in 

South/Southwest Philadelphia. The project was 

initiated in response to community concerns that 

their area of Philadelphia was subject to an 

inordinate amount of industrial development which 

resulted in higher than average pollutant levels and, 

therefore, adversely impacted the health of the 

community. The Region entered into a two-year 

Cooperative Agreement with the John Hopkins 

University School of Hygiene and Public Health to 

conduct an Environmental and Health 

Characterization of South/Southwest Philadelphia. 

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Assessment Methodologies, Community-Based Studies, Targeting, and Science 

The purpose of the study was to determine the state 

of the environment using existing databases and to 

develop a health profile of the community. 

During the course of the study, the Johns 

Hopkins University (JHU) study team assembled a 

Community Advisory Committee (CAC) composed 

of representatives of federal, state and local 

governments, community organizations and a 

Science Advisory Committee (SAC) comprised of 

representative of local universities and health 

organizations. 

The study, published in 1997, presented 

recommendations such as improving and increasing 

the links between the community, industry, 

academia and government, as well as filling in the 

gaps in the understanding of community exposures 

by developing strategies to measure the level of 

key pollutants in the environment. 

South Baltimore Environmental justice

Community

Involvement Partnership Project 

Region 3 

South Baltimore EJ Community 

Involvement Partnership Project 

The project established a partnership among: 

EPA; Region 3; Maryland Department of 

Environment (MDE); the City of Baltimore; area 

business and industry; and the residents of the 

communities of Cherry Hill, Brooklyn, Brooklyn 

Park, Curtis Bay, Fairfield, Hawkins Point, and 

Wagner’s Point. 

This project focused on the use of 

community cooperative partnerships to help EPA 

address concerns of low-income and/or minority 

communities. At a facilitated public meeting, 

approximately two hundred community residents 

from the South Baltimore area developed a list of 

their environmental concerns and prioritized them. 

Working groups (co-chaired by a community 

resident and an area business or industry 

representative) were formed to develop action 

plans for environmental improvement. The Air 

Subcommittee, for example, conducted a screening 

exercise designed to inventory pollutants in the air 

in South Baltimore. 

Exposure Studies/Other 

Mexican Border Human Exposure 

Study 

An international coalition including EPA, 

the Republic of Mexico, and border states has 

undertaken efforts to study and improve 

environmental conditions along the U.S./Mexico 

border. The EPA Office of Research and 

Development, for example, is engaged in the 

following projects which included an 

environmental justice component: 

< The Border Health Alert and Disease 

Outbreak and Environmental Health 

Organization and Information. 

< The Lower Rio Grande Valley 

Transboundary Air Pollution Project. 

< The Pesticide Exposure and Adverse 

Health Effects in Young Children Along 

the U.S. - Mexico Border. 

< The Retrospective Study on Pediatric 

Asthma and Air Quality. 

< The Texas Neural Tube Defect Project. 

< The U.S.-Mexico Border Geographic 

Information System (GIS) for 

Environmental Health. 

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Assessment Methodologies, Community-Based Studies, Targeting, and Science 

< 

The U.S.-Mexico Border XXI Initiative for 

Pediatric Lead Exposure Identification and Risk 

Reduction. 

< The National Human Exposure 

Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) Border 

Project. 

Hazardous Air Pollutants in Urban 

Areas 

The Office of Air Quality Planning and 

Standards (OAQPS) is in the process of developing 

a draft strategy which will include a methodology 

for identifying priority Hazardous Air Pollutants 

(HAPs) in urban areas. Data will be drawn from a 

wide variety of sources, and pollutants will be 

analyzed on the basis of their toxicity and 

exposure potential. The results, by area, will allow 

the identification of possible environmental justice 

hot spots. 

The OAQPS expects the issue of 

environmental justice to be an important 

component of the risk identification and risk 

management phase of the program. During the 

development of the draft strategy, consideration 

will be given to developing an outreach program to 

address allegations of environmental injustice. 

Community Conducted Air Monitoring 

Portland, Oregon 

EPA funded a research project which will 

allow residents of northwest Portland, Oregon to 

conduct air monitoring studies in their 

neighborhoods. They will create an emissions 

inventory of large point sources in the area. Small 

sources will be mapped using the GIS database of 

the local government. Sampling for gaseous and 

particulate pollutants will be conducted by the 

residents themselves with guidance from the 

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. 

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Confronting Environmental Justice Problems 

This chapter highlights a wide variety of 

allegations of environmental injustice and their 

solutions. The allegations described here include 

those that communities have identified and those 

which EPA found through some form of an 

assessment. In many instances, EPA is working 

with the communities and other stakeholders to 

develop solutions. EPA believes that impacted 

communities frequently have critical knowledge 

and the requisite ability to help resolve local 

environmental issues. 

Pesticide Problems and Solutions 

Pesticide Worker Protection 

The Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) 

supports the implementation of the EPA’s Worker 

Protection Standards. The Department of Health 

and Human Services’(HHS), Office of Migrant 

Health, estimates that there are 2.7 million 

migrant and seasonal farm workers and 

dependents nationwide. Of that number, 800,000 

are migrant farm workers and dependents who are 

overwhelmingly minority (Hispanic) and lowincome. 

OPP conducted a series of public field 

hearings so that the EPA could hear directly from 

growers and farm workers on issues of worker 

protection. OPP published the transcripts of the 

public hearings and began assembling lessons 

learned for a report. 

Other actions OPP has underway to 

improve standards and/or their enforcement 

include: 

C Revising exposure assessment standard 

operating procedures to better 

characterize pesticide exposure involving 

spray drift and other residential 

exposures. These exposures may occur 

from pesticide use in nearby agricultural 

areas or from agricultural workers who 

may carry pesticide residues into the 

home. 

• Assessing the implementation and 

enforcement of the agricultural farmworker’s protection regulation. The 

assessment will include the establishment 

of a worker protection group composed of 

EPA, the Department of Agriculture 

(USDA), the Department of Labor 

(DOL), the HHS, state regulators, state 

extension service safety educators, farm 

worker advocacy groups, farm worker 

service/training associations, agricultural 

employer associations, farm worker 

clinicians’ networks, and others. 

• Co-funding the collection of actual data 

on pesticide exposures in five states: 

California, New York, Texas, Oregon and 

Florida. 

• Initiating a multi-agency effort to create a 

national plan for increasing training and 

awareness among health care providers of 

pesticide-related health conditions. This 

initiative, "Pesticides and National 

Strategies for Health Care Providers," is 

led by the EPA in partnership with the 

DOL, the HHS and the USDA. 

DuPont Penalized for Violating Worker 

Protection Standard 

While EPA attempts to work with 

stakeholders when a violation occurs, the Agency 

also takes appropriate enforcement actions. 

Federal law requires pesticide labels to warn 

workers of risks and to direct them to take proper 

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precautions. In a landmark decision issued April 

30, 1998, an administrative law judge of the 

Environmental Appeals Board imposed the largest 

administrative penalty in the Agency’s history 

against E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DuPont) 

for violating these requirements. 

DuPont will pay $1.89 million for 

ignoring EPA orders to stop shipping pesticides 

with labels that omitted protective eye wear 

warnings required by the Worker Protection 

Standards (WPS). The WPS was promulgated 

under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and 

Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) in August 1992, to 

reduce the number of pesticide-related illnesses 

and injuries to agricultural workers from on-thejob pesticide exposures. 

Worker Protection Standard 

Region 10 

Region 10 collaborated with 

representatives from state government, and 

academic, industry, and nonprofit organizations to 

assess and help ensure compliance with the WPS. 

The collaborative group developed a bilingual 

survey designed to determine the extent of farm 

worker knowledge of existing regulations, the 

extent to which federal regulations are 

implemented, and the effectiveness of the 

regulations once they are implemented. One 

hundred and ninety-four surveys were completed 

and analyzed. A Final Report and 

Recommendations are expected in the latter part 

of 1999. 

Methyl Parathion Pesticide 

Contamination 

Region 5 found methyl parathion in 

dozens of Chicago-area homes. Methyl parathion 

is a pesticide, which is restricted by law, for use 

on farm crops. Although methyl parathion is 

highly toxic, it degrades relatively quickly 

outdoors, it breaks down slowly indoors and 

remains toxic for a much longer time. 

The response to this problem included the 

following actions: (1) testing residents to 

determine the level of contamination; (2) 

relocating residents from contaminated homes; (3) 

decontaminating homes; and (4) restoring 

homes to habitable conditions. In addition, the 

illegal use of methyl parathion was found in 

Lorain County, Ohio, and Wayne County, 

Missouri, as well as in Mississippi, Louisiana, 

Tennessee, and Arkansas. 

Methyl Parathion Pesticide 

Criminal Enforcement 

Ruben Brown, doing business as Ruben 

Brown Extermination and J. D. McKinley 

Extermination, operated a pest extermination 

business without state certification for several 

years in the Chicago area. EPA investigators 

executed an administrative search warrant at 

Brown’s residence on April 9, 1997, which led to 

the seizure of containers of methyl parathion, 

spraying equipment, and spraying records. The 

records indicated that Mr. Brown had sprayed 

more than 600 residences since 1991 in the 

Chicago area. 

Brown admitted spraying the residences 

with methyl parathion between 1991 and 1996. 

He also admitted selling bottles of methyl 

parathion to individuals for spraying. The 

spraying occurred in predominantly low-income, 

African-American communities. Many of these 

households included young children. 

On December 9, 1997, Brown was 

sentenced to two years in federal prison and one 

year supervised release. As of March 11, 1998, 

Superfund had expended $9.6 million for cleanup, 

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relocation, and restoration costs associated with 

Brown’s actions. Total anticipated Superfund 

expenditures are $12 .5 million. 

Lead Problems and Solutions 

Lead in Children 

Exposure to lead can produce serious 

health effects, particularly in children. Lead 

poisoning can result in Intelligence Quotient (IQ) 

deficiencies, reading and learning disabilities, 

impaired hearing, reduced attention span, 

hyperactivity, antisocial behavior, and other 

problems. Years of using leaded gasoline and 

lead-based paint have spread this metal liberally 

throughout the environment. The problem is 

particularly acute in urban areas, and in other 

areas with older housing stock (pre-1978). 

Studies from the Centers for Disease 

Control indicate that nearly one million children 

aged one to five have elevated blood lead levels. 

The rates are highest among children who were 

non-Hispanic blacks or Mexican-American, from 

lower-income families. These families are living 

in metropolitan areas with a population greater 

than one million, or living in older housing. 

Title X (Residential Lead-Based Paint 

Hazard Reduction Act of 1992) 

Title X (Residential Lead-Based Paint 

Hazard Reduction Act of 1992) directed EPA to 

develop a national strategy to: (1) eliminate leadbased paint (LBP) hazards in housing; (2) 

establish a framework for LBP hazard evaluation 

and reduction; (3) mobilize national resources; (4) 

partner with all levels of government and the 

private sector; and (5) educate the public 

concerning the hazards and sources of LBP 

poisoning and ways to reduce or eliminate them. 

