Table of Contents
Action Items
Action
Item
| Siting of new
facilities--Evaluate location standards,
environmental justice issues, and setback distances
and develop guidance to provide technical assistance
to State, Tribal, and local governments. |
The Office of Solid Waste (OSW) formed the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Siting Workgroup to
review policy options related to siting of RCRA facilities.
The workgroup, composed of representatives of various Office
of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) offices,
Headquarters media program offices (e.g., air, toxics), other
Headquarters offices (e.g., Office of General Counsel (OGC),
Office of Research and Development (ORD), Office of
Environmental Justice (OEJ)), and the Regional offices, held
five meetings between April 1994 and April 1995 to evaluate
technical issues related to the potential risk in various
geographic locations, as well as environmental justice issues
raised about RCRA facility siting. The Workgroup also met
with State officials and members of the National
Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) to discuss
environmental justice concerns and potential solutions.
The Workgroup presented its initial findings and proposed
action plan to the Assistant Administrator of OSWER
(AA/OSWER). The Workgroup gave special consideration to plans
for developing technical assistance guidance for State,
local, and Tribal governments and developing a national
summary of existing State, local, and Tribal siting
requirements. Based on the response of the AA/OSWER, OSW will
implement and, as appropriate, revise its proposed follow-up
actions.
In April 1994, after the Workgroup presented findings and
proposed action plan to the AA/OSWER, an OSW siting team was
formed. This team will complete the Action Items identified in the OSWER
meeting and report to the larger siting workgroup as major
milestones are completed.
| 4/94 |
Formed RCRA Siting Workgroup. |
| 8/94 |
Presented draft Workgroup report to
the AA/OSWER. |
| 9/94 |
Held AA/OSWER briefing. |
| 11/94 |
Formed Location Standards Workgroup.
|
| 1/95 |
Prepared Siting Workgroup Plan. |
| 1/95 |
Held siting discussions with the
NEJAC. |
| 1/95 |
Held siting discussions with the
National Solid Waste Management Association. |
| 2/95 |
Held OSWER meeting. |
| 2/95 |
Briefed OSWER management. |
| 3/95 |
Formed RCRA Siting Team. |
| 4/95 |
Participated in the National
Governors Association (NGA) Meeting in Louisiana. |
| 6/95 |
Assisted Office of Civil Rights with
Title VI RCRA complaints. |
| 12/95 |
Completed State Siting Study. |
| 2/96 |
Briefed OSWER management. |
| 3/96 |
Completed study of "Potential
RCRA Hazardous Waste Management Facility Siting Over
the Next Ten Years." |
| Virginia Phillips |
(703) 308-8761 |
Action
Item
| Incorporate environmental justice
priorities into annual RCRA Implementation Plan. |
Environmental justice was first incorporated into the
annual OSW RCRA Guidance in the RCRA Implementation Plan
(RIP) in Fiscal Year 1995. Although OSW went to a two-year
guidance cycle in FY96, environmental justice continues to be
a priority. The Fiscal Year 1996-1997 RIP emphasizes five
environmental justice recommendations from the "OSWER
Environmental Justice Task Force Draft Final Report."
- Identification of geographical areas that raise
environmental justice concerns;
- Title VI of the Civil Rights Act;
- Siting of RCRA facilities;
- Public participation in siting and permitting
decisions; and
- RCRA corrective action.
The RIP also calls for Regions to develop implementation
plans to address the recommendations.
| 5/95 Issued Fiscal Year 1996 |
1997 RIP. |
| Jeff Tumarkin |
(703) 308-8755 |
| Newman Smith |
(703) 308-8757 |
Action
Item
| Siting of new facilities--Draft a
grant condition to State grant agreements to require
States to consider environmental justice concerns
when making siting decisions based on protecting
human health and the environment. |
During the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 1994, Region 5's
RCRA program office drafted a generic grant workplan
"State activity" commitment to incorporate
environmental justice. The Region negotiated this commitment
with all six Region 5 States, and each of the States included
environmental justice as a "State activity" in its
Fiscal Year 1995 grant workplan.
