Environmental Justice


Biennial Report


2004


Integrating Environmental Justice

2004 Preface 

I am pleased to share with you the Environmental Justice 2004 Biennial Report: Integrating 

Environmental Justice. This report highlights the efforts of the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) to begin integrating environmental justice into its programs, policies, and activities. 

This report is based on the environmental justice action plans of each EPA office and region—first 

developed and implemented in 2003. These action plans serve as strategic tools to help managers 

and staff ensure that environmental justice considerations are integrated into all of the Agency's 

work and result in measurable environmental and public health outcomes. Although this report 

does not identify all of EPA’s environmental justice initiatives, it discusses a wide range of 

approaches and projects being pursued by the Agency to effectively implement environmental 

justice Agency-wide. 

EPA looks forward to working with all stakeholders involved in the environmental justice dialogue 

to ensure that all people are able to live in a clean and healthy environment. Thank you for your 

continued interest in environmental justice. We welcome your participation in, and support for, our 

efforts to integrate environmental justice considerations into the work we do every day to protect 

the environment and human health of all communities, including minority and/or low-income 

communities. 

Barry E. Hill, Director 

Office of Environmental Justice 
Contents


Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii


Chapter 1:	 Risk Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1


Children’s Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1


Clean Air. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6


Safe Drinking Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9


Water Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12


Waste Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15


Toxics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16


Enforcement and Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22


Multimedia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27


Chapter 2:	 Outreach and Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33


Children’s Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33


Clean Air. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34


Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34


Solid and Hazardous Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38


Toxics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40


Enforcement and Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43


Multimedia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44


Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51


Chapter 3:	 Environmental Justice Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55


General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55


Enforcement and Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60


Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61


Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61


Chapter 4:	 Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Government Coordination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63


Federal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63


State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65


Tribal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70


Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73


Contents
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Chapter 5:	 Grants and Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77


General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77


Grants Writing/Management Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79


Air-Related. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80


Water-Related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81


Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82


Chapter 6:	 Environmental Justice Assessments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83


General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83


Solid and Hazardous Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88


Enforcement and Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89


Appendix A: Environmental Justice Coordinators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91


ii Contents

At the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), our vision is for all 

people in all communities to enjoy the same 

degree of protection from environmental risks 

and health hazards and to have equal access 

to the government’s decisionmaking processes 

regarding environmental and public health. 

The overarching goal for the Agency’s 

Environmental Justice Program is to integrate 

environmental justice considerations effectively into all EPA programs, policies, and 

activities, to achieve measurable benefits to 

the environment and/or public health of 

affected communities. 

On August 9, 2001, former EPA Administrator 

Christine Todd Whitman issued a memorandum expressing the Agency’s commitment to 

environmental justice. This memorandum 

directed EPA offices and regions to incorporate 

environmental justice throughout the Agency, 

including the planning and accountability 

process. To respond to the Administrator’s 

request, the Office of Environmental Justice 

(OEJ) and the Environmental Justice Executive 

Steering Committee—an EPA senior-level management committee representing all EPA program and regional offices—requested each 

Headquarters office and each region to submit 

an environmental justice action plan detailing 

environmental justice-specific commitments to 

integrate environmental justice more fully into 

the Agency’s work. 

Introduction


EPA recognizes that in order for the environmental justice action plans to be effective, the 

Agency must modify its approach to administering its regulatory programs. To effectively 

implement the environmental justice action 

plans, the Agency is 

focusing on the following 

six objectives: 

1.	 Risk Reduction — To 

ensure equal implementation of environmental 

laws to achieve significant 

risk reduction in affected 

communities. 

2.	 Outreach and 

Communication - To provide opportunities for 

meaningful involvement 

and ensure effective communication between 

Agency decisionmakers 

and stakeholders, including all affected communities. 

Environmental Justice 

Action Plans 

The Agency’s first comprehensive environmental justice action plans were 

developed in FY 2003. 

Inherently strategic in 

nature, the action plans 

outline environmental justice commitments for the 

next five years. For a copy 

of the various environmental justice action plans, 

visit: <www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/reports/ 

actionplans/ej/index.html>. 

3.	 Training - To educate EPA managers and staff 

on ways to incorporate environmental justice 

considerations into their decisionmaking 

processes. 

Introduction
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


4.	 Federal State Tribal/Local Coordination – To 

ensure effective coordination across all levels 

of government to address the environmental 

and public health concerns of affected communities. 

5.	 Grants and Contracts Administration – To promote effective and efficient management of 

all grants and contracts related to environmental justice activities. 

6.	 Environmental Justice Assessment – To conduct an assessment of the environmental justice indicators (e.g., environmental, health, 

social, economic) within affected communities 

as part of the environmental decisionmaking 

process. 

EPA’s 2004 Environmental Justice Biennial 

Report documents key developments, activities, and accomplishments created and/or 

implemented by each program and regional 

office during the 2003 and 2004 calendar 

years. This report highlights the Agency’s 

efforts—in collaboration with its state and 

tribal co-regulators—to provide environmental 

and public health protection for all communities where people live, work, and play, including minority, low-income, and tribal 

communities. This report is not intended to 

capture all of the Agencies’ environmental justice work, but is intended to stimulate 

thought, discussion, and action to provide for 

environmental justice throughout the country 

by enabling others to learn from the Agency’s 

efforts and build upon its successes. 

This report is organized into six chapters, corresponding to the six objectives of the environmental justice action plans. Within each 

chapter, project descriptions are organized 

into three categories: Headquarters, regions, 

and international. For more information on 

the specific items discussed in this report, 

please contact the appropriate environmental 

justice coordinator listed in Appendix A. 

iv Introduction

Chapter 1: Risk Reduction


The Agency’s understanding of risk 

reduction has evolved significantly over the 

past decade from a focus primarily on natural 

sciences and risk assessment, to evaluating 

cumulative risk and the role of social sciences 

and ethics (e.g., cultural impacts, pathways of 

exposure, vulnerabilities, and trans-generational equity).1 EPA recognizes that risk reduction involves a range of interrelated elements. 

This chapter describes the Agency's efforts to 

reduce risk and thereby better protect public 

health and the environment in all communities, including minority, low-income and tribal 

communities. EPA is engaged in many activities to reduce risks, such as the Clean School 

Bus USA initiative, Lead-Safe campaigns, pesticide reduction projects, air toxics pilot projects, and safe drinking water initiatives. The 

Agency seeks to ensure equal enforcement of 

environmental laws to reduce risk and thereby 

improve the environment and/or public health 

of affected communities. 

Children's Health 

Headquarters 

Children's Health Valuation Handbook 

The National Center for Environmental 

Economics, along with the EPA Office of 

Children's Health, published the Children's 

Health Valuation Handbook2 in November 

2003. The handbook is a reference tool for 

those conducting economic analyses of EPA 

policies that could affect children's health. The 

document makes recommendations that are 

meant to be informative, rather than prescriptive, as economic science has not reached 

conclusion on many issues related to children. 

Some of the discussions contained in the 

handbook include: 

◆ Guidance on qualitatively describing the likely 

over- or under-valuation of reduced child risk 

resulting from the transfer of risk values estimated for adults to children. 

◆ A description of how economic methods used 

to assess values for adult health effects can be 

applied to value children's health effects. 

◆ Instructions on when and how to transfer 

value estimates derived for adults to scenarios 

involving children, as an alternative to actual 

child values. 

Voluntary Children's Chemical Evaluation 

Program 

The Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics 

(OPPT) is developing the Voluntary Children's 

Chemical Evaluation Program (VCCEP) to 

assess the risks to children from 20 chemicals 

to which they are disproportionately impacted. 

1 “Toward Integrated Environmental Decision-Making,” USEPA Science Advisory Board, Integrated Risk Project Steering Committee, 2000 

2 This document can be found online at http://yosemite.epa.gov/EE/epa/eed.nsf/pages/HandbookChildrensHealthValuation.html. 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


VCCEP's Peer Consultation Documents (i.e., 

hazard, exposure, and risk assessments) for 

four chemicals (vinylidene chloride, pentabromodiphenyl ether, decarbromodiphenyl ether, 

and octabromodiphenyl ether) were submitted 

to EPA and underwent peer consultation in FY 

2003. 

National Children's Study 

Substantial public health and related environmental justice concerns exist regarding the 

effects of contaminants on children's health 

and development. Children, especially those 

located in substandard living environments 

(e.g., living near heavy concentration of industries/traffic and resulting air pollution) can be 

more vulnerable to environmental threats, but 

little comprehensive research exists to identify 

which factors are harmful, harmless, or helpful. Research with a "life-course approach" 

is needed to explore the links between 

multiple exposures over time and multiple 

health outcomes. 

Chapter 1 

EPA's Office of Research and Development 

(ORD) is involved in the National Children's 

Study, which will "...investigate basic mechanisms of developmental disorders and environmental factors, both risk and protective, 

that influence health and developmental 

processes." A sample size of approximately 

100,000 participants is planned to allow the 

evaluation of links between low-level environmental exposures and social and behavioral 

factors with less common outcomes, as well 

as the interaction between genetics and the 

environment. The study will focus on children's environmental health themes of major 

public health concern that are best suited to 

this type of longitudinal study, such as pregnancy outcomes, neuro-behavioral development, asthma, obesity and altered physical 

development, and injury. Pregnant women 

from across the United States will be enrolled 

as early as possible in pregnancy (or before 

pregnancy), and their children will be evaluated during prenatal development, through 

birth, childhood, and into adulthood. Strong 

partnerships between federal and non-federal 

scientists and community, parent, advocacy, 

and industry groups are being emphasized 

throughout the planning process. This study 

will provide a legacy for future generations on 

the role of environmental factors on children's 

health, development, and well-being. 

Clean School Bus USA 

In April 2003, EPA launched Clean School Bus 

USA , a new children's health initiative aimed 

2 
Risk Reduction


at reducing air pollution 

from school buses. The program is an outgrowth of 

EPA's Voluntary Diesel 

Retrofit Program. Across 

the country, 24 million children ride school buses daily to and from 

school. The average time spent on these buses 

can range from 20 minutes to several hours a 

day. Unfortunately, older buses can pollute up 

to six times more than buses using clean technology. Children are especially vulnerable to 

the effects of diesel emissions, which can 

cause respiratory disease and exacerbate longterm conditions, such as asthma. Reducing 

pollution from school buses will help improve 

local air quality and reduce children's exposure to diesel exhaust, particularly in communities with environmental justice concerns. 

Clean School Bus USA has three primary 

goals: 

◆ Reduce unnecessary school bus idling by 100 

percent by 2010. 

◆ Retrofit and upgrade 100 percent of existing 

1990 to 2003 diesel buses by 2010. 

◆ Replace 100 percent of pre-1990 buses with 

clean buses. 

To financially support this effort, $5 million 

was included in EPA's FY 2003 budget for a 

cost-shared grant designed to assist school 

districts in upgrading their bus fleets. EPA's 

Office of Air and Radiation awarded 17 

demonstration grants across the country in 

October 2003. In FY 2004, Congress allocated 

an additional $5 million to school bus demonstration grants. 

Region 3 

Compliance Assistance to Schools 

Region 3 is piloting an Integrated Strategy for 

Schools to reduce and prevent potential 

health and environmental hazards to students 

and school personnel by measurably improving their understanding of requirements, compliance, and environmental performance at 

schools. Regional staff conducted surveys of 

schools throughout the region and found that, 

in general, they lacked knowledge of environmental regulations that exist to prevent or 

reduce potential hazards to students and 

school personnel. Some of the areas of concern relate to proper handling, storage, and 

disposal of chemicals and disposal of laboratory wastes, asbestos management requirements, toxics leaking from fluorescent ballasts, 

lead in drinking water, pesticides application, 

and permitting requirements for boilers. 

EPA has been working with the Washington, 

DC Department of Health, the Maryland 

Department of the Environment, and the 

Philadelphia School District to address con3 <www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus> 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


cerns with the potential for health hazards at 

schools. Region 3 will be measuring the effectiveness of the outreach by tracking the number of schools reached through training, 

measuring the increased awareness of the 

importance of compliance with various regulations to prevent problems, measuring understanding after workshops, and surveying the 

schools to determine if their understanding 

has increased and whether any changes have 

occurred as a result of the outreach. 

Region 4 

Vision 2020—Children's Health Project, 

Anniston, Alabama 

Region 4 awarded a CERCLA (Comprehensive 

Environmental Response, Compensation, and 

Liability Act, otherwise known as Superfund) 

Research Grant to Vision 2020—For the 

Children of Anniston: Children's Health 

Environmental Justice Project located in 

Anniston, Alabama. This award is benefiting 

the children's health project by advancing its 

early detection and early intervention research 

initiative. In January 2004, Vision 2020 held a 

ceremony to celebrate the $65,000 award at 

Anniston's City Hall. Additionally, on July 17, 

2004, Region 4 staff and other state and local 

agencies participated in a Children's Health 

Fair in Anniston sponsored by Vision 2020. The 

fair focused on children's health and social 

and environmental concerns. This event was 

the third outreach educational event to link 

children to identified health care services in 

Calhoun County and West Anniston, Alabama. 

Vision 2020 is continuing to develop its 

capacity to provide project sustainability. 

Region 5 

Working Toward a Lead-Safe Cleveland 

EPA, the city of Cleveland, the Ohio 

Department of Health, the Centers for Disease 

Control, and the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development have been attempting to 

curb the incidence of childhood lead poisoning for more than 30 years. Significant 

progress has been made, as measured by the 

reduction of Cleveland children with elevated 

blood lead levels. Whereas 47 percent of 

Cleveland children tested in 1994 were found 

to have elevated blood lead levels, only 16 

percent of the children tested in 2003 reached 

the action level. Nevertheless, the nearly 2,500 

Cleveland children that were found to have 

elevated blood lead levels in 2003 are still 

at risk for a variety of possible maladies, 

including delayed intellectual development, 

loss of IQ points, anemia, and future 

behavioral concerns. 

Recognizing the critical nature of the health 

concerns associated with exposures to lead 

and the uneven distribution of exposures to 

lead, the city of Cleveland and EPA undertook 

a project in 2004 to assess and address continued lead hazards in at-risk communities. 

EPA and the city have identified target neighborhoods/census tracts based on elevated 

blood lead level data and other available 

demographic data. The city, working in close 

4 Chapter 1

Risk Reduction


partnership with local organizations such as 

community development corporations, will 

systematically assess lead hazards in housing 

units in the target areas. The project goal is to 

conduct approximately 1,500 housing unit 

assessments over the two-year project period. 

Region 6 

Childhood Pesticide Exposure Reduction 

Project, Texas-Mexico Border Region 

Region 6 has funded the Childhood Pesticides 

Exposure Reduction Project with the goals of 

evaluating pesticide exposure in a sample of 

children, conducting public education on 

exposures to pesticides, and empowering families in a rural community (colonia of Rio 

Bravo) to take actions to reduce exposure and 

improve children's health. The project is being 

conducted by Texas A&M System Health 

Science Center School of Rural Public Health 

in Bryan, Texas. 

Asbestos-in-Schools Inspections in New 

Mexico and on Tribal Lands 

The asbestos-in-schools (Asbestos Hazard 

Emergency Response Act (AHERA)) regulations 

were promulgated in the mid-1980s to protect 

children from the hazards of asbestos exposure, as well as to notify maintenance, janitorial, and school staff of the potential hazards in 

their workplace. The regulations require all 

schools (public, private, and secondary) to 

determine the presence of asbestos-containing building materials (e.g., floor tile, acoustic 

ceilings, spray-on acoustic, mastic), to manage 

the materials accordingly, and prepare management plans that recommend the best way 

to reduce the asbestos hazard. 

Region 6 has initiated a targeted enforcement 

strategy to inspect and provide compliance 

assistance to public, private, and secondary 

schools in New Mexico and on tribal lands. 

Funding for this effort was partially provided 

by EPA's Office of Children's Health, State and 

Tribal Air Grants, and the Compliance 

Assurance and Enforcement Division. 

Inspectors targeted schools in the states of 

Arkansas and New Mexico for compliance 

with the AHERA regulations. In New Mexico, 

during FY 2003 and FY 2004, inspections were 

completed in 58 schools—14 on tribal lands or 

at the Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. In 

Arkansas, a total of 55 schools were inspected. 

Improved compliance with the law means that 

fewer children will be exposed to asbestos 

hazards. More than 80 percent of the schools 

inspected were in partial compliance or 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


noncompliance with the regulations, indicating a more widespread issue for the states 

and tribes. 

Clean Air 

Headquarters 

Detroit Exposure and Aerosol Research Study 

The Detroit Exposure and Aerosol Research 

Study is a residential and personal exposure 

monitoring study being conducted by ORD 

over a three-year period, from 2004 to 2007. 

The primary goal of the study is to evaluate 

and describe the relationship between air toxics, particulate matter, particulate matter constituents, and particulate matter from specific 

sources measured at a central site monitor, 

and measurements of residential and personal 

concentrations. Emphasis is placed on understanding the impact of local sources (point 

and mobile) on outdoor residential concentrations and the impact of housing type and 

house operation on indoor concentrations. 

Personal monitoring will be conducted to 

determine the impact of time spent in 

nonresidential locations and personal 

activities on exposure. 

Monitoring will be conducted at 120 residences for five consecutive days in a summer 

and winter season. Measurements of air 

toxics, particulate matter mass, and particulate 

matter constituents will be made indoors and 

outdoors at each home and from one participant in each home. The data will be used by 

ORD epidemiologists, who are interested in 

using central site monitoring data to quantify 

health risks to particulate matter and air 

toxics, and to better extrapolate those data to 

local neighborhood and household exposure 

scenarios. EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards will also use these data to 

develop standards that are protective of 

human health for particulate matter, particulate matter components, and air toxics. 

Air Quality Training for Tribes 

ORD has established a new cooperative agreement with the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona 

(ITCA). This agreement provides funding for 

onsite training for tribal communities on asthma, second-hand smoke risk reduction, indoor 

air quality, and mold. To date, more than 100 

tribal council members, other tribal representatives, or service providers have been trained. 

Health Effects of Air Pollution 

In July 2004, EPA awarded the University of 

Washington a $30 million grant to study the 

connection between air pollution and cardiovascular disease. The grant is the largest ever 

awarded by the EPA for scientific research and 

will contribute to a better understanding of 

the long-term health effects of breathing air 

contaminated by particulate matter and other 

pollutants. The study will track 8,700 people, 

ranging in ages from 50 to 89, from varied 

ethnic groups and from cities across the 

country. The researchers will evaluate whether 

long-term exposure to fine particles is associ6 Chapter 1

Risk Reduction


ated with specific changes in atherosclerosis 

(buildup of plaque in the arteries) and other 

factors associated with heart disease. 

Premature death and other health problems 

are strongly related to sulfates in the air and 

ambient concentrations of fine particles less 

than 2.5 micrometers. Long-term exposure to 

ambient, airborne particulate matter is associated with increased mortality, largely due to 

cardiovascular causes and serious respiratory 

problems. In addition, chronic exposure to 

particulates can cause decreased development 

of lung function among school-age children. 

The work is relevant to environmental justice 

communities because they are often located 

near sources of air pollution, such as heavy 

concentrations of industry and traffic. 

The grant is funded through ORD's Science 

To Achieve Results (STAR) competitive 

grants program. 

Region 6 

Air Quality Improvement in Beaumont/Port 

Arthur, Texas 

The Community In-Powerment Development 

Association (CIDA), which represents minorities in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area of 

Texas, along with several other environmental 

groups, Region 6, the Texas Commission on 

Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and five local 

industrial facilities, entered into an innovative, collaborative effort to improve the air 

quality in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area and 

ensure that it meets the ozone standard in a 

timely manner. As a result of this precedentsetting agreement, the five industrial facilities 

in the area voluntarily agreed to reduce emissions beyond what would otherwise be 

required by law. In addition, these industries 

committed to fund a series of workshops for 

the local community to examine the sources, 

controls, and effects of local air pollution, and 

purchased two state-of-the-art air quality 

monitors, which are under the ownership of 

the community. This equipment and training 

will allow CIDA to independently verify 

ambient pollutants and understand the 

impacts of pollution. 

Air Toxic Assessment in Corrales, New Mexico 

With support from EPA Region 6, the New 

Mexico Environment Department (NMED) 

conducted an air toxics assessment for the village of Corrales. The objective of the project 

was to work cooperatively with the local and 

county governments, residents of Corrales, 

and area industrial complexes to identify and 

analyze potential air quality health risks due 

to toxic air pollution in Corrales. This project 

was initiated in response to citizen concerns 

regarding health effects from emissions in the 

area. A task force consisting of interested 

stakeholders was formed, and a series of facilitated public meetings and forums were conducted to provide community input for the 

direction and focus of the project work plan. 

From December 2002 to June 2004, 21 task 

force, subcommittee, and public meetings 

were held in the Corrales and Rio Rancho 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


areas. Based upon available data, NMED did 

not find evidence that any of the modeled or 

measured chemicals are associated with 

increased acute or chronic health risks. 

Region 9 

West Oakland Community Air Toxics Pilot 

Project 

The West Oakland Community, located in the 

city of West Oakland, California, is a predominately low-income and minority community. 

The area has significant levels of air emissions 

and high rates of childhood asthma. The community is surrounded by major freeways and 

is the site of several major industrial uses, 

including the Port of Oakland. In 2003, Region 

9 continued its air toxics reduction-related 

activities that began in 2002. Significant environmental results were attained, including: 1) 

One of the major sources of air emissions 

—Red Star Yeast—has closed, 2) a $70,000 

community study of options for reducing the 

impacts of diesel trucks at the port is underway; and 3) an additional $70,000 will be used 

to address all diesel emission sources and to 

support more stakeholder involvement in a 

collaborative problem-solving process. 

Barrio Logan Environmental Justice 

Demonstration Pilot Project 

Since 2000, Region 9, the California 

Environmental Protection Agency, and San 

Diego's nonprofit Environmental Health 

Coalition (EHC) have participated in a Federal 

Interagency Working Group for an 

Environmental Justice Demonstration Project 

to assist the Barrio Logan neighborhood of 

San Diego, California. This project mobilized all 

levels of government, as well as community 

and local business, to improve Barrio Logan's 

air quality and public health. By 2003, this 

collaborative project had made substantive 

progress. A chrome, nickel, and cadmium plating facility next door to homes was found to 

emit high levels of airborne hexavalent 

chromium, a carcinogen by the state of 

California. After receiving several citations for 

violating hazardous waste regulation, the 

facility closed in October 2002. EPA and other 

government partners provided technical support during the removal of toxics from the 

site. Community residents have reported that 

since the shutdown health conditions have 

improved. They have also reported fewer asthma attacks, respiratory illnesses, and hospital 

visits. In addition, the partnership has worked 

with the community to address air quality 

issues related to truck idling and parking in 

residential areas and near schools, which 

resulted in changing the local parking 

enforcement policy to minimize truck 

parking and idling. 

International 

Clean Fuels and Vehicles 

Since September 2002, EPA has been a committed partner with governments, international organizations, industry, and 

non-governmental organizations in the 

Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles 

8 Chapter 1

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launched at the World Summit on Sustainable 

Development. EPA and its partners have 

implemented many projects that promote 

clean fuels and vehicles and the adoption of 

cleaner vehicle technologies. Many developing 

countries have achieved, or are working to 

achieve, the elimination of lead in gasoline 

and the phasing out of sulfur in diesel and 

gasoline fuels. In South Africa, the unleaded 

gasoline target date is 2006, and more than 

16 other African countries are either already 

using unleaded gasoline or working toward 

the same goal. 

