Table of Contents
Action Items
Action
Item
| Develop OSWER environmental
justice strategy as part of EPA response to Executive
Order 12898. |
The OSWER "Environmental Justice Action Agenda"
provides a concise summary of OSWER's current strategy and
describes an implementation process for ensuring that major
environmental justice issues continue to be recognized and
addressed. The Agenda represents OSWER's commitment to
implement to the objectives of Executive Order 12898.
Implementation plans written by the OSWER program offices and
the ten Regional offices are an integral part of the OSWER
"Environmental Justice Action Agenda."
This Action Agenda follows two previously published
documents, the OSWER "Environmental Justice Task Force
Draft Final Report" and its separate executive summary
document. These reports were published on April 25, 1994, in
final draft form, and were distributed for final comment. In
distribution of these reports, EPA wanted to provide the
National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) with
the opportunity to comment and influence the final strategy.
| 11/93 |
Directed the formation the OSWER
Environmental Justice Task Force. |
| 1-4/94 |
Conducted a series of outreach
meetings inside and outside the Agency, and issued a
draft Task Force report for public comment. |
| 4/94 |
Released OSWER "Environmental
Justice Task Force Draft Final Report" at a
press and stakeholders briefing. |
| 4/94 |
Worked to implement recommendation
as requested by the OSWER Assistant Administrator. |
| 5/94 |
Requested review of the OSWER
"Environmental Justice Task Force Draft Final
Report" by the NEJAC Waste and Facility Siting
Subcommittee. |
| 1/95 |
Endorsement of a Ten Point
Implementation Framework for the OSWER Strategy by
the NEJAC subcommittee. |
| 4/95 |
Assistant Administrator signed OSWER
"Environmental Justice Action Agenda." |
Action
Item
| Develop training to educate
OSWER headquarters and waste program personnel and
increase awareness of environmental justice issues. |
Region 3's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Training Group and management personnel developed training
modules to provide RCRA staff with a common understanding of
environmental justice issues. In addition, the training
delineates expectations for incorporating environmental
justice into the RCRA program. The group is also developing
training sessions targeted at process modifications at the
staff level to integrate environmental justice into daily
work activities.
Region 3's RCRA Training Group and management personnel
are developing training modules to provide RCRA staff with a
common understanding of environmental justice issues and have
completed their offerings of the environmental justice course
for the Office of Superfund. During the week of January 22,
1996, Reginald Harris and Peter Schaul made a presentation to
the Region's environmental justice coordinators. The Region
also made a presentation for OPM at the Environmental Policy
Seminar in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in March and July 1995.
Plans are now under development to extend this training to
other divisions in Region 3.
| Peter Schaul |
(215) 556-3183 |
To provide background information and training to the
Office of RCRA Programs regarding environmental justice and
its application to the RCRA program in Region 3, the RCRA
Office held a RCRA environmental justice Seminar to
familiarize the RCRA staff with the general goals and overall
concepts of environmental justice. The seminar was well
attended and received. The Office also is developing
follow-on courses or seminars to increase the staff awareness
and to serve as an outreach tool to the community.
Dr. Robert Bullard, Clark Atlanta University, spoke to the
Region 4 Waste Division employees at an all hands meeting in
August 1995. Dr. Bullard addressed the need to be sensitive
to communities of color and low income communities when
addressing environmental issues. The training was well
received by RPM's, OSC's, and Waste Division employees in
general.
In May 1996, the Region introduced the Environmental
Justice Protocol, which seeks to institutionalize
environmental justice in its day-to-day operations. In Fall
1996, each program will receive training regarding the
implementation of the Protocol.
-
Completed Milestones
| 8/95 |
Received environmental justice
training. |
| 5/96 |
Introduced Environmental Justice
Protocol. |
| Eddie Wright |
(404) 562-8669 |
| 7/95 |
EJ Team conducted EJ sensitivity
sessions for Division. |
| 8/95 |
EJ Team briefed SFD managers on
feedback from the sensitivity sessions. |
| 11/95 |
EJ Team presented draft EJ
definition to SFD managers for approval. |
| 12/95 |
Trained 15 employees from the SFD on
use of Landview II. |
| 3/96 |
SFD Director issued definition for
EJ Indicators. |
| Oliver L. Warnsley |
(312) 886-0442 |
Region 9 is conducting environmental justice training
sessions. Modules were developed to discuss environmental
justice history and EPA's involvement, highlight Region
9-specific examples of projects, like GIS and the Verdese
Carter Park assessment, and to include a role playing or
participatory exercise. The Region also plans to invite
speakers from academia, organizations, and communities to
increase staff awareness about environmental justice concerns
that should be considered in their daily activities.
| 1/95 |
Developed project plan for Regional
environmental justice training. |
| 4/96 |
Began training sessions. |
| Karen Henry |
(415) 744-1582 |
Action
Item
| Develop creative pilots for
addressing environmental justice concerns in specific
geographic areas. |
The Minority Worker Training Program (MWTP) has
established a series of national pilot programs to test a
range of strategies for the recruitment and training of young
persons who live near hazardous waste sites or in a community
at risk of exposure to contaminated properties, for work in
the environmental field. This new pilot program represents a
broad geographic spread and reaches several urban populations
in high risk contaminated areas.
These environmental career-oriented projects are developed
within the context of other social and health needs of the
community. The different programs provide pre-employment job
training, including literacy, life skills, environmental
preparation and other related courses, construction skills
training, environmental worker training including hazardous
waste, asbestos, and lead abatement training; and safety and
health training.
The program promotes partnerships or subagreements with
academic and other institutions, with a particular focus on
historically black colleges and universities, and public
schools and community-based organizations located in or
nearby the impacted area to provide pre-math, science or
other related education to program participants prior to or
concurrent with entry into the training program. The
cooperative agreements provided funding for seven programs to
train minority inner city youth to enter the environmental
field with approximately $2,945,000 awarded. The recipients
are: Jackson State University, New York/New Jersey Consortium
under the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New
Jersey, DePaul University, The Laborers-AGC Education and
Training Fund, Clark Atlanta University, the Carpenters
Health and Safety Fund, and the Alice Hamilton Occupational
Health Center.
NIEHS has worked closely with OSWER in carrying out these
initiatives.
| Sharon Beard, NIEHS |
(719) 548-1863 |
Region 5's RCRA staff, working in partnership with the
Office of Public Affairs' Environmental Education Specialist,
developed a pilot project to provide a two-week summer
training course for teachers in the southeast Chicago area to
address environmental justice concerns. The training covered
environmental justice issues, multi-media environmental
topics, and the southeast Chicago Initiative, and included an
all day bus tour of the local environment, which was featured
on the local news. Region 5 issued a request for proposals to
solicit a host university for the training course and
selected Chicago State University, a teacher's college with a
predominantly African-American student body.
The teacher's institute was held during a two-week period
in July 1995. Teacher presentations on what they learned at
the institute and how they would incorporate environmental
justice into their lesson plans were featured on the final
day of the institute. Final evaluation reports, including how
the teachers included environmental justice and environmental
topics in their classrooms after the institute, were
submitted in November 1995.
| 9/94 |
Issued a request for proposals. |
| 3/95 |
Selected Chicago State University as
the host university. |
| 7/95 |
Conducted teacher's institute. |
| 11/95 |
Teachers' evaluations of institute
completed. |
| Suzanne Saric |
(312) 353-3209 |
| Ron Mustard |
(312) 353-9510 |
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