During the third quarter of FY95, the Region held a grants
workshop with all six Region 5 States, where a presentation
on environmental justice and opportunities for State
involvement in environmental justice was made.
| 6/94 |
Drafted a generic grant workplan
"State activity" commitment to incorporate
environmental justice. |
| 8/94 |
Negotiated environmental justice
"State activity" commitment with all six
Region 5 States. |
| 6/95 |
Held Grants Workshop with an
environmental justice component for all six Region 5
States. |
| Rich Traub |
(312) 353-8319 |
| Margaret Millard |
(312) 353-1440 |
Action
Item
| RCRA Public Involvement--Develop
methods to expand public involvement in siting and
permitting, and increase efforts (resources)
committed to public involvement. |
OSW promulgated the RCRA Expanded Public Participation
Final Rule on December 11, 1995. The rule expands public
involvement opportunities during the RCRA permitting process.
The lack of opportunities for communities to become involved
in environmental decision-making is a contributing cause to
environmental justice issues. The public participation rule
will help empower all communities, including minority and
low-income populations, by providing communities with a
greater voice in decision-making and a stronger opportunity
to influence permit decisions early in the process.
The rule seeks to encourage public involvement by
informing the public of potential facility operations prior
to permit submittal. In particular, the final rule expands
public involvement by:
- Requiring the facility to conduct an informal meeting
with the community before it submits its permit
application;
- Calling for the permitting agency to provide public
notice when it receives an application, as well as
before a trial burn takes place; and
- Enabling the permitting agency to require a facility
to maintain an information repository in some
situations.
| 6/94 |
Issued proposed rule. |
| 9/94 |
Public comment period closed. |
| 12/95 |
Published final rule in the Federal
Register. |
| 6/96 |
Final rule took effect. |
| Patricia Buzzell |
(703) 308-8632 |
OSW completed its revision of the RCRA Public Involvement
Manual. The revised manual has an expanded focus -- it is
designed for use by regulators, industry, and communities. It
also contains guidance on the new public participation
requirements promulgated in December 1995.
To assist OSW in developing a manual that would be useful
to all stakeholders (not just permit writers), OSW convened
an informal workgroup consisting of representatives from
State and Regional permitting offices, industry, and
environmental groups, many of whom have a great deal of
experience in the environmental justice area. OSW also met
with representatives from the League of Women Voters to
discuss how to approach and provide guidance on the topic of
community organizing in the manual. To supplement the
community organization information in the manual, OSW issued
a notice in the Federal Register soliciting related items for
a bibliography to include in the manual. OSW mailed copies of
the FR notice to over 100 environmental justice and
environmental information groups.
The revised manual is available from the RCRA Hotline.
| 10/95 |
Convened informal workgroup. |
| 11/95 |
Preliminary draft sent to workgroup
for review and comment. |
| 2/96 |
Met with representatives from the
League of Women Voters. |
| 2/96 |
Major issues resolved. |
| 4/96 |
Published Federal Register notice
soliciting items for a bibliography to include in the
manual. |
| 4/96 |
Sent the environmental justice
section of the manual to OEJ for review and comment. |
| 6/96 |
Completed revisions. |
| 9/96 |
Manual printed. |
| Patricia Buzzell |
(703) 308-8632. |
OSW also has representatives on the Agency's Permit
Improvements Team (PIT). The Team, established in July 1994,
consists of a group of EPA, State, Tribal, and local
government officials examining all of EPA's permit programs
to identify how they can be improved.
Enhancing public participation is one of the areas in
which the Team is developing recommendations. The Team's
public participation task force met with a representative
from Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) and, as a result,
made a preliminary recommendation that the Environmental
Justice Public Participation checklist, developed by the
Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice, be
utilized as guidance to the extent appropriate and feasible.