Consistent with this mandate, the Agency 

established the National Lead-Based Paint 

Professionals Training & Certification Program. 

This is an ambitious program designed to promote 

standardized training and certification programs 

nationwide. Twenty-nine states are expected to 

have authorized programs by September 1999, 

with EPA running the programs in the remaining 

twenty-one states. 

EPA has undertaken a significant 

technical program to promote the safe, effective, 

affordable monitoring and detection of lead in 

paint, dust and soil, and to abate or remove 

lead-based paint hazards in homes. More than 20 

studies have been conducted over the past six 

years to evaluate the effectiveness of: low-cost 

abatement methods; lead detection technology; 

in-home education on reducing blood lead levels; 

and dust cleaning products on various surfaces. 

In addition, studies were conducted to measure the 

effects of renovation and remodeling activities on 

home occupants and workers. These efforts 

helped form the basis for different regulatory and 

policy decisions made by the Agency since the 

passage of Title X. 

While EPA has made significant strides 

over the past twenty years to prevent childhood 

lead poisoning, the extensive need continues for 

outreach, education, technical studies, and new 

rules designed to protect human health and the 

environment. Examples of outreach and 

education include the following: 

C The Lead Hotline--National Lead 

Information Center - an 800 number (1-

800-424-LEAD) to provide the public 

access to information regarding lead 

hazards. A lead web site is also available 

to the public: 

http://www.epa.gov/lead. 

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C “Lead in Your Home: A Parent’s 

Reference Guide,” published in order to 

provide parents with useful information 

on lead in the home. 

C Tribal Lead Hazard Program 

Development Grants - Grants awarded to 

seven tribes for infrastructure 

development and identification of high 

risk communities. 

C National Cinema Pilot Project - This 

movie about lead is running in: 17 states; 

57 cities; 510 screens; 1,530 screenings 

each day; and 45,900 viewings each 

month. The pilot program has the 

potential for reaching an audience of 

almost one-half million people. 

C “Runs Better Unleaded” - A new lead 

awareness poster has been developed to 

raise public awareness for childhood lead 

poisoning prevention. 

Significant Regulations from Title X 

C Pre-renovation Information Rule - This 

rule, which was published on June 1, 

1998, requires housing renovators to 

provide, prior to commencing renovation, 

a lead hazard information pamphlet to 

owners and occupants of pre-1978 

housing stock. This rule became final on 

June 1, 1999. 

C Identification of Lead-Based Paint 

Hazards, Lead-Contaminated Dust, and 

Lead-Contaminated Soil Rule - This rule 

establishes standards for identifying leadbased paint hazards, lead-contaminated 

dust, and lead-contaminated soil. EPA 

proposed the regulation on June 3, 1998. 

EPA will revise the proposed regulation 

based on the comments received and then 

publish the final regulation and 

accompanying guidance. 

C Management and Disposal of Lead-Based 

Paint (LBP) Debris - HUD, DHHS, 

several states, advocacy groups, and the 

regulated community have expressed 

concerns about the costs of testing and 

disposal of debris containing lead-based 

paint under RCRA. The cost is a 

significant obstacle to the financing of 

lead abatement. The new standards 

proposed by TSCA allow LBP debris to 

be managed and disposed of in a more 

consistent and less costly manner. The 

rule was proposed in December 1998. 

C Buildings, Bridges, and Structures - EPA 

is developing regulations for lead-based 

paint activities in commercial and public 

buildings and structures, such as bridges 

and water tanks. EPA expects to publish 

a proposed rule in September 1999. 

C Renovation and Remodeling (R&R) Rule 

- EPA is developing regulations for R&R 

activities in target housing. These 

regulations will revise the training and 

certification regulations of 40 CFR 745 

subpart L to include those R&R activities 

which create a lead-based paint hazard. 

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Lead Projects - Region 1 

Region 1 has initiated the following projects: 

C An English as a second language 

curriculum that teaches immigrants about 

Lead Poisoning Prevention and urban 

dangers. 

C Region 1 worked with other 

governmental, community and private 

sector experts to produce the following 

guidance documents: “Healthy Yard, Is 

Your Yard Lead Proof?”; “Controlling 

Lead in Soils, Soil Abatement 

Specifications”; and “Informational 

Report of the Lead in Soils Charette.” 

The guidance documents are targeted 

toward landlords, tenants and 

homeowners and were funded by the 

Northeast Pb Initiative. 

C Region 1 funded EPA a project designed 

to monitor and abate lead in Spanish and 

Creole speaking communities. Among 

other activities, lead in soils is tested and 

graduates of the Boston Urban Gardeners 

“City Gardner Certificate Program” do 

the physical restoration work. The 

project builds on the work of the Boston 

Urban Environment Initiative (UEI), 

which was conducted over the last several 

years. Grantees include the Bowdoin 

Street Health Center, Boston University 

School of Public Health, and Garden 

Futures. 

Environmental Justice Community 

Grants - Region 3 

During 1996 and 1997, Region 3 awarded 

two environmental justice grants to community 

groups for lead-based paint projects. Region 3 

awarded the grants to Tinbridge Hill 

Neighborhood Council in Lynchburg, Virginia 

and the African American Men on a Mission in 

Baltimore, Maryland. The two groups developed 

activities to promote awareness of the dangers of 

lead-based paint. Both groups provided 

opportunities for young adults to receive training 

and education on lead poisoning prevention. They 

distributed lead cleaning kits to families, provided 

education on how to improve residential cleaning 

methods, and tested homes for lead using a dust 

wipe test. The Tinbridge Hill group also 

developed and performed in a video program 

geared to educate people on proper lead dust 

reduction cleaning techniques. 

Enforcement of Lead Paint Notification 

Requirements 

EPA issued its first administrative civil 

penalties against alleged violators of the “Real 

Estate Notification and Disclosure Rule” 

(Disclosure Rule), under the Residential Lead 

Based-Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. The 

four complaints have penalties totaling $439,725 

and involved properties occupied by families with 

young children. EPA and the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 

promulgated joint regulations, effective 

September 6, 1996, for the disclosure of 

information regarding lead-based paint in housing 

built before 1978. 

Under the Disclosure Rule, sellers, 

landlords, and agents must provide purchasers and 

tenants with an EPA-approved lead hazard 

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information pamphlet. The Disclosure Rule also 

gives purchasers a ten-day period to inspect 

housing units for the presence of lead-based paint 

and associated hazards. Finally, the Disclosure 

Rule requires that sale and leasing contracts 

include certain notification and acknowledgment 

language. 

Subsistence Populations 

Problems and Solutions 

The standards used for determining safe 

levels of contaminants in fish may not fully 

address the habits and customs of certain 

communities that depend upon fish for a major 

source of protein in their diet. These groups, 

which can include, among others, Native 

American, African American, Asian, and lowincome communities, frequently consume greater 

quantities of fish, and different varieties of fish, 

than the population used for setting consumption 

standards. See “Environmental Equity: Reducing 

Risks for All Communities,” (EPA 1992) pp. 12-

14. These groups also consume parts of the fish 

(e.g., skin, fat, head, tai and liver) that contain 

higher pollutant levels than the portions of fish 

eaten by the general population. Therefore, these 

groups are at a comparatively higher risk for 

adverse health effects resulting from fish 

consumption than the general population, as a 

whole. 

Subsistence Populations 

Subsistence fishers, particularly Native Americans, 

African-Americans, Asian-Americans and low-income 

fishers consume greater amounts of fish than the 

population used to determine the “standards” for safe 

levels of contaminants in fish. These populations may 

consume parts of the fish (e.g., skin, fat, and liver) that 

contain higher pollutant levels, and are therefore at 

higher risk for health effects due to higher exposure. 

Several projects sponsored by Region 10 

are examining consumption habits of various 

populations to determine the degree of risk to 

these populations. EPA has also summarized 

available studies on fish consumption for various 

recreational and subsistence fishers in its 

“Technical Support Document for the Ambient 

Water Quality Criteria Derivation Methodology 

for Human Health,” (USEPA July 1998, EPA822-B-98-005). 

Great Waters Program 

Region 5 is the lead region for the Great 

Waters Program, a consortium of groups, which 

studies the effects of atmospheric deposition of 

toxic air pollutants into the Great Lakes and other 

water bodies. 

Elevated levels of mercury, 

polychlorinated-biphenyls (PCBs), and 

dioxin/furan in fish tissues have been linked, in 

some cases, to atmospheric sources of these 

pollutants. The populations most at risk are 

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Native Americans, African-Americans, AsianAmericans and low-income fisherman who

consume large quantities of contaminated 

fish.

Fish Consumption Advisories 

The states and tribes report information to 

EPA’s Office of Water (OW) on the development 

and issuance of fish consumption advisories. This 

information is used to develop the “National 

Listing of Fish Consumption Advisories.” The 

listing has recently added fish tissue data used by 

the states and tribes for making advisory 

determinations. The National Listing of 

Advisories includes tissue data submitted by eight 

states, which should increase in the future. The 

database is currently available for downloading at 

the Internet site: 

http://www.epa.gov/OST/fishadvice. 

In 1997, EPA issued the first “Federal 

Fish Consumption Advisory” designed to protect 

individuals consuming fish from the Great Lakes 

bordering the State of Michigan. EPA used fish 

tissue data provided by the state. 

Mexican Border Problems and 

Solutions 

For the people living along the U.S. 

border with Mexico, there continues to be a 

special set of problems and circumstances. Many 

people living along the border are poor, nonEnglish speaking, and not U.S. citizens, who 

reside in communities known as Colonias. 

Colonias are Hispanic rural neighborhoods and 

unincorporated subdivisions in or near cities in 

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California 

along the U.S.-Mexico border. As a result, they 

make up some of the least politically empowered 

and uninformed communities on environmental 

issues in the country. 

Texas and New Mexico Colonias 

Program 

Public health and environmental problems 

created by the lack of safe drinking water and 

sewer services are affecting unincorporated 

communities located along the U.S./Mexico 

Border. The State of Texas has identified 1,500 

Colonias representing 350,000 people. The State 

of New Mexico estimates 20,500 people live in 

Colonias, within the state. 

The Regional Colonia Assistance 

Program, as part of the U.S./Mexico Border 

environmental program, has provided grant funds 

to Texas and New Mexico to assist with needs 

identified for wastewater and plumbing. During 

fiscal years 1993 to 1998, Congress appropriated 

a total of $315.3 million for Texas and $20.2 

million for New Mexico. To date, the total 

federal commitments for wastewater projects 

completed or currently underway represent more 

than $230 million in Texas and $8 million in New 

Mexico. More than 150,000 people living in the 

Colonias will benefit from these programs. 