United States—Mexico Border Air Monitoring 

As part of the Border 2012 Program, EPA 

signed a binational air monitoring agreement 

and committed up to $13 million toward the 

cleanup of a wastewater treatment plant in 

Mexicali, Mexico. This project will remove up 

to 20 million gallons of raw sewage per day 

from the New River, a binational river that 

originates in Mexicali, Baja California, and 

ends at the Salton Sea in Imperial Valley, 

California. To date, EPA has contributed 

approximately $475 million to more than 50 

water and wastewater projects along the 

United States—Mexico border, providing access 

to potable water and sanitary treatment systems for some 6.5 million area residents. 

To promote coordination, a number of regional workgroups and policy forums collaborate 

with local communities to set priorities and 

plan and implement projects. These groups 

also assist in establishing objectives, defining 

indicators, and measuring progress. For example, the Environmental Health Workgroup 

seeks to address environmental health concerns to reduce exposures and other factors 

associated with the increase in disease rates 

along the border. The workgroup's focus 

includes strengthening health surveillance 

capabilities, conducting research on high-priority issues that have binational and borderwide applications, and enhancing training, 

education, and communication. 

Safe Drinking Water 

Headquarters 

Arsenic Rule Training for Water System 

Advisors 

The Office of Water (OW) developed and 

implemented satellite training for interested 

stakeholders on the Arsenic Rule at 10 locations across the country in FY 2003. A Stage 1 

Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts 

Rule "Train-the Trainer" course was developed 

to train technical advisors for small water systems. Tribes attended both the Arsenic Rule 

and the Train-the-Trainer course. 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Region 3 

District of Columbia Lead in Drinking Water 

Failed corrosion control treatment in the 

District of Columbia's drinking water system 

has resulted in lead levels substantially above 

the allowable levels prescribed in the Lead and 

Copper Rule (LCR). While water treatment 

changes have been implemented to correct 

the problem, lead levels are not expected to 

show a decline for at least six months to one 

year. Ensuring a resolution to the problem 

remains among Region 3's highest priorities. 

The relatively abrupt rise in lead levels coincided approximately with a switch in disinfection 

chemicals used by the Washington Aqueduct. 

The new chemicals are 

being used to reduce 

levels of disinfection 

byproducts in treated 

water to comply with 

prospective EPA standards. This correlation of 

events prompted many 

to speculate that this 

change caused the lead 

increases, although the 

actual cause remains 

unclear. 

EPA established a 

Technical Expert Working Group (TEWG) in 

February 2004 to step up investigations of the 

cause and potential solutions to the problem. 

OW also established an independent Peer 

Review Panel, consisting of additional experts 

to advise the TEWG deliberations and Region 3 

actions. The health effects of lead are especially significant for pregnant and nursing 

women and young children. EPA and the 

District of Columbia Water and Sewer 

Authority (WASA) signed a Consent Order on 

June 17, 2005, which commits WASA, among 

other actions, to provide water filters (and 

replacements) to homes with lead service lines 

or demonstrated high lead levels, accelerate 

replacement of lead service lines, and enhance 

public education and outreach. 

Region 6 

Mescalero Apache Tribe Drinking Water 

Compliance Assistance 

Since the inception of the Safe Drinking Water 

Act (SDWA), 14 community water systems 

owned and operated by the Mescalero Apache 

Tribe in New Mexico have been in and out of 

compliance over many years. These systems 

provide potable water to a variety of publicly 

utilized facilities, including housing, campgrounds, casinos, and restaurants. 

Approximately 85 percent of the total population of the 4,350-member Mescalero Tribe 

receives drinking water from community 

water systems. A successful collaboration 

among Region 6, the Office of Enforcement 

and Compliance Assurance (OECA), the 

Mescalero Apache Tribe, and Indian Health 

Service (IHS) staff has resulted in a dramatic 

reduction of violations under the SDWA in the 

10 Chapter 1

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public water systems. Region 6 staff discussed 

water quality problems and Orders on Consent 

with the Mescalero Apache Tribe officials and 

the Indian Health Service representatives on 

several occasions throughout FY 2003 and FY 

2004. Technical and compliance assistance 

was provided to the Mescalero Tribe by Region 

6 and the Environmental Finance Center (EFS), 

an EPA contractor at New Mexico Tech 

University. This is the first time in 15 years 

that the people of the Mescalero Apache Tribe 

are enjoying safe and clean drinking water—a 

positive milestone for the tribe in achieving 

environmental excellence. 

Region 9 

Pacific Island Efforts 

In 2003, the Marpi landfill opened in Saipan, 

making it the first fully compliant landfill in 

the Pacific Islands. In Guam, the Ordot dump 

closed as a result of an EPA lawsuit. 

Additionally, after the Department of Justice 

(DOJ) filed on behalf of the Region to place 

Guam Waterworks Authority (GWA) under 

receivership in 2003, Region 9 worked with a 

federal judge, the government of Guam, and 

DOJ to sign a stipulated order. Under the 

order, GWA agreed to take numerous steps to 

improve its water service. For decades, GWA 

had been unable to provide one of the basic 

services most Americans take for granted— 

access to safe, reliable drinking water. Guam 

residents have seen improvements in drinking 

water as a result of the actions. 

International 

United Nations Millennium Development 

Goal 

In 2003 and 2004, projects have continued 

through the United Nations Millennium 

Development Goal, which aims to reduce the 

risk of sickness and death worldwide by halving the number of people without access to 

safe drinking water and sanitation in key 

countries by 2015. More than 2.2 million people—mostly children—die each year from preventable waterborne diseases. EPA continues 

to work in many countries on this issue. 

Specifically, in the Americas, cooperation with 

counterpart organizations in Central America, 

Mexico, and Canada has improved the quality 

of shared water bodies, such as the Rio 

Grande, as well as the capacity of institutions 

to monitor drinking water quality, protect 

source waters, and implement cost-effective 

solutions that lead to improved protection of 

human health. 

Safe Drinking Water in Africa 

EPA initiated its "Water for Africa Program" to 

improve access to safe drinking water in 

urban and peri-urban areas through community-based capacity building. In Phase 1 of the 

program, EPA, in partnership with Water for 

People, a Denver-based non-governmental 

organization (NGO), provided grants to NGOs 

in five countries (Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, 

Uganda, and Zambia) to build capacity of 

communities in a variety of different ways. 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Approaches that these NGOs took included 

community mobilization, health and hygiene 

education, advocacy training, and public information dissemination. Notable results include 

the establishment of Community Water 

Committees that are working to sustainably 

manage and operate water kiosks and maintain the kiosks through the reinvestment of 

water charges. The project has resulted in the 

maintenance of piped-in water for communities, lowering the cost of water for poor communities. As a result of the success of Phase 1, 

additional resources are being leveraged to 

build upon this work. 

Water Quality 

Headquarters 

Colonias Self-Help Project 

"Colonias" is a designation that is applied to 

low income, unincorporated subdivisions in 

Texas and New Mexico along the United 

States—Mexico border, characterized by inadequate or lack of safe, potable water and 

sewage disposal systems. 

More than 1,400 colonias 

exist along the border with 

an estimated population of 

more than 400,000. EPA's 

Office of Wastewater 

Management works with 

the Rensselaerville 

Institute, a nonprofit 

organization that provided 

$900,000 in funding in 

2003 to implement a methodology to assist 

colonias residents in solving their water and 

wastewater infrastructure challenges through 

self-help projects. The objective of the project 

is to utilize resources and expertise in the 

community to build sustainable partnerships 

and protect the environment and the public 

health at considerable cost savings. The selfhelp approach to local water pollution problems has been implemented in 600 projects 

across the United States. 

Tribal Workshops on Preparing Nonpoint 

Source Control Management Programs 

OW has developed detailed multi-day tribal 

workshops to assist tribes in preparing 

Nonpoint Source Pollution Control 

Management Programs under the Clean Water 

Act section 319. The workshops are also 

intended to help tribes become eligible for 

obtaining program grants available to all federally recognized tribes and to implement successful watershed projects. These workshops 

cover requirements that must be met before 

tribes become eligible for project grants 

authorized by Clean Water Act sections 319(h) 

and 518. In addition, as more and more tribes 

have attained eligibility for and received 

Section 319 grants (more than 70 percent of 

Indian country is now eligible), the workshops 

are increasingly focusing upon the development and implementation of watershed projects. Since 1998, almost 20 tribal workshops 

have been held throughout Indian country. 

OW has also increased the amount of Section 

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319 funding for tribes, from $6 million in FY 

2003 to $7 million in FY 2004. 

Region 2 

Health Initiative for Harm Prevention Among 

Vulnerable Populations in the San Juan Bay 

Estuary System 

Region 2 awarded a grant to the Caribbean 

Environment and Development Institute (CEDI) 

to conduct socio-cultural research on exposure prevention practices among vulnerable 

populations. CEDI is partnering with the 

University of Puerto Rico School of Public 

Health to focus on those practices concerning 

the recreational water usage and biota products (consumption) of the San Juan Bay 

Estuary System. A culturally relevant health 

communication model will be produced. 

Region 3 

Chesapeake Bay Environmental Justice 

Forum 

The Chesapeake Bay Environmental Justice 

Forum, held in March 2003 in Washington, 

DC, was a multi-stakeholder meeting designed 

to highlight the diverse group of partners 

active and participating in various environmental justice-related activities around the 

Chesapeake Bay Watershed. An Environmental 

Justice Listening Session was one of the activities conducted by the Task Force as a part of 

the day's activities. The forum and listening 

session were joint activities sponsored by 

Region 3, the District of Columbia Department 

of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), 

the Maryland Department of the Environment 

(MDE), the West Virginia Department of 

Environmental Quality (WVDEQ), the 

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 

Protection (PADEP), the Delaware Department 

of Natural Resources and Environmental 

Control (DNREC), the Virginia Department of 

Environmental Quality (VADEQ), and the 

Chesapeake Bay Task Force. 

The forum focused on fish consumption and 

water quality issues, and a historical perspective of blacks in the Chesapeake Bay was presented as one of the keynotes. Panels discussed 

issues, research, and future visions related to 

the various aspects of the consumption of fish 

and shellfish. In addition, a number of compelling issues related to water resources, such 

as access to basic services, agricultural and 

industrial runoff, water quality assessment, and 

efforts to protect and renew bay resources 

were discussed. A highlight of the forum was 

the compelling presentation by a Bay View, 

Virginia, resident regarding her community's 

efforts to obtain public sewer and water services for the first time, and to raise the standard 

of living and quality of life in Bay View. After 

receiving an Environmental Justice Small Grant 

from Region 3 and working with environmental 

groups and organizations around the state, the 

citizens of Bay View were able to educate 

themselves and others regarding the water and 

sewer issues in the community. The state of 

Virginia funded the improvements for Bay View, 

and the community's accomplishments were 

Chapter 1 13 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


highlighted on the July 15, 2003 edition of the 

CBS News Show 60 Minutes (see 

<www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/ 

11/26/60minutes/main585793.shtml>) 

Region 6 

Tribal Drinking Water System PerformanceBased Training 

Region 6 began a performance-based training 

pilot program with six New Mexico Pueblos 

(Isleta, Jemez, Sandia, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, 

and Tesuque), teaching tribal drinking water 

system operators to optimize the performance 

of their public water systems, thereby improving public health protection for the tribal 

communities they serve. The training, offered 

quarterly over 18 months, teaches operators 

problem-solving skills and assigns homework 

for tribal operators to complete before and 

report during the following quarterly meeting. 

Four sessions were held in 2003 and 2004. 

Economic Development and Tribal Health 

Training 

The Rural Community Assistance Corporation, 

under a Region 6 grant and guidance, delivered a three-day workshop in November 2003 

to help tribal administrators understand the 

linkage between sound drinking water infrastructure and economic development of their 

communities. Topics included master water 

planning, drinking water system management, 

operations and maintenance, accessing funding, and developing a scope of work for infrastructure projects. 

Region 9 

Mercury Emission Reduction 

As a result of a $128,000 settlement for 

stormwater violations at five auto-wrecking 

and recycling yards in Chula Vista, Santa 

Paula, Sun Valley, and Wilmington (California), 

the Pick Your Part Auto Wrecking Company 

agreed to start removing and recycling mercury in switches from salvaged vehicles at its 

nine California yards—the first such program 

in the state. In the United States, an estimated 

10 tons of mercury are released to the environment each year from mercury-containing 

light switches during the shredding and 

crushing of old vehicles. 

Region 10 

Development of Tribal Fish Consumption 

Survey Software 

EPA's National Health and Environmental 

Effects Research Laboratory is supporting 

efforts by Region 10's Office of Environmental 

Assessment (OEA) to assist tribes through a 

project funded by the Agency's Regional 

Applied Research Effort (RARE). Scientists will 

work to develop tribal fish consumption survey software that can be used to assist tribes 

with making regulatory decisions to protect 

water quality and provide a means for developing standards using the best possible scientific fish consumption data. The primary 

objective is to develop and test an easy-to-use 

survey instrument and database to collect fish 

and shellfish consumption information. This 

14 Chapter 1

Risk Reduction


survey instrument and database would be 

based on commercially available software with 

analytical and report-making capabilities to 

facilitate easy compilation of the data for use 

by tribes. The project began in 2003 with 

development of the survey instrument, database, and ancillary guidance materials. 

International 

White Water to Blue Water 

At the World Summit for Sustainable 

Development, the United States announced 

the establishment of the White Water to Blue 

Water Initiative (WW2BW) for the Gulf of 

Mexico and the Wider Caribbean Region. The 

WW2BW partnership is working to: 1) protect 

human health, watersheds, and sensitive 

coastal and marine resources, 2) promote sustainable coastal development, and 3) improve 

capacity of countries throughout the region to 

implement best management practices for 

environmental strategies. 

Waste Management 

Headquarters 

National Partnership for Environmental 

Priorities 

Using information from the Community 

Action for Renewed Environment Workgroup 

and the TOXMAP Tool, the Hazardous Waste 

Management and Minimization Division of the 

Office of Solid Waste and Emergency 

Response (OSWER) works to find facilities that 

generate high volumes of priority chemicals 

and are located on or near environmental justice communities. Once communities with 

possible environmental justice issues are identified, the division uses this information to 

identify potential National Partnership for 

Environmental Priorities (NPEP) members, and 

the regions can use these data to select facilities to pursue for enrollment. 

Region 6 

Tex. Tin Corporation Superfund Site, Texas 

City, Texas 

The Tex. Tin Superfund site is located in Texas 

City, Galveston County, Texas. The city of La 

Marque lies approximately 2,000 feet west 

and northwest of the site. The site is a former 

tin and copper smelting facility that was constructed for the federal government during 

World War II to provide a source for tin material. The facility operated from 1941 through 

1991. The site was listed on the National 

Priorities List on September 18, 1998. On 

August 25, 2004, cleanup activities for all four 

operable units of the Tex. Tin Superfund site 

were completed. The former smelter site 

encompasses approximately 140 acres, and 

plans call for the redevelopment of the site as 

a cargo container facility in conjunction with 

the $600 million expansion of the Texas City 

International Port Terminal. This redevelopment is expected to create hundreds of job 

opportunities for the local community. 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Amarillo Mercury, Amarillo, Texas: Non-NPL 

Emergency Removal Action 

On September 10, 2004, Region 6 initiated an 

emergency response at five residences and 

one school in Amarillo, Texas. Five Hispanic 

families, including 25 people (16 children) had 

mercury releases in their homes after children 

found and brought home containers of mercury from an unsecured junk/scrap yard. 

Region 6 mobilized the Emergency Response 

Removal Services contractor to the site to collect and secure free mercury, as well as set up 

temporary relocation assistance for three of 

the families. It was determined that these 

families could not safely reside in their homes, 

which exhibited mercury vapors above EPA 

screening levels. The other two homes will 

also require some decontamination efforts. No 

mercury vapor levels above EPA screening levels were detected in the school where a 

teacher initially reported that the children 

were in possession of mercury. 

Region 9 

Metales y Derivados Cleanup Project 

Region 9 worked closely with the regional 

border effort to encourage increased community participation and involvement related to 

the cleanup process for the Metales site. 

Through active consultation with community 

members, leaders, and community organizations, the region supported an agreement 

establishing a joint community and government Working Group to plan and monitor the 

cleanup process. Composed of members of the 

Colectivo and officials of Mexico's environmental program (Secretaria de MedioAmbiente 

y Recursos Naturales - SEMARNAT), the Office 

of Integral Projects for Hazardous Materials 

and Activities, and the Office of Ecology, the 

Working Group was officially formed on July 

7, 2004. As noted in the agreement, the 

Working Group is charged with overseeing the 

Metales y Derivados cleanup project. 

Toxics 

Headquarters 

Environmental Justice Process for Reviewing 

Chemicals 

The Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) within 

the Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic 

Substances has continued work to ensure that 

all the risk assessments it prepares to register 

or re-register pesticides account for routes 

and patterns of exposure encountered by 

minority or other population sub-groups, such 

as migrant workers. Specifically, the Special 

Review and Re-registration Division (SSRD) 

now has an environmental justice process in 

place for reviewing all chemicals. The process 

includes outreach to stakeholders and registrants to determine if usage patterns might 

lead to disproportionate exposures. SRRD also 

has incorporated environmental justice-related questions in the rulemaking public participation process by asking for public comments 

regarding communities that might be 

disproportionately impacted by the use of 

a specific pesticide. 

16 Chapter 1

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Lindane Review 

OPP began using environmental justice considerations in the registration and re-registration process. For example, during the 

re-registration process, OPP identified that 

Alaska Natives were disproportionately 

exposed to lindane (i.e., they have a much 

higher estimated exposure to lindane in their 

diet than Americans in the lower 48 states). 

Lindane is a persistent organic pollutant, so 

these exposures might occur as a result of 

uses thousands of miles away. The Agency 

took action to lower the rate of lindane use, 

and several uses of lindane were cancelled. 

Although EPA's actions were not taken to 

address the subsistence diet population exposure, they will result in reduced exposure 

overall. 

Elimination of Lead Poisoning by 2010 

In 2004, OPPT reevaluated pending actions to 

reach the goal of eliminating lead poisoning 

by 2010. OPPT concluded that additional 

attention was needed to address lead poisoning in high-risk populations and areas. The 

office laid the groundwork to expand programs toward these areas and populations in 

the future, including developing a new grant 

program targeted to vulnerable populations. 

Increase Awareness of Worker Protection 

Standards 

In July 2003, the OECA provided training to 17 

EPA headquarters and regional attendees, 10 

state attendees, and one tribal representative 

on the worker protection standards (WPS) of 

the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and 

Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The purpose of the 

training was to develop WPS enforcement 

infrastructure in the states, regions, and tribes. 

WPS are aimed at reducing the risk of pesticide poisonings and injuries among agricultural workers and pesticide handlers. The WPS 

generally entail a state-authorized program, 

and many states have incorporated the federal 

regulations. Most of the attendees were case 

developers and attorneys who are responsible 

for developing and prosecuting WPS cases. 

Region 2 

Healthy Homes Study—Trenton, New Jersey 

Region 2 awarded a grant to Isles, Inc. to 

improve substandard housing conditions in the 

Canal Banks section of Trenton, New Jersey, in 

partnership with the University of Medicine and 

Dentistry of New Jersey. Isles will perform 

research and develop a report on the extent of 

multiple contaminant exposures that might 

exist in the area's older housing stock. As part of 

this effort, Isles will increase community capacity to address this problem by training community members in the collection of dust wipe 

samples (for metals, pesticides, and lead) from 

75 homes. The university laboratories will analyze the samples. Information collected, along 

with the resulting data, will be communicated 

to occupants/renters, landlords, community and 

faith-based groups, and local officials to raise 

awareness and to encourage changes in household cleaning and maintenance practices. 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Region 5 

Cooperative Partnership Detecting Illegal 

Pesticides and Unlicensed Applicators 

In December 2004, Region 5 worked with the 

Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to 

provide a two-hour basic training session on 

pesticides to some 45 field inspectors from 

the city of Chicago Department of Public 

Health. The training provided an introduction 

to poisoning symptoms and better methods to 

advocate for pest control. The purpose of this 

training was to solicit the assistance of the 

city lead and radon residential inspectors, 

public health nurses, and restaurant food protection inspectors in their detection of illegal 

pesticide products or illegal applicators during 

their normal routine environmental work. EPA 

and IDPH are working to foster relationships 

with many state and local agencies to secure 

assistance in this effort as a proactive means 

to prevent future pesticide misuse crises, as 

was experienced with methyl parathion misuse in Chicago. 

Region 7 

Informing People on Pesticides—Migrant 

Farm Workers Project 

In 2002, Region 7 began work to research, 

identify, and address environmental and 

human health issues and concerns that face 

migrant and seasonal farm workers and their 

families living and working in the region. 

Harvest America Corporation (HAC) partnered 

with EPA to educate and inform migrant and 

seasonal farm workers in Kansas on pesticide 

safety and exposure risks through the 

Informing People on Pesticides (IPOP) Project. 

The IPOP Project identified healthcare gaps in 

many farming communities in Kansas, a problem that plagues many farming communities 

in the United States. The data collected 

through IPOP also reinforces the fact that 

pesticides are being used in traditional agriculture as well as in non-traditional agricultural settings (e.g., feedlots) throughout 

Southwest Kansas. IPOP revealed disparities in 

pesticide education and awareness by the 

many people who 

apply pesticides, a 

problem exacerbated 

by language deficiencies. Through bilingual 

educational presentations, the people 

involved showed the desire and ability to learn 

pesticide safety. One of the goals of the project was to increase the knowledge gained by 

participants after a worker protection safety 

presentation. Participants experienced a 50 

percent increase in knowledge in pesticides 

awareness as a result of the training. 

Kansas City Targeted Lead Campaign 

In the summer of 2004, Region 7 partnered 

with the Kansas City (Missouri) Health 

Department to conduct a pilot project called 

the Kansas City Targeted Lead Campaign. The 

campaign worked to educate communities in 

18 Chapter 1

Risk Reduction


Kansas City, Missouri, about the dangers of 

lead poisoning and the importance of having 

children between the ages of two and six 

years old screened for lead poisoning. Two 

targeted zip codes were selected because they 

had the highest number of elevated blood lead 

levels in children under six years of age and 

the highest number of houses built before 

1969 in Kansas City. 

The campaign included outreach and education to children in daycare settings, parents 

and adults, and faith-based organizations. To 

reach children in daycare settings, the campaign included early childhood demonstrations that featured interactive, hands-on lead 

awareness activities. During the campaign, a 

total of 123 children were educated about the 

dangers of lead. Adults and parents were presented with a more detailed lead awareness 

curriculum. Results from pre-tests showed 

that the majority of parents had no knowledge on the subject matter. The workshop 

post-test results indicated that the parents 

who had little to no knowledge on lead poisoning were able to grasp the concept on how 

to protect their family members from lead 

poisoning. 

Region 7 also provided lead publications in 

church bulletins at seven churches within the 

area, reaching more than 4,000 people. In 

addition, the campaign conducted a direct 

mailing to 10,000 residents, placed newspaper 

articles and advertisements, and developed 

radio public service announcements. The campaign concluded with a health fair sponsored 

by EPA, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater 

Kansas City, and the health department. 

In total, this project reached approximately 

78,000 people within the Kansas City 

metropolitan area. 