The Team will continue coordinating with OEJ in order to
promote consistency in approaches to enhancing public
involvement. The Team has also made a preliminary
recommendation for the development of a reference guide for
public participation activities -- those required by media
permitting programs, as well as those suggested as ways to go
beyond the minimum requirements.
| 3/95 |
Permit Improvements Team's Enhanced
Public Participation Task Force met with OEJ. |
| 4/95 |
Mailed preliminary PIT
recommendations to stakeholders. |
| 4/95-9/95 |
Held stakeholders meetings across
the country, including meetings with environmental
justice groups. |
| 4/96 |
Published Federal Register notice of
availability of draft final PIT recommendations. |
| 7/96 |
Published PIT recommendations in
Federal Register. |
| 10/96 |
Public comment period on
recommendations closed. |
| Patricia Buzzell |
(703) 308-8632 |
Region 4 prepared an environmental justice demographic
analysis of all combustion facilities in the Region. The data
collected identified 43 sites which were seeking combustion
permits. Of the 43 sites, 24 met environmental justice
criteria. The RCRA Division developed an action plan to
address environmental justice concerns at these 24 sites,
which includes inspections and outreach.
The Region proposes to analyze the hazardous waste
treatment, storage and disposal facilities that will require
significant regulatory decisions associated with siting,
permitting, or corrective action over the next few years.
This analysis will look at the demographic make-up around
each facility and will identify specific facilities where
environmental justice issues may arise. The Region planned to
conduct demographic analysis of all sites with identified
environmental justice issues by April 1997.
| 1/95 |
Selected key facilities. |
| 4/97 |
(Proposed) Select pilot facilities
for implementing Headquarters guidance. |
| Eddie Wright |
(404) 562-8669 |
Action
Item
| RCRA Corrective Action--Examine
whether priority-setting method adequately considers
environmental justice concerns and ensure that
activities are consistent with Superfund program
policies. |
OSW is incorporating environmental justice provisions in
its proposed Hazardous Waste Identification Rule for
Contaminated Media (HWIR-media). The proposed rule would
allow regulators to require collection of demographic data
for areas surrounding sites. This requirement is intended to
improve State and EPA assessment of and response to
environmental justice concerns associated with site cleanups.
The Advanced Notice of Public Rulemaking (ANPR) for
corrective action for releases from Solid Waste Management
Units at Hazardous Waste Management Facilities (61 FR 19432,
May 1, 1996, also known as, "Subpart S") asked for
comments on the role of public participation in the
corrective action program and on opportunities to improve
public participation, especially the participation of any
communities which have not been effectively involved in the
corrective actions process to date. Comments are currently
being evaluated.
In addition, OSW is continuing to evaluate whether the
National Corrective Action Prioritization System (NCAPS),
used to rank RCRA corrective action sites, adequately
considers environmental justice concerns. The NCAPS ranking
is based on site environmental considerations, but other
considerations, such as environmental justice, can weigh into
the overall priority ranking for a facility.
| 4/96 |
Proposed HWIR-media rule. |
| 5/96 |
Subpart S ANPR. |
| Bonnie Robinson |
(703) 308-8429 |
Region I's Office of Site Remediation and Restoration
completed ranking of all its RCRA TSD facilities using the
NCAP model to prioritize cleanup of the facilities and
evaluated TSD facilities with high NCAPS ranking for
locations within areas having potential environmental justice
concerns. This evaluation was based on census data and GIS
data and used a scoring system of zero to six, with six being
the highest. The Region will prioritize corrective action at
RCRA TSD facilities that rank high in both NCAPS and
environmental justice scoring.
The Corrective Action Program currently has 29 facilities
in environmental justice areas. This universe is expected to
decrease by nine within the next two to three years due to
completion of RCRA closures. Of the remaining 20 facilities,
all but 7 have been addressed by the Region or by a State.
The Region also created a RCRIS file to store
environmental justice scores in RCRIS and RCRIS Info so that
users can see the score (or range of scores) for any zip code
associated with RCRA handlers. This allows EPA and State
personnel working in the RCRA program to access environmental
justice information about a community for use in planning and
implementation activities. Region I and States will be able
to use this file with other RCRIS files to allow automating
development of target lists for inspections, corrective
action, permitting, and closure activities.
