Follow our 20th Anniversary Video Series!
EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice launched our 20th Anniversary Video Series, featuring government officials, non-profit leaders, academics and students who share inspiring and educational stories about the lessons they have learned while working on environmental justice. Click here to view the full list of blog posts and videos in our series!
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
By LaToria Whitehead
I first met Dr. Mildred McClain as a doctorate student. I didn’t know it at the time, but the very first conversation that I had with her regarding environmental health disparities in Savannah lead to a five year partnership between the federal government and a community-based organization. Wearing two hats at that time, I had both a desire to increase lead testing for children in Savannah as a federal employee, and as a student I wanted to understand how an environmental justice organization could accomplish this task. Working with Dr. McClain in this partnership powerfully changed my perspective on how to do both.
Dr. McClain was the founder and director for the Harambee House Inc./Citizens for Environmental Justice (CFEJ). She has been a human rights activist for over 40 years and she initially started the Savannah-based organization as a small focus group in 1991 to fight on behalf of a local subdivision built on contaminated site. Eventually CFEJ would bring justice and awareness, both locally and nationally, about issues from chemical industries to food deserts to job development.
Like many EJ organizations CFEJ began with a sentiment of moral obligation to the community, but there is something very special about how this organization works. As a student, I was a bit naïve about the process of engaging communities. Working with CFEJ, I witnessed how she effectively engaged with the community and listened and responded to their concerns. I was able to see how her hard work and passion led to the trust, respect, and admiration of the Savannah community for Dr. McClain.
She was also very kind and considerate, and brought me along for the journey. I witnessed politicians opening their doors to her, and because I accompanied her, they spoke with me as well. Community leaders and people who resided in these communities their entire lives embraced me and talked with me, a complete stranger, because of her. As a result of the partnership there was an increased awareness about childhood lead poisoning and an increase in the number of children that were tested for high blood lead levels. There was also a new awareness among politicians about a lead ordinance in Savannah, which has been on the books since 1973, and a political taskforce was created by CFEJ to ensure that the ordinance is sufficiently enforced.
As a student, these experiences would forever change my understanding and approach to environmental justice from learning side-by-side with a real EJ champion. There is a multifaceted approach to achieving what we all call environmental justice. Alongside this approach, comes trust, respect, honor, knowledge, empowerment, long days and long nights. This description is not only symbolic of environmental justice, but it also embodies the character of Dr. McClain. After interviewing many people in Savannah, the common theme of all of these conversations was about how enlightenment and empowerment from CFEJ helped change their communities. Among many other lessons, I’ve learned that trust and relationships are fundamental in the EJ world. Thank You, Dr. McClain.
About the Author: Dr. LaToria Whitehead is an Environmental Justice Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health. She’s also an adjunct professor of Political Science for Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
Injecting Knowledge to Cure Injustice
By Dr. Sacoby Wilson
Growing up in Vicksburg, Mississippi, I had a fondness of the Big River and the love of the environment. Unfortunately, I was aware that some communities did not enjoy the same level of environmental quality that others did. I grew up near a concrete plant, waste water treatment plant, oil facility, and power plant in the background. My father was a pipefitter who over the years worked at nuclear power plants, oil refineries, coal fired plants and was exposed to many contaminants. These experiences, combined with my diagnosis at age 7 with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease, really drove me to explore why some communities were burdened by hazards and unhealthy land uses and how exposure to environmental stressors can lead to negative health outcomes.
I was inspired to use my interest in science and environmental health for environmental justice after meeting Drs. Benjamin Chavis and Robert Bullard in the early 1990s. These professors taught me the value of getting out of the ivory towers of academia and getting into communities to spread knowledge to push for positive change. Since then, I have been a passionate advocate for environmental justice working in partnership with community groups across the United States. Through this work, I have learned that the use of science to empower through education, paired with community organizing and civic engagement, is the key to alleviating environmental injustices.