Region 8 

Increasing Migrant Farm Worker Protections 

Region 8 is undertaking a complex, multi-tiered 

effort to reduce migrant farm workers' exposure to pesticides and contaminated drinking 

water. There are approximately 45,000 migrant 

farm workers in Colorado, and this group constitutes one of the least powerful and most 

vulnerable populations in the state. The average 

migrant worker's income is about $7,500. In 

addition, access to health care is limited, and 

working conditions can be hazardous. Also, 

great differences exist in the social, cultural, 

economic, political, and regulatory positions of 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


each of the major stakeholder groups—growers, 

workers, and regulators. The tensions created by 

these differences make developing trust among 

all stakeholders a critical element in the success 

of this project. In 2004, EPA awarded $100,000 

to the Colorado Onion Association, the Farm 

Bureau, and Colorado Legal Services to train 

and educate the farm worker community on 

the Federal Worker Protection Standards. 

Region 10 

Health Risks from Bioaccumulative Shellfish 

Toxins 

Region 10 has been involved in an initiative to 

understand and respond to health risks from 

bioaccumulative shellfish toxins in the 

Swinomish Tribal Community. As a result of 

subsistence consumption and cultural and 

religious practices, tribes are often exposed to 

higher levels of contaminants in the environment than other Americans. ORD has funded a 

$1.1 million grant to the Swinomish Tribal 

Community to study the presence of, and 

potential adverse impacts from, low-level 

chronic exposures to bioaccumulative toxins in 

shellfish from traditionally harvested areas. 

Twenty-one such areas have been selected for 

shellfish and sediment sampling. All of the 

samples will be analyzed for polyaromatic 

hydrocarbons, chlorinated dioxins and furans, 

polychlorinated biphenyls, and heavy metals. 

Researchers will use tribal shellfish consumption rates for Puget Sound to determine any 

connection between the calculated health risks 

from the toxics and prevalent health issues on 

the Swinomish Reservation. 

The results of this project are expected to help 

improve the health of tribal communities 

under evaluation, as well as provide a basis for 

further evaluation of these communities and 

other tribes in the Northwest. In general, these 

projects will identify the extent of contamination of tribal environments, and the extent to 

which this contamination can result in adverse 

risks to tribal health and culture. With appropriate communication, risk management 

approaches will be developed to reduce health 

and ecological risks to tribes and on tribal lands. 

Protegiendo Nuestro Futuro/Protecting Our 

Future 

In March 2004, four Catholic parishes in the 

Diocese of Yakima, Washington, began training farm workers on protecting themselves 

from pesticide exposure on farms and in their 

homes. Churches in Royal City, Mattawa, 

Toppenish, and Yakima are participating in 

Protegiendo Nuestro Futuro/Protecting Our 

Future, which targets the education specifically towards women and teen Hispanic farm 

workers. 

The training material was developed by a 

number of agencies, including the Washington 

State Department of Agriculture, Washington 

Department of Health, Washington Labor and 

Industries, and EPA Region 10 Office of 

Ecosystems, Tribal and Public Affairs. Parish 

20 Chapter 1

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volunteers are trained in the EPA WPS and 

present the material in Spanish, accompanied 

by a visual slide show. A verbal questionnaire 

is conducted during the class, which provides 

an opportunity for open discussion. Farm 

workers attending the class received a WPS 

card, a requirement for employment in areas 

where pesticides have been used. Funding has 

been provided in part by the U.S. Catholic 

Conference of Bishops. 

Community Action for a Renewed 

Environment 

In FY 2004, the Community Action for a 

Renewed Environment (CARE) awarded a 

$35,000 grant to expand the Spanish language program for Hispanic orchardists to 

include hands-on 

experience with irrigation management 

strategies that can 

reduce pesticide 

inputs and improve 

water quality. Staff 

from Capacity 

Assurance Plan (CAP) 

and faculty from the 

Wenatchee Valley Community College 

Hispanic Orchard Employees Program will provide training workshops in the future. These 

groups are uniquely qualified to conduct the 

site-specific agricultural production training in 

a language and culture appropriate for the 

Hispanic farmers. A portion of the funding will 

be made available to cost-share on irrigation 

monitoring equipment for four model farms in 

the region, which will be used in the training 

sessions. Desired outcomes of the training 

sessions will be increased familiarity with irrigation management techniques, identification 

of resource needs on Hispanic orchardists' 

farms, and increased success in receiving Farm 

Bill financial assistance to address resource 

concerns including pest management and 

water quality. 

International 

NAFTA Pesticides Safety Training Program 

To address the risks and needs of the agricultural labor flowing between the United States 

and Mexico, EPA collaborated with a consortium of interested parties from Mexico to 

develop a pesticide safety training program 

under the North American Free Trade 

Agreement (NAFTA). More than 2,000 workers 

have been trained under the program. 

Arctic Council Action Plan 

Under the Arctic Council Action Plan (ACAP), 

a multilateral project on environmentally 

sound management of obsolete pesticide 

stocks in the Northern regions of Russia was 

implemented in FY 2003 and FY 2004. Eleven 

Russian regions that directly impact the 

Arctic were selected to participate in the first 

inventory, screening analysis, collection, 

repackaging, and temporary storage of 

obsolete pesticide stocks. The project's ultimate objective is environmentally sound 

destruction of obsolete pesticides stockpiles 

Chapter 1
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


to remove the threat to the public health 

and the environment. 

Enforcement and 

Compliance 

Headquarters 

Environmental Justice—OECA Priority 

OECA now includes environmental justice as a 

required element in each of its National 

Program Priorities for FY 2005 through 2007. 

Previously, environmental justice was a selfstanding priority for OECA. OECA's National 

Program Managers Guidance to the 

Headquarters and Regional Offices (May 2004) 

explains that integrating environmental justice 

into each National Program Priority will 

improve the ability of the Agency to protect 

minority, low-income, and tribal communities. 

The performance-based strategies developed 

by the implementation teams will also incorporate environmental justice into each of their 

associated measures and target commitments. 

The specific national enforcement priorities 

were selected after consultation with the 

Enforcement Subcommittee of the National 

Environmental Justice Advisory Council 

(NEJAC) and other stakeholder groups. 

First OECA Environmental Justice Policy 

On January 12, 2004, OECA issued its first 

environmental justice policy, which describes 

how the office will support the Agency's environmental justice goal of "ensuring that no 

community is disproportionately placed at risk 

from environmental and human health 

threats" through integration of "environmental justice as an operating principle throughout OECA's programs, policies, and activities." 

It calls on OECA to emphasize the use of data, 

compliance tools, and enforcement actions to 

identify and address problems in communities 

with environmental justice concerns to 

achieve optimal environmental outcomes. It 

also requires that environmental justice be 

integrated fully into OECA's planning and 

budgeting processes and calls for OECA-wide 

training for staff and managers who are asked 

to ensure that environmental justice is integrated into OECA's programs. 

Expansion and Clarification of the 

Supplemental Environmental Projects Policy 

On June 11, 2003, OECA issued the 

Memorandum, "Expanding the Use of 

Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs)," 

which urged enforcement personnel to consider every opportunity to increase the use of 

SEPs, particularly those that are environmentally significant. On January 5, 2004, OECA 

issued a second memorandum, Recommended 

Ideas for Supplemental Environmental 

Projects," which included suggestions for 

types of potential SEPs that might benefit 

communities impacted by violations and 

which have environmental justice concerns. 

Taken together, these memoranda lay the 

foundation for more aggressive use of environmentally significant SEPs in communities 

with environmental justice concerns. 

22 Chapter 1

Risk Reduction


What Is a Supplemental 

Environmental 

Project (SEP)? 

A SEP is an environmentally 

beneficial project that a violator of an environmental 

regulation agrees to undertake in lieu of a portion of 

the monetary penalty from 

enforcement. SEPs are voluntary activities, and cannot 

be imposed upon violators. 

They are designed to compensate communities that 

are put at risk from the environmental violations. 

Environmental Justice-Focused Initiative 

Under the Lead Paint Rule 

OECA continues its leadership role in the federal interagency initiative to investigate and 

promote compliance with the Lead Paint 

Disclosure Rule, under the Toxic Substances 

Control Act (TSCA). In FY 2003, there were 11 

settlements nationwide that included lead 

abatement SEPs. Penalties totaled $395,264, 

and an estimated 2,982 units have now been 

certified as lead-free. Many of these units 

were in minority or low-income communities 

or were significant because they were occupied by young children. In FY 2004, there were 

15 administrative settlements under the 

Disclosure Rule, which included SEPs aimed at 

eliminating lead-based paint, for a total value 

of $4,254,057. 

Lead-Based Paint Abatement Work As a SEP 

On January 22, 2004, EPA's Office of 

Regulatory Enforcement issued the 

Memorandum, "Treatment of Lead-Based Paint 

Abatement Work as a Supplemental 

Environmental Project in Administrative 

Settlements," which endorsed extending the 

use of SEPs beyond judicial settlements to 

administrative settlements as well. 

Environmental Justice SEPs 

EPA achieved 14 SEPs specifically aimed at 

addressing environmental justice concerns in 

FY 2003. EPA also achieved 26 environmental 

justice SEPs in FY 2004. For example, Sithe 

New England agreed to undertake five environmental justice SEPs 

at a total cost of 

$5,129,385. Of particular note is Sithe New 

England's commitment 

to spend $3,254,496 

retrofitting 500 Boston 

school buses with particulate matter filters 

and supplying them 

with ultra-low sulfur 

diesel fuel to reduce 

particulate matter and 

other harmful air pollutants from diesel fuel 

exhaust. 

Settlement from Oil 

Production Activities Affecting Tribes 

EPA and the Department of Justice reached a 

settlement of $5.5 million with Mobil 

Exploration and Producing U.S. Inc. for numerous water spills from its oil production activities in the Navajo Nation in southeastern 

Utah. The settlement includes a $515,000 

penalty and requires the company to spend 

about $4.7 million of injunctive relief on field 

operation improvements to reduce spill incidences. Mobil will also spend approximately 

$327,000 on SEPs, including building sanitation facilities and constructing a drinking 

water supply line extension. This extension will 

provide running water to 17 of the remote 

residences located on oil production fields, 

whose occupants have had to drive as long 

Chapter 1
 23 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


as an hour to fill 55-gallon drums with 

drinking water. 

Region 1 

Creative Settlement with the Massachusetts 

Bay Transportation Authority Promotes 

Environmental Justice 

In 2004, Region 1 reached a $1.4 million 

enforcement settlement with the 

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 

(MBTA) that will bring significant clean air 

benefits to the Boston area by reducing MBTA 

bus idling, reducing pollution from commuter 

rail trains, and providing land for a bike path. 

MBTA is the oldest and fourth largest mass 

transit system in the country. It has a poor 

record of compliance with environmental 

laws. The settlement stems from a federal 

enforcement action against MBTA for numerous violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) 

and Clean Air Act (CAA), including illegal discharges of process water; unpermitted 

stormwater discharges into six Boston-area 

rivers; and failure to develop and implement 

oil spill prevention, control, and countermeasure for at least 10 MBTA facilities. The CAA 

violations are for excess idling of diesel buses, 

as diesel exhaust is a probable carcinogen that 

can also trigger asthma and respiratory illness. 

Boston has one of the highest added cancer 

risks from diesel exhaust in the country, and 

several MBTA bus yards are concentrated in 

poor areas of Boston with asthma hospitalization rates up to 178 percent above 

the state average. 

Region 6 

Settlements Result in 

Cleaner Air for 

School Children 

The Houston 

Independent School 

District in Texas and 

the Calcesieu Parish 

School Board in Louisiana will now be able to 

purchase new school buses or retrofit older 

diesel school buses as a result of three air 

enforcement cases in Region 6. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel for the bus fleet will also be 

purchased. Children are particularly susceptible to the harmful impacts of ground-level 

ozone and smog. Clean burning fuel buses will 

prevent emissions that contribute to children's 

air toxic exposure. 

Continental Carbon Company, Ponca City, 

Oklahoma 

In response to concerns from the Ponca Tribe of 

Oklahoma and from PACE International Union 

AFL-CIO concerning allegations of noncompliance at Continental Carbon, Region 6 and the 

Oklahoma Department of Environmental 

Quality (ODEQ) jointly conducted a multimedia 

inspection at Continental Carbon on June 10 

and 11, 2003. The inspection reports indicate 

potential air violations, such as failure to meet 

permit and Title V requirements, potential solid 

waste violations, and potential stormwater violations, including failing to meet stormwater 

permit requirements by having carbon black 

24 Chapter 1

Risk Reduction


residue outside the stormwater permitted area. 

As a result of the inspection, ODEQ issued a 

Notice of Violations, and ODEQ's Air Quality 

Division issued a Request for Information to 

address areas of concern noted during the 

inspection for the air, solid waste, and 

stormwater programs. Continental Carbon 

coordinated with ODEQ to take appropriate 

steps to address the potential violations. 

Region 8 

Addressing Environmental Justice Through 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

As a cooperating agency, Region 8 and the 

project lead agencies (i.e., Federal Highway 

Administration, Colorado Department of 

Transportation, Regional Transit District, and 

the city and county of Denver) prepared an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) for 

major actions significantly affecting the quality of the environment and human health of 

communities along the I-70 East Corridor, the 

Northwest Corridor, and the US 36 Corridor. 

EPA is participating in the EIS review process 

by facilitating and attending project and public meetings. Region 8 will review the EIS to 

determine if unacceptable levels of environmental impacts will result from the proposed 

project or decision and ensure that Executive 

Order 12898 is implemented in the National 

Environmental Policy Act/EIS analysis. 

Community-Based Supplemental 

Environmental Projects 

Region 8 encourages the inclusion of SEPs in 

the settlement of enforcement cases across 

the region. Where possible, the region encourages the consideration of community-based 

SEPs to bring resources directly to local neighborhoods. This process is yielding positive 

results, such as the following two examples: 

1.	 The Sand Creek Urban Trail in Denver, 

Colorado, is a 13-mile long trail that gives 

urban residents greater access to nature and 

wildlife. Through funds from a SEP, this trail 

will be enhanced to include interpretive 

signage and plantings and will support 

volunteer efforts. 

2.	 Open Airways for School in Pueblo, Colorado, is 

the only statewide asthma education program 

in Colorado. This program will use SEP funds to 

expand the program to reach 220 asthmatic 

children and their families to educate them 

about management of their condition. It will 

also conduct two Asthma 101 sessions. 

Chapter 1
 25 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Region 9 

Sewage Case Settlement Involving 

Community 

In one of the largest sewage cases in U.S. history, EPA, the Department of Justice, the Los 

Angeles Water Quality Control Board, Santa 

Monica Baykeeper, and a coalition of Los 

Angeles community groups reached a $2 billion settlement with the city of Los Angeles 

over years of sewage spills. This settlement 

includes a total of $8.5 million in SEPs for 

projects throughout the city to restore 

streams and wetlands and to capture and 

treat polluted storm drain flows. Under the 

terms of the historic agreement, the city of 

Los Angeles will rebuild at least 488 miles of 

sewer lines, clean 2,800 miles of sewer annually, enhance its program to control restaurant 

grease discharges, increase the sewage system's capacity, and plan for future expansion. 

With approximately 6,500 miles of sewer lines 

serving almost 4 million residents, the city 

operates the largest sewage collection system 

in the country. Since 1994, the city has experienced more than 4,500 sewage spills. 

South Phoenix Multimedia Toxics Reduction 

Project 

Region 9, in collaboration with the Arizona 

Department of Environmental Quality, the city 

of Phoenix, Maricopa County, and Arizona 

Department of Health Services embarked on a 

project to reduce toxic pollutants and neighborhood exposures from multiple sources (air, 

water, and waste) in the South Phoenix area 

of Arizona. The area is home to mixed-use 

development of industry, residential, solid 

waste landfills, and commercial properties. In 

partnership with the community representatives, the groups formed a Community Action 

Council (CAC) to set priorities and develop 

pollution reduction strategies. The project has 

been instrumental in identifying early pollution reduction activities, including developing 

a partnership with a neighborhood brick-making facility to identify strategies to reduce 

toxic pollutants and odor. 

Region 10 

Enforcement of the Lead 

Disclosure Rule to Protect 

Tenants 

Region 10 settled a 

Toxic Substances and 

Control Act (TSCA) case 

against a landlord for 

violations of Section 1018, Title X, of the 

Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard 

Reduction Act of 1992 after working for more 

than a year on the case. 

A tip and complaint against several Portland, 

Oregon, landlords came from tenants through 

the Portland Urban League, which had 

received a Region 10 environmental justice 

small grant for health-based outreach. The 

tenants of the building—who had not been 

informed of the lead-based paint hazards 

when they moved in—were concerned that 

26 Chapter 1

Risk Reduction


lead-based paint could pose serious health 

threats to children or pregnant women. The 

properties are located in low-income neighborhoods in Portland where there is an 

increased likelihood of children having elevated blood-lead levels from deteriorating leadbased paint. Region 10 alleged violations at 

four different properties, which resulted in an 

agreement to pay a $32,000 penalty to settle 

the case. 

This case involved interactions with the 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development and the U.S. Attorney's Office. It 

serves as Region 10's first significant deterrent, and administrative penalty, failure to disclose lead-based paint hazards where children 

and pregnant women are involved. It is 

expected that this settlement will encourage 

others to provide the required notification 

and prevent poisoning where children live 

and play. 

Multimedia 

Headquarters 

Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment 

ORD sponsors and coordinates the Agency 

Risk Assessment Forum, which is a standing 

committee of senior EPA scientists established 

to promote Agency-wide consensus on controversial risk assessments. In 2003, the Forum 

completed its guidance document, Framework 

for Cumulative Risk Assessment, which identifies the basic elements of the cumulative risk 

assessment process and provides a flexible 

structure for conducting and evaluating 

cumulative risk assessment and for addressing 

scientific issues related to cumulative risk. 

In 2004, EPA's National Environmental Justice 

Advisory Council (via its Cumulative 

Risks/Impacts Work Group) completed work 

on a report titled Ensuring Risk Reduction in 

Communities with Multiple Stressors: 

Environmental Justice and Cumulative 

Risks/Impacts. The Work Group states that 

combining the Agency's new Cumulative Risk 

Framework with a collaborative problem-solving approach is the fastest and surest way to 

bring about tangible and sustainable benefits 

for disproportionately impacted communities 

and tribes. The framework is important 

because, for the first time, it opens the scope 

of risk assessment to include the environmental, health, social, and cultural factors that are 

key to understanding community risk. Within 

this framework, the community can enter into 

a dialogue about risk that realistically incorporates the factors experienced by disadvantaged, underserved, and environmentally 

overburdened communities and tribes. 

Tribal Information Management System 

In FY 2004, the Office of Environmental 

Information worked with the American Indian 

Environmental Office (AIEO) to expand the 

Tribal Information Management System (TIMS) 

to incorporate data from other federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Reclamation and 

Chapter 1
 27 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


the Indian Health Service. The purpose of TIMS 

is to integrate data across media and agencies 

to provide EPA and tribal managers a holistic picture of environmental conditions and 

environmental programs. This 

information can be used by tribal 

leaders to set priorities for 

addressing the environmental and 

public health concerns facing 

communities on the reservations. 

Tribal LifeLine Risk Assessment Project 

In 2004, EPA completed its Tribal LifeLine Risk 

Assessment Project. Working with a consortium of Alaska Native Villages and the 

Blackfeet Nation in Montana, EPA developed 

software modules to accurately model dietary 

and other pesticide exposures encountered in 

these two unique living situations. The Agency 

can now conduct a risk assessments for those 

groups based on their traditional lifestyles. The 

next step is to modify the software so it can 

be applied to other tribes. 

Region 2 

Rochester Community Environmental Project, 

New York 

The Rochester Community Environmental 

Project (RCEP), which began as an environmental justice geographic initiative in Region 

2, is a multi-program initiative, mixing voluntary and regulatory programs, aimed at minimizing and/or reducing environmental 

pollutant exposures among local residents, 

especially children. 

To date, regional accomplishments of the 

RCEP include: 1) conducting more than 150 

inspections in the area (covering each sector 

of the regulated community), 2) strengthening 

collaboration with the Rochester City School 

District on the Agency's voluntary health and 

environmental programs to sample school 

drinking water for lead and reduce asthma 

triggers in schools and homes where students 

learn and live, 3) providing $71,000 in EPA 

grant assistance to the Rochester City School 

District for removal of potentially dangerous 

chemicals from school labs and for the school 

district to implement an environmental management system, 4) offering compliance assistance to small businesses to better understand 

regulatory requirements, 5) engaging the 

Rochester Institute of Technology as a partner 

to identify pollution prevention opportunities, 

and 6) administering an effective outreach 

campaign to local community and 

business organizations. 

Region 3 

Cumulative Risk Workshop 

In 2003, Region 3 held a highly successful 

Cumulative Risk/Impacts Workshop in 

Philadelphia, attended by more than 100 people representing federal, state, and local agencies; community organizations; academic 

institutions; professional organizations; and 

28 Chapter 1

Risk Reduction


other interests. Representatives from Johns 

Hopkins University School of Public Health 

and Hygiene, the Food and Drug 

Administration, EPA-Research Triangle Park, 

the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, 

private law firms, West Harlem Environmental 

Action, the Philadelphia Asian American 

Community, Jefferson Medical College, Temple 

University, Exelon, and Region 3 staff served 

as presenters and moderators for the workshop. The presentations focused on identifying 

potential methodologies that can lead to risk 

reduction, improved identification and assessment of risk, and improved communication 

and cooperation among impacted and interested parties. A proceedings document was 

made on the Region's Web site at: 

<www.epa.gov/reg3ecej/ 

environmental_justice/cumriskwkshop.htm>. 

The Vinyl Chloride Project 

The Region 3 Vinyl Chloride Project (formerly 

known as the Media Shifting Project) is a targeting approach that focuses on the movement of a chemical—in this case vinyl chloride 

(a known carcinogen)—through a production 

process and into the air, water, and waste 

stream. The project utilizes public health and 

environmental data to focus the existing 

regulatory framework to resolve environmental problems. It uses a multi-regional process 

that demonstrates flexibility in sharing and 

shifting resources across regions, and it is 

demonstrating the ability to achieve measurable reductions in harmful air, water, and 

hazardous waste pollution. 

On July 14, 2004, Region 3 announced a $1.2 

million settlement with Occidental Chemical 

Corp. (Oxy), located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, 

to reduce vinyl chloride emissions by 26 tons 

(the reportable quantity for vinyl chloride is 

one pound). Oxy agreed to pay a $150,000 

penalty and complete three supplemental environmental projects worth more than $900,000. 

The Pottstown community is the subject of an 

alleged cancer cluster currently under investigation by the Pennsylvania Department of 

Health. In addition to an increased cancer 

mortality rate greater than the state average, 

the community also has a higher than state 

average of lower respiratory infection mortality 

rate. Montgomery County, where Pottstown is 

located, is in severe ozone non-attainment and 

within the 95th percentile for ambient vinyl 

chloride levels for all U.S. counties. Subsequent 

to the EPA/Oxy settlement, Oxy approached 

Region 3 to discuss a global settlement for its 

remaining vinyl chloride facilities. 

Park Heights 

The Park Heights community of Baltimore City, 

Maryland, has an area of concentrated commercial auto body shops. The community has 

expressed concerns that these facilities are 

possible sources of environmental pollution 

that adversely impact public health in an 

already disadvantaged neighborhood. By their 

nature, many of these small businesses are 

not currently captured in the Maryland 

Chapter 1
 29 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Department of the Environment's (MDE's) permitted/regulated facilities databases. MDE and 

Region 3 are working together to address the 

problems auto body shops present in this 

community through an integrated strategy. 

