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Cleanups at Federal Facilities

Environmental Justice Fact Sheet

United States Environmental Protection Agency
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (3103A)
EPA-300-F-96-002 April 1996
Office of Environmental Justice

Old EPA Logo

Environmental Justice at EPA

 

ESTABLISHING AN INFRASTRUCTURE.

In 1992, EPA created the Office of Environmental Justice to coordinate the Agency's effort to address environmental justice issues. Since that time the Administrator has made environmental justice one of the agency's top priorities and has "... embarked on a mission to develop a new system of environmental protection: one that builds on the strengths of the past 25 years but overcomes the deficiencies of the past; one that works community by community to prevent pollution, rather than wait to clean it up after the fact." To do this EPA created a strong infrastructure to integrate environmental justice into EPA's policies, programs and activities. As a first step each region and headquarters office was asked to appoint an Environmental Justice Coordinator (see attached list of EJ Contacts) to serve as front-line staff specifically responsible for ensuring that environmental justice is included in policy input, program development, and implementation; the Policy Working Group, a group of high level policy staff, was formed to ensure that cross-media policy development and coordination occurs at all levels; and the Executive Steering Committee, senior managers at EPA, was established to provide leadership and direction on strategic planning to ensure that environmental justice is incorporated into Agency operations. Attached are: 1) a time line of the Major Environmental Justice Events; 2) a mailing list form (to be placed on the Environmental Justice Mailing List complete and return), 3) a list of EJ contacts at EPA, 4) a list of staff members to contact for specific issues.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 12898 "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations" was signed February 11, 1994, to focus federal attention on the environmental and human health conditions of minority populations and low-income populations with the goal of achieving environmental protection for all communities. The Order directed federal agencies to develop environmental justice strategies. The Order established an Interagency Working Group (IWG) chaired by EPA and comprised of the heads of eleven departments/agencies and several White House offices. These include the EPA, the Departments of Justice, Defense, Energy, Labor, Interior, Transportation, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, and Health and Human Services, the Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Council of Economic Advisors. Strategic plans may be obtained by calling 513-489-8190.

OBTAINING STAKEHOLDER ADVICE.

To ensure that the Agency receives significant input from affected stakeholders, the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), a Federal Advisory Committee, was established. The NEJAC is comprised of 25 members and six sub-committees with 5-10 additional members each, all appointed from key environmental justice constituencies. The purpose of this group is to provide consensus advice on a variety of documents, which include the Agency's environmental justice agenda, the Environmental Justice Strategic Plan, the Environmental Justice Annual Report, and other Agency materials. The NEJAC meets 2-3 times a year throughout the country to receive comments from local citizens and community groups on the state of the environment in local areas.

INTERNS. For the past three years, EPA has sponsored a summer intern program with the express desire to encourage students to pursue an environmental career. The internships, which are limited to six months duration, formalize training and provide "hands-on" experience for students. Students must be registered at a university to participate. Last year 120 students interned at EPA facilities across the country; this year more than 200 students are training at headquarters, regional offices and laboratories.

COMMUNITY GRANTS. Two grant programs assist communities and tribal governments in addressing local environmental concerns. A small grants to communities program awarded 64 grants of not more than $10,000 each in 1994 and 170 grants of $20,000 or less in 1995. The second program entitled Community-University Partnership Grants Program (CUP) is limited to partnerships between communities and universities. The partnerships must be formal agreements between a university and at least one socioeconomically disadvantaged community, which is adversely impacted by an environmental hazard. These initiatives increase environmental awareness, expand outreach, and provide training and education to resolve environmental problems such as exposure to environmental pollutants. In 1995 seven grants of approximately $300,000 each were awarded. In 1996 the awards under each program are dependent on the final budget outcome. Currently the reviews are underway with awards to be made in mid-July.

For Current Activities Call 1-800-962-6215


ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONTACTS

USEPA - HEADQUARTERS CONTACTS:

401 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20460 
Use Mail Code (MC) for each Office.

OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR MC-1101
Angela Chung - 202/260-4724, FAX 260-4852

OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Dr. Clarice E. Gaylord - MC-2201-A
800-962-6215, 202/564-2515
FAX 202/501-0740

AMERICAN INDIAN ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICE MC-4104
Elizabeth Bell; 202/260-8106, FX 202/260-0253

OFFICE OF AIR AND RADIATION MC-6101
Mia Quigley, 202/260-5154, FX 202/260-0253

OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS - MC-1201
Rosezella Canty-Letsome; 202/260-4567
FAX 202/260-4580

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION, EDUCATION & PUBLIC AFFAIRS - MC-1702
Doretta Reaves; 202/260-3534 FX 202/260-0130

OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE - MC-2201-A
Sherry Milan; 202/564-2619, FX 202/501-0284

OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL - MC-2378
Mary O’Lone; 202/260-5313 FX 202/260-8393

OFFICE OF POLICY, PLANNING AND EVALUATION - MC-2127
Janice Bryant; 202/260-2730 FX 202/260-4903

OFFICE OF PREVENTION, PESTICIDES & TOXIC SUBSTANCES - MC-7405
Barbara Burke; 202/260-8129 FX 202/260-8850

OFFICE OF REGIONAL OPERATIONS & STATE/LOCAL RELATIONS - MC-1502
Janice Berry-Chen; 202/260-3870 FX 202/260-9365

OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT - MC-8105
Lawrence Martin; 202/260-0673 FX 202/260-0507

OFFICE OF SOLID WASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE - MC-5101
Kent Benjamin; 202/260-2822 FX 202/260-6606

OFFICE OF WATER - MC-4102
Leo Cox; 202/260-3475 FX 202/260-4121


USEPA - REGION CONTACTS:

USEPA, REGION 1
Rhona Julien; 617/565-9454
One Congress Street, 10th Floor
Boston, MA 02203-0001
FX 617/565-3415

USEPA, REGION 2
Melva Hayden; 212/637-5027
290 Broadway, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10007
FX 212/637-5024

USEPA, REGION 3
Reginald Harris, 215/566-2988
841 Chestnut Building
Philadelphia, PA 19107
FX 215/566-2901

USEPA, REGION 4
Connie Raines; 404/562-9671
100 Alabama St., SW
Atlanta, GA 30303
FX 404/562-9664

USEPA, REGION 5
Karla Johnson; 312/886-5993
77 West Jackson Blvd. T-17J
Chicago, IL 60604-3507
FX 312/886-2737

USEPA, REGION 6
Shirley Augurson; 214/665-7401
First Interstate Bank, at Front Pl.
1445 Ross Ave., 12th Floor, Suite 1200
Dallas, TX 75202-2733
FX 214/665-7446

USEPA, REGION 7
Althea Moses; 913/551-7649
Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101
FX 913/551-7976

USEPA, REGION 8
Elisabeth Evans; 303/312-6053
999 18th Street, Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202-2405
FX 303/312-6558

USEPA, REGION 9
Willard Chin 415/744-1204
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
FX 415/744-1605

USEPA, REGION 10
Joyce Crosson-Kelly; 206/553-4029
Planning and Evaluation Branch
1200 Sixth Avenue (MD-142)
Seattle, WA 98101
FX 206/553-8338