The RCRA Corrective Action Program ranked the TSD universe
as it was known at the end of FY94. The TSD universe has four
newly added facilities since 1994, which were ranked in 1996.
| 9/94 |
Completed NCAPS ranking of TSD
facilities. |
| 9/94 |
Added environmental justice
information RCRIS and RCRIS information. |
| 9/96 |
Ranked four newly added TSD
facilities. |
| Matt Hoagland |
(617) 573-5791 |
Region 3 drafted a RCRA facility evaluation form (RFEF) to
incorporate environmental justice into its priority setting
and will circulate the RFEF to RCRA managers for review. Upon
approval of the RFEF and receipt of a complete set of
demographic maps for the Region's high-NCAPS facilities, the
Region will evaluate the high-NCAPS facilities.
To develop a prioritization mechanism which incorporates
environmental justice for RCRA corrective action (CA)
activities/processes, the demographic maps for the high NCAPS
facilities have been received and are available for use by
staff. The RCRA Facility Evaluation form was completed when
utilized by the former RCRA Enforcement Section last year as
part of ten new facilities that were evaluated for corrective
action.
To identify facilities most likely to have or have had
releases of hazardous waste or hazardous constituents and
apply a strategy that is consistent with RCRA corrective
action procedures which include environmental justice
considerations, Region 3 committed to ranking in NCAPS
"converter" facilities (generator facilities that
were once classified as treatment, storage, or disposal
facilities but have since converted status to that of a
generator) where there is sufficient information to do so.
The facilities indicated to be ranked were completed as part
of the FY95 BYP commitments.
Region 7 is using available socio-economic census data and
other information related to potential or actual
environmental justice problems in prioritizing future RCRA
corrective action activities in the Region. The Region will
assess and use this information when it conducts its annual
RCRA corrective action multi-year strategy planning and
prioritization process with the State RCRA programs. A RCRA
corrective action facility located in an area with actual
environmental justice problems or that poses a potential for
such problems will be considered as a higher priority
facility in the corrective action prioritization and planning
process.
The Region has completed GIS maps for approximately 145
facilities in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska subject to the
corrective action requirements under RCRA. These maps
indicate the socio-economic conditions in a one-mile radius
around the facility. This information assists the Region and
States in including environmental justice concerns in the
annual corrective action prioritization process. The Region
and States recently completed this prioritization process for
this Fiscal Year and found that the maps were very useful in
incorporating potential environmental justice concerns into
the planning process. The Region has collected data but still
needs to develop maps for approximately 15 facilities before
completing this project. A decision also needs to be made
whether to develop similar maps in Iowa.
| 3/95 |
Reviewed available GIS/census
information. |
| 3/95 |
Requested additional GIS/census
information. |
| 9/96 |
Completed field work for GIS maps
for all facilities in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska
subject to corrective action requirements. |
| David Doyle |
(913) 551-7667 |
Region 9 has undertaken a GIS assessment project that will
analyze all States in the Region for demographics, race, and
potential and measured sources of pollution. The Region is
taking this approach rather than individually reevaluating
all prioritized sites to determine whether environmental
justice is adequately addressed. The RCRA corrective action
program will use the results of this GIS project to determine
whether the NCAPS priority of a facility should be raised.
Also, to integrate environmental justice into RCRA
corrective action efforts, the first annual Region 9 RCRA
Corrective Action Conference included a workshop/breakout
session on environmental justice. The focus of the workshop
was on developing a consensus definition relevant to
corrective action, discussing case studies, and integrating
community relations efforts at corrective action sites.
| 3/96 |
Completed compilation of demographic
information and composed preliminary maps. |
| 3/96 |
Project and community relations
officers for West Oakland addressed additional
emitters. |
| Tom Kelly |
(415) 744-2070 |
| Mary Blevins |
(415) 744-2069 |
Action
Item
| Utilize the geographic
information system in RCRA. |
OSW has completed two studies on the demographics of
populations living near hazardous waste combustion facilities
in order to support its pending and future rulemakings
regarding emissions standards for such facilities. These
studies help OSW inform the public, as well as the
environmental justice community in particular, of the
environmental justice impacts of its proposed rulemakings.