This project involves: 1) identifying the universe of facilities in this geographic area, 2) 

conducting inspections at a statistically valid 

number of randomly selected facilities to 

obtain a compliance rate for this sector in this 

particular area, 3) providing compliance assistance and pollution prevention outreach to 

the entire universe of auto body shops in Park 

Heights, 4) conducting a self-certification program, and 5) measuring the results of the 

compliance assistance efforts. MDE has 

received funding through EPA grants and has 

received assistance from Region 3 to implement this strategy. 

EPA's inspectors have conducted approximately 46 inspections in an effort to determine a 

baseline of compliance and have conducted 

the follow-up inspections to measure the success of the compliance assistance. The ParkReist Corridor Community Organization, which 

has been working with MDE, EPA, and the city 

of Baltimore and which first brought the concerns to light, is the recipient of a $100,000 

Environmental Justice Collaborative ProblemSolving Grant awarded by EPA's Office of 

Environmental Justice. 

Region 4 

Community Ranking Analysis 

Region 4 completed a Community Ranking 

Analysis for minority and low-income communities. The Community Ranking Analysis 

was generated using the Risk Screening 

Environmental Indicators model, which is 

based on the relative risk-related values of 

each county's air releases. Relative risk-related 

values were generated by factoring Toxic 

Release Inventory releases with chemical toxicity weighting, the potentially exposed population, the surrogate dosage for individuals 

within that population, and local meteorological and geographical models. The results are 

relative risk-related values that can be compared to other relative risk-related values to 

rank geographical communities or, in this 

case, counties within EPA Region 4. Region 4 

staff identified the top 40 counties in the 

region with the highest relative risk-related 

values. Community demographics information 

and a set of health and environmental indicators were added to the 40 counties to provide 

a set of indicators that could be used to 

screen priority communities within the region. 

Indicators used were: 1) cancer rate trends, 

2) minority population, 3) economic conditions, which include unemployment rates, 

4) concentration and location of Superfund 

sites, 5) Clean Air Act major and synthetic 

minor facilities, and 6) the National Ambient 

Air Quality Standard Designation for Ozone. 

The Community Ranking Analysis is being 

30 Chapter 1

Risk Reduction


used as a tool to select new regional geographic initiatives and risk reduction projects. 

These areas are also looked upon as priorities 

for education and outreach initiatives and 

community capacity-building efforts. 

International 

Technical Assistance Projects—China 

EPA is working on more than 25 technical 

assistance projects in China to help the country manage the environmental impacts of 

rapid urbanization and economic development. Cooperative activities focus on reducing 

risk by managing air pollution, including vehicle emissions and tobacco smoke, protecting 

watersheds and sources of drinking water, 

reducing industrial pollution, and the consumption of water. 

Chapter 1
 31 

Chapter 2: Outreach and 

Communication 

Through outreach and communication activities such as regional listening sessions, conferences, public meetings, Web sites, 

and informational materials, EPA seeks to provide opportunities for meaningful public 

involvement and ensure effective communication between Agency decisionmakers and 

stakeholders, including all affected communities. This chapter describes the various 

approaches and methods used by different 

Agency program offices and regions to provide effective outreach and communications 

to address a range of environmental justice 

issues and advance the integration of environmental justice within EPA. 

Children's Health 

Region 5 

Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention 

Conference 

In September 2004, more than 250 state and 

local agency staff and managers from Illinois, 

Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and 

Wisconsin participated in the annual meeting 

of the Region 5 Childhood Lead Poisoning 

Prevention Programs, "Zeroing in on 

Elimination." The meeting was held at Region 

5's office in Chicago and was jointly hosted by 

Region 5 and the Chicago Department of 

Public Health. The objectives of the meeting 

were to examine initiatives developed to eliminate childhood lead poisoning by 2010, 

explore and critique techniques to evaluate 

the effectiveness of programs, discuss primary 

prevention activities aimed at high-risk groups 

for lead hazard exposure, examine strategies 

to improve blood lead screening, and develop 

and maintain collaborative relationships 

among programs. One of the highlights of the 

two-day conference was the dialogue among 

federal partners (Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC), Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, and EPA) that share 

the 2010 Elimination Goal. Plenary speakers 

included representatives from the CDC Lead 

Poisoning Branch, the Cincinnati Children's 

Environmental Health Center, the University of 

Cincinnati, and the Alliance for Healthy 

Homes. 

Region 7 

Children's Health Protection Month 

In October 2003, Region 7 planned and coordinated Children's Health Protection Month, a 

month-long calendar of activities aimed at 

educating and highlighting EPA's efforts 

towards enhancing the lives of children. 

Included in the activities were: two brown bag 

sessions with the Leukemia and Lymphoma 

Society and the Asthma and Allergy 

Foundation, a presentation with Farm Safety 4 

Just Kids, outreach and education at Lincoln 

University, and the Children's Health Protection 

Symposium. The Children's Health Protection 

Symposium was an opportunity for Region 7 to 

highlight projects and activities that work 

Chapter 2
 33 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


towards children's health protection. Region 7 invited the 

Area Resources for 

Community and Human 

Services, a 2003 environmental justice small grantee, to 

participate in the symposium 

and share information regarding its grant and to educate 

people about the importance 

of including children in environmental education. 

Clean Air 

Headquarters 

Tribal Air Training 

In FY 2003, EPA's Office of Radiation (OAR) 

and Indoor Air began work with the Institute 

for Tribal Environmental Professionals at 

Northern Arizona University and the Tribal Air 

Monitoring Center (TAMS) to develop training 

in environmental radiation monitoring. A 

quarterly outreach newsletter was developed 

as a segment of this work. The newsletter 

includes relevant articles on the mission of 

TAMS as well as ongoing projects and events 

and is distributed to tribal air coordinators. 

Region 3 

Community Listening Sessions in Baltimore 

In FY 2003, OAR's Office of Transportation and 

Air Quality (OTAQ), the Baltimore Urban 

League, the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, 

and the National Transportation Center at 

Morgan State University initiated a project to 

identify and develop practices and tools to 

complete an analysis of environmental justice 

and transportation-related issues in the 

Baltimore area. The goal of the project is to 

integrate environmental justice into transportation planning as an ongoing and daily 

activity with meaningful community involvement throughout the project. OAR has fully 

funded the first phase of the project, which 

consists of a series of community listening 

sessions to identify regional environmental 

justice issues related to transportation. 

Depending upon the findings of the first 

phase sessions, as well as research exploring 

other model efforts to address these issues 

and the availability of future resources, the 

second phase will consist of refining or developing new analytic tools to be used in the 

regional transportation planning process. 

Water 

Headquarters 

Annual Forum on Contaminants in Fish 

The "Annual Forum on Contaminants in Fish" 

took place January 25-28, 2004, in San Diego, 

California. Representatives of 48 states, 14 

tribes, seven federal agencies, several 

Canadian provinces, and other interested 

organizations attended the forum. The forum 

provided an opportunity for risk managers to 

meet and discuss the latest science and public 

health policies regarding the risks and benefits 

associated with fish consumption. One of the 

primary agenda topics for the forum was 

34 Chapter 2

Outreach and Communication


assessing effective outreach strategies for 

reaching high-risk populations, such as 

women and children and minority, as well as 

low-income, and tribal populations. 

Mapping Tools 

EPA has developed several mapping tools that 

can bring together water program data from 

multiple offices. For example, the National 

Pollution Discharge Elimination System program has created a mapping tool that allows 

users to screen permitted facilities for discharges to impaired waters and identify 

whether these discharges might contain pollutants that contribute to the impaired waters. 

National Environmental Training Center for 

Small Communities 

The National Environmental Training Center 

for Small Communities creates significant 

positive impacts in small and rural communities by developing and delivering training 

courses on wastewater, drinking water, and 

solid waste to environmental trainers and 

state and local officials. EPA provided approximately $4 million in grant funding to support 

the activities of this center from FY 2001 

through FY 2004. 

Rural Community Assistance Program 

The Rural Community Assistance Program, a 

network of nonprofit organizations, provides 

community-specific information and technical 

assistance at no cost. The goal of the program 

is to improve the ability of rural communities 

to plan, design, operate, and maintain wastewater systems. EPA provided $6.5 million in 

grant funding to support the activities of this 

program from FY 2001 through FY 2004. 

During the past four fiscal years, this program 

has provided assistance to 728 wastewater 

projects and held more than 50 workshops for 

rural communities in 45 states, serving more 

than 400,000 rural residents. 

Source Water Protection Outreach by 

National Black Environmental Justice 

Network 

In FY 2004, EPA's Office of Water provided a 

$25,000 grant to the National Black 

Environmental Justice Network (NBEJN) to 

develop a consortium addressing source water 

protection in communities with environmental 

justice issues. The NBEJN is a consortium of 

grassroots organizations that work nationally 

on environmental justice issues. NBEJN has an 

interest in drinking water issues from an ethnic and rural perspective. NBEJN also partners 

with black farmers to focus on farming and 

source water issues. 

Outreach to Local Disadvantaged 

Communities Regarding Aquatic Resources 

One of the most effective ways of achieving 

environmental justice is for community members to better understand the importance of 

water quality to their health and neighborhood. Such understanding encourages the 

community to take a direct role in protecting 

its aquatic resources. EPA's Office of Water 

Chapter 2
 35 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


(OW) has an active program of conducting 

outreach to schools and other organizations in 

low-income and minority communities. For 

example, for the last three years, OW's 

Wetlands Division has partnered with Region 

3, the District of Columbia Department of 

Health's "Living Classrooms," and others to 

conduct a "Wetlands Day" at a Washington, DC 

youth camp. OW also looks for opportunities 

to work with communities interested in restoring their wetlands and other aquatic resources. 

For example, staff worked with a group of 

fourth and fifth graders from PR Harris 

Education Center on an educational project to 

restore wetlands plants at Kingman Lake on 

the Anacostia River in Washington, DC. In 

addition, OW participates in community fairs in 

lower-income and minority communities. 

Region 3 

Environmental Justice/Chesapeake Bay 

Listening Sessions 

An environmental justice listening session was 

held in conjunction with Region 3's 

Environmental Justice Forum, held in March 

2003. Approximately 40 stakeholders representing community groups and organizations 

across the region; federal, state and local governments; academic institutions; business and 

industry; and private citizens attended the 

event. Action items included: 1) developing 

strategies to ensure the participation of 

minority and low-income residents in 

Chesapeake Bay activities, 2) identifying basic 

resource needs in low-income and minority 

communities around the Bay, and 3) continuing to educate and reach out to minority and 

low-income communities in the Bay watershed. Information regarding fishing advisories, 

fish consumption, water resources, and water 

quality provided attendees with valuable 

information regarding the risks associated 

with the consumption of locally caught fish, 

exposure to contaminants in Bay watershed 

waters, and opportunities to participate in 

projects designed to address these concerns. 

Outreach to Academic Institutions 

A major part of Region 3's environmental justice program is its outreach to academic institutions. The regional office believes that this 

outreach is important because it provides 

education and training to faculty and students 

on various issues related to environmental 

justice, and it provides opportunities to develop additional partnerships around the region. 

Over the years, the region has developed lasting and meaningful relationships with faculty 

and students attending these presentations. 

For 2003 and 2004, the region participated in 

forums, gave class presentations, and interacted in other ways with Morgan State 

University, the University of Delaware, Temple 

University, and the University of Pennsylvania. 

Region 6 

Hildalgo County, Texas, Safe Drinking Water 

Project 

Through an Interagency Agreement, EPA's 

Office of Research and Development (ORD), 

36 Chapter 2

Outreach and Communication


OW, and the Department of Health and Human 

Services/Health Resources and Services 

Administration co-funded a project to educate 

health care providers, promotores and residents of Hidalgo County, Texas, on issues related to drinking water contamination. Within the 

first year of funding, the Hidalgo Safe Drinking 

Water Project helped educate 50 health care 

professionals, 23 promotores, and more than 

500 households. The program included establishing a Border Safe Drinking Water Council, 

comprised of local water supplier officials, 

Texas Department of Health epidemiologists, 

physicians (Hidalgo County and Mexico), nurses (including school nurses), promotores, and 

representatives from sister cities in Mexico. 

Water Science for Schools Web Site 

As part of an ongoing commitment to foster 

an informed, educated, and supportive public 

sector, Region 6 and 

the U.S. Geological 

Survey collaborated to 

provide a Spanish 

translation of an Web 

site named "Water 

Science for Schools." 

This educational 

resource contains a 

wealth of information 

for anyone seeking to 

understand water resources. Teachers, students, community members, elected officials, 

and water professionals can find information 

tailored to their interests. The site includes 

photographs, maps, an interactive center to 

test users' water knowledge, and numerous 

links to other reliable sources of information. 

The site can be reached at: 

http://water.usgs.gov/gotita/ (Spanish) or 

http://water.usgs.gov/droplet (English). 

Tribal Drinking Water Newsletter 

Region 6 began publishing and distributing a 

tribal drinking water newsletter for all Region 

6 tribes that own or operate public water systems. The newsletter contains articles submitted by EPA-funded water quality technical 

assistance providers regarding technical assistance successes and future training opportunities for tribal water system operators. The 

newsletter also graphically presents tribal 

drinking water compliance trends over the 

previous 24-month period, discusses drinking 

water regulatory compliance issues, and highlights tribal drinking water utilities and tribal 

water system operators that are improving the 

quality and safety of drinking water served to 

their communities. 

Region 7 

Mercury Risk Communication and Fish 

Consumption Workshops 

On July 8, 2004, Region 7 coordinated two 

Mercury Risk Communication and Fish 

Consumption workshops in collaboration with 

ORD. More than 50 people attended the workshops, which were intended to inform and educate people about the risk of mercury 

contamination in fish. Consuming fish that 

Chapter 2
 37 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


contain mercury has the 

potential to cause health 

effects, especially for vulnerable populations such as 

women of childbearing age, 

pregnant women, and anglers 

that eat their catch. While 

ORD contractors facilitated 

the workshops, regional experts in mercury 

from EPA and the Missouri Department of 

Health and Senior Services served as additional 

resources. 

Solid and Hazardous 

Waste 

Headquarters 

Annual Brownfields Conference 

EPA's Office Solid Waste and Emergency 

Response (OSWER) sponsored an annual 

Brownfields Conference in 2003 and 2004. The 

conferences included a session on environmental justice and community caucus, which 

afforded conference participants the opportunity to meet with OSWER senior managers on 

issues that directly affect low-income and 

minority Brownfields communities. The conferences effectively incorporated communitybased perspectives into a majority of the panel 

sessions. 

All-Appropriate Inquiry Rule 

OSWER's Office of Brownfields Cleanup and 

Revitalization (OBCR) held the Agency's first 

regulatory negotiation in more than a 

decade. OBCR formed a federal advisory 

panel to assist in the development of the AllAppropriate Inquiry Rule. The advisory panel 

included representatives from locally and 

nationally based environmental justice 

organizations. 

Region 3 

Pittsburgh Brownfields Pilot 

In July 2004, Region 3 gave a presentation as 

part of a training for the Pittsburgh 

Brownfields Pilot Project that focused on environmental justice, Brownfields assessment and 

cleanup, and public and environmental health 

concerns. The training merged Brownfields and 

environmental and public health goal-setting 

objectives into a community development context. It also facilitated learning actual real 

estate development skills and techniques that 

can be deployed to redevelop Brownfields. The 

trainees included community organizations 

and community development corporations 

interested or engaged in redevelopment issues 

and projects. The workshop focused on: 1) 

environmental justice and community visioning, 2) environment and public health in the 

context of cleanup standards and environmental assessments, and 3) Brownfields financing 

via public and private sector funding 

sources/mechanisms including loans, tax 

incentives, and programs and grants. 

Approximately 25 people from community 

groups and organizations participated in the 

program, as well as state and local governmental personnel. 

38 Chapter 2

Outreach and Communication


Region 6 

Booker Landfill, Houston, Texas 

Region 6 conducted stakeholder meetings that 

included the Bureau of Epidemiology, the 

Texas Department of Health, the Texas 

Commission of Environmental Quality 

(Houston and Austin regions), Harris County 

Water Production, the Harris County Health 

Department, and representatives from the 

Houston Mayor's office. The regional office 

also conducted a site assessment of the 

Booker Landfill located in Houston. An 800 

number was established for the benefit of the 

local impacted community, which has an 80 

percent minority population and a 30 percent 

low-income population. 

Region 10 

Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site 

In Region 10, the Georgetown community 

near the Lower Duwamish Waterway 

Superfund site is comprised of a low-income, 

minority, and tribal population. To help 

respond to the environmental justice concerns 

of the community, EPA created a document 

called Environmental Justice Resources for the 

Duwamish Community in March 2003. This 

document lists the EPA and Washington State 

Department of Ecology resources and was 

provided to a number of community contacts 

and posted on the EPA Web site. Also in 

March 2003, six EPA employees met with the 

director of the Community Coalition for 

Environmental Justice (CCEJ), a local community-based organization, to provide information about cumulative risk studies. After that 

meeting, EPA provided additional information 

to CCEJ, including a report on air toxics monitoring in Georgetown. Due to the diversity of 

the community, many of the educational and 

informational materials on the EPA site were 

translated into a variety of languages. 

International 

Solid Waste Management Planning in South 

Africa 

As a result of the post-apartheid change in 

government in South Africa, formerly segregated communities now function as parts of 

newly integrated municipalities. Due to this 

new organization, areas that once received little or no municipal solid waste services are 

now part of larger municipal solid waste planning districts. In February 2003, two representatives from Region 3 traveled to Cape Town 

and Hermanus, South Africa, to conduct 

municipal solid waste management planning 

training for provincial, municipal, and local 

governmental officials, the Municipal 

Councilors, community and non-governmental 

organizations, and other impacted parties. This 

training was then followed by a facilitated 

planning discussion lead by EPA staff, 

designed to assist the Cape Town Regional 

governments in developing a municipal solid 

waste management needs assessment and 

management plan for developing an integrated solid waste management plan for the 

entire area. 

Chapter 2
 39 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Toxics 

Headquarters 

Toxics Release Inventory Report 

EPA's Office of Environmental Information 

(OEI) manages the Toxics Release Inventory 

(TRI), which is a publicly accessible EPA database containing information regarding toxic 

chemicals that are being used, manufactured, 

treated, transported, or released into the 

environment in the United States. This information is useful to those who feel their community might be a victim of environmental 

injustice. OEI created a report on how citizens 

and others can use TRI to understand information about toxic and hazardous chemicals 

in their communities. The report, How Are the 

Toxics Release Inventory Data Used? can be 

found at: <www.epa.gov/tri/guide_docs/ 

2003_datausepaper.pdf>. 

Pesticides Safety Training and Education 

In 2003, more than 50 educators received 

training on pesticide safety as well as outreach techniques. These educators then used 

their knowledge to reach out to approximately 

20,000 farm workers to provide safety training. Begun in 1995, this training is one of the 

Office of Pesticides Programs' largest programs to train farm workers. Through grants 

to the Association of Farm Workers 

Opportunity Programs, which trains full-time 

educators to teach agricultural workers and 

their families on how to reduce the risks from 

pesticide hazards, nearly 350,000 farm workers and their families have been trained. 

Pesticides Guidelines for Health Care 

Providers 

For the past five years, EPA has been working 

in partnership with the National 

Environmental Education and Training 

Foundation on a national initiative to improve 

the recognition, management, and prevention 

of pesticide-related health conditions by 

health care providers in the United States. As 

tools to help reach this goal, the National 

Pesticide Competency Guidelines for Medical 

and Nursing Education and the National 

Pesticide Practice Skills Guidelines for Medical 

and Nursing Practice were published in 2003. 

Region 3 

HUD 2004 National Fair Housing 

Conference 

In June 2004, a Region 3 representative served 

on an environmental justice panel at the 2004 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development's (HUD's) National Fair Housing 

Conference held in Washington, DC. More 

than 2,000 participants representing HUD 

offices and facilities around the country 

attended the event. Representatives of two 

communities participated in a panel that 

focused on the history of environmental justice, case studies, environmental and public 

health, and visions for the future. 

40 Chapter 2

Outreach and Communication


Region 5 

Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, Healthy 

Environments Conference 

In September 2004, Region 5 co-sponsored 

the "Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, Healthy 

Environments" Conference for nurses and 

other health professionals. The conference was 

a result of a collaborative effort, led by the 

Great Lakes Center for Occupational and 

Environmental Health and Safety, and including Health Care Without Harm, the Maternal 

and Child Health Program at the University of 

Illinois School of Public Health, the MidAmerica Public Health Training Center, Region 

5, and others. The goal of the conference was 

to raise the awareness of nurses to reduce 

toxic waste generation in healthcare settings 

and to provide education about environmental 

risks to pregnant women and young children 

due to lead and mercury exposure and asthma. Approximately 60 attendees participated 

in the conference, including representatives 

from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and the 

Mille Lacs Band of the Ojibwe Tribe. 

Region 6 

Nail Salon Project 

In July 2004, Region 6, in collaboration with 

EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics 

and Office of Administration and Resources 

Management, released a booklet titled Pollution 

Prevention Practices for Nail Salons: A Guide to 

Protect the Health of Nail Salon Workers and 

Their Working Environment to educate nail 

salon workers and owners about the potential 

hazards of chemical substances present in nail 

products and recommend best management 

practices to reduce or eliminate health and 

environmental risks in their shops. About 5,000 

English and 13,000 Vietnamese copies have 

been printed and distributed to nail care stakeholders nationwide. 

Chapter 2
 41 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Region 7 

St. Louis Environmental Justice Listening 

Session 

Region 7 held an environmental justice listening session in St. Louis to provide an opportunity for the public to engage in meaningful 

dialogue with EPA to share their environmental justice concerns related to the environment, health, and quality of life. The listening 

sessions are a series of interactive, solutionoriented dialogues conducted with the community and in partnership with government 

representatives. Some of the major concerns 

identified and discussed were: 1) high blood 

lead levels in children, especially in minority 

and low-income populations, 2) air quality 

issues, 3) subsequent health problems such as 

asthma, and 4) community revitalization. As a 

result of the session, participants were able to 

voice their concerns to EPA and agreed to collaborate to address the issues most important 

to them. The Missouri Department of Natural 

Resources—a key participant—and EPA are 

continuing to work with the public to listen to 

and address concerns. Region 7 will continue 

to host listening sessions throughout the four 

states in the region. 

Region 10 

For Healthy Kids/Para Nina Saludables 

In Region 10, the "For Healthy Kids/Para Nina 

Saludables" project brought pesticide safety 

education into Hispanic farm worker homes in 

the Yakima Valley, Washington. This intervention program was a combination of toxicology 

and sociology to qualitatively assess the pesticide residues taken home by farm workers to 

their children on clothing and in dust. 

Intensive, culturally appropriate educational 

messages delivered by local promotores in 

homes, in churches, and through community 

activities relayed work and home safety practices that the workers could implement to 

help protect their families. 

Region 10 participated on the Community 

Advisory Board, developed by the project 

coordinators at the University of Washington 

Center for Children's Environmental Health 

Risks and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer 

Research Center. The second phase of the 

project was approved by ORD and the 

National Institutes of Health in 2003, and a 

grant award was finalized in 2004. This second 

phase will continue to evaluate the patterns 

of pesticide exposures in farm worker families, 

but it will expand to Hispanic workers on fruit 

packing lines and also look at exposure levels 

in non-agricultural populations of the Yakima 

Valley to establish background levels. A kickoff 

of the work was held on October 13, 2004. 