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Colonia Enforcement Initiative 

The Region 6 Colonia Enforcement 

Initiative is committed to looking for cases where 

developers are responsible for contamination of 

underground sources of drinking water. When 

the Colonias are built, the purchasers are 

promised proper sanitary services. However, they 

often have substandard wastewater facilities 

which contaminate local groundwater and threaten 

the water supply. 

Using the emergency powers of the Safe 

Drinking Water Act, Region 6 can take action 

against the developers. The U.S Attorney filed a 

civil complaint, on behalf of the EPA 

Administrator, against developers Rio Bravo 

Farms, Ltd., et. al (Pecotos Corp., Cuna del Valle, 

Ltd. and CDV Investments). The developers 

agreed in a consent decree, filed April 17, 1997, to 

provide residents with immediate/temporary 

access to a public water source and a permanent 

connection to public water. As of January 1, 

1999, a public water system is serving eighty six 

out of eighty eight residences. 

Concentrated Animal Feeding 

Operations 

Over the past several years, Concentrated 

Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) have been 

at the center of a number of environmental justice 

complaints and highly visible ecological 

problems. 

To address these problems, EPA is 

revising effluent guideline regulations for CAFOs. 

The Agency promulgated the existing regulation 

in 1974, and required zero discharge from 

CAFOs with more than 1,000 animal units. 

However, the regulations did not specifically 

address the land application of the manure from 

the CAFO, which has become a significant 

environmental issue today. Runoff from 

excessive or improper application of manure can 

be a significant source of pollution. 

EPA is also revising the implementing 

regulation which specifies how CAFOs are 

permitted through the National Pollutant 

Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The 

effluent guidelines regulation will be revised in 

two phases. The first phase will address swine 

and poultry CAFOs. Those regulations are 

scheduled to be proposed in December 1999. The 

second phase will address dairy and beef cattle 

CAFOs, and will be proposed in December 2000. 

The revisions to the implementing regulation are 

scheduled to be proposed in conjunction with the 

swine and poultry effluent regulation. 

Animal Feeding Operations 

“Feedlots” have been at the center of a number 

of environmental justice complaints and highly 

visible ecological problems (e.g., new hog 

operations in poor African-American 

communities in eastern North Carolina and the 

possibility of pfiesteria outbreaks). 

EPA, in conjunction with the USDA, 

issued a strategy paper for controlling pollutant 

releases from CAFOs on September 11, 1998. 

The strategy can be found on EPA’s web site. 

.http://www.epa.gov/owm/afo.htm. 

While the current regulations are being 

revised, EPA and the states are working to better 

implement the current regulations. Better 

compliance is a major part of the new 

implementation strategy. In March 1998, the 

Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance 

issued a multi-year plan for the Agency’s 

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compliance efforts for CAFOs. Coordination with 

states through their development of state 

compliance strategies is key to meeting the goal of 

inspecting all facilities and addressing 

environmental justice concerns. 

Communities With Multiple 

Problems; Working Toward 

Solutions 

Many communities have numerous 

environmental problems to deal with. The 

following are examples of communities trying to 

help solve their problems through empowerment, 

partnerships with government and industry, and 

community-based assessments of their 

environment. Often EPA assists these efforts by 

awarding grants to the communities taking action. 

Child Health Champion Campaign 

(CHC) 

The City of Prichard, Alabama has a 

population of 34,000 - 80% percent of which is 

minority, with 44% living below the poverty level. 

A significant number of children have blood lead 

levels exceeding the Centers for Disease Control 

threshold of concern. Prichard is also in one of 

the top ten contaminated counties in the country 

based on Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data. 

Eight Mile Creek, which meanders through the 

city, is considered the most contaminated 

watershed in the state. 

Pric hard received, in cooperative 

agreement funding $35,000 from EPA, for the 

first phase of the Child Health Champion (CHC) 

Campaign. This new pilot program will provide 

$135,000 over a two-year period to help identify 

and prioritize sources of environmental risks to 

children. The CHC will then implement actions 

to address those concerns. The City of Prichard 

is also a brownfields pilot project and a recipient 

of an Environmental Justice Grant from the Office 

of Environmental Justice to identify, disseminate 

information about, and address environmental 

threats. 

Baltimore Urban Environmental 

Initiative 

The Baltimore Urban Environmental 

Initiative, is a major project being conducted in 

Baltimore, in cooperation with the Maryland 

Department of the Environment (MDE), the 

Baltimore City Health Department, and the 

Baltimore City Planning Department. This 

cooperative effort will identify and rank areas of 

disproportionate risk. It will use this information 

to implement risk reduction, pollution prevention, 

public awareness, and other activities. Grants 

awarded to the City of Baltimore and the MDE 

have already lead to the development of a number 

of projects designed to address environmental 

concerns. The initiative has: 

• Provided more than five thousand leaddust cleaning kits and training to citizens 

living in areas at high-risk for lead-based 

paint exposure. Lead awareness and 

education videos have been completed 

and provided to health care agencies in all 

twenty-four Maryland subdivisions. A 

study to evaluate the effectiveness of 

these cleanups is nearing completion. 

• Provided training to heating, ventilating 

and air conditioning workers in the 

Baltimore City public schools. The 

training will help to improve indoor air 

quality in the schools by improving the 

efficiency and operation of school heating 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 4.9 
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Confronting Environmental Justice Problems 

and cooling systems. An 

evaluation program to measure 

the program’s effectiveness has 

been completed. 

• Provided a grant to the MDE for a 

comprehensive fish consumption survey 

of subsistence fishermen in Baltimore 

Harbor. The survey data are being used 

to develop education and outreach 

strategies for the area regarding 

subsistence fishing and fish consumption, 

as well as to provide valid fish 

consumption data for risk estimates. 

Assessment of crab consumption is 

underway at this time. 

. 

• Developed a system to inventory and 

maintain a hazardous waste database for 

businesses in Baltimore. This project was 

completed in conjunction with the 

Baltimore City Fire Department, the 

Baltimore City Departments of Health 

and Planning, the MDE, and regional 

personnel. 

South Baltimore Community 

Environmental Partnership 

Three years ago, EPA initiated a pilot 

community partnership project in south Baltimore 

and northern Anne Arundel County with 

residents, local businesses, and local, state, and 

Federal agencies. The project seeks to identify, 

assess, and address the community’s 

environmental issues. Environmental concerns 

include the high level of concentration of 

industrial and waste treatment facilities and 

brownfields site in the area. The partnership has 

achieved some notable accomplishments: 

C Harnessed a tremendous amount of 

volunteer effort to improve the 

community. Hundreds of school children 

and parents have participated in two 

major park cleanups. 

C Initiated a major environmental 

restoration project for the Masonville 

Cove area, strengthening the 

community’s link to the Chesapeake Bay 

and making available to the community a 

priceless natural resource. 

C Generated the first comprehensive model 

of the cumulative concentration of air 

toxics from all of the industrial and 

municipal facilities in the area. 

C Brought together a wide range of 

individuals, government agencies, 

businesses, and organizations to help the 

community address its problems. 

Permits - Environmental Justice 

Problems and Solutions 

Bio-Oxidation, Inc., 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 

A potential environmental injustice was 

averted in Summer 1999. As a result of an 

educated public protest and media attention, along 

with Region 3's early advisory role to 

Pennsylvania, Bio-Oxidation, Inc. voluntarily 

withdrew their permit application for the 

construction of an infectious medical waste 

autoclave facility in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

The facility was proposed for a low-income 

African American community, without full 

consideration of the community’s health and 

quality-of-life issues. The facility would also 

have greatly increased truck traffic in the area 

around the plant, as well as in an African 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 4.10 
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Confronting Environmental Justice Problems 

American neighborhood across town. 

Pilgrims, Pride Walker Creek Project 

During the permitting process for the 

Pilgrim’s Pride Walker Creek chicken processing 

plant in Camp County, Texas, issues were raised 

about impacts on an Indian burial site. The Texas 

Historical Commission and the Caddo Indian 

Tribe of Oklahoma sought resolution under the 

National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). 

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) 

between Pilgrim’s Pride Walker Creek (permittee) 

and the Texas Historical Commission required the 

inclusion of the Caddo Indian Tribe in the 

activities at the site. The permittee was required 

to comply with the MOA for continued coverage 

under the National Pollution Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for 

storm- water discharges from construction 

activities. 

EPA is working jointly with all parties to 

integrate conditions established by the Texas 

Historical Commission and the Caddo Tribe, 

under the NHPA, to preserve identified and 

suspected funerary objects and possible human 

remains at the Walker Creek construction site. 

Supplemental Environmental 

Projects 

As part of the settlement of an 

enforcement action, violators may volunteer to 

undertake supplemental environmental projects 

(SEPs). The performance of such activities may 

lower their cash penalty payment. These SEPs are 

designed to redress adverse consequences or take 

actions that are broader than a penalty alone. An 

acceptable SEP must improve, protect, or reduce 

risks to public health or the environment. One 

important legal requirement of a SEP is that there 

is a direct relationship between the SEP and the 

violation at issue. Affected communities can be 

consulted on proposed environmental justice 

provisions and, in some cases, derive 

environmental benefit from the SEP. As EPA 

continues to explore SEP provisions, the Agency 

believes that SEPs can be used as a means to 

promote community involvement in protecting 

and enhancing the public health and the 

environment. 

The Agency developed and issued a SEP 

brochure, entitled “Supplemental Environmental 

Projects”. The brochure defines the legal 

requirements for a SEP, the categories of 

acceptable SEPs and the opportunities to 

participate in the SEP process. Copies of the 

brochure are available from the EPA Enforcement 

and Compliance Docket and Information Center 

(ECDIC). Please refer to Docket No. ECP 1998-

159. 

The Sewage and Water Board of New 

Orleans Consent Decree 

As part of a June 1998 consent decree, 

credit was given to the Sewage and Water Board 

of New Orleans for a SEP. The SEP required the 

Board to address water quality issues in the Lake 

Pontchartrain area surrounding Lincoln Beach, a 

historically African-American recreational beach 

in New Orleans. The beach had been abandoned 

for many years. The Board, in concert with other 

New Orleans area organizations, proposed to 

rehabilitate the beach area and lake to allow 

recreational bathing. Given the location of the 

restoration area and the population and economic 

demographics of the surrounding area, this project 

was determined to have significant environmental 

justice benefits. The restored beach will provide 

both recreational opportunities and an 

environmental education resource for local 

citizens. 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 4.11 
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Confronting Environmental Justice Problems 

Weirton Steel Corporation 

Community residents participated in a 

$6.4 million settlement between Region 3 and 

Weirton Steel Corporation in Weirton, West 

Virginia. This enforcement action involved 

numerous criminal and civil violations of 

environmental laws. Under the provisions of the 

SEP, the Weirton Steel Corporation will install 

new air pollution control technology for its blast 

furnaces and collect meteorological data for air 

quality planning purposes. Neither action is 

required by law nor regulation, and both will 

improve area air quality and benefit the 

community. 