| 8/94 |
Completed study on "Race,
Ethnicity, and Poverty Status of Populations Living
Near Cement Plants in the U.S." |
| 10/94 |
Completed study on "Race,
Ethnicity, and Poverty Status of Populations Living
Near Commercial Hazardous Waste Incinerators in the
U.S." |
| 3/96 |
Proposed rulemaking to upgrade
emissions standards for hazardous waste combustion
facilities. |
| Gary Ballard |
(202) 260-2429 |
Action
Item
| Disproportionate impacts
research--Perform demographics analysis around
combustion facilities. |
Region 7 is collecting data to assess concerns that
minority and low-income populations are exposed to greater
risk because they live in close proximity to toxic and
hazardous waste facilities. Region 7 is including combustion
facilities in its analysis. The Region has initiated and
implemented in-house a process to collect location data
(latitude and longitude) of all RCRA combustion facilities in
its authorized RCRA program States (Kansas, Missouri, and
Nebraska).
GIS maps have been developed for each of the combustion
facilities located in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Initial
review of these maps indicates that based on the data
collected, there does not appear to be an indication that
environmental justice issues exist at any of the combustion
facilities. This work was done as part of a larger review,
and the Region may conduct some additional work before
reaching a final conclusion on this issue.
| 10/96 |
Completed field work for location
data. |
| David Doyle |
(913) 551-7667 |
Action
Item
| RCRA Tribal Implementation
Issues--Propose the State/Tribal Implementation Rule.
|
EPA proposed the State/Tribal Implementation Rule (STIR)
in the Federal Register on January 26, 1996. The STIR
affords Tribes the opportunity to obtain EPA approval of
their permit programs for municipal solid waste landfills
(MSWLFs). While Tribes are not required to seek approval of
their permit programs, the rule provides approved permit
programs substantial flexibility in tailoring landfill
permits to site-specific conditions. Where a Tribe elects not
to seek EPA approval of its permit program, owners and
operators of MSWLFs on Tribal lands must comply with Federal
landfill standards, as well as any Tribal requirements.
Tribes may decide for themselves whether they wish to seek
approval of their permit programs. In making this decision,
Tribes can consider any factors of their own choosing and may
wish to consider whether the flexibility available to
approved programs offers them any advantage and whether the
Tribe has the infrastructure and resources to develop and
administer such a program.
Following receipt of public comments, EPA expects to
promulgate the final rule in 1997.
| 1/96 |
Proposed STIR in Federal Register. |
| Beverly Goldblatt |
(703) 308-7278 |
Action
Item
| RCRA Tribal Implementation
Issues--Share information and promote Tribal capacity
building through the National Tribal Conference. |
Action
Item
| RCRA Enforcement--Ensure the
consideration of environmental justice in RCRA
enforcement activities. |
Region 7 is updating its GIS with socio-economic data from
the Census Bureau and data from RCRIS to target RCRA
compliance inspections in areas the Region deemed to be
potential environmental justice problem areas. The Region's
initial efforts to target environmental justice concerns are
focused in St. Louis City and St. Louis County. The Region
will continue to expand GIS data collection and analysis to
other counties or areas in the Region where there may be
environmental justice concerns. In its environmental justice
initiative in St. Louis City and County, the Region will work
with the Missouri Department of National Resources (MDNR),
relying almost totally on MDNR inspection resources to
conduct "screening inspections."
In its State/EPA agreement workplans with the three
authorized RCRA program States, Region 7 reached agreement
with each State to consider environmental justice related
information and data in its selection of RCRA compliance
inspection candidates. The Region also had further
discussions with MDNR on focusing RCRA inspection resources
on conducting compliance inspections in areas of St. Louis
where environmental justice problems may exist. The Region
utilized this information to work with the MDNR to select
RCRA inspection candidates located in areas with potential
environmental justice problems. Actual inspections will
probably take place in FY97.
| 5/94 |
Met with MDNR about the St. Louis
environmental justice pilot. |
| 7/94 |
Decided on MDNR involvement in the
pilot. |
| 2/95 |
Began data collection from GIS for
the St. Louis area. |
| 6/96 |
Selected RCRA inspection candidates.