42 Chapter 2

Outreach and Communication


Outreach and Education to Hispanic 

Populations in Northern Oregon 

Region 10 has been involved with several outreach and education efforts, along with local 

partners, for the Hispanic population in the 

area. In 2004, information about perchlorate 

contamination of ground water in Ambitiously 

and Morrow Counties was translated into 

Spanish, carried in the Spanish media, distributed at Spanish-speaking churches, and distributed at a Cinco de Mayo event. In this 

same geographic area, a neighborhood education effort on nitrate in ground water, including a focused component for Spanishspeaking populations, was designed in FY 

2004 and will be implemented in FY 2005. 

According to the 2000 census, 16.1 percent of 

Ambitiously County and 24.4 percent of 

Morrow County are Hispanic/Latino— 

approximately 15,000 people. 

International 

Lead Awareness Theater Production 

Since September 2003, the Office of 

International Affairs has sponsored an annual 

theater production designed to reach the 60 

percent of South Africans who cannot read or 

write. This comedic play relays the risks and 

dangers of overexposure to lead and educates 

citizens on South Africa's plan to phase out 

lead in gasoline by January 2006. EPA plans to 

professionally videotape the play for distribution to other African countries that are also 

making the transition to unleaded gasoline. 

Through this project, community awareness of 

lead is rising and health effects of lead, particularly on children's health, are being communicated to the affected community. 

Enforcement and 

Compliance 

Headquarters 

Community Involvement in Supplemental 

Environmental Projects 

On June 17, 2003, EPA's Office of Enforcement 

and Compliance Assurance issued the Interim 

Guidance for Community Involvement in 

Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs). 

This document encourages EPA personnel to 

involve communities in SEPs by seeking their 

ideas for potential SEPs or identifying environmental or human health issues facing their 

communities that might be addressed through 

a SEP. Although not specifically an environmental justice initiative, this guidance is 

expected to help create bridges between EPA 

and communities with environmental 

justice issues that may be affected by 

facility violations. 

Enforcement and Environmental Compliance 

Effort, Paterson, New Jersey 

Identifying a high number of regulated businesses located in close proximity to residential 

neighborhoods in the city of Paterson in 

Passaic County, the New Jersey Department of 

Environmental Protection launched a twophase compliance and enforcement effort in 

September 2003. The initial effort focused on 

Chapter 2
 43 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


community outreach and on providing assistance to the city's known and potentially regulated individuals, businesses, and government 

operations. The New Jersey's Department of 

Commerce, the Paterson Chamber of 

Commerce, and Region 2 conducted a total of 

98 compliance assistance visits and provided 

425 facilities with assistance materials or 

informational sessions. The second phase of 

the enforcement effort, which was conducted 

with assistance from the Passaic County 

Health Department, the Passaic Valley 

Sewerage Commission, and EPA, involved a 

large-scale inspection of more than 1,000 

sites throughout the city. 

Region 6 

Border Compliance Assistance Center 

In partnership with Office of Enforcement and 

Compliance Assurance and the National Center 

for Manufacturing Science, Region 6 provides 

support to the Border Compliance Assistance 

Center. The Border 

Center is an innovative resource for 

providing compliance information 

(in both English 

and Spanish) to 

maquiladoras and 

small businesses 

involved in importing hazardous 

waste from Mexico 

to the United 

Chapter 2

States. The purpose of the center is to eliminate the hesitancy of regulated entities in 

seeking information and assistance when trying to comply with environmental regulations. 

By doing so, the center seeks to ensure that 

hazardous waste is properly handled so that 

the communities in the area are not negatively 

impacted. Other partners in this program 

include Region 9, U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection, the U.S. Department of 

Transportation, and the four border states of 

California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. To 

help evaluate its effectiveness, the center posted a survey and is seeking input from the public on its FY 2004 services and information. 

Multimedia 

Headquarters 

Facility Registry System Improvements 

The Facility Registry System (FRS) is a centrally 

managed database available on the EPA Web 

site that responds to the increasing demand 

for access to high-quality information and the 

public need for one source of comprehensive 

environmental information about any geographic location in the United States. FRS is set 

up to: 1) reduce the long-term reporting burden for facilities, states, tribes, and programs, 

2) improve data quality by helping to reduce 

errors in state, tribal and Agency facility information, 3) provide better tools for cross-media 

environmental analysis, 4) provide better public 

access to the Agency's environmental information, and 5) give facilities the flexibility to 

44 
Outreach and Communication
 Outreach and Communication

review and update their identification information. OEI recently completed a four-tiered 

strategy that includes near-term steps to 

improve data through acquiring better street 

source data, develop a locational application 

tool, integrate the locational tool into the 

Central Data Exchange, improve the locational 

policy and standards associated with collecting 

locational information, and ensure that this 

policy is implemented in new technologies, 

such as global positioning systems. These 

improvements will help both the Agency and 

the public to better assess the potential 

impacts of facilities on communities. This 

information is useful to those who feel their 

community might be a victim of environmental injustice. 

Research Apprenticeship Program for High 

School Students 

Together, ORD in Research Triangle Park, North 

Carolina, and Shaw University in Raleigh created a Research Apprenticeship Program for 

high school students in 1990 to address the 

under-representation of minorities in the 

fields of science and engineering. The objective of the program is to encourage students 

to pursue advanced degrees in math, science, 

and engineering. This goal is accomplished by: 

1) enriching the scientific and mathematic 

concepts that students study in the classroom, 

2) providing students the opportunity to interact with scientists and engineers, 3) developing effective scientific research and technical 

skills, and 4) enhancing students' motivation, 

self-confidence, and desire to achieve in the 

fields of math, science, and engineering. 

Students participating in the Research 

Apprenticeship Program must live in Wake 

County, North Carolina, and be in grades 9 

through 12. Students must maintain high academic performance in high school in order to 

remain in the program. 

Minority Institution-Based Centers 

Two university centers focusing on minority 

issues, originally established as targeted programs, are now being supported through 

EPA's annual budget, primarily to serve the 

particular research needs of minority and disadvantaged communities. The centers address 

issues such as environmental justice, risk perception and risk communication, and correlations between socio-economic status and 

exposure to environmental contaminants. The 

Center for Environmental Resource 

Management at the University of Texas at El 

Paso focuses on education, outreach, and 

research to support analyses and remediation 

of critical Superfund-related environmental 

issues. The Institute for Environmental Issues 

and Policy Assessment/Center for Energy and 

Environmental Studies at Southern University 

at Baton Rouge supports research on environmental issues and policy assessments, including environmental justice. 

Chapter 2
 Chapter 2 45 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Center for Hazardous Substances in Urban 

Environments 

The Center for Hazardous Substances in Urban 

Environments is led by Johns Hopkins 

University, along with the University of 

Maryland, Morgan State University, the 

University of Connecticut, and the New Jersey 

Institute of Technology. The center, headquartered at Johns Hopkins University, has identified 

"urban livability" as a strategic research priority 

for EPA Regions 1, 2, and 3. The center has 

developed a research program to promote a 

better understanding of physical, chemical, and 

biological processes for detecting, assessing, 

and managing risks posed by contaminated 

soil, water, sediments, and airborne particles. 

The center is also presently offering training 

and technical assistance on Brownfields, which 

is especially relevant to communities with environmental justice issues. The program is managed by ORD through the Science To Achieve 

Results (STAR) grants program and is jointly 

funded by ORD and OSWER. 

Indigenous Environmental Higher Education 

Network 

EPA is assisting the American Indian Higher 

Education Consortium in developing an 

Indigenous Environmental Higher Education 

Network to include about 40 key points of 

contact in the United States, Canada, Mexico, 

and Latin America. This network of environmental educators is intended to help address 

common challenges and goals of indigenous 

populations. 

Chapter 2 

Greening Indian Country 

In 2003 and 2004, under a general heading of 

"Greening Indian Country," EPA's Office of 

Pollution Prevention and Toxics sought to 

enhance awareness and use of pollution prevention in Indian country. Specific elements of 

its initiative included developing a brochure 

on the world-class casino Mohegan Sun as a 

pollution prevention success story. Also in 

2004, EPA completed a design for a "tribal 

portal" for the Pollution Prevention Exchange 

Internet Information Network to establish a 

tribal sector hub to provide pollution prevention information access to Indian country. 

Region 1 

Science of Environmental Justice Conference 

Region 1, in conjunction with the Boston 

University School of Public Health, hosted a 

two-day working conference sponsored by 

ORD's regional science program, "Science to 

Action: Community-Based Participatory 

Research and Cumulative Risk Analysis as 

Tools to Advance Environmental Justice in 

Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities." The 

conference was held at Boston University on 

May 25-26, 2004, with the goal of providing 

an interactive forum for scientists, technical 

experts, community leaders, nonprofit groups, 

academia, and government representatives. 

Participants discussed current, national, and 

community-based participatory research 

efforts helping to assess, address, and resolve 

environmental and public health risks in 

potential environmental justice areas of con46 
Outreach and Communication


cern. Plenary forums addressed the two major 

conference themes: 1) assessing and understanding cumulative risk in environmental justice communities and 2) community-based 

participatory research in urban, suburban, and 

rural environmental justice communities. 

Concurrent panel sessions focused on the topics of air toxics, asthma, children's environmental health, land-based risks, and water 

quality. Information and details regarding the 

conference proceedings and final outcomes 

can be found at: http://epa.gov/osp/regions/ 

workshops.htm. 

Outreach Efforts to Small and Disadvantaged 

Businesses 

Region 1 has strategically focused outreach 

efforts to the Small and Disadvantaged 

Business Enterprise (SDBE) companies. Such 

efforts have included: 1) participating in four 

trade shows in Bridgeport, New Haven, and 

Laddered, Connecticut, and in Manchester, 

New Hampshire, and 2) conducting informational sessions, business planning sessions, 

one-on-one counseling sessions, and a procurement seminar. Although the region has 

not awarded any contracts to date, more 

SDBE companies have expressed interest in 

doing business with EPA and have been added 

to an internal database of sources. In 2004, 

the region increasingly used simplified acquisition procedures to fulfill a number of 

Superfund site-specific requirements by using 

the issuance of purchase orders to SDBEs. 

Region 2 

EPA and the University of the Virgin Islands 

Co-Host St. Croix Community Dialogue 

On March 17, 2003, Region 2, in partnership 

with the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) 

Cooperative Extension Services, convened a 

community dialogue event at the UVI-St. Croix 

campus facility. The goal for this meeting was 

two-fold: 1) enhance and establish lines of 

communication among environmental regulatory officials and the public to become better 

educated on the issues facing the local communities and inform participants of the role 

government performs in addressing these 

concerns, and 2) identify, develop, and implement actions or activities for EPA and local 

government regulators to be responsive to the 

community. In comparison to previous EPAsponsored public forums in the islands, this 

event had an exceptional turnout and level 

of participation from the community beyond 

the region's expectation. More than 100 participants attended, representing civic organizations, environmental justice advocates, local 

government departments, academicians, legChapter 2
 47 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


islative officials, and the public. In addition, 

local newspaper and radio media covered 

the event. 

Bovoni Housing Community, St. Thomas, 

Virgin Islands 

Region 2 and other government officials met 

with members of the Bovoni Homeowners 

Association to discuss potential environmental 

impacts and public health concerns attributable to the operation of industrial facilities 

within the area. This community listening session focused attention on the Bovoni Landfill. 

Officials from the Agency for Toxic Substances 

and Disease Registry (ATSDR) participated at 

the event, along with a Georgia-based community advocacy group, Citizens for 

Environmental Justice, to assist in facilitating 

the discussion. The session was successful in 

that ATSDR pledged to return shortly to train 

local physicians and nurses with the Virgin 

Islands Health Department on the topic of 

environmental health awareness. In addition, 

these same attendees will receive public health 

consultation and participate in EPA-sponsored 

training seminars. Support was offered to have 

the Virgin Islands Health Department conduct 

a health screening (such as was performed in 

St. Croix several years prior). Other steps promised by officials included educating residents 

on toxicology and checking the health records 

of animals in the area, seeking funding for a 

health survey and data analysis for local health 

ministries as well as privately funded grants 

for the Bovoni Homeowners Association. 

Region 4 

Environmental Justice Listening Sessions 

Region 4 hosted an environmental justice listening session at the 2003 and 2004 Florida 

Brownfields Conferences. The August 2003 

conference included a keynote address by 

Region 4's Regional Administrator, who 

addressed environmental justice as it relates 

to Brownfields redevelopment efforts. This 

session also included discussions on identifying environmental justice issues as they relate 

to Brownfields. 

Region 6 

Border Environmental Justice Roundtable 

The Border Environmental Justice Roundtable 

was hosted by Region 6, the Southwest 

Network for Environmental and Economic 

Justice, EPA's Office of Environmental Justice, 

and the U.S.-Mexico Border Program on 

September 16, 2003 in El Paso, Texas. The 

roundtable began with a tour of several El 

Paso areas with environmental challenges, 

providing participants with a first-hand look 

at several sites impacted by environmental 

problems and increasing everyone's understanding of the conditions in which the residents live. Twenty-five grassroots community 

representatives from various Region 6 border 

areas were invited to participate in the roundtable to discuss pertinent environmental justice issues affecting their communities. The 

meeting enabled EPA senior leaders to become 

better acquainted with border environmental 

48 Chapter 2

Outreach and Communication


issues and the people who are most impacted 

by those problems. The issues raised by the 

attendees have been addressed by Region 6 

staff, and an ongoing dialogue between 

Region 6 and the affected communities has 

been taking place since the event. Region 6 is 

planning a followup roundtable, which will 

include community and EPA representatives 

from Region 9. 

Environmental Statutes Training for Border 

Communities 

Region 6 assisted in a training course on the 

basics of the environmental statutes, held in El 

Paso, Texas in July 2004. The training, for 

grassroots community groups in the entire 

border area from both the United States and 

Mexico, was conducted bilingually. Funded by 

a U.S.-Mexico Border Program grant, this 

innovative, interactive training was conducted 

by the Environmental Law Institute, with the 

assistance of the Southwest Network for 

Environmental and Economic Justice to 

demystify the law. 

Region 7 

Haskell Indian Nations University 

Recruitment 

Region 7 participated in the Haskell Indian 

Nation University Career Fair, held at Haskell 

University in Lawrence, Kansas, on March 11, 

2004. The Region's cross-media recruitment 

effort was supported by the Region 7 and 

Haskell Indian Nation University Memorandum 

of Agreement. The primary focus was to 

recruit students for summer employment as 

interns for EPA. More than 150 students 

received information on EPA's recruitment 

program, and more than 25 Native American 

students interviewed and submitted resumes. 

Students toured Region 7's exhibit and visited 

with representatives from more than 40 federal agencies and state and local businesses 

that showcased educational and career 

brochures and pamphlets. Four temporary 

summer interns were hired in 2003 and 2004 

as a result of recruitment. 

Chapter 2
 49 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Region 8 

Earth Force Youth Summit 

Region 8 reached out to more than 1,000 

young people as part of the Youth Summit 

sponsored by Frontrange Earth Force, a local 

non-profit organization committed to youth 

education and environmental issues in their 

communities. The students, in grades 3 to 12, 

came together to share, learn, and speak out 

about their projects. Together with their partners, Denver Urban Gardens, Adams County 

School District, the city and county of Denver, 

the University of Denver, EPA Environmental 

Education, the National Renewable Energy 

Laboratories, the National Wildlife Federation, 

Denver Water, Colorado People's 

Environmental and Economic Network, and 

others, the students had an opportunity to 

learn about environmental justice and other 

vital environmental issues that affect their 

communities. EPA hopes that, with these 

experiences, the students will develop life-long 

habits of active citizenship and environmental 

stewardship. 

Region 9 

Presentations and Community Environmental 

Justice Tours 

Region 9 offered its insights and observations 

on the issue of environmental justice in a 

number of California events, including: 1) a 

Pollution Prevention and Compliance 

Assistance Workshop in San Diego, 2) an 

Environmental Justice Forum in Clear Lake , 3) 

a Tribal Conference in Pechanga, and 4) an 

Environmental Justice Conference in 

Richmond. In addition, in 2003 and 2004, 

Region 9 participated in a number of community-led environmental justice tours in West 

Oakland, Contra Costa County, and Los 

Angeles, to help increase the understanding of 

environmental justice at a local level and 

make the issues confronting communities 

more tangible. 

Region 10 

Extensive Surveys on Indian Lands 

EPA representatives visited each Native 

American reservation in Region 10 as part of 

the "Multimedia Applicability Study." The 

Agency conducted an inventory and compiled 

a list of facilities in cooperation with tribal 

members. Furthermore, EPA evaluated which 

environmental programs were applicable to 

each facility and mapped the location using 

the global positioning system. Hundreds of 

environmental issues have been addressed and 

rectified as a result of this effort. 

Pogo Mine Project Near Delta Junction, 

Alaska 

In August 2000, Region 10 received a National 

Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 

(NPDES) permit application for the Pogo Mine 

project near Delta Junction, Alaska. Because 

the mine was a new source, it was necessary 

for EPA to prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) prior to issuing a permit for 

the facility. To identify minority and low50 Chapter 2

Outreach and Communication


income populations in the potentially affected 

project area, EPA used the most recently available census data (1990). This analysis, coupled 

with the collection of anecdotal data in Delta 

Junction and the surrounding area, suggested 

that three population groups—Alaska Natives 

and Russian and Korean immigrants—warranted further research to ensure compliance with 

Executive Order 12898. EPA conducted special 

outreach efforts related to environmental justice in completing the EIS sections on socioeconomics, land use, subsistence, and cultural 

resources. EPA also made special efforts to 

encourage individual tribal members (outside 

of the government) to identify issues of concern during the scoping process. To make sure 

the Russian community could participate 

meaningfully, a translator was hired to translate information into Russian, and the Russian 

Orthodox minister served as a liaison with the 

Russian community. Because the Korean population in the area is fluent in English, EPA 

determined that its normal outreach efforts 

would adequately address this demographic 

group. The final NPDES Permit was issued in 

March 2004. 

Other 

International 

Center for Environmental CooperationIndigenous Peoples Coordination 

The Center for Environmental Cooperation 

(CEC) and the Biodiversity Conservation 

Working Group are working to "explore innovative mechanisms to consider the compatibility of biodiversity conservation with traditional lifestyles and needs" (Council Resolution 

03-06). In 2004, CEC held a meeting of indigenous groups and local communities aimed at 

the CEC's capacity-building efforts to address 

the challenges of biodiversity conservation 

and natural resource management in the 

region. This activity will: 1) explore mechanisms for exchange of information among 

indigenous and non-indigenous peoples from 

the United States, Canada, and Mexico on natural resource conservation and management 

policies and practices, 2) identify capacitybuilding, training, and networking needs and 

priorities for indigenous groups and local 

communities engaged in conservation and 

management practices related to CEC's biodiversity activities, and 3) identify means by 

which traditional environmental knowledge 

and local environmental knowledge can be 

incorporated into CEC's species and spaces 

initiatives. 

Information Exchange Network 

In 2003 and 2004, the United Nations 

Environment Program (UNEP) and EPA 

strengthened a partnership to sponsor the 

Chemicals Information Exchange Network, 

which provides training on Internet-based 

chemical information for chemical management officials and global stakeholders. This 

access provides a forum for stakeholder discussion on chemicals management, strengthens the public ability to harmonize chemical 

Chapter 2 51 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


regulations, increases understanding of sound 

chemical management practices in the private 

sector, and assists chemical managers and 

non-governmental organizations in the 

development of targeted public 

awareness programs. 

Environmental Training Program 

In 2003 and 2004, EPA conducted 13 international environmental training courses in such 

countries as El Salvador, South Africa, Costa 

Rica, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, 

Serbia-Montenegro, and the Philippines. EPA's 

international environmental training program 

consists of more than 20 modules, each using 

a three-step process and a combination of 

case studies, exercises, and other interactive 

methods to teach the fundamentals of specific 

environmental management techniques. 

Drawn from a broad range of public and private organizations within the host country, 

participants in the training typically include 

representatives from national, state, and local 

governments as well as universities, trade 

associations, and other non-governmental 

organizations. After completion of the training, host country officials are expected to follow up with participants at three-month, 

six-month, and one-year intervals to determine the extent to which skills acquired during the training have been used to achieve 

environmental results in that country. 

Visitor Tours 

In 2003 and 2004, EPA's Office of 

International Affairs sponsored or hosted several study tours for representatives from various countries to exchange information on 

environmental issues of mutual interest. For 

example, the United States hosted South 

African public, private, and inter-governmental officials in October 2003. The trip provided 

the group information on the U.S. experience 

regarding lead phase-out, broader air quality 

issues that can be addressed once lead is 

removed, emissions controls and pollution 

prevention options for refineries, and 

approaches to environmental justice issues. 

The arrangement also solidified business linkages between the United States and South 

Africa. As a followup, experts from the 

United States, including a representative of 

EPA's environmental justice program, traveled 

to South Africa to witness various issues 

first-hand and recommend strategies to 

address the issues. 

52 Chapter 2

Outreach and Communication


Dignitary Site Visit to Chester, Pennsylvania 

In February 2004, a site visit was coordinated 

among Region 3; the Pennsylvania 

Department of Environmental Protection; the 

city of Chester, Pennsylvania; and a number of 

community residents for the purpose of providing information and insight on environmental justice to a representative of the 

Italian Environmental Ministry. The Italian representative had indicated that environmental 

justice was a growing concern in Italy, and he 

had requested a first-hand tour of an area of 

environmental justice concern. The group 

assembled and took the Italian representative 

on a driving tour of Chester, followed by a 

meeting with representatives of the various 

groups in Chester, where he asked questions 

about the issues at hand. Citizen organizations, Region 3, the city of Chester, and a 

number of city residents gave presentations. 

Chapter 2
 53 

Chapter 3: 

Environmental Justice Training 

EPA recognizes the importance of 

training its managers and staff to enable them 

to effectively incorporate environmental justice considerations into their everyday activities and decisionmaking. The Agency also 

recognizes the need to educate other government officials, the regulated community, and 

the public about environmental justice. For 

these reasons, the Agency sponsors or supports a variety of environmental justice training courses, workshops, and seminars. This 

chapter provides an overview of the various 

types of environmental justice training offered 

by the Agency and gives examples of how 

EPA's regional and program offices are using 

training to enhance the integration of environmental justice into the Agency's and other 

stakeholders' programs, policies, and operations. 

General 

Headquarters 

Air Office Staff Training 

Since May 2002, EPA's Office of Air Quality 

Planning and Standards (OAQPS) in Research 

Triangle Park, North Carolina, has offered voluntary training on the fundamentals of environmental justice to all of it is 300 staffers, as 

well as external stakeholders. In FY 2003, 

OAQPS met its goal of offering the workshop 

twice yearly and trained at least 60 individuals. OAQPS staff also assisted the Office of 

Environmental Justice in conducting four 

workshops at EPA Headquarters. 

International Affairs Office Staff Training 

In July 2004, EPA's Office of International 

Affairs provided environmental justice training 

to nearly 71 percent of its staff. In addition to 

training on the fundamentals of environmental justice, the course focused on environmental justice in the international context. 

Additional environmental justice training specific to international work is being planned. 

Environmental Information Office 

Staff Training 

In FY 2003, EPA's Office of Environmental 

Information (OEI) worked with a vendor to 

develop an environmental justice training program tailored to the unique mission, functions, and needs of OEI. OEI will deploy this 

training program in June 2005, with the assistance of EPA's Office of Environmental 

Justice's trainers. The training will be conducted to ensure that OEI employees understand how to integrate environmental justice 

into OEI's programs and operations. 