Relocation Problems and 

Solutions 

Many communities around the country 

believe the best solution to their problems would 

be for the community to be relocated to another 

area. While this may be their preferred solution, 

most often they cannot afford to move, because 

their homes have been devalued because of the 

environmental problem. Therefore, they seek to 

get outside assistance to relocate, usually from 

EPA. To address this issue, the Agency examined 

the problem further. 

The National Relocation Policy 

The Office of Emergency and Remedial 

Response (OERR) worked closely with the 

National Environmental Justice Advisory Council 

on the development of a National Superfund 

relocation policy. This interim policy will provide 

direction to EPA regional decision-makers on 

when to consider permanent relocation as part of 

a Superfund remedial action. This policy applies 

to National Priorities List (NPL) sites where 

remedial authority is being used. It does not affect 

previous remedy selection decisions, nor does it 

limit potentially responsible party (PRP) liability 

under CERCLA. PRPs may agree independently 

with residents (or business owners) to relocate 

them, as long as the relocation neither 

compromises, nor interferes with EPA’s sanctions 

at a site. 

The major points of this interim policy are: 

C EPA’s preference is to address the risks 

posed by the contamination by using 

well-designed methods of cleanup which 

allow people to remain safely in their 

homes and businesses; 

C EPA may consider a permanent relocation 

alternative as part of the Feasibility Study 

(FS) should certain site conditions, such 

as those described in this policy, be 

encountered; 

C EPA should involve the community early 

in the process and keep residents 

informed of activities at the site; and 

C EPA cannot conduct a permanent 

relocation of tribal members without 

tribal government concurrence. 

EPA anticipates developing a final policy after 

receiving public comments. Feedback generated 

by the regions using the interim policy and from 

stakeholders who offer comments will be 

incorporated into the final document. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 4.12 
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Confronting Environmental Justice Problems 

Other Problems and Solutions 

Use of Mercury in Religious Rituals and 

Folk Medicines 

Region 5 

A pilot study by the Office of Hispanic 

Affairs, Chicago Department of Public Health, 

found that mercury is being used in religious 

rituals and as folk medicines in Chicago’s 

Hispanic community. The study, conducted with 

the assistance of a grant from the Region 5 Air 

Quality Program, found that mercury or “azogue” 

is readily available in Chicago in religious goods 

stores called “botánicas”. The mercury is often 

used to cure ailments and provide perceived 

spiritual benefits. These uses of mercury could 

result in dangerous levels of exposure from vapor 

inhalation and ingestion. This study is the first to 

confirm significant use of mercury in the 

Midwest. A follow-up outreach effort will 

provide the affected Hispanic community with 

information on the dangers of mercury use. 

Model Tribal Environmental Policy Act 

Region 10 

The Tulalip Tribes of Washington State 

used an EPA grant to develop a model Tribal 

Environmental Policy Act (TEPA), similar to the 

NEPA. The TEPA was developed to help the 

tribes balance the competing demands of 

economic development and environmental 

protection. 

The project produced several products: 

(1) a model TEPA that tribes can use when 

reviewing development proposals; (2) a pollution 

prevention reference chart for tribes to use in 

conjunction with TEPA and NEPA activities; and 

(3) a training curriculum to enhance tribal 

understanding of, and effectiveness in, the federal 

NEPA processes. The model TEPA has been so 

successful that requests from other tribal 

governments have inundated the Tulalip Tribes 

for assistance. 

Alta Sita Neighbors 

Region 5 

This project facilitated neighborhood 

residents’ involvement in the cleanup and 

maintenance of vacant lots in the poor, minority 

neighborhood of Alta Sita in East St. Louis, 

Illinois. Workshops were held for residents to 

learn the health risks associated with illegal 

dumping and instructed them on how to remediate 

these conditions. 

Residents developed a list of illegal 

dumping sites in the neighborhood, determined 

who owned those contaminated lots, prioritized 

the list of lots, and obtained consent from the St. 

Clair County Board of Trustees to clear the 

privately owned lots. 

Block captains were trained to serve as 

the collection point for suggestions, comments, 

and information about code enforcement. They 

also lead efforts to manage and resolve problems 

which arose. The project enjoyed so much 

success that the City of East St. Louis cleared an 

additional eight vacant lots of debris and initiated 

an ongoing campaign against illegal urban 

dumping. 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 4.13 
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Confronting Environmental Justice Problems 

Heritage College, Toppenish Basin, 

WA 

Region 10 

The primary purpose of this Office of 

Environmental Justice small grant project was to 

determine the current extent of pesticide and 

fertilizer contamination in the groundwater of 

Toppenish Basin. The Toppenish Basin is the 

second largest of four basins in the area and has 

the heaviest concentration of agriculture and 

industry on the Yakima Indian Reservation. This 

effort helped to identify areas where residents are 

exposed to contaminated drinking water and target 

areas for further work. The project also provided 

on-the-job training for environmental science 

students so that the students can develop local 

expertise for ongoing monitoring of water 

activities on the Yakima Indian Reservation. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 4.14 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

This chapter describes specific 

environmental justice projects, programs, and 

accomplishments closely associated with EPA. 

These actions include activities taken by other 

Federal agencies, interagency cooperative 

programs, and implementation of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the context 

of environmental justice. 

NEPA Implementation 

As environmental justice programs 

evolves, federal agencies have started to 

coordinate better under the NEPA process. This 

coordination typically occurs at the regional level, 

where the federal action is taking place and the 

stakeholders are located. To establish closer ties 

and to understand better each other’s processes, 

regional offices of the federal government have 

begun coordinating and meeting on an ongoing 

basis. 

President Clinton specifically recognized 

the importance of identifying and addressing 

environmental justice concerns through the NEPA 

process. In his Presidential Memorandum, dated 

February 11, 1994, accompanying the Executive 

Order 12898, President Clinton required, 

“...each federal agency [to] 

analyze the environmental 

effects, including human health, 

economic and social effects, of 

federal actions, including effects 

on minority communities and 

low-income communities . . . ” 

The Presidential Memorandum 

emphasizes the importance of NEPA's public 

participation process, and directs “each federal 

agency [to] provide opportunities for community 

input in the NEPA process." The Presidential 

Memorandum further directs agencies to 

"identify potential effects and mitigation 

measures in consultation with affected 

communities, and improve the accessibility of 

meetings, crucial documents, and notices." 

Almost immediately after President 

signed the Executive Order, the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) began developing 

the “Environmental Guidance Under the 

National Environmental Policy Act” (NEPA 

Guidance). The NEPA Guidance underwent 

extensive review, both inside and outside the 

government, and was issued on December 10, 

1997. The document is available through the 

Internet. 

http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/nepanet.html. 

Other federal agencies have issued their 

own environmental justice NEPA guidance 

documents. The guidance for each agency 

applies the principles set forth in the CEQ 

NEPA guidance to situations likely to arise 

under their areas of jurisdiction. Web sites for 

the other agencies’ guidance can be found on 

http://www.epa.gov/oeca/ofa/nepaweb.html . 

NEPA Environmental Justice 

Examples 

King William Reservoir

King William County, Virginia

The Regional Raw Water Study Group 

(RRWSG), a consortium of local governments 

on Virginia’s Lower Peninsula, proposed the 

construction of a dam, fresh water reservoir, and 

a pumping station in rural King William 

County, Virginia. The dam would create a 

1,500 acre reservoir on Cohoke Creek by 

pumping water from the Mattaponi River. 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.1 
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Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

The proposed project, if implemented, 

would impact the social structure and sense of 

community of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey 

Indian tribes (the State of Virginia acknowledges 

these tribes, but the tribes do not have federal 

recognition). Construction of the reservoir and its 

potential secondary impacts, such as residential 

development, raises issues related to the 

preservation of the cultural, spiritual and 

archaeological integrity of the tribes. 

The project would also result in the loss 

of 437 acres of wetlands in the Cohoke Mill Creek 

watershed. The construction of the reservoir 

would take place within the three-mile buffer zone 

of the Mattaponi Indian Reservation. 

The tribes’ legal argument relies, in part, 

on a 1677 state treaty which does not allow any 

encroachment within a three-mile radius of the 

reservation. The tribes contend that if the state 

constructs the reservoir they will lose a fish 

hatchery. Fish hatcheries are a vital part of their 

cultural heritage and important for maintaining 

their way of life. The Mattaponi maintain that the 

reservoir will threaten their historical use of the 

river and the land within the Cohoke watershed. 

On July 1997, EPA Region 3 commented 

on the Final Environmental Impact Statement 

(FEIS). The Agency found that the FEIS did not 

contain a complete analysis of the impact the 

reservoir’s construction would have on the 

environmental justice communities in the area 

(i.e., according to the President’s Executive Order 

on Environmental Justice). Nor did the FEIS 

provide analysis on a valid wetlands replacement 

plan. Based on this finding, EPA requested that 

the Norfolk District of the Army Corps of 

Engineers require a supplement to the FEIS 

focusing on the wetland mitigation issues and the 

Native American cultural issues. 

The Army Corps of Engineers 

completed a study on the cultural impact to the 

tribes and issued a letter, dated June 4, 1999. In 

that letter, the Army Corps of Engineers 

specifically stated that: “Because the proposed 

reservoir is located between Virginia’s only two 

American Indian Reservations, and the 

proposed intake is located upstream of the 

Mattaponi Reservation, the project has the 

potential to result in disproportionately high and 

adverse environmental effects to this minority 

population as described by Executive Order 

12898." 

Region 3 continues to stress the need to 

consult with and recognize the concerns of the 

Mattaponi and Pamunkey Tribes, as well as the 

African American community within the area of 

concern. 

Proposed Outlet from Devils Lake, 

North Dakota 

Devils Lake is located in a closed basin 

in north central North Dakota. The surface area 

of Devils Lake, bordering the town of Devils 

Lake and the Fort Totten Reservation, has 

doubled since 1993. Impacts from flooding 

have been borne by the Devils Lake community 

as well as parts of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribal 

reservation. The Army Corps of Engineers is 

considering construction of an emergency outlet 

to drain Devils Lake into the Sheyenne River. 

The Army Corps of Engineers released a 

scoping document for an Environmental Impact 

Statement. EPA Region 8 is a cooperating 

agency in the NEPA process. 

The Canadian government has 

expressed concerns about the proposed outlet 

and its potential effects on the Sheyenne River, 

which flows into the Red River of the North. 

Representatives of some low-income 

communities along the Sheyenne River have 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.2 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

raised concerns about downstream impacts to 

areas that the 1997 floods on the Sheyenne and 

Red Rivers severely impacted. In addition, some 

members of the Spirit Lake Tribe have expressed 

opposition to the proposed outlet. The opposition 

is based on their concern for the spiritual value of 

the lake and what they see as interference with a 

natural process gone awry due to poor wetlands 

management practices in the Upper Basin. 