|
| Joann Heiman |
(913) 551-7323 |
| Cynthia Hutchison |
(913) 551-7478 |
Action
Item
| Address environmental justice
issues associated with RCRA Subtitle D (Solid Waste).
|
Region 3 has several projects under way relating to solid
waste issues: Loading Dock (Baltimore) - The Loading Dock is
a nationally recognized, nonprofit organization that promotes
the reuse and recycling of building materials by serving as a
central clearing house for surplus supplies, making them
available to the disadvantaged at a reasonable cost. Region 3
has provided funding to develop a "how-to" workbook
to promote formation of similar organizations around the
county. In addition, a series of workshops will be held to
further promote this approach.
Jobs Through Recycling (JTR) -- This national program
offers grants to States to encourage the development of
recycling based industries and businesses to increase the
markets for recycled feedstock. Grants are awarded through a
competitive process and recycling related companies are often
located within the inner city. Over the past two years, JTR
grants have been awarded to Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and
the District of Columbia.
| Jeff Alper |
(215) 566-3374 |
Region 5 launched several initiatives to address
environmental justice issues associated with RCRA Subtitle D.
These initiatives included steps to ensure that existing
MSWLFs located in communities with potential environmental
justice concerns are in full compliance with the Federal
landfill criteria. Region 5's Solid Waste Section (SWS) was
scheduled to present the environmental justice implementation
plan to each State's solid waste agency and initiate a
dialogue regarding compliance and enforcement at MSWLFs
located in communities of concern. Due to the lack of
criteria and data indicating the communities in Region 5 with
environmental justice concerns, the focus of this Action Item was narrowed
to States in Region 5 that contain geographic initiatives
(Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan). The Region made initial
written contact with the States in September 1994.
Additionally, Region 5 funded a not-for-profit
organization, the Resource Center, to address the pattern of
illegal dumping of waste in and around the Altgeld Gardens
public housing development. The goal of the project is to
have residents make constructive use of lots where illegal
dumping of solid waste is occurring. After debris is removed
from strategic locations, the soil will be tested for
contamination. Community gardens will be established in
uncontaminated soil in such a way as to immediately block the
areas of entry traditionally used by trucks illegally dumping
wastes.
A grant in the amount of $230,000 was awarded to the City
of Detroit to conduct a demonstration project involving city
Departments of Police, Fire and Public Works, to combat
illegal dumping in the southeast side of the city. On
September 28, 1995, a "Scrap Tire Emergency Planning and
Prevention Seminar" was conducted by the SWS in Wayne,
Michigan. Approximately 108 firefighters attended the
training, which was in response to the East Chicago Tire Fire
of 1994 in which 70,000 pounds of tire shreds burned for
approximately one month.
The SWS awarded a grant in the amount of $28,500 in FY95
to the University Detroit-Mercy, to develop and disseminate
solid waste educational materials to low-income urban
residents.
Also, Region 5 awarded a grant in the amount of $33,349 to
the Southeast Michigan Coalition on Occupational Safety and
Health (SEMCOSH) to develop a pollution prevention plan
cooperatively through a joint labor-management initiative.
| 6/94 |
Notified local government officials
from environmental justice communities in the
Southeast Chicago area of an upcoming conference on
solid waste source reduction in Chicago. |
| 9/94 |
Developed solid waste resource
packets consisting of government contacts and lists
of available resources. |
| 9/94 |
Developed a list of potential solid
waste community education needs relevant to
communities with environmental justice concerns. |
| 9/95 |
Conducted Scrap Tire Emergency
Planning and Prevention Seminar in Wayne, Michigan. |
| Donna Twickler (Chicago) |
(312) 886-6184 |
| Paul Reusch (Dumping & Fire
Tire) |
(312) 886-7598 |
| Lorraine Kosik (U-Detroit) |
(312) 886-7580 |
| Eli Martinez (SEMCOSH) |
(312) 886-4023 |
| Phil Kaplan (P2) |
(312) 353-4669 |
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