Enforcement and Compliance Assurance 

Office Staff Training 

In 2004, approximately 340 employees in 

EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance 

Assurance (OECA) received training on the 

fundamentals of environmental justice. The 

one-day training was provided to the OECA 

Chapter 3
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


offices and included how environmental justice principles can be specifically applied to 

the activities in each office. The environmental 

justice training is required of all OECA 

employees as noted in the January 2004 OECA 

environmental justice policy. The main goal of 

the training is to ensure that OECA personnel 

utilize the available opportunities to effectively, efficiently, and consistently address 

issues frequently associated with environmental justice in their daily work (e.g., targeting 

actions, assessing penalties, developing SEPs). 

Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances 

Office Staff Training 

In 2004, in collaboration with the Office of 

Environmental Justice, EPA's Office of 

Pesticides Programs taught more than 80 staff 

members and managers about environmental 

justice and the thought process for identifying 

environmental justice issues. 

Solid Waste and Emergency Response Office 

Staff Training 

EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency 

Response's (OSWER's) environmental justice 

training team provided training to more than 

100 people in FY 2003 and FY 2004. 

Participants included internal OSWER managers and staff, as well as outside stakeholders such as the state of Maryland's 

Department of Environmental Protection and 

participants at the EPA Community 

Involvement Conference. 

Region 1 

Region 1 Staff Training 

As part of Region 1's environmental justice 

action plan, the region launched an internal 

environmental justice training program to 

raise awareness and understanding of environmental justice principles. Nearly 98 percent 

of Region 1's workforce has been trained. 

Based on staff feedback, the curriculum was 

modified to better reflect regional needs and 

interests. The training consisted of several 

modules ranging from defining environmental 

justice to role-playing in a public involvement 

workshop. Modules highlighted regional and 

national environmental justice cases and 

achievements. The training also included a 

presentation of Region 1's environmental justice desktop mapping tool to familiarize staff. 

The environmental justice Awareness Training 

Course has been added to the core curriculum 

for all new Region 1 staff to ensure that new 

employees have the same understanding of 

environmental justice. 

Region 2 

Albany Law School Workshop 

In March 2004, Region 2—along with the New 

York State Department of Environmental 

Conservation (NYSDEC) and EPA's Office of 

Environmental Justice—provided a 

"Fundamentals of Environmental Justice" 

workshop for 20 local government officials at 

Albany Law School in Albany, New York. The 

two-day training covered topics such as 

56 Chapter 3
 Chapter 3
Environmental Justice Training


defining environmental justice; public participation activities; geographic information systems for environmental justice assessments; 

federal and New York State legislation; and 

environmental justice authorities and policies. 

A highlight of the training included a bus 

tour—arranged with assistance from Arbor Hill 

Environmental Justice Corp., a local environmental justice advocacy group—of several 

communities in the Albany/Troy region. Based 

on the positive feedback received, Albany Law 

School has expressed a willingness to continue to collaborate with EPA and the NYSDEC 

on future environmental justice training 

events in New York State. 

Region 3 

Region 3 Staff Training 

Region 3 continued conducting environmental 

justice training in October 2004. The region 

provides an introductory session, as well as 

office-specific training designed to address 

the needs of the individual offices and divisions. 

Region 4 

Train-the-Trainer Workshop 

Region 4 hosted the National Environmental 

Justice Training Collaborative's "Train-theTrainer" Workshop on January 13-17, 2003. 

Participants included EPA staff, state environmental agencies, local government, and grassroots/community-based organizations. As a 

result of this workshop, 32 new environmental 

justice training facilitators were certified to 

conduct the course. As more and more people 

become trained to provide environmental justice training, the more capacity the area has 

to bring important information to others. 

Region 5 

Fundamentals of Environmental Justice 

Workshop 

In April 2003, members of the Region 5 

Environmental Justice Training Collaborative, 

along with staff from Region 5's Office of 

Enforcement and Compliance Assistance and 

Indian Environmental Office, conducted a 

two-day "Fundamentals of Environmental 

Justice Workshop." Trainers also included 

members of two community/grassroots 

organizations who had become certified environmental justice trainers after attending 

Region 5's Environmental Justice "Train-theTrainer" course during the previous year. The 

32 attendees of the workshop included members of Region 5 staff, state and local environmental agency representatives, and 

community members. The goals of the workshop were to raise awareness of environmenChapter 3
 57 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


tal justice, provide introductory tools on how 

to identify and address environmental justice 

issues, effectively engage in productive dialogue around environmental justice issues, and 

promote constructive and collaborative problem-solving techniques. 

Region 6 

Using Environmental Laws and Alternative 

Dispute Resolution 

EPA's Office of Environmental Justice funded 

and coordinated a training for grassroots 

community organization 

representatives from each 

of the five Region 6 states 

in September 2004 to promote the use of alternative 

dispute resolution. Region 

6, the Southwest Network for Environmental 

and Economic Justice, and the Southeast 

Community Resource Center assisted in the 

planning the training, which was provided by 

the Environmental Law Institute. The interaction among the 32 attendees and Region 6 

staff was very productive and positive. Most 

of the attendees expressed a desire for further 

training in alternative dispute resolution. 

Region 6 Staff Training 

Since launching the "Environmental Justice 

Fundamentals" course in 2001, Region 6 has 

held 17 training sessions. EPA has trained 

approximately 324 EPA, state, federal, and 

community-based participants. In addition to 

offering the training internally, the Louisiana 

Department of Environmental Quality hosted 

the training in December 2003 for its managers and staff. The region will continue its 

environmental justice training initiative by 

offering the training twice each quarter to 

regional and state staff. Training participants 

have enthusiastically embraced the training 

and have consistently requested advanced 

training that addresses specific program 

responsibilities. Future planning includes 

development of program-specific materials 

and train-the-trainer focused sessions. 

Region 7 

Training in Missouri and Nebraska 

In 2003 and 2004, Region 7 successfully provided two "Fundamentals of Environmental 

Justice" training sessions in the states of 

Missouri and Nebraska, with approximately 44 

participants representing various stakeholder 

groups, such as state and county health 

departments. To accommodate and ensure 

that basic instruction is provided across all 

environmental protection programs, Region 

7—along with states and partnering 

agencies—holds environmental justice training 

workshops that are open to all of EPA's partners. In Missouri, EPA helped train Missouri 

Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) 

employees, many of whom were branch managers, in understanding the fundamentals of 

environmental justice. MDNR and Haskell 

Indian Nations University representatives also 

served as trainers for this highly interactive 

workshop held in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 

58 Chapter 3

Environmental Justice Training


Nebraska, the audience included representatives from local government as well as community leaders. Topics covered included 

defining environmental justice; environmental 

justice history, controversies, and issues; legislation and authorities; and Executive Order 

12898 on environmental justice. Region 7 is 

expanding the training to Kansas and Iowa 

and will also partake in a "Train-the-Trainer" 

workshop in the next two years. 

Region 7 Staff Training 

In 2003 and 2004, Region 7 facilitated several 

"Fundamental of Environmental Justice" training sessions for new staff and summer interns 

as part of a regional professional development 

series plan. The training included an environmental justice overview; environmental justice 

definition; a geographic information system 

demonstration approach to identifying and 

addressing environmental justice issues; and a 

panel discussion surrounding past environmental justice cases. Fifty-five EPA Region 7 

employees received the training. 

Region 9 

California and Hawaii Training 

During 2003 and 2004, Region 9 established 

partnerships with state and local governments 

to assist in the development of environmental 

training. The state of California, in collaboration with the Governors Office of Planning 

and Research, the California Environmental 

Protection Agency, the Bay Delta Authority, 

the Department of Water Resources, and 

Region 9, trained approximately 300 state 

employees. In the state of Hawaii, Region 9 

worked with Hawaii's Department of Health to 

provide training to staff and managers. 

Region 9 Staff Training 

In 2003 and 2004, the Region 9 environmental 

justice program offered monthly environmental justice training to staff and interested 

stakeholders, including representatives of federal, state, and community entities). 

Approximately 200 EPA staff and managers 

attended, in addition to approximately 100 

external partners. During this same time 

period, the environmental justice program 

established partnerships with state and local 

governments to assist in developing training 

capacity within those entities. The state of 

California, in collaboration with the Governors 

Office of Planning and Research, the California 

Environmental Protection Agency, the Bay 

Delta Authority, the Department of Water 

Resources, and others benefited from the partnership with EPA Region 9, and approximately 

300 state employees were trained. In the state 

of Hawaii, the environmental justice program 

worked with Hawaii’s Department of Health to 

provide training to staff and managers. 

Chapter 3 59 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Enforcement and 

Compliance 

Headquarters 

Environmental Training to Law Enforcement 

Executives 

EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance 

Assistance (OECA) entered into a partnership 

with the National Organization of Black Law 

Enforcement Executives to provide training on 

identifying environmental crimes. The officers, 

many of whom serve economically depressed 

and environmental burdened communities, 

will refer environmental violations to EPA and 

serve as new eyes on the street. Through this 

relationship, OECA can better target its 

resources to some of the communities where 

protection is needed most. In FY 2003, OECA 

initiated 97 cases with environmental justice 

issues. As a result, 80 defendants were 

charged in these cases and more than $8 million in fines and 318 months of incarceration 

were imposed. 

Environmental Justice Seminar 

EPA's Office of Site Remediation Enforcement 

(OSRE) conducted an environmental justice 

case study in June 2003 concerning a site in 

Anniston, Alabama. OSRE worked closely with 

Region 4 to bring the federal case team 

involved with this site to Headquarters for an 

all-day seminar. The federal team included the 

regional environmental justice coordinator, 

community involvement coordinator, on-scene 

coordinator, remedial program manager, 

regional attorney, headquarters attorney, and 

a Department of Justice attorney. The team 

presented a full-day overview of their experience working on this complex cleanup site 

located in a community with environmental 

justice issues. The vast majority (79 percent) of 

OSRE staff attended the seminar and identified a strong need to incorporate environmental justice and community involvement issues 

into work plans, projects, and management 

goals. Many seminar participants stated that 

they will factor the lessons learned into their 

daily work. Overall, the seminar raised awareness of environmental justice and the need for 

more detailed discussions of environmental 

justice issues and how to handle them at 

remediation sites. 

Region 3 

Far-Reaching Environmental Justice Training 

More than 500 federal employees from 13 

federal agencies have received environmental 

justice training through Region 3's efforts. The 

training and educational opportunities made 

available cover topics such as historical perspectives, research efforts, regional case studies in environmental justice, Title VI of the 

Civil Rights Act of 1964, and court cases 

involving environmental justice issues. The 

interactive, facilitated training incorporates a 

wide range of principles used in planning, 

scoping, and implementation of project plans. 

60 Chapter 3

Environmental Justice Training


Air 

Headquarters 

Environmental Justice and Air Permitting 

Workshop 

In May 2004, EPA's Office of Air Quality 

Planning and Standards convened an 

"Environmental Justice and Air Permitting 

Workshop," hosted by Region 5 in Chicago. The 

purpose of the workshop was to bring 

together staff from the environmental justice 

and air permitting fields to discuss opportunities for integration. The objectives and goals of 

the meeting included: identifying and discussing what the regions are doing to promote 

better environmental justice outcomes, both in 

federal- and state-issued permits (and how 

good environmental justice outcomes are 

being defined in practice); determining the 

barriers that states and regions encounter 

when seeking good environmental justice outcomes for communities through air permitting; 

discussing how to overcome these barriers; 

determining how Headquarters can assist the 

regions in achieving the goal of environmental 

justice in air permitting; and developing a list 

of recommendations or next steps to submit to 

Office of Air and Radiation management. 

Other 

International 

Education for Development and Democracy 

Initiative, Africa 

The Education for Development and 

Democracy Initiative (EDDI), a U.S. Presidential 

initiative, educates African middle school-age 

girls on an array of environmental and life 

issues. In 2004, two African schools in Ghana 

and Benin began sharing information about 

their communities and the environment. 

The project's goal is for students to learn to 

use the Internet to access information on 

smart and safe environmental stewardship 

practices, which will significantly improve 

their quality of life. The program started with 

a U.S. donation of nearly new computers to 

each school computer lab. Teachers and project leaders then constructed curriculum from 

EPA information on safe drinking water, clean 

air, solid waste management, food safety, 

environmental health (including AIDS prevention education), environmental justice, water 

management, forest management, energy, 

and indoor air. 

Elements of Effective Laws Workshop 

In October 2004, EPA included environmental 

justice in its "Workshop on Elements of 

Effective Laws and Components of Principles 

of Environmental Law and Enforcement" 

training, delivered in Botswana, Africa. 

Chapter 3
 61 

Chapter 4: Federal, State, Tribal, 

and Local Government 

Coordination 

Federal 

Headquarters 

Federal Interagency Working Group on 

Environmental Justice 

To help promote better interagency coordination on issues pertaining to environmental 

justice, Executive Order 12898 established the 

Federal Interagency Working Group on 

Environmental Justice (IWG) in 1994. The IWG 

is comprised of 11 federal agencies and several White House offices. Each agency, with 

leadership from EPA, is working to integrate 

environmental justice into its individual programs. The IWG currently has three active task 

forces: 1) Health Disparities, 2) Revitalization 

Demonstration Projects, and 3) Native 

American. To learn more about the IWG, visit: 

<www.epa.gov/compliance/ 

environmentaljustice/interagency/index.html>. 

In March 2003, the IWG selected 15 

Revitalization Demonstration Projects to 

showcase collaborative partnerships among 

federal agencies and other stakeholders in the 

area of community revitalization and environmental justice. These 15 projects are helping 

EPA refine its environmental justice collaborative problem-solving (CPS) model, which is 

serving to provide guidance to communities 

and other interested parties on a method for 

working through the complex and interrelated 

issues pertaining to environmental justice, 

with the expectation of developing effective 

plans and strategies for addressing these 

Federal, state, tribal, and local government coordination is essential to addressing the environmental and public health 

concerns of affected communities and ensuring proper integration of environmental justice considerations into government 

operations. As authorized by federal environmental laws, most federal environmental programs are delegated to states and tribes, when 

they develop their environmental management capacity and seek authorization to manage programs. To provide for environmental 

and public health protection, these three sovereigns (federal, state, and tribal governments) 

must collaborate and coordinate their environmental and public health programs, policies, and activities, especially when working to 

address the concerns of low-income, minority, 

and tribal communities. With these goals in 

mind, EPA is pursuing an ambitious initiative 

to promote and support collaborative and 

constructive partnerships to address the range 

and extent of environmental and public health 

issues facing communities. This chapter discusses the ways in which EPA is working with 

states, tribes, and other federal agencies to 

integrate environmental justice considerations 

into governments' operations. 

Chapter 4
 63 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


issues within the affected communities. To 

learn more about these demonstration projects and the CPS model, visit: 

http://intranet.epa.gov/oecaftp/compliance/ 

resources/publications/ej/ 

iwg_2003_demo_projects.pdf. 

Building Healthy Environments to Eliminate 

Health Disparities Symposium 

On May 28-29, 2003, in Washington DC, the 

U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services and EPA co-sponsored a symposium 

on Building Healthy Environments to 

Eliminate Health Disparities/Linking Health 

Disparities, for senior-level federal government employees. This symposium was the first 

to explore the intersection between health 

disparities and environmental justice and the 

ways in which federal agencies can develop 

proactive, comprehensive, and integrated 

strategies to build healthy environments in 

communities suffering from health disparities. 

Five panel sessions included information on 

federal agency perspectives, case studies of 

community efforts to address health disparities and environmental quality, ways that federal agencies can better address health 

disparities, healthy environments, and environmental justice, key initiatives that support 

building healthy environments, and 

integrating the environment into agency 

health disparities strategies. 

Linking Health Disparities and 

Environmental Justice 

Using the momentum created by the federal 

interagency Building Healthy Environments to 

Eliminate Health Disparities Symposium, the 

American Public Health Association (APHA), in 

conjunction with EPA's Office of 

Environmental Justice and the Department of 

Health and Human Services, conducted a set 

of special sessions on environmental health 

disparities at the Annual APHA meeting in 

Washington D.C., on November 9, 2004. A 

"town hall" meeting on environmental justice 

brought together representatives of community-based organizations, public health organizations, and government agencies to dialogue 

about national, state, tribal, and local strategies to address environmental justice and 

health disparities, particularly those that 

impact children. APHA is the largest public 

health professional organization in the world, 

with about 15,000 persons attending their 

annual meetings. 

Interagency Coordination on Tribal Issues 

EPA is one of the signatories to a four-party 

memorandum of understanding, along with 

the Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and 

Indian Health Service. These agencies have 

agreed to coordinate their efforts to provide 

environmental protection for Indian health 

and the environment in Indian country. 

64 Chapter 4

Federal, State, Tribal, and Local 

Government Coordination 

State 

Headquarters 

Worker Protection Program 

In collaboration with its stakeholders, EPA's 

Office of Pesticides Programs (OPP) completed 

a multi-year national assessment of its worker 

protection program. As a result, to improve 

program consistency and quality, OPP provided additional training opportunities for state 

compliance monitoring and enforcement staff. 

With stakeholders, OPP also developed better 

program guidance and improved communications and reporting. EPA plans to issue a 

report on the assessment, which will address 

the full range of stakeholder recommendations, as well as the findings from the 

enforcement review portion. 

Region 1 

Promoting Environmental Justice to States 

In January 2004, Region 1 chaired a meeting 

for the states where it discussed the importance of incorporating environmental justice 

principles into state planning and identified 

specific followup actions. In September 2004, 

the region made a presentation to the interstate enforcement directors on the region's 

environmental justice mapping tool and its 

usefulness in setting targets for enforcement 

actions. In addition, the recently negotiated 

Performance Partnership Agreements between 

the agency and five of the six states in Region 

1 contain specific language concerning the 

importance of environmental justice principles 

and detail numerous environmental justicerelated activities that the states have committed to undertake. 

Region 2 

New York State Environmental Justice 

Protocol 

In September 2003, Region 2 awarded 

$26,800 to the New York State Department of 

Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to support activities related to the state's environmental justice advisory group and the two 

newly formed workgroups, the 

Disproportionate Adverse Environmental 

Impact Workgroup and the Health Outcome 

Data Workgroup. The recommendations developed by the advisory group and its workgroups are being considered for adoption by 

the NYSDEC Commissioner. 

Region 3 

All States Environmental Justice Meeting 

Region 3 supports and participates in the 

annual Regional All States Environmental 

Justice Meeting, with the states of Delaware, 

Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West 

Virginia, and the District of Columbia, to provide information, insight, and consultation on 

issues pertaining to environmental justice. The 

meetings also serve to build relationships 

among EPA and the states. Presentations are 

made by invited guests on various significant 

issues of environmental justice concern. 

Historically, speakers and presenters have been 

public interest lawyers, lawyers who represent 

Chapter 4
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


the regulated community, regional and EPA 

Headquarters personnel, state and local representatives, professionals from various public 

and private organizations, and citizens representing areas of concern. As an outgrowth of 

the annual meeting, Region 3 holds monthly 

environmental justice conference calls with 

the states. 

Joint EPA Region 2 and 3 Site Visit to South 

Camden 

In August 2003, EPA Region 3 hosted a joint 

All States Environmental Justice Meeting in 

Philadelphia. One of the highlights of the 

meeting was a site visit to South Camden to 

learn from and see first hand the concerns of 

the citizens pertaining to the Saint Lawrence 

Cement facility. The tour lasted approximately 

two hours and took the participants through 

the South Camden area where the citizens 

described the various issues and concerns at 

the various sites. The counsel for the Saint 

Lawrence Cement case provided a perspective 

on the history of the facility and the case and 

answered questions from the assembled 

group. 

Maryland Public Listening Session and 

Dialog 

On October 7, 2003, the Maryland Department 

of the Environment held an environmental 

justice listening session in Baltimore, in coordination with the Maryland Commission on 

Environmental Justice and Sustainable 

Communities. Approximately 60 participants 

attended the listening session, including representatives from Region 3 and concerned citizens. The central topic of discussion was 

locally unwanted land usages. A number of 

presentations were made on this topic followed by discussions on issues such as ways 

government agencies can best address environmental justice issues and community revitalization. The Maryland Commission on 

Environmental Justice and Sustainable 

Communities made the following recommendations: 1) integrate environmental justice 

into all governmental efforts, 2) develop data 

applicable for use as a community outreach 

tool, 3) increase the effort to improve public 

participation, 4) prepare government agencies 

through environmental justice training, 5) 

include environmental justice as a basis for 

economic development, and 6) identify best 

practices. 

Region 4 

Alabama Environmental Justice Training 

Region 4 staff assisted the Alabama 

Department of Environmental Management 

(ADEM) in presenting environmental justice 

training to 60 ADEM managers on May 5-6, 

2004. The training was well received and 

proved to be a great opportunity for environmental justice education and development. 

Region 4 is constantly working to strengthen 

relationships with the states, communities, 

and other key stakeholders in an effort to better coordinate, integrate, and address environmental justice issues. ADEM has supported 

66 Chapter 4

Federal, State, Tribal, and Local 

Government Coordination 

these efforts by working collaboratively with 

Region 4 and taking other proactive 

approaches towards achieving 

environmental justice. 

Benedict College Environmental Justice 

Conference 

Region 4 participated in the Benedict College 

Statewide Environmental Justice Conference 

in South Carolina from August 20-23, 2003. 

Regional environmental justice staff and the 

South Carolina Department of Health and 

Environmental Control staff served on the 

steering committee. Approximately 30 people 

attended, representing Benedict College, the 

University of South Carolina, the South 

Carolina Department of Health and 

Environmental Control, and environmental 

justice community organizations and environmental groups from across the state. The 

Environmental Justice Conference was the 

first of a series of activities in this area to be 

conducted in a way that provided communities and community organizations a forum to 

engage in dialogue specific to their geographic area and areas of interest and to 

ensure that proper followup occurs to address 

issues raised. 

Region 5 

Collaborating with Communities - St. Clair 

Superior, Ohio 

Region 5, the Ohio EPA, the Cleveland 

Department of Air Quality (CDAQ), and the St. 

Clair Superior Neighborhood Development 

Association (SCSNDA) Environmental 

Committee have met regularly over the past 

several years to discuss the environmental 

concerns SCSNDA has identified within the 

community. As a result of the collaboration 

during 2003 and 2004, the Ohio EPA has used 

input from SCSNDA to identify and conduct 

an average of seven hazardous waste inspections each year within the neighborhood. 

Violations resulting from these inspections 

have led to one Supplemental Environmental 

Project (SEP), which has already funded diesel 

school bus retrofits, as well as a second SEP 

that is still in negotiation. In addition, CDAQ 

has addressed all 21 listed facilities of concern 

for SCSNDA. The collaborative process has 

increased the community's public participation 

and input in the review of Title 5 Air Permits; 

increased the number of air and hazardous 

waste inspections at neighborhood facilities, 

which in turn provides a better assurance to 

the community that companies are in compliance and the community's environmental 

well-being is protected; increased the environmental knowledge of the neighborhood; and 

improved the relationships between the residents and the companies located around their 

neighborhood. The Ohio EPA is using the 

Chapter 4
 67 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


SCSNDA collaboration as a model for conducting small business assistance on a local 

neighborhood level instead of on a broader 

and general state-wide basis. 