The Region 8 Environmental Justice 

Program recognized the potential for 

environmental justice issues and responded in two 

ways. The Environmental Justice Program used a 

social impact assessment methodology to 

determine the potential for environmental justice 

issues related to the outlet and overall water 

management in the Devils Lake Basin. The study 

was designed in collaboration with the Army 

Corps of Engineers staff. Input was also received 

from the State of North Dakota, the local sponsor 

of the project. This qualitative study will provide 

data about potential environmental justice issues 

in the Devils Lake area. The data may also be 

used to inform the Army Corps of Engineers 

report to Congress, and its subsequent EPA 

documentation. A number of tribal members were 

included as participants of this study and were 

asked for their ideas and input on the study itself 

as part of the interview process. 

Secondly, Region 8 staff is working with 

the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure 

compliance with NEPA. Through the efforts of a 

sociologist hired by the Region 8 Environmental 

Justice Program, a social impact assessment 

methodology will be used to determine whether 

environmental justice issues exist in the Devils 

Lake Basin. 

Bell Farms, Mellette County, 

South Dakota - Region 8 

Bell Farms and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe 

have entered into a partnership to build and 

operate what will be one of the largest hog 

production facilities in the country. The facility 

will deliver 859,000 hogs to market annually, 

and produce the manure/sewage equivalent of 

about two million people. The facility is being 

built on lands held in trust for the Rosebud 

Sioux Tribe that are located outside the 

reservation boundary, in Mellette County, South 

Dakota. The Department of the Interior’s 

Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) act of entering 

into a lease on behalf of the Tribe was subject to 

NEPA. On August 14, 1998, the BIA released 

a Final Environmental Assessment and Finding 

of No Significant Impact (FNSI) for the action. 

On October 15, 1998, EPA submitted a 

letter to the BIA detailing its comprehensive 

environmental concerns, including concerns 

relating to ground water, public access to 

information, and environmental justice 

concerns. The public and tribal members 

voiced a significant amount of opposition to the 

project. A preliminary request for an injunction 

has been filed in federal district court on behalf 

of local and national environmental and animal 

welfare groups who oppose the project. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.3 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

Examples of Interagency 

Cooperation 

Note: Additional examples of interagency 

cooperation can also be found in the “outreach,” 

“assessment,” and “solutions” sections and in the 

“other agency section” below. 

Regional Interagency Work Group on 

Environmental Justice - Region 8 

In 1997, Region 8 hosted two meetings of the 

Denver Federal Executive Board’s Task Force on 

Environmental Justice. At the first meeting, 

participants identified a need for environmental 

justice training and discussion of related topics. 

At the second meeting, held in October 1997, 

Region 8 presented an environmental justice 

training workshop for the other Federal agencies 

in attendance. Future environmental justice topics 

the Task Force would like to address are: (1) 

issues for land management agencies; (2) urban, 

tribal and rural issues; (3) use of NEPA in the 

environmental justice context; and (3) community 

involvement in the decision-making process. 

In early January 1999, the Region's 

Environmental Justice Program hosted a planning 

session with a small group of Federal agency 

representatives including: the Army Corps of 

Engineers; the Department of the Interior’s Office 

of Surface Mining; the Department of Health and 

Human Services; and the Department of Energy, 

Rocky Flats. The purpose of the planning session 

was to decide how best to reinvigorate the Denver 

environmental justice Interagency Task Force. 

The session was intended to address the needs of 

federal agency staffs with respect to information 

and problem-solving related to environmental 

justice. Based on the conclusions of the meeting, 

the agencies will hold a two to three day 

conference in the summer of 1999. The 

conference will highlight environmental justice 

activities across the Federal government and 

provide an update to Federal agencies in the 

western regions. 

Washington Navy Yard 

EPA Region 3 has entered into an 

Administrative Consent Order (ACO) with the 

Department of the Navy. The order requires the 

Navy to investigate and remediate releases from 

the 66-acre Washington Navy Yard of PCBs, 

PAHs and heavy metals detected onsite and in 

the Anacostia River. The project is being 

conducted under the authority of the Resource 

Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA). 

The ACO combines the requirements of 

RCRA and Superfund to develop remediation 

plans to address the contamination. The plans 

provide for federal and local government 

oversight of both regulatory requirements. The 

project includes coordination between both 

RCRA and Superfund program offices at EPA 

and the District of Columbia’s Environmental 

Regulatory Agency. 

The almost 200-year-old Washington Navy 

Yard is within two miles of the White House 

and its remediation raises several environmental 

justice and other concerns from the minority 

community in the vicinity. Among other things, 

the ACO requires the Navy to develop a 

community relations plan. The Navy has 

responded by establishing the Restoration 

Advisory Board to address the environmental 

justice and other concerns of the community. 

The Board meets monthly and provides a forum 

for the local citizens to participate in the 

investigation and remediation process. 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.4 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

Federal Agencies Implementing 

the Environmental Justice 

Executive Order 

Department of Justice 

The Environment and Natural Resources 

Division (ENRD) of the Department of Justice 

and the United States Attorneys’ Offices bring 

both civil and criminal cases to enforce the 

Nation’s environmental laws. In many of these 

cases, the affected communities are low-income 

and/or minority populations, or Indian tribes. The 

cleanups and other remedies that result from 

successful litigation benefit these communities. 

Several principles guide the Department’s 

environmental justice strategy in civil 

environmental enforcement. Department 

attorneys are instructed to assess each 

enforcement case to determine whether it raises 

potential environmental justice issues. In civil 

cases where environmental justice issues have 

been identified, attorneys are encouraged to 

conduct outreach to affected communities to 

promote participation in the agency decisionmaking process. 

In reaching settlements in these civil cases, 

Department attorneys also are encouraged to 

consult with the affected community when 

exploring possible SEPs. SEPs are required to 

have an adequate relationship to the alleged 

violations. In recent years, the Department has 

obtained significant settlements in several cases 

with environmental justice components. Some 

examples are: 

C United States v. Borden Chem. Co., (N.D. 

La.) On April 9, 1998, the U.S. lodged a 

settlement agreement with Borden Chemicals 

& Plastics to resolve claims that the company 

contaminated soil and groundwater with 

hazardous wastes at a chemical plant in 

Geismar, Louisiana. The Geismar facility 

is located in a highly industrialized area 

with a predominantly African-American 

population. Under the terms of the 

settlement, Borden agreed to correct the 

contamination, pay a $3.6 million civil 

penalty, and spend $3.4 million on SEPs. 

As part of the settlement process, the 

Department sought the input of citizens 

concerning appropriate SEPs, which 

included providing $400,000 to fund 

community-based programs in Ascension 

Parish, where the plant is located. 

C United States v. Rio Bravo, Ltd., (W.D. 

Tex.) In June 1997, the United States 

reached a settlement in a Safe Drinking 

Water Act (SDWA) action with Rio Bravo, 

Ltd., a Colonia developer. Colonias are a 

type of substandard housing development 

along the U.S.-Mexico border; residents 

are primarily low-income Latino 

communities. The United States alleged 

that defendants developed the Cuna del 

Valle Colonia in El Paso, Texas in a 

manner that caused the residents’ drinking 

water wells to become contaminated with 

human waste. Under the settlement, the 

defendants have constructed and will 

maintain a temporary water station at the 

Colonia to provide potable water to 

residents until residents are able to obtain 

potable water from the local public water 

authority. The defendants also agreed to 

pay any costs associated with connecting 

the residents to the public water lines. 

C United States v. Sherwin-Williams Co., 

(N.D. Ill.) In November 1997, the United 

States resolved claims against SherwinWilliams in a 39-count action alleging 

violations of four environmental laws at a 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.5 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

manufacturing plant (paint and resin) located 

in a low-income, minority area on the south 

side of Chicago. Under the decree, SherwinWilliams agreed to the following: (1) 

undertake extensive measures to assure future 

compliance with environmental laws; (2) 

investigate and remediate releases of 

hazardous substances at its facility; (3) spend 

$1.1 million on three projects to clean up 

contaminated brownfields sites; and (4) 

restore wetlands in nearby neighborhoods. 

The defendant also agreed to pay a $4.7 

million civil penalty to the United States. 

C United States v. Tenneco, (W.D. Okla.) In 

January 1997, the United States settled a Safe 

Drinking Water Act action brought on behalf 

of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma to 

obtain a fresh water supply and compensatory 

and punitive damages against the Tenneco Oil 

Company for saltwater pollution and 

degradation of land and groundwater 

resources. The pollution deprived the Sac and 

Fox Nation of its only natural water source. 

Tenneco Oil Company agreed to: (1) provide 

a permanent supply of potable water to the 

Sac and Fox Nation by constructing water 

supply wells and delivery systems on at least 

120 acres of land to be purchased by 

Tenneco; (2) install a water recovery system; 

(3) reforest a pecan grove and restore an area 

of tribal land; and (4) pay the Sac and Fox 

Nation $1.16 million in compensation for the 

contamination. 

Community Relations Service 

The Department of Justice’s Community 

Relations Service (CRS) has mediated disputes or 

provided conciliation assistance in a number of 

conflicts involving environmental justice issues. 

These include, among other examples: 

C In Athens, California, Latinos and AfricanAmericans organized to oppose the 

operation of a toxic waste station in their 

community. In Winterhaven, California, 

the Quechan Indians clashed with farmers 

over the impact of aerial pesticides spraying 

on families in the reservation. In Compton, 

California, school students and teachers 

complained about toxic fumes from repairs 

by a roofing company. In each of these 

disputes, CRS assessed the situation and 

provided conciliation assistance. 

C CRS has mediated in two cases. The 

disputes with Indian tribes were over the 

inappropriate use and treatment of sacred 

land or burial remains. In Santa Cruz, 

California, the Chumash Indians 

complained about grave robbers and 

mishandling of burial artifacts and human 

remains. In Lake Tahoe, California, the 

Washoe Indians complained about the 

damage climbers were inflicting on their 

sacred cave rocks. CRS mediated an 

agreement between the Department of the 

Interior’s National Park Service and tribes 

in Santa Cruz, and the Department of 

Agriculture’s Forest Service was able to 

find an acceptable option to meet the 

Washoe’s concerns. 

Department of Transportation 

The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) 

“Environmental Justice Order” directs the 

Operating Administrations to determine the 

most effective and efficient way of integrating 

the processes and objectives of the Executive 

Order into existing regulations and guidance. 

Each Operating Administration is working to 

effectively accomplish this effort. Listed below 

are examples of some key activities by DOT’s 

Operating Administrations to incorporate 

environmental justice principles into their 

activities: 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.6 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

• The United States Coast Guard published its 

environmental justice strategy in the Federal 

Register on April 3, 1998. The strategy 

encompasses public outreach, internal training 

and program guidance through issuance of 

Commandant Instruction. In addition, a 

policy statement on environmental justice is 

presently under review for implementation 

throughout the Coast Guard. 