One of those individuals who helped me understand the importance of getting communities into the research process was Omega Wilson. Wilson’s Group, the West End Revitalization Association (WERA) has fought against environmental injustice, infrastructure disparities, and the lack of basic amenities for the last twenty years. WERA leaders have used a community-driven research approach known as community-owned and managed research (COMR) to address environmental injustice in their community. COMR focuses on the collection of data for action, compliance, and social change. In combination with EPA’s collaborative-problem-solving model, WERA’s work provides a blueprint for other communities to use partnerships, stakeholder engagement, action-oriented research, and legal tools to achieve environmental justice.
As a professor who learned through my mentors, I also firmly believe in inspiring the next generation of academics to take their tools and research into communities that need it the most. Currently, I am building a program on Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) at the University of Maryland-College Park. CEEJH is building off existing work of leaders in the DC Metropolitan region to address environmental justice and health issues at the grassroots level; we use community-university partnerships, capacity-building, and community empowerment to address environmental justice and health issues in the Chesapeake Bay region. Following in the footsteps of WERA, I plan to inspire young people to be bold, courageous, and become advocates for environmental justice.
About the author: Dr. Wilson is an environmental health scientist with expertise in environmental justice and environmental health disparities. His primary research interests are related to issues that impact underserved, socially and economically disadvantaged, marginalized, environmental justice, and health disparity populations. He is building a Program on Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) to study and address health issues for environmental justice and health disparity populations through community-university partnerships and the use of CBPR in Maryland and beyond.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
The Path to Sustainable Communities Starts Here!
By Camilla Warren
My first Brownfields Conference was Boston, 2004 – a chilly, wet event where my eyes were opened to the possibilities for revitalizing all brownfields: urban, rural, industrial, railyard – you name it! These sites were becoming coffee shops, farmers’ markets, community gardens, welcome centers, boutique manufacturers, indoor putt-putt courses, and on and on. Anything is possible!
But how? With what? The 2013 Brownfields Conference is one great way you and your community can learn how to get started, keep momentum, and achieve sustainable communities.
Many classes are for those just beginning to learn about Brownfields, including sessions with small and rural communities in mind. There are also sessions for communities working to address environmental justice concerns, including job development, public health findings and improvements in Brownfields communities, and community engagement. Every session has application to environmental justice issues.
Community workday in West Atlanta
Because cleaning up Brownfields is integral to addressing pollution and poverty in low-income and minority communities, an EJ Caucus Event is planned for Wednesday evening, May 15 at the Omni Hotel. Important topics will be discussed such as EJ policy, revitalization and jobs, economic development, EJ and public health, brownfields, and sustainability. There will also be local “community champions” who will share their experiences and experts in these fields will be serving as facilitators!
Targeted Brownfields Site Assessment at University Avenue in Atlanta
You can also participate in educational sessions that show the journey communities take when revitalizing their neighborhoods. You will see how communities converted their assets into down payments on revitalization: empty theatres in Birmingham, vacant storefronts in Columbia, and land next to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta were all utilized to enhance and improve local economies and create urban greenspace. The sessions will include great local speakers who remade their communities and want to share their advice and successes to help you learn more about what you can do in your neighborhoods!
Please consider joining us at the 2013 Brownfields Conference and begin your journey!
About the author: Camilla Warren is the EPA Region 4 Revitalization Project Manager and 2013 Brownfields Conference Local Coordinator. Camilla has over 27 years of combined project and management experience in various types of contaminated properties, including Nonpoint Source, Hazardous Waste, Federal Facilities, Brownfields, and National Priorities List sites. She currently provides revitalization support to other EPA Brownfields project managers and communities throughout the southeastern states, and has designed a number of nationally known Brownfields successes.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
Chicagoland is Breathing a Little Easier
By Kimberly Wasserman
I’m from South Lawndale, also known as Little Village, a neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. It is a predominantly Mexican-American, low-income community that faces a number of environmental burdens. And, although we were suffering the impacts of pollution and other stressors that affect our health, Little Village community residents weren’t fighting the pollution.
That’s where the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) comes in. LVEJO is an