Region 6 

New Mexico Listening Sessions 

Following its successful listening session in 

Houston, Texas, in 2002, Region 6 committed 

to assist states in funding subsequent stateled listening sessions. The New Mexico 

Environment Department (NMED) was the first 

to take up the challenge. Region 6, the 

Southwest Network for Environmental and 

Economic Justice, and the University of New 

Mexico worked collaboratively to plan and 

implement this initiative. EPA committed 

$30,000 to support this effort and participated in the frequent planning sessions to coordinate the logistics, agendas, outreach, and 

followup. As a result, four listening sessions 

were held throughout New Mexico in the 

summer of 2004. The sessions focused on border issues, tribal issues, northern New Mexico 

issues, and statewide issues. 

Region 7 

2003 Federal Partners Meeting 

On August 20, 2003, Region 7 hosted its 

annual Federal Partners Meeting to facilitate 

coordination and collaboration among federal 

partners to address the environmental and 

public health concerns of low-income, minority, and tribal communities. The meeting highlighted the importance of coordination, 

leveraging of resources, and collaboration in 

problem-solving. Representatives from the 

Federal Transit Administration, the Department 

of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, the Kansas 

Department of Health and Environment, the 

Unified Government of Wyandotte County, 

Kansas City (Missouri), Kansas State University, 

and the Oak Grove Neighborhood Association 

participated in the meeting. During the first 

portion of the meeting, each of the federal 

agencies presented a brief overview of their 

current environmental justice programs and 

initiatives. Background on the Federal 

Interagency Working Group on Environmental 

Justice was provided to set the tone for collaboration and coordination. All agencies 

expressed a willingness and desire to work 

together to meet the needs of communities 

with environmental justice issues. 

68 Chapter 4

Federal, State, Tribal, and Local 

Government Coordination 

Region 8 

Colorado Partnership 

Although the number of children with elevated blood levels has continued to decrease, a 

significant number of children are still 

exposed to lead from paint and other sources. 

Principal sources of lead exposure are house 

dust contaminated by lead paint and soil contaminated by lead paint and decades of industrial and motor vehicle emissions. Significant 

health risks remain in pre-1978 housing, with 

the greatest risks from pre-1950 housing (25.8 

million existing units, as of FY 2000). Region 8, 

in partnership with the Colorado Department 

of Public Health and Environment and local 

agencies, has formed a workgroup to develop 

an interagency strategic plan to meet the 

Agency's challenge of eliminating childhood 

lead poisoning by 2010. The Agency's national 

goals are to eliminate lead paint hazards in 

housing where children under six years of age 

live and eliminate elevated blood lead 

levels in children. 

Region 9 

California Environmental Justice Program 

Since 2001, EPA Region 9 and the California 

Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) 

have partnered to develop the state's environmental justice program. As a culmination of 

several years of effort, on September 29-30, 

2003, the Cal/EPA Advisory Committee on 

Environmental Justice finalized its report on 

environmental justice, which represents an 

18-month public process, including 10 

Advisory Committee meetings and five community workshops throughout the state. This 

historic environmental justice meeting was 

attended by nearly 300 participants representing communities from across the state and 

drew more than 100 public testimonies. The 

secretary of Cal/EPA, the director of the 

Governors Office of Planning and Research, as 

well as the California's Interagency Working 

Group on Environmental Justice, signed a resolution to endorse the report as a framework 

for the state environmental justice strategy. 

Chapter 4
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


California Environmental Health Tracking 

Advisory Committee 

As a product of California Senate Bill 702, 

the state of California established an 

Environmental Health Tracking Program 

(EHTN). The goal of the program is to develop 

a comprehensive plan and a standards-based, 

coordinated and integrated EHTN at the state 

level that allows for linkage and reporting of 

health effects and environmental hazards 

data. A Region 9 representative has served as 

a member of the Expert Working Group in 

charge of developing recommendations to the 

State Legislature on how to implement the 

mandated statewide environmental health 

monitoring system. The report submitted to 

the State Legislature represents a collective 

effort from a multi-stakeholder group, including members of the community, academia, 

public health officials, industry, and state and 

local agencies. 

Tribal 

Headquarters 

Tribal Science Council 

EPA's Office of Research and Development 

(ORD) sponsors the Agency's Tribal Science 

Council (TSC), which was created in partnership with tribal representatives. The TSC provides a forum for tribes and EPA to identify 

priority science issues and collaboratively 

design effective solutions. To date, the TSC has 

sponsored the following three workshops: 

Endocrine Disruptors (September 2002), Risk 

Assessment and Health and Well Being 

(February 2003), and Health and Well Being 

and Traditional Tribal Lifeways (May 2003). 

Tribes have raised numerous issues that stem 

from the need for tribal traditional lifeways 

(ways tribes closely relate to the environment 

in all aspects of their life) to be considered 

when the Agency seeks to protect the environment and public health. The health and 

well being paradigm is a new approach for the 

Agency that provides a tribal perspective of 

the environment. 

Tribal Pesticide Program Council 

EPA's Office of Pesticides Programs (OPP) 

sponsors the Agency's Tribal Pesticide Program 

Council (TPPC) to obtain input and advice 

from tribes on how to effectively work in 

partnership with tribes to address tribal pesticides and toxics issues of concern. In 2003, 

OPP hosted two national meetings with the 

TPCC to identify national and regional pesticide issues that are specific to Indian country. 

OPP also facilitated cooperative activities 

between the state FIFRA Issues Research and 

Evaluation Group and the TPCC to encourage 

the development of common solutions for 

mutual pesticide-related concerns among 

states and tribes. 

Forum on State and Tribal Toxics Action 

In 2003, OPPT's Forum on State and Tribal 

Toxics Action/Tribal Affairs Project provided 

EPA with valuable program expertise from the 

70 Chapter 4

Federal, State, Tribal, and Local 

Government Coordination 

tribal perspective. In 2003, three meetings of 

the Tribal Affairs Project were held, which 

resulted in identifying areas for tribal involvement and inclusion in both pollution prevention and risk assessment. Also, the meetings 

served as a forum to discuss the options of 

developing risk assessment models, incorporating information regarding chemical releases 

on tribal lands that fall within the Toxic 

Release Inventory (TRI). 

Region 1 

U.S.-Canada St. Croix River Watershed 

Agreement 

EPA's Office of International Activities (OIA) 

provided $25,000 and brokered an EPA cooperative agreement effort in 2003 with the 

Passamaquoddy Tribe to enhance the protection of the U.S.-Canada St. Croix River 

Watershed. The cooperative agreement helps 

the tribe engage U.S. and Canadian sectors to 

address non-point water pollution control and 

to improve science and information about 

alewives (fish) in the watershed. This cooperative agreement helps fulfill the spirit and 

intent of the U.S.-Canada 1909 Boundary 

Waters Treaty. 

Region 6 

Underground Injection Control Program on 

Tribal Lands 

The population on tribal lands is generally 

tribal, rural, and disproportionately lowincome. As part of its environmental justice 

goal of "assuring that all people receive the 

full benefits of clean and sustainable communities," Region 6 is responsible for direct 

implementation of the underground injection 

control (UIC) program on tribal lands in the 

region. The region provides financial assistance to the Osage Nation of Oklahoma to 

conduct its UIC program, which involves 

inspecting injection wells, maintaining an 

inventory of injection operations, conducting 

enforcement of tribal requirements, and maintaining a file of each injection well on the 

Osage Mineral Reserve. In addition, the region 

conducts inspections and enforcement of UIC 

requirements on injection wells on 12 Indian 

nations in Oklahoma and three in New Mexico. 

During FY 2004, the Osage Nation conducted 

more than 1,500 inspections of injection wells 

on its lands. The region reviewed inspection 

records provided by the Nation and determined appropriate enforcement. The region 

also reviewed almost 2,300 operations reports 

from injection well operators on tribal lands. 

In addition, the region maintains a field office 

on the Osage Mineral Reserve, which investigated more than 25 complaints of oil field 

pollution during the year and conducted more 

than179 inspections of injection facilities. The 

reviews of injection reports from the Osage 

Nation, reviews of annual operations reports, 

and inspections by Region 6 staff resulted in 

the issuance of 40 administrative orders and 

two administrative penalty complaints during 

the fiscal year, as well as more than 465 informal notices of violation. As a result of this 

Chapter 4
 71 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


effort, more than 95 percent of injection wells 

on tribal lands in Region 6 are compliant with 

UIC requirements. 

Region 10 

STORET National Database Training 

Region 10 sponsored two STOrage and 

RETrieval System (STORET) national database 

training sessions for the Pacific Northwest 

Tribes, one in April 2004 and the other in 

October 2004. These training sessions provided 

instruction on how to access and use STORET, 

EPA's national environmental monitoring 

database, to technical representatives from 

nine tribes. Additionally, EPA's Office for 

Environmental Management and Information 

is supporting environmental justice geospatial 

issues on reservations throughout the Pacific 

Northwest with its intranet environmental justice mapping application, its Internet SiteInfo 

mapping application, and the development of 

paper maps for regional programs. 

Alaska Case Studies 

Region 10's Alaska Operations Office (AOO) 

helped develop and then participated in a session at the 2004 Alaska Forum on the 

Environment (AFE) entitled, "Environmental 

Justice Implementation-Alaska Case Studies." 

The session described projects in rural Alaska, 

supported through state and federal environmental justice efforts, and discussed the 

advantages and limitations of implementing 

environmental justice projects. The case studies included the Native Village of Selawik, 

which has been designated as an environmental justice Revitalization Community; the 

Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA); the 

Traditional Foods Program—Dietary Benefits 

and Risks in Alaskan Villages; the Alaska 

Department of Transportation and Public 

Facilities—transportation projects and mapping effort; and the EPA environmental justice 

collaborative problem-solving grants. More 

than 80 participants attended 

the session. 

Fort Hall Business Council (ShoshoneBannock Tribes) MOU 

Region 10 and the Fort Hall Business Council 

(Shoshone-Bannock Tribes) have signed a 

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 

consultation between the two parties. This 

MOU establishes a framework and process for 

fostering coordination and consultation on 

environmental protection issues and outlines 

the specific expectations and responsibilities 

of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and Region 

10 regarding consultation, including coordination, communication, information sharing, and 

the decisionmaking process. 

Tribal/State and EPA Agreements on 

Coordination 

In 2003, Region 10 signed an MOU with the 

tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation and the 

Idaho State Department of Environmental 

Quality (IDEQ) to develop total maximum daily 

loads on water bodies that lie within or adjoin 

the Fort Hall Reservation. This was a first of its 

72 Chapter 4

Federal, State, Tribal, and Local 

Government Coordination 

kind agreement between a state and tribe in 

Region 10. 

Federal Air Rules for Reservations 

Promulgated 

Now that the federal air rules for reservations 

have been promulgated, Region 10 will be taking a major step toward filling the regulatory 

gap that exists regarding implementation of 

the Clean Air Act (CAA) on Indian Reservations 

in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The tribal 

communities on these reservations, as well as 

on many other reservations, have been without many of the air quality protections that 

exist outside of reservations, where state regulations implement the CAA mandates. 

Because the states have no authority within 

the boundaries of reservations to implement 

the CAA, it is the responsibility of the federal 

government to implement this program until 

tribes either establishes their own rules or are 

authorized to implement the federal rules. 

These new rules will regulate outdoor burning, 

a major source of air pollutant on reservations, particularly in rural areas. 

Nez Perce Tribe Participation in Clearwater 

Airshed Intergovernmental Group 

EPA is working with the Nez Perce Tribe and 

the state of Idaho's departments of agriculture 

and environmental quality, through a 

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to cooperatively implement a smoke management plan 

within the Clearwater airshed. The Smoke 

Management Plan seeks to prevent agricultural burning, primarily blue grass, from adversely 

impacting human health. The plan calls for the 

use of meteorological and air monitoring data 

to control the timing of the burns, so the 

smoke can be directed away from major population centers. The Nez Perce Tribal Air Staff 

have become integral players in this cooperative effort. 

Local 

National Small Flows Clearinghouse ­

Wastewater Treatment Solutions 

The National Small Flows Clearinghouse 

(NSFC) collects and distributes information to 

rural communities and others about small 

wastewater treatment solutions. Services 

include a toll-free technical assistance hotline, an Internet-based discussion group, 

computer databases, newsletters, and other 

publications. EPA provided $7.6 million in 

grant funding to support the activities of the 

NSFC for FY 2001 through FY 2004. In FY 

2003, NSFC activities included: 1) responding 

to more than 13,000 technical assistance 

calls, 2) distributing more than 72,000 products, 3) receiving 766,000 unique queries of 

its Web site, reaching 1,386 subscribers for 

the NSFC Listserv, 4) conducting numerous 

community technical assistance field visits, 5) 

adding 49 new products to NSFC offerings, 

and 6) publishing two quarterly publications 

reaching more than 50,000 subscribers. 

Chapter 4
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Decentralized Septic Systems 

Decentralized septic systems, often called septic onsite systems, are close to the source of 

the wastewater they treat and typically use 

small pipes for collecting domestic wastewater 

from individual homes or businesses. They can 

include large capacity septic systems, clusters 

of systems, and small collection and treatment 

systems. Decentralized systems serve 25 percent of the U.S. population, are used in about 

one-third of all new housing and commercial 

developments, and are utilized in rural and 

small communities. 

During the past four years, EPA determined 

that existing large capacity systems subject to 

Class V well regulations under the 

Underground Injection Control program are 

adequate to protect drinking water. The 

Agency published its Onsite Wastewater 

Treatment Systems Manual and released the 

Voluntary National Guidelines for 

Management of Onsite and Clustered 

Wastewater Treatment Systems. EPA also has 

a Web site for the onsite/decentralized wastewater systems, http://cfpub.epa.gov/owm/ 

septic/home.cfm, which provides information 

on management, funding, technology, and 

public outreach to assist small communities 

when using or considering decentralized systems to manage their wastewater needs. 

Chapter 4


Operator Onsite Technical Assistance 

Program 

The Operator Onsite Technical Assistance 

Program provides hands-on assistance to 

small municipal wastewater treatment plant 

operators to address compliance assistance, 

maintenance, and performance improvement. 

EPA provided $5.7 million in grant funding to 

support this work from FY 2001 through FY 

2004, assisting approximately 2,800 facilities 

in small communities. 

Wetlands Five Star Program 

EPA, along with the National Association of 

Counties, National Fish and Wildlife 

Foundation, and Wildlife Habitat Council, 

established the Five Star Restoration Program 

as a mechanism to work with partners on 

community-based wetlands restoration projects in watersheds across the United States. 

As part of the larger program, the Five Star 

Challenge Grants Program develops knowledge and skills in young people through 

restoration projects that involve multiple 

partners, including local government agencies, 

elected officials, community groups, businesses, schools, youth organizations, and environmental organizations. Its objective is to 

engage five or more partners in each project 

to contribute funding, land, technical assistance, workforce support, or other in-kind 

services that match the program's funding 

assistance. Consideration for funding is based 

on the project's educational and training 

opportunities for students and at-risk youth, 

74 
Federal, State, Tribal, and Local 

Government Coordination 

the ecological benefits to be derived, and the 

project's social and economic benefits to the 

community. Because of this consideration, 

the Five Star Program helps promote 

environmental justice. 

Region 6 

Regional Health Awareness Board, Corpus 

Christi, Texas 

At the request of an environmental justice 

community-based organization, Citizens for 

Environmental Justice, Region 6 played a key 

role in the development of a citizens/local 

government/industry advisory board in Corpus 

Christi, Texas. The Regional Health Awareness 

Board (RHAB), provides a forum for identifying 

and addressing citizens' environmental and 

public health concerns in the Corpus Christi 

area. Through this process, citizens are able to 

engage in dialogue with regulators and industry to work to address concerns. 

Chapter 4
 75 

Chapter 5: Grants and Contracts


EPA has created several financial 

assistance programs to support and build the 

capacity of community-based grassroots 

organizations. The Agency recognizes the critical role that these types of organizations play 

in addressing the environmental and public 

health concerns in their communities. By providing grants and other financial assistance, 

EPA can help support these organizations' 

activities, such as actively participating in governmental decisionmaking processes, leading 

local environmental projects and activities, 

and participating in local collaborative 

problem-solving efforts with other interested 

stakeholders. 

Effective and efficient management of all 

grants and contracts is also an important element for success. Because some communitybased grassroots organizations are either new 

to, or have limited understanding of, the federal grants application and management 

processes, EPA offers training on these 

processes, such as how to effectively develop 

grant applications and manage the awarded 

grants and cooperative agreements. This chapter discusses some of the specific financial 

assistance programs available from EPA and 

other types of broad support. 

General 

Headquarters 

Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative 

Agreement Grants Program 

In 2003, EPA's Office of Environmental Justice 

initiated the Environmental Justice 

Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) 

Cooperative Agreement Program. The purpose 

of the program is to provide financial assistance to affected community-based organizations that want to find viable solutions for 

environmental and/or public health concerns. 

Specifically, the program supposes those that 

want to engage in constructive and collaborative problem solving by utilizing tools developed by EPA and others. The Office of 

Environmental Justice, in coordination with 

the Federal Interagency Working Group on 

Environmental Justice (IWG), developed an 

Environmental Justice Collaborative ProblemSolving Model, upon which the CPS Program 

is based. The following are the seven elements 

to the Model: 1) issue identification, community vision and strategic goal setting, 2) community capacity building, 3) consensus 

building and dispute resolution, 4) multistakeholder partnerships and resource mobilization, 5) supportive and facilitative role of 

government, 6) management and implementation, and 7) evaluation, lessons learned, and 

replication of best practices. For FY 2004, EPA 

awarded 30 CPS cooperative agreements, in 

the amount of $100,000 each, for up to a 

three-year period. A description of each projChapter 5 77 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


ect can be found at: <www.epa.gov/ 

compliance/environmentaljustice/grants>. 

Environmental Justice Small Grants Program 

The Environmental Justice Small Grants 

Program provides financial assistance to eligible affected community-based organizations 

working on, or planning to work on, projects 

addressing local environmental and/or public 

health concerns. An affected local community-based organization is an entity/organization that is: 1) at the most basic level of the 

organizational hierarchy, such as a grassroots 

group or neighborhood organization that is 

not affiliated with a larger national, regional, 

or state organization, 2) located in the same 

area as the environmental and/or public 

health problem that is described in the application and where the residents of the affected 

community reside, 3) focused primarily on 

addressing the environmental and/or public 

health problems of the residents of the affected community, and 4) comprised primarily of 

members of the affected community. For FY 

2003, EPA awarded 56 grants, totaling 

$858,907. For FY 2004, EPA awarded 17 

grants, totaling $423,454. 

Environmental Justice Internships 

Through an Office of Environmental Justice 

grant, the Environmental Careers Organization 

(ECO) has been fostering environmental 

opportunities for students since 1992, providing them with practical work experience in 

fields such as science, engineering, law, computer science, and political analysis. To date, 

more than $36 million has been invested in 

this program, called "Furthering Environmental 

Careers," and more than 2,200 students have 

had the opportunity for on-the-job training 

and community involvement. By nurturing 

these students, the Office of Environmental 

Justice also hopes to ingrain the concept of 

environmental justice in the next generation 

of environmental professionals. 

This program is now ubiquitous in EPA; nearly 

every office has had an ECO intern. The Office 

of Environmental Justice further maintains its 

commitment by hiring at least two interns for 

the immediate office and provides additional 

funds for two interns to work in each of EPA's 

10 regional offices. The success of the 

EPA/ECO partnership has spawned another 

program with direct benefit to communities. 

Since the Office of Environmental Justice 

launched its Community Intern Program in 

2000, 134 students have gained work experience at the grassroots level. This program has 

allowed students to assist community organizations on environmental issues. To learn 

more about the program, visit <www.eco.org>. 

Indian Environmental General Assistance 

Program 

The EPA Indian Environmental General 

Assistance Program (GAP) is administered by 

the American Indian Environmental Office and 

delegated to the regional offices. This program 

provides financial assistance to federally rec78 Chapter 5

Grants and Contracts


ognized tribes and inter-tribal consortia to 

build capacity to administer environmental 

regulatory programs in Indian country. In 

addition, it provides technical assistance from 

EPA to develop multimedia programs to 

address environmental issues in Indian country. GAP offers tribes the opportunity to develop an integrated environmental program, 

develop the capability to manage specific programs, and establish a core program for 

environmental protection. The financial assistance agreements provide the opportunity 

to define and develop administrative and legal 

infrastructures and conduct assessments and 

planning. 

Grants Writing/ 

Management Training 

Region 6 

Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative 

Agreement Training 

In August 2003, Region 6 held a communitybased grassroots organization training on the 

environmental justice Collaborative ProblemSolving Cooperative Agreement program. 

Several environmental justice community representatives came to Region 6 for the training 

and several attended via conference call. 

Grants Writing Workshop 

On May 22, 2004, Region 6—in collaboration 

with the U.S. Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, the U.S. Department of 

Education, and Vietnamese community leaders 

in the local area–provided a grant writing 

workshop to the Asian-American community 

in Dallas, Texas. Participants learned how to 

apply for EPA's environmental justice small 

grants, which provide funds to non-profit and 

community-based organizations for activities 

that address environmental justice issues in 

minority and low-income communities. 

Region 7 

Grants Workshop 

Recognizing the national emphasis on effective grants management, Region 7 sponsored 

the first region-wide small grants workshop in 

Kansas City, Kansas, in October 2003. The 

Chapter 5 79 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


workshop included overviews of several EPA 

grant programs, such as the Brownfields 

Environmental Education Grants and 

Environmental Justice Small Grants programs. 

This two-day workshop provided information 

on the application process, grant eligibility, 

selection and award processes, pre-award 

process, post-award responsibilities of grant recipients, 

and funding opportunities, 

in an effort to provide 

regional stakeholders a 

comprehensive look at 

financial assistance opportunities. In addition, award 

recipients could work 

directly with project officers 

and grants specialists. The workshop also 

reviewed the rules and requirements regarding 

financial management and procurement 

guidelines, provided information regarding 

measurement of tangible environmental benefit, and allowed project officers the opportunity to engage in post-award monitoring. 

Approximately 70 stakeholders attended the 

workshop. 

Region 8 

Targeting Tribes and Tribal Organizations 

Each year, Region 8 provides environmental 

justice grants training to community-based 

grassroots organizations at various locations 

throughout the region. During FY 2004, the 

region decided to focus on tribes, due to a significant decline in tribal applications for environmental justice grants. The first of these 

trainings was held on the Spirit Lake Tribal 

Reservation in Fort Totten, North Dakota, and 

the second was held on the Cheyenne River 

Sioux Reservation in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. 

Air-Related 

Headquarters 

Vehicle Anti-Idling Program 

In FY 2003, the Office of Air and Radiation 

(OAR) established a program to reduce air pollution and conserve fuel from idling trucks 

and locomotives. As part of this program, the 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality continues to organize regional coalitions of communities, state and local governments, and 

trucking and truck stop companies to install 

idle reduction systems along major interstate 

corridors. The major criteria for selecting and 

identifying locations include the proximity of 

minority and low-income areas heavily 

impacted by these facilities. To date, two locations—a truck stop in Gary, Indiana, and a 

locomotive switch yard—have received a combined grant of $185,000 for anti-idling device 

installation. Additional federal transportation 

funding has also been secured. OAR plans to 

develop case studies for both projects. 

Radon Testing and Mitigation 

In 2003, the Office of Radiation and Indoor 

Air made more than $800,000 available in 

matching grant funds to tribal nations 

through the State Indoor Radon Grant pro80 Chapter 5

Grants and Contracts


gram to support radiation testing and mitigation and the development of radon-resistant 

construction material. 