C The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) 

has drafted an Order on Environmental 

Justice which integrates environmental justice 

concerns into FHA programs and activities. 

The Order is currently undergoing final 

review within FHWA. FHWA has also 

clearly delineated a process to address 

allegations of discrimination that involve 

environmental justice issues. FHWA 

continues to work with its field offices, state 

DOTs and local governmental units to provide 

technical assistance on preventive approaches 

during field conferences, meetings and 

training programs. 

DOT Projects and Initiatives: 

C The DOT Office of Civil Rights (OCR), in 

partnership with advocacy groups such as the 

Environmental Defense Fund, is developing 

plans to reach out to metropolitan planning 

organizations to communicate the need for 

including equity considerations in regional 

transportation planning. OCR is collecting 

examples of analyses of equity in 

transportation planning, for dissemination of 

models, examples, and best practices. 

C DOT is scheduling Title VI training, to be 

conducted by the Department of Justice, for 

staff in the Operating Administrations of the 

Department to prepare them to conduct Title 

VI investigations and compliance reviews. 

C The Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) is planning to: (1) further develop 

and provide methodologies to assess 

environmental and health effects; (2) 

provide training on preventing, assessing, 

and addressing environmental justice 

concerns; and (3) showcase, through case 

studies, success stories, best practices, and 

model community initiatives that effectively 

apply environmental justice in the 

transportation decision-making process. 

Department of Health and Human 

Services 

Public Partnerships: 

The Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS), under the leadership of 

ATSDR and CDC, is collaborating with 

community nonprofit groups, EPA, state and 

local government health departments, 

environmental departments, academic 

institutions, and business. The purpose of this 

collaboration is to address environmental 

public health issues in the Mississippi Delta 

region. The project objectives are to: (1) 

identify key environmental hazards that affect 

community health and the quality-of-life; (2) 

assess the harmful impacts on high risk 

populations from environmental hazards; (3) 

empower and educate the community about 

environmental hazards; and (4) build capacity of 

state and local health departments, 

environmental departments, academic 

institutions and community groups to address 

environmental public health issues. 

The voluminous report culminating four 

years of data collection and analysis is nearing 

completion and should be available Spring 

1999. The second phase of the Delta Project 

has begun and will start with a pilot grant 

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Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.7 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

program for “community lead” projects aimed at 

solving problems identified in Phase 1. 

C The CDC’s National Institute of Occupational 

Safety and Health (NIOSH) sought 

stakeholder help to develop its occupational 

safety and health research agenda for the next 

decade. NIOSH held a series of group 

specific and town meetings with stakeholder 

groups to accomplish that goal. The groups 

involved included: minority occupational 

safety and health constituents (i.e., advocates 

for farm worker health, representatives from 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities 

(HBCUs), professional institutions and 

associations); representatives from labor, 

industry, business; and, minority and lowincome communities. 

Public Education and Training at HHS: 

C ATSDR has implemented an educational 

program for communities near hazardous 

waste sites. The program is designed to 

inform community members and their health 

care professionals about hazardous substances 

associated with the waste sites and actions 

they can take to reduce exposure. 

C ATSDR funds an environmental health 

education cooperative agreement to provide 

environmental health education to American 

Indian and Alaska Native tribes and their 

physicians. 

C The National Center for Environmental 

Health (NCEH) supports public education 

efforts to promote awareness of the dangers of 

childhood lead poisoning and how to prevent 

it, urging screening of high-risk children. 

C The NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood 

Institute’s (NHLBI) National Asthma 

Education and Prevention Program includes 

more than 30 major medical associations, 

voluntary health organizations and federal 

agencies. These organizations are working 

together to raise awareness of asthma as a 

serious disease, to promote recognition of it 

symptoms, and to ensure effective control 

of asthma, especially in minority children. 

The program emphasizes treatment and 

education programs in partnership with 

patients, physicians and other health 

professionals. 

C The Office of the Secretary/Office of Public 

Health and Science/Office of Minority 

Health (OMH) provides information and 

publications to the public on environmental 

justice-related organizations and programs 

through the Office of Minority Health 

Resource Center’s (OMH-RC) toll-free 

number: 1-800-444-6472. In addition, 

OMH-RC dedicated an entire issue of its 

monthly newsletter “Closing the Gap,” to 

environmental justice. Key topics 

highlighted were: (1) landfill concerns in 

North Carolina; (2) the misuse of methyl 

parathion; (3) lead screening guidelines; (4) 

inner-city asthma; and (5) migrant 

farmworkers' exposure to pesticides. The 

issue also provided contact numbers for 

Federal agencies, national resource centers 

and clearinghouses that address 

environmental justice. 

Services Provided by HHS: 

C The Administration for Children and 

Families (ACF)/Office of Community 

Services, in collaboration with EPA, has 

developed and funded a grant program to 

support state and local governmental 

partnerships with local 501(c)(3) nonprofit 

agencies and community/grass- roots 

organizations to address the reduction or 

elimination of the disproportionate lead 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.8 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

exposure to minority and low-income 

communities through projects which will 

provide community-based training, education, 

and abatement activities coupled with career 

training and job opportunities for community 

residents. 

C The Health Resources and Services 

Administration, (HRSA)/Bureau of Primary 

Health Care (BPHC)/ Migrant Health 

Program funds the Rural Community 

Assistance program. This program provides 

a variety of technical expertise to HRSA’s 

migrant health centers in the areas of water, 

field sanitation, pesticide issues and worker 

protection standards. 

C NCEH supports delivery of health services 

through the childhood lead poisoning 

prevention grant program. This program is 

designed to identify children with childhood 

lead poisoning, assure such children are 

referred for medical treatment, remove 

sources of lead, and provide public and 

professional education. 

C The Indian Health Service (IHS) has 

established a working arrangement with the 

CDC’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch. 

The arrangement works to establish baseline 

blood lead levels and to develop a plan for 

reducing the prevalence of excessive blood 

lead levels in American Indian/Alaska Native 

children. 

Health Research at HHS: 

C The National Institute of Environmental 

Health and Sciences (NIEHS) has established 

a program, "Environmental Justice: 

Partnerships for Communication.” This 

partnership serves as a mechanism to bridge 

the crucial communication gap between 

disadvantaged communities and 

environmental health researchers. It also 

gives the communities involved a role in 

identifying and defining problems and risks 

related to environmental health and in 

shaping future research approaches to such 

problems. 

The primary objective of this program is to 

establish methods for linking members of a 

community, whom adverse environmental 

conditions have directly affected, with 

researchers and health care providers. This 

program is designed to develop new modes 

of communication and to ensure that the 

community actively participates with 

researchers and health care providers in 

developing responses and setting priorities 

for intervention strategies. 

C The National Institute for Occupational 

Safety and Health (NIOSH) is funding a 

study to assess the potential for migrant 

farm workers to transport pesticides home 

to their families. These migrant farm 

workers are approximately 80 percent 

Hispanic. The study will evaluate the 

extent of pesticide exposure among children 

of migrant farm workers and will 

recommend methods for reducing 

exposures. 

C NIOSH is funding centers for agricultural 

research, education, and disease and injury 

prevention with outreach programs tailored 

to black, migrant, and seasonal farm 

workers and their families. The NIOSH 

centers address occupational safety and 

health concerns specific to minority and 

low-income workers who are 

disproportionately impacted by workplace 

exposures. These concerns are addressed 

through agricultural research, community 

empowerment models, and collaborative 

efforts with HBCUs. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.9 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

C National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported 

studies are evaluating cancer risks in African 

Americans in relation to possible 

environmental/occupational carcinogens. 

C NIEHS and the NIH Office of Research on 

Minority Health have funded a multi-center 

clinical trial to improve treatment for lead 

poisoning in socioeconomically 

disadvantaged populations. 

Department of Defense 

Public Participation and Outreach: 

C As part of Department of Defense (DOD) 

public participation enhancement initiatives, 

the Department of Defense undertook 

measures to improve the effectiveness of 

Restoration Advisory Boards (RAB) role in 

facilitating cleanup at military bases. A RAB 

is a forum through which members of nearby 

communities can provide input to DOD's 

environmental cleanup program at active, 

closing, realigning installations, or formerly 

used defense sites. 

RABs include members of the local 

community and representatives of the 

installation, EPA, the state, tribal, and local 

governments. It is DOD policy to have a 

balanced and diverse representation on a RAB 

to reflect the diversity of interests within a 

community. This policy is reflective of the 

Air Force's success in achieving minority and 

low-income participation. The Air Force has 

an equally strong policy on RAB 

development, including involvement of 

neighborhoods impacted by cleanup and other 

activities. 

The Air Force has also sought RAB 

membership of low-income and minority 

group residents. For example, 25 RABs 

have some type of low-income or minority 

representation. Such representation exists 

at: four Alaska radar sites; four Air Force 

industrial facilities; seventeen regular Air 

Force bases across five Air Force Major 

Commands. 

To help RABs be more effective, on 

February 2, 1998, DOD published the 

Technical Assistance for Public 

Participation rule (63 FR. 5255-5267). The 

rule provides for the procurement of 

independent technical assistance for 

community members of RABs and 

Technical Review Committees. This is an 

important means for the public, including 

minority and low-income populations, to be 

informed about DOD cleanup activities that 

effect them. 

C The Naval District of Washington (NDW) 

implemented a "Walls-to-Bridges" 

initiative. This program enhances the 

opportunities for minority and low-income 

communities to participate in DOD policies 

and practices that affect human health and 

the environment. The Walls-to-Bridges 

Initiative is a community-driven program in 

which members of the local community 

participate in a broad exploration of NDW 

environmental programs. NDW engaged in 

an ongoing dialogue with community 

leaders to discuss community concerns with 

NDW facilities. The program recently 

evolved into a concept known as 

"Bridges-to-Friendship" program with the 

vision of revitalizing the Navy Yard 

community, economy, and environment. 

The revitalization would create a 

sustainable community while maintaining 

the natural and cultural heritage of the area. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.10 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

C The Navy engaged in a series of 

environmental information sessions to inform 

local residents about environmental cleanup 

actions at the Construction Battalion Center 

(CBC) in Gulfport, Mississippi. CBC teamed 

with their RAB to hold an open house where 

residents were able to obtain information at 

various poster stations, including information 

on the RAB; watch an Air Force video 

explaining activities associated with a cleanup 

of Herbicide Orange; view Installation 

Restoration Program presentation boards; and 

obtain information on potential business 

opportunities associated with the 

environmental program. Prior to sampling for 

dioxin at CBC Gulfport and in the local 

community, four Environmental Open Houses 

were held to discuss sampling methods with 

the local community. 