Water-Related 

Headquarters 

Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program 

All 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico, operate 

loan programs that provide low-interest 

financing for wastewater treatment and other 

water quality projects. By offering financial 

assistance to small and rural communities, 

these programs provide affordable financing 

for municipal wastewater infrastructure 

improvements needed to achieve water quality 

standards and to protect public health. In 

addition to financing infrastructure needs, the 

Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) provides assistance to small communities, individual homeowners, and farmers to control 

runoff from failing decentralized systems and 

to implement agricultural best management 

practices. For FY 2001 through FY 2004, communities with populations less than 10,000 

received more than $3.5 billion in low-cost 

financial assistance. 

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loans 

In FY 2003, 71 percent of the loans made in 

the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund were 

provided to small systems. EPA's Office of 

Water's (OW's) goal is to provide 75 percent of 

these funds to small systems by 2005. OW 

expects to achieve this goal and increase the 

cumulative percentage by providing loans to 

systems serving small communities. 

Tribal Funds Distributed 

Approximately $6 million was set aside from 

the Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) 

State Grant Program to support tribal PWSS 

programs. Specifically, funds were distributed 

to the Navajo Nation to support its primacy 

program; the Standing Rock Sioux for a Direct 

Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreement; 

the Region 10 Alaska Native Village program; 

and the EPA regional offices. Priorities for 

funding included operator certification, capacity development, and source water protection. 

In addition, approximately $13 million was 

distributed among the regions from the 

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund tribal 

set-aside. The regions distributed the funds to 

tribes for infrastructure improvement projects 

and capacity development. A few projects 

funded included the development of a geographic information system (GIS), circuit riders 

for tribal systems, infrastructure replacement, 

and assistance with developing source water 

assessment and protection plans. 

Clean Water Act Tribal Grants Program 

Section 106 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) provides funds for tribes, states, and interstate 

agencies to develop and implement water quality management programs, including water 

monitoring and assessments, development of 

water quality standards, permit issuance, develChapter 5
 81 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


opment and implementation of Total Maximum 

Daily Loads, compliance and enforcement, 

groundwater and wetland protection, and nonpoint source control activities. Currently, 229 

tribes are eligible for grants under Section 106 

and have received at least one grant. Through 

FY 2003, 116 tribes are conducting water quality monitoring activities, 120 tribes have 

approved Quality Assurance Project Plans, 23 

tribes have EPA-approved water quality standards, 90 tribes have adopted tribal water quality standards, and eight tribes have voluntarily 

submitted Section 305(b) reports. 

Other 

Headquarters 

Health Effects of Environmental 

Contaminants on Tribal Populations Grants 

EPA—in cooperation with the U.S. Department 

of Health and Human Service's Agency for Toxic 

Substances and Disease Registry—awarded $2.2 

million in grants to establish research partnerships to study the health effects of contaminants in the environment on tribal populations. 

Tribes can be at especially high risk for environmentally caused diseases because of their subsistence lifestyles (e.g., hunting, fishing), their 

occupations and customs (e.g., medicine, ceremonies), and/or environmental releases impacting tribal lands. Tribal-academic partnerships 

will focus on subsistence issues related to mercury, PCBs, pesticides, and other chemicals, producing management strategies leading to a 

reduction in risk from exposure to these and 

other chemicals. The projects are funded 

through EPA's Office of Research and 

Development's Science To Achieve Results 

(STAR) competitive grants program. 

Exchange Network Grant Program 

In FY 2003 and FY 2004, the Exchange 

Network Grant Program provided 37 grants to 

tribes and five grants to U.S. territories to support and establish the capability to share environmental information. The funding helps 

tribes and territories develop the information 

management/technology capabilities needed 

to connect to the Exchange Network and electronically submit or receive environmental 

information that they can use to protect and 

enhance human health and the natural environment within their communities. 

82 Chapter 5

Chapter 6: Environmental Justice 

Assessments 

jointly by EPA's Office of Environmental 

Information (OEI) and the Office of 

Environmental Justice. EPA staff and the public can use this tool to conduct an environmental justice assessment. Factors relevant to 

an environmental justice assessment generally 

fall into four sets of indicators: environmental, 

health, social, and economic. The conditions 

these indicators seek to illuminate include, but 

are not limited to: adverse health or environmental impacts, aggregate or cumulative 

impacts, unique exposure pathways, vulnerable or susceptible populations, or lack of 

capacity to participate in decisionmaking 

processes. The tool takes inputs about these 

indicators and provides the information necessary to conduct a comprehensive preliminary analysis of any area of concern. 

In March 2003, the Agency deployed an 

Intranet version of the tool, and in August 

2003, the Internet version became available to 

the public. In 2004, OEI enhanced the tool by 

adding the following reporting capabilities: 

Ability to Speak English Report, National Air 

Toxics Assessment (NATA) Cumulative Risk 

Report, Percent of Population Who Speak 

English Less Than Well map layer, Link to NATA 

mapping pages, Homeowners vs. Renters 

Report, Male/Female Ratio Report, 

Ethnic/National Origin Report, Urban vs. Rural 

Population Report, and Urban Area map layer. 

Environmental justice assessments 

are an important component of the Agency's 

environmental justice program, by serving as a 

primary tool for the integration of environmental justice. These assessments are used to 

evaluate environmental justice indicators (i.e., 

environment, health, social, and economic) 

within affected communities to ensure they 

are included in the environmental decisionmaking processes. Environmental justice 

assessments are conducted in a variety of 

ways, depending on the environmental and 

public health issues being addressed. This 

chapter discusses some of the tools EPA uses 

to conduct environmental justice assessments 

and provides examples of some of the assessments that have been conducted. 

General 

Headquarters 

Environmental Justice Geographic 

Assessment Tool 

EPA's EnviroMapper provides public access to 

a wealth of environmental information 

through the Internet. Not only is this tool 

used to map various types of environmental 

information—including air releases, drinking 

water, toxic releases, hazardous wastes, water 

discharge permits, and Superfund sites—but it 

also includes an environmental justice 

Geographic Assessment Tool. This effort is lead 

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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


A Framework for Integrating Psychosocial and 

Environmental Concepts 

EPA's Office of Policy, Economics, and 

Innovations (OPEI) presents a multidisciplinary 

framework that integrates many of the ideas 

being discussed and debated about environmental effects on low-income, minority, and 

indigenous populations. Although many people acknowledge that social and environmental factors interact to produce racial and 

ethnic environmental health disparities, how 

this occurs is still unclear. The environmental 

justice movement has provided some insight 

by suggesting that disadvantaged communities face greater likelihood of exposure to 

ambient hazards. The "exposure disease paradigm" has long suggested that differential 

vulnerability might modify the effects of toxins on biological systems; however, relatively 

little research has been conducted to specify 

whether racial and ethnic minorities have 

greater vulnerability than majority populations 

and what those vulnerabilities might be (e.g., 

psychosocial stress). OPEI contends that residential segregation leads to differential experiences of community stress, exposure to 

pollutants, and access to community 

resources. When not counterbalanced by 

resources, stressors may lead to heightened 

vulnerability to environmental hazards. 

Region 1 

New Desktop Environmental Justice Mapping 

Tool 

In May 2003, Region 1 launched its new 

Environmental Justice Mapping Tool, a computer mapping application available to all 

regional employees at their desktop. The tool 

is designed to enhance the quality of EPA 

Region 1's work by identifying and analyzing 

potential environmental justice issues and 

providing easy access to consistent and reliable environmental justice-related data. By 

having demographic data readily available to 

help characterize communities throughout 

Region 1, EPA staff and management can better ensure that the principles of environmental justice, such as fairness and meaningful 

involvement, are incorporated into the 

region's everyday work. The Environmental 

Justice Mapping Tool provides a visual representation of areas in Region 1 where significant numbers of minority and low-income 

populations live. It also uses race and income 

thresholds to identify potential environmental 

justice areas of concern, since race and 

income are widely recognized as strong indicators of populations that might bear elevated 

environmental burdens. 

Evironmental Justice Guidance for Staff 

The EPA New England Environmental Justice 

Functional Guidance Compendium was finalized n February 2004 and is accessible on the 

Intranet to all regional employees. The com84 Chapter 6

Environmental Justice Assessments


pendium provides function-specific guidance 

for regional staff on how to integrate environmental justice principles, including fair 

treatment, meaningful involvement and public 

health protection, into day-to-day activities. 

During the environmental justice awareness 

training that all Region 1 staff participated in 

over the last two years, many individuals 

requested more specific information on how 

to incorporate these principles into their work. 

The compendium includes several tools 

designed to help identify when core work has 

environmental justice implications, as well as 

how to advance environmental justice principles through core work. The guidance is for all 

staff, including permit writers, contracting or 

project officers, inspectors, lawyers, communication coordinators, engineers or scientists, 

and facility managers. 

Region 2 

Hudson River PCBs Superfund Project 

In October 2003, Region 2 performed an environmental justice analysis, titled "EPA, Region 

2 - Hudson River PCBs Superfund SiteDewatering Facility Location: A Comparative 

Environmental Justice Analysis in Support of 

Project Site Locations." The document was 

shared with the environmental planning consultants, working on behalf of the U.S. Army 

Corp of Engineers (USACE), to investigate 

whether potential environmental justice concerns existed in areas/communities involving 

the final candidate sites (FCS) for the project. 

In the analysis, EPA evaluated seven FCSs to 

determine whether the construction and operation of a sediment processing/transfer facility 

could result in disproportionately high adverse 

human health or environmental effects on 

minority and/or low-income populations. The 

results from the Comparative Environmental 

Justice Analysis, followed by discussions 

among Region 2 and the USACE consultants, 

has led to the formation of an environmental 

justice section to be incorporated in the 

Agency's Preliminary Draft Hudson River PCBs 

Superfund Site Facility Siting Report in April 

2004. The full report may be accessed at: 

<www.epa.gov/ 

hudson/facility_siting_draft.htm>. 

Region 3 

King William Reservoir 

Region 3 reviewed a February 2004 draft of 

"Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) Among 

the United States Army Corps of Engineers, 

the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 

and the Advisory Council on Historic 

Preservation for Treatment of Adverse Effect 

to Historic Properties Affected by the 

Construction and Development of the King 

William Reservoir, York County, Virginia." The 

region provided general comments on the 

MOA to facilitate the National Historic 

Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 process 

and assist the North Atlantic Division of the 

Army Corps of Engineers in compliance with 

Executive Order 12898, "Federal Actions to 

Address Environmental Justice in Minority 

Chapter 6
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Populations and Low-Income Populations." 

The region's comments reflected EPA's goal 

that environmental justice remain a guiding 

principle of the Section 106 process, and that 

the MOA finalization include meaningful consultation with the Native American tribes. 

Region 6 

Underground Storage Tank Environmental 

Justice Determinations In 2004, EPA's 

Underground Storage Tank (UST) program 

began a project to determine which UST facilities are located in communities with environmental justice concerns. To complete this task, 

Region 6 provided the address of each facility 

to a contractor for rating in three categories 

(population, income, and minorities). With this 

information, the region determined that the 

UST program would use a half-mile radius as 

the area to review, rather than the four-mile 

radius. Also, the region determined that if 

location received a certain level of rating, it 

would be considered to be located in a community with environmental justice issues. 

Region 7 

Environmental Justice Assessment in Area of 

Clean Water Act Violations 

On February 19, 2003, the Sierra Club issued a 

notice of intent to sue the Department of 

Energy (DOE) and Honeywell Manufacturing 

and Technologies, LLC for violations of the 

Clean Water Act (CWA). The notice cited that 

the facility was discharging toxic waste into a 

recreational stream that flows through low 

income communities of color. Both Region 7 

and the Missouri Department of Natural 

Resources were called upon to address the 

issues presented in the notice. Region 7 completed an environmental justice assessment 

report detailing the community surrounding 

the DOE plant and the potential for environmental justice concerns to arise. The region 

determined that: 1) public access is a high 

indicator for exposure potential, 2) regular 

recreational and/or subsistence fishing, swimming, and/or wading in 

Indian Creek is an indicator for exposure potential, 

and 3) children, with higher risk to exposure and 

greater access to Indian 

Creek, live within a threemile radius of influence, 

near a DOE discharge outfall. Region 7 also 

outlined recommendations for actions that 

could be taken to ensure fair treatment and 

meaningful involvement of the public, with 

emphasis in the areas of decisionmaking, public communication, and outreach. 

Environmental Justice Assessment in Area of 

Proposed Power Plants 

In January 2004, internal and external stakeholders requested that Region 7 assess the 

potential environmental justice concerns surrounding the proposed siting of two coal-fired 

power plants in Weston, Missouri, and 

86 Chapter 6

Environmental Justice Assessments


Atchison, Kansas, along the Missouri River. As 

a component of the environmental justice 

assessment process, a community site tour 

was held to enable interested stakeholders the 

opportunity to engage in open dialogue with 

each other, listen to the issues from a community-led perspective, and make observations regarding potential environmental 

justice and other environmental and human 

health concerns. Nineteen federal, state and 

community representatives attended the 

meeting and site tour. During the meeting, the 

federal and state agency representatives interacted with community members and 

answered questions regarding the respective 

agencies' ability to address the community's 

concerns using the available statutory authorities. Region 7 conducted an environmental 

justice assessment for the areas surrounding 

the proposed facilities. Although the assessment did not indicate that a disproportionate 

negative environmental burden on the community existed, the proposal of two additional 

coal-fired power plants, with the presence of 

environmental and/or human health impacts, 

might introduce an increased risk or harm 

that might be shouldered by surrounding populations. EPA staff are continuing to monitor 

this issue as it develops. 

Region 10 

Environmental Justice Maps 

By linking environmental justice data with 

National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) data, 

Region 10 created a series of maps showing 

how environmental justice areas are being 

affected by air toxics. Available in print and 

Web format, as well as in EPA's Rapid Access 

Information System (RAINS), these maps will 

be used to evaluate the level at which environmental justice areas are being affected by, 

or exposed to, various air toxics, so EPA can 

develop ways to improve the air quality for 

minority and low-income areas. While these 

maps are not at a fine-enough scale to allow 

for detailed decisionmaking, they can serve as 

a tool for discussion at a region-wide level 

about the risks to environmental justice areas. 

Maps were designed for the Region 10 states 

of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska, and 

can be viewed together or by individual states. 

The maps are broken down into two main categories: environmental justice data with cancer risk NATA data, and environmental justice 

data with non-cancer risk NATA data. 

Chapter 6
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


International 

Environmental Policy Assessments 

The Organization for Economic Cooperation 

and Development (OECD) is a forum for member governments to address common problems, 

encourage cooperation on new approaches to 

environmental policy, and promote integration 

of environmental and economic policies. As a 

followup to the 2004 OECD Ministerial meeting, 

two papers are being prepared that explore 

implications of environmental injustice: 1) 

Costs of Inaction: What would be the impact 

on the environment (and people) if 

Environment Ministers did not act affirmatively 

towards environmental challenges? and 2) 

Partnerships: What are the opportunities and/or 

challenges associated with establishing partnerships (e.g. how are they defined, who do 

they benefit, what are the costs, what are the 

benefits?). Another paper has also been prepared called Environment and Distributional 

Issues: Analysis, Evidence and Policy 

Implications to address key concerns about the 

impact of income on the environment and on 

civil society. 

Solid and Hazardous 

Waste 

Environmental Justice Summary 

EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency 

Response (OSWER), with assistance from EPA's 

Office of Environmental Information, prepared 

a government Performance Review Act (GPRA) 

Environmental Justice Summary Report. This 

report serves as a screening tool to compare 

the rate of GPRA progress made by the 

regions near Resource Conservation and 

Recovery Act (RCRA)-permitted and corrective 

action facilities in potential at-risk communities with the rate of progress in non-at-risk 

communities. The complete assessment of the 

RCRA permitted and corrective action facilities 

was completed in June 2004. The purpose of 

this project is to provide a demographic 

analysis of the Agency's GPRA progress. 

Host Community Compensation for Municipal 

Solid Waste Landfills 

In exchange for permission to construct, 

expand, or operate a landfill, more and more 

landfill developers are providing payments to 

communities. The value of these "host fees" 

varies widely, yet the factors that influence 

them are unexplored. OPEI constructed a 

unique data set of host fees paid by the 104 

largest privately owned solid waste landfills in 

1996. OPEI found that resident participation in 

host fee negotiations, experience hosting a 

landfill, state mandates for minimum host 

compensation, and firms with greater 

resources all lead to greater host compensation. OPEI found limited evidence that a community's race and income level, and the 

negative externalities associated with a landfill, are important in negotiating host fees. 

88 Chapter 6

Environmental Justice Assessments


Enforcement and 

Compliance 

Headquarters 

Environmental Justice in Environmental 

Impact Statements 

In FY 2003, the Office of Federal Activities 

(OFA) tracked 28 draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) comments and 13 final EIS 

comments that identified environmental justice concerns. This resulted in a 53.6 percent 

success rate in resolving environmental justice 

concerns. In FY 2004, OFA tracked 23 pairs of 

draft and final EIS comments that identified 

environmental justice concerns, resulting in an 

87 percent success rate in resolutions. 

Region 6 

Environmental Justice Evaluations and 

Compliance Reporting 

Environmental justice determinations are 

included in reporting of enforcement and 

compliance activities for each regulated site 

location in Region 6. Environmental justice 

data are derived from the region's 

Environmental Justice Index Methodology 

screening protocol. The process results in a 

better understanding of the characteristics of 

environmental justice issues in communities. 

Demographic and Environmental Justice 

Analyses of Mining Operations 

Using a Geographic Information System 

methodology system developed by Region 6, 

mining operations are being evaluated 

throughout the United States. The significance 

of this methodology is that it routinely evaluates each site for environmental justice concerns. Each site (currently more than 200) will 

be ranked not only in terms of water impacts, 

air releases of chemicals, impacts upon the 

landscape, and status of environ mental compliance for each facility, but also in terms of 

environmental justice issues. This project is 

the first time the GIS methodology has been 

applied to locations throughout the nation. 

Including Environmental Justice in 

Enforcement Inspections 

In FY 2004, Region 6's Emergency Planning 

Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) program committed to ensuring that at least 10 

percent of its facility inspections would occur 

in low-income and minority communities. To 

ensure that the region would meet its goal, 

each targeted inspection was analyzed for its 

"Environmental Justice Index," utilizing demographic information within a 2-mile and 4­

mile radius of the targeted inspection site. Of 

the 23 EPCRA inspections that were conducted, 12 of those inspections fell within areas 

that were classified as minority, low-income, 

or a combination of both, resulting in 52 percent of the inspections occurring in environmental justice-classified areas. 

Superfund Site Environmental Justice 

Assessment 

On, January 20, 2004, a resident contacted 

Region 8 with concerns about the Silver Bow 

Chapter 6
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2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site, located in 

Butte, Montana. Specifically, the resident referenced the EPA Montana Office's Remedial 

Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS), stating 

that the plan will "exacerbate the disparate, 

adverse treatment and the environmental burden of low-income citizens who live in the 

Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit" and that 

"no accommodation for eliciting the views of 

low-income citizens in the area has been 

incorporated into the Revised Community 

Involvement Plan for Butte Priority Soils 

Operable Unit." After conducting an evaluation 

and assessment of the site, the region's 

Environmental Justice Program concluded that 

the Superfund Program had incorporated 

environmental justice principles into its daily 

activities at the Silver Bow Creek Superfund 

site. This work has been accomplished in a fair 

manner, with the meaningful involvement of 

all people, and has served the people of Butte 

and Walkerville by reducing significant risks to 

human health and the environment. 

90 Chapter 6

Appendix A: 

Environmental Justice Coordinators 

Headquarters Contacts: 

The address for all Headquarters contacts is: 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20460. 

Use this address and the Mail Code (MC) below for each office. 

Office of Administration & Resources Management - MC-3102-A 

Susan Kantrowitz 202-564-4317 F: 202-564-1887 

Office of Air and Radiation - MC-6101-A 

Wil Wilson 202-564-1954 F: 202-564-1549 

Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance - MC-2201-A 

Reiniero (Rey) Rivera 202-564-1491 F: 202-501-0701 

Office of Environmental Information - MC-2812-A 

Lorena Romero-cedeño 202-566-0978 F: 202-566-0977 

Office of Environmental Justice - MC 2201A 

Nicholas Targ 202-564-2406 F: 202-501-0740 

Marla Hendriksson 202-564-1897 F: 202-501-0740 

Office of General Counsel - MC-2322-A 

Tony Guadagno 202-564-5537 F: 202-564-5541 

Office of International Activities - MC-2610R 

Wendy Graham 202-564-6602 F: 202-565-2411 

Office of Policy, Economics & Innovation - MC-1807T 

Daria Willis 202-566-2217 F: 202-566-2220 

Lisa Ashley Jones 202-564-6198 F: 202-564-0965 

Office of Prevention, Pesticides & Toxic Substances - MC-7101M 

Elaine Lyon-Johnson 202-564-0547 F: 202-564-0550 

Appendix A
 91 
2004 Environmental Justice Biennial Report


Office of Research and Development - MC-8103R 

Jason Edwards 202-564-5568 F: 202-565-2925 

Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response - MC-5101T 

Kent Benjamin 202-566-0185 F: 202-566-0202 

Office of Water - MC-4102T 

Alice Walker 202-529-7534 F: 202-269-3597 

American Indian Environmental Office - MC-4104 

Bob Smith 202-564-0278 F: 202-564-0298 

Office of Civil Rights - MC-1201-A 

Mike Mattheisen 202-564-7291 F: 202-501-1836 

Office of Congressional & Intergovernmental Relations - MC-1301-A 

Josh Lewis 202-564-2095 F: 202-501-1544 

Office of Public Affairs - MC-1702-A 

Doretta Reaves 202-564-7829 F: 202-501-1773 

Regional Contacts: 

USEPA, Region 1 

Lois Adams 617-918-1591 F: 617-918-1029


One Congress Street, 11th Floor


Boston, MA 02203-0001


USEPA, Region 2 

Terry Wesley 212-637-5027 F: 212-637-4943


290 Broadway, Room 2637


New York, NY 10007


USEPA, Region 3 

Reginald Harris 215-814-2988 F: 215-814-2905


1650 Arch St. (MC-3ECOO)


Philadelphia, PA 19103


92 Appendix A
Appendix A: 

Environmental Justice Coordinators 

USEPA, Region 4 

Cynthia Peurifoy 

61 Forsyth Street 

Atlanta, GA 30303 

404-562-9649 F: 404-562-9664 

USEPA, Region 5 

Karla Owens 

77 West Jackson Blvd., T-16J 

Chicago, IL 60604-3507 

312-886-5993 F: 312-886-2737 

USEPA, Region 6 

Olivia Balandran 

Fountain Place, 12th Floor 

1445 Ross Ave., (RA-D) 

Dallas, TX 75202-2733 

214-665-7401 F: 214-665-6648 

USEPA, Region 7 

Althea Moses 913-551-7649 

901 North 5tth Street (ECORA) 

Kansas City, KS 66101 

F: 913-551-9649 

USEPA, Region 8 

Art Palomares 

999 18th Street, Suite 300 

Denver, CO 80202-2405 

303-312-6053 F: 303-312-6191 

USEPA, Region 9 

Lily Lee 415-972-3795 

75 Hawthorne Street (CMD-1) 

San Francisco, CA 94105 

F: 415-947-8026 

USEPA, Region 10 

Running Grass 

1200 Sixth Avenue (CRE-164) 

Seattle, WA 98101 

206-553-2899 F: 206-553-7176 

Appendix A
 93 
United States 

Environmental Protection Agency 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

(163)


Washington, DC 20460


www.epa.gov/compliance/ 

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