Presentations were given at six area schools, 

and an Environmental Information Van 

followed behind the sampling team while they 

conducted sampling activities in the 

community. The van provided another 

outreach mechanism, since a toxicologist was 

present and available to answer questions and 

distribute information. 

C Defense Logistics Agency, Memphis Depot 

increased its outreach activities to be more 

proactive with the local community, which 

includes many African American residents. 

Activities have included a public information 

session at the local high school and numerous 

newsletters that have featured interviews with 

community members of the RAB. As part of 

the research for revising the community 

relations plan, the installation conducted 

focus groups, including minority residents and 

community leaders, to ensure that their 

concerns were identified. At a public meeting, 

an activist who had been a very outspoken 

critic praised the changes in outreach 

activities by the installation. 

Training Sponsored by DOD 

DOD produced a video that explains to 

DOD military and civilian personnel the 

requirements of Executive Order 12898 on 

Environmental Justice and how the order 

impacted the Department’s policies and 

programs. The goal is to train military 

personnel and civilian employees to increase 

awareness of environmental justice and infuse 

the spirit and intent of the Executive Order into 

DOD's decision-making processes. 

Environmental Justice Analysis and 

Assessments conducted by DOD 

C The Army Base Realignment and Closure 

program established a methodology to 

address environmental justice in dozens of 

NEPA documents related to closure, 

realignment, and reuse of more than 80 

installations. This ongoing, successful 

methodology identifies minority and 

low-income populations, includes them in 

the public involvement and 

decision-making process, and analyzes the 

Army action for any possible 

disproportionate impacts. The Army has 

obtained favorable results from this 

initiative. 

C At King Salmon Airport, the Air Force 

conducted food chain evaluations of fishery 

resources on and off of the airport. They 

then discussed the preliminary and final 

results with Native Americans and others 

potentially impacted. At Kotzebue Long 

Range Radar Station, the Air Force 

provided food chain evaluation at the 

request of tribal leaders. They investigated 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.11 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

contamination of plant species collected, 

stored and eaten by locals. The overall study 

results were forwarded to the local citizen 

advisory board, which is comprised almost 

entirely of Native Alaskans. The Air Force 

participated in a forum on Alaskan RABs in 

Anchorage, Alaska and provided an overview 

of risk assessment through a poster session. 

C At the request of the Guam Legislature, the 

Air Force conducted a study of food chain 

exposures and ecological effects from base 

contaminants. This is a possible route of 

exposure since local Indians (Chomoro) 

consume a large amount of wildlife taken 

from Anderson Air Force Base. The Air 

Force did not find any apparent problems with 

the wildlife and plants sampled, including 

deer, hogs, monitor lizards, brown tree 

snakes, and papaya fruit. 

The Military Service Departments and 

Components Issued Guidance for 

Considering Issues Related to 

Environmental Justice: 

C The Department of the Army engaged the 

Clarke Atlanta University's Environmental 

Justice Resource Center to assist it in the 

development of a model to incorporate 

environmental justice considerations into the 

NEPA compliance process. 

C The Department of the Navy issued policy 

guidance (SECNAVNOTE 5090 and 

OPNAVINST 5090.1B) with the goal of 

having all Department of Navy Commands 

apply environmental justice considerations to 

applicable mission-related activities. In 

addition, the Navy incorporated 

environmental justice guidance into its, 

“Installation Planning, Design, and 

Management Guide,” and into the Marine 

Corps’, “Environmental Compliance and 

Protection Manual.” The Navy has also 

incorporated environmental justice training 

presentations at conferences and workshops 

(e.g., training for NEPA compliance, land 

use planning, and the annual Department of 

the Navy environmental program managers 

meeting). This training is to ensure that 

military and civilian personnel are aware of 

their responsibilities under Executive Order 

12898. 

C The Air Force has issued its "Interim Guide 

for Environmental Justice Analysis with the 

Environmental Impact Analysis Process.” 

The Air Force developed the guide, based 

on experiences gained in the production of 

several EISs and other planning activities. 

The Guide’s focus is on the determination 

of potentially disproportionate impacts to 

low-income and minority populations 

through a ten-step process. It is geared to 

EISs and EAs having potential 

environmental justice considerations. 

Using the interim guidance as a starting 

point, the Air Force is now working with 

low-income groups, minority groups, and 

Native Americans to develop environmental 

justice analysis and program activities in 

conjunction with the renewal of the largely 

rural Nellis Air Force Range in Nevada and 

the rural Goldwater Range in Arizona. 

C The Defense Logistics Agency issued its 

policy memorandum directing that 

managers and commanders review their 

proposed actions to identify whether there 

are any disproportionately high adverse 

impacts on minority and low-income 

populations. If such impacts are identified, 

the policy memorandum directs the use of 

mitigation measures to minimize these 

impacts. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.12 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

Proposed DOD Projects and Initiatives 

that Address Environmental Justice 

Issues 

American Indian and Alaska Natives 

Environmental Protection Policy 

DOD expects to complete its policy related to 

environmental protection on American Indian and 

Alaska Native land and resources within the next 

year. The policy is being developed in close 

consultation and coordination with tribal leaders 

and tribal organizations. The policy will provide 

DOD with the framework to ensure that the 

Department is conducting its activities and 

operations in accordance with the Presidential 

Memorandum on Government-to-Government 

Relations with Native American Tribal 

Governments. DOD will further develop 

guidance for implementing the executive order 

through the development of a handbook for 

considering environmental justice in Departmental 

programs and activities. The guidance will focus 

principally on incorporating environmental justice 

into the environmental impact analysis. 

Department of the Interior 

The focus of the Department of the Interior's 

(DOI’s) environmental justice initiative is early 

involvement of minority and other disadvantaged 

communities in the planning and/or 

environmental review process for proposed 

Departmental actions. DOI’s objective is to 

extend training, education, meaningful 

consultation, and coordination to impacted 

communities, and to ensure that diverse views are 

fully considered as part of the Departmental 

decision-making process. 

C The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) has 

compiled an “Environmental Justice 

Handbook” for use by Bureau personnel. 

BOR has also included an environmental 

justice training program for its employees. 

The Bureau intends to integrate 

environmental justice into its EISs. While 

the term “environmental justice" is still 

becoming familiar to managers and 

employees, BOR is making strides to 

include considerations of low- income 

and/or minority populations in its day-today operations. 

C The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

offices have made environmental justice 

awareness part of their NEPA training using 

a manual entitled, “Environmental Justice 

into the NEPA Process.” 

Department of Energy 

The Department of Energy (DOE) is 

accelerating its efforts to integrate the principles 

and philosophy of environmental justice into 

Departmental decision-making activities. DOE 

believes that increased emphasis on these issues 

will: (a) better protect public health and the 

environment by reducing environmental safety 

and health risks and threats from DOE facilities; 

(b) enhance worker and public safety and health 

by achieving appropriate environmental 

standards; (c) facilitate easy access by 

stakeholders to the Department’s records 

relating to environmental safety and health; and, 

(d) maximize opportunities for economic 

development within the affected communities. 

DOE Education and Outreach 

Activities: 

C Publication of a Departmental 

environmental justice newsletter focusing 

on subsistence and environmental health 

issues. The newsletter will provide a forum 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.13 
Chapter 5 

Environmental Justice at the Federal Level 

for communication about the health 

implications of subsistence activities that 

result in the consumption of contaminated 

fish, wildlife, livestock products, or 

vegetation. 

C Development of “DOE’s Environmental 

Justice Information Brief” (February 1997). 

Issuance of the final draft of an Information 

Brief entitled, "Incorporating Environmental 

Justice Principles into the CERCLA Process." 

Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service 

The Forest Service incorporated 

environmental justice analysis in it planning and 

assessment activities under NEPA. Some of the 

Forest Service’s accomplishments include: 

C Training all regional forest environmental 

coordinators in environmental justice 

principles. This involved training more than 

300 environmental coordinators. 

C EPA guidance for incorporating 

environmental justice concerns in EPA's 

NEPA compliance analysis was distributed 

and discussed with regional environmental 

coordinators to ensure environmental justice 

issues were integrated into project and 

program documents. 

C The CEQ guidance for integrating 

environmental justice into NEPA analyses 

was distributed to all regional environmental 

coordinators. This guidance serves as a basis 

for preparing EAs and EISs. 

Examples of the Integration of Environmental 

Justice into Forest Service Environmental 

Analyses: 

C Oil Pipeline EIS. The Forest Service was 

the lead Federal agency for a 132-mile 

crude oil pipeline in Southern California 

from Emidio to Los Angeles. The EIS 

contains twenty pages of discussion on 

environmental justice issues related to the 

pipeline disruption of minority communities 

in southeastern Los Angeles. 

C Tongass Forest Plan. The EIS for the 

Tongass Forest Plan addresses 

disproportionate impacts to Alaska natives. 

The Record of Decision also contains a 

discussion of environmental justice 

considerations and how they were 

incorporated into the Plan. 

C Transmission Line. The American Electric 

Power Company proposes to construct a 

765 kv transmission line across West 

Virginia and Virginia, twelve miles of 

which crosses the Jefferson National Forest. 

The environmental justice issues addressed 

in the draft EIS involve impacts to lowincome and minority areas along the 

transmission route of mostly rural 

communities. A final EIS is pending. 

C Spanish Translation NEPA Scoping 

Information. Forest Service employees of 

the Cibola National Forest (New Mexico) 

and the Cleveland National Forests 

(Southern California) routinely prepare and 

distribute NEPA scoping information in 

Spanish to the local Hispanic communities. 

They have also published environmental 

assessments in Spanish for several projects. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving 5.14 
APPENDIX 

EPA appropriations include funds for 

awards to state, tribe and private entities to 

address serious environmental problems and 

issues. States implementing delegated 

programs receive the majority of this money. 

A smaller, but significant, portion of the 

allocated funds are awarded to specifically 

address environmental justice related issues. 

Initially, EPA oriented these grants toward 

local education and community 

empowerment. More recently, however, the 

Agency has targeted proposals that solve onthe-ground EJ problems. 

What is seen in the grants arena is 

similar to EPA’s environmental justice 

program– a more systematic and collaborative 

approach toward EJ issues on both the part of 

the Agency and its partners. The education 

and empowerment of past efforts has lead to 

communities seeking grants to solve 

problems. 

Environmental Justice Grants 

Programs 

The grant programs listed below show 

the range of environmental justice related 

grants available through EPA. The list is not 

all inclusive. It does not include, for example, 

regional discretionary funds used for EJ 

purposes. In some cases the grant programs 

are not exclusively EJ oriented. For more 

information and points of contact: 

http://www.epa.gov/oeca/oej/ejgrantf.html 

Grants to Small Community Groups 

Objectives: Provide financial assistance to 

SOME EPA GRANT PROGRAMS 

grassroots, community-based groups that 

design, demonstrate or disseminate practices, 

methods or techniques related to 

environmental justice. Specifically, EPA will 

grant funding assistance for: environmental 

justice education and awareness programs; 

environmental justice programs (for example, 

river monitoring and pollution prevention 

programs); technical assistance in gathering 

and interpreting existing environmental justice 

data; and, technical assistance to access 

available public information. 

Applicant Eligibility: Community-based 

grassroots organizations, other incorporated 

nonprofit organizations, and federally 

recognized tribal governments. Individuals 

may have their organizations, institutions, 

government or association apply. 

Organizations must be incorporated to receive 

funds. Since 1995, the Agency has awarded 

approximately $11 million to more than 450 

recipients through this program. 

Annual Funding: $2,000,000 

Office of Environmental Justice 

State and Tribal Environmental Justice 

(STEJ) 

Objectives: Help states and tribes demonstrate 

how to effectively comply with Title VI of the 

Civil Rights Act of 1964 and provide for 

environmental justice in the development and 

implementation of their environmental 

programs. 

Applicant Eligibility: Participation is limited 

to states or tribal agencies that manage or are 

eligible to manage an EPA program. In 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving A1 
APPENDIX 

addition, applicants must express interest in 

working with community-based grassroots 

organizations and other environmental justice 

stakeholders to address environmental justice 

concerns in communities. The project can be 

a partnership involving more than one state 

department, or if from a tribe, more than one 

tribal department. The degree of support 

provided by top government officials from 

either the state or tribe will be an important 

factor in the selection process. 

Annual Funding: $500,000 

Office of Environmental Justice 

Superfund Technical Assistance Grants 

for Citizen Groups at Priority Sites 

(TAG) 

Objectives: To provide resources under 

CERCLA, Section 117(e) for community 

groups to hire technical advisers. These 

advisers assist community groups in 

interpreting technical information concerning 

the assessment of potential hazards and the 

selection and design of appropriate remedies 

at sites eligible for cleanup under the 

Superfund program. 

Applicant Eligibility: EPA is authorized to 

make TAGs available to any qualified group 

of individuals which may be affected by a 

release or threatened release at any Superfund 

facility. "Affected" individuals are those who 

can demonstrate direct effects from the site, 

such as actual or potential health or economic 

injury. The recipient group must incorporate 

to receive funds. 

SOME EPA GRANT PROGRAMS 

Estimated Annual Funding: $500,000 

Office of Emergency or Remedial Response 

Solid Waste Management Assistance 

Objectives: To promote use of integrated solid 

waste management systems to solve municipal 

solid waste generation and management 

problems at the local, regional, and national 

levels. 

Applicant Eligibility: These funds can be 

awarded to the following types of nonprofit 

entities: public authorities (federal, state, 

interstate, intrastate and local), public agencies 

and institutions; private organizations and 

agencies, institutions and individuals; and, 

Indian Tribes. Profit-making organizations 

are not eligible. 

Estimated Annual Funding: $3,800,000 

Office of Solid Waste 

Brownfields Pilots Cooperative 

Agreements 

Objectives: Brownfields sites are abandoned, 

idled, or under-used industrial or commercial 

facilities where expansion or redevelopment is 

complicated by real or perceived 

environmental contamination. The objectives 

of the Brownfields Pilot Cooperative 

Agreement are to: develop administrative, 

managerial, and technical models to establish 

self-sustaining, independent processes to 

assess and respond to environmental 

conditions inhibiting redevelopment of 

brownfields sites; provide opportunities for 

creative two-year demonstrations of site 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving A2 
APPENDIX 

SOME EPA GRANT PROGRAMS

assessment activities leading to actions to 

respond to environmental contamination and 

return brownfields sites to productive use; 

and, provide financial assistance for 

capitalization of revolving loan funds for 

follow-up brownfields response actions. 

Applicant Eligibility: States and political 

subdivisions, commonwealths, and U.S. 

territories and possessions, and federally 

recognized Indian tribal governments. 

Estimated Annual Funding: $66,000,000 

Office of Solid Waste and Emergency 

Response 

Indian Environmental General 

Assistance Program (GAP) 

Objectives: Provide general assistance grants 

(GAP) to Indian tribal governments and 

intertribal consortia to build capacity to 

administer environmental regulatory programs 

on Indian lands and provide technical 

assistance from EPA to Indian tribal 

governments and intertribal consortia in the 

development of multimedia programs to 

address environmental issues on Indian lands. 

Applicant Eligibility: Indian tribal 

governments; and, inter-tribal consortia. An 

Indian tribal government is any tribe, band, 

nation, or other organized group or 

community, including any Alaska Native 

village or regional or a village corporation (as 

defined in or established pursuant to the 

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 

U.S.C. § 1601, et seq.), which is recognized 

by the U.S. Department of the Interior as 

eligible for the special services provided by 

the United States to Indians because of their 

status as Indians. A consortium is a 

partnership between two or more Indian tribal 

governments authorized by the governing 

bodies of those tribes to apply for and receive 

assistance under this program. 

Estimated Annual Funding: $42,585,400 

American Indian Environmental Office 

U.S.-Mexico Border Grants Program 

Objectives: Promote community-based and 

regional approaches to meet the goals of 

sustainable development, capacity building, 

and coordination among key participants in 

addressing U.S.-Mexico border (including 

bi-national) environmental issues. 

Applicant Eligibility: Educational institutions, 

local governments, 501(c)(3) 

non-governmental organizations (NGOs). 

Estimated Annual Funding: $500,000 

Office of International Activities 

Environmental Education and 

Training Program (EETP) 

Objectives: Train educational professionals in 

the development and delivery of 

environmental education programs. 

Applicant Eligibility: Institutions of higher 

education or other institutions which are 

nonprofit (or consortia of such institutions). 

Estimated Annual Funding: $1,825,000 

Office of Environmental Education 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving A3 
APPENDIX 

Environmental Education Grants 

(EEG) 

Objectives: Support projects to design, 

demonstrate, or disseminate practices, 

methods, or techniques related to 

environmental education and training. 

Applicant Eligibility: Local education 

agencies, colleges or universities, states or 

tribal education or environmental agencies, 

not-for-profit organizations, or 

noncommercial educational broadcasting 

entities. 

Estimated Annual Funding: $3,000,000 

Office of Environmental Education 

Sustainable Development Challenge 

Grants 

Objectives: Initiate community-based and 

regional projects and other actions that 

promote sustainable development, thereby 

improving environmental quality and 

economic prosperity; leverage significant 

private and public investments to enhance 

environmental quality by enabling community 

sustainability efforts to continue past EPA 

funding; build partnerships that increase a 

community's long-term capacity to protect the 

environment through sustainable 

development; and, enhance EPA's ability to 

provide assistance to communities and 

promote sustainable development, through 

preparation of case studies. 

Applicant Eligibility: Eligible applicants may 

include community groups, nonprofit 

SOME EPA GRANT PROGRAMS 

organizations, local governments, universities, 

tribes, and states. 

Estimated Annual Funding: $9,390,000 

Office of Air and Radiation 

Children's Health Protection 

Objectives: Initiate community-based and 

regional projects and other actions that 

enhance public outreach and communication; 

assist families in evaluating risks to children 

and in making informed consumer choices; 

build partnerships that increase a community's 

long-term capacity to advance protection of 

children's environmental health and safety; 

leverage private and public investments to 

enhance environmental quality by enabling 

community efforts to continue past EPA's 

ability to provide assistance to communities; 

and, promote protection of children from 

environmental threats. 

Applicant Eligibility: Eligible applicants 

include community groups, public nonprofit 

institutions/ organizations, tribal governments, 

specialized groups, for-profit organizations, 

private nonprofit institutions/organizations, 

municipal and local governments. 

Estimated Annual Funding: $2,000,000 

Office of Children’s Health Protection 

Environmental Justice Through 

Pollution Prevention Grants (EJP2) 

Pollution prevention can play a central 

role in reducing environmental risks while 

promoting public involvement and economic 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving A4 
APPENDIX 

benefits. Through the EJP2 grant program, 

EPA supports pollution prevention approaches 

that address environmental justice concerns in 

affected communities. Makes grants to 

support organizations that promote 

environmental justice through using pollution 

prevention. 

In cooperation with EPA regional 

offices, the Office of Pollution Prevention and 

Toxics has awarded more than $14 million in 

grants to more than 170 organizations nationwide. These grants are used to fund activities 

that use pollution prevention as the primary 

focus in addressing environmental justice. For 

more information contact EPA on the web: 

http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/ejp2. 

Wellhead Protection Grants Program 

Region 4 

This initiative provides opportunities 

for small, low-income, and/or minority 

communities to develop a local wellhead 

protection plan for their public water supply 

system. The average grant amount is $15,000-

$30,000, which requires a 5% match by the 

grant recipient. Assistance with the 5% match 

may be available from the state ground water 

program or the state geologic survey. Grant 

decisions are based on the needs of the 

community, severity of problems, and the 

threats to ground water and public health. 

During 1997-1998, Region 4 was able to 

award EJ wellhead protection grants to the 

towns of Beatrice, Hurtsboro, and Ridgeville 

in Alabama to support their ground water 

protection efforts. 

SOME EPA GRANT PROGRAMS 

Waste Management Grants 

Region 4 

The Waste Management Division 

funded and awarded nine environmental 

justice-related grants during FY ‘97 and 

FY’98, for a total of approximately $292,000. 

Some examples of funded projects include: 

C Saturday-at-the-Sea Workshop which 

focused on rural, low-income 

communities and included teacher 

workshops and a youth camp geared 

toward the preservation of Florida’s 

coastal environment. 

C Instruction and self-paced study 

program to help students and residents 

make better informed decisions about 

chemical health risks and safety. 

C A recycling program in Southern 

Appalachia that provided recycling 

education to low income area schools 

and helped develop a school based 

recycling programs. 

Environmental Justice Financial

Assistance 

Region 6 

Region 6 expanded on its commitment 

to establish and broaden partnerships with 

communities, universities and other entities to 

address EJ concerns in the Region. During 

FY98 the Environmental Justice Program 

awarded $200,000 in EJ Small Grants and 

$100,0000 in state and tribal grants. In 

addition, the Region awarded $231,500 to 

various EJ grass roots organizations, tribal 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving A5 
APPENDIX 

SOME EPA GRANT PROGRAMS

governments, states and educational 

institutions. The Region also awarded 

$140,000 to two states for EJ activities at 

Superfund sites. 

In each case, except for those 

involving state Superfund grants, the projects 

were selected via a competitive grant proposal 

process. Activities funded were varied in 

scope and target population. Issues included, 

among others: children’s health, U.S. Mexico 

border issues, native American issues, 

minority and low-income community issues, 

etc. 

1998 Environmental Justice Biennial Report: June 1999 

Moving Towards Collaborative/Constructive Problem-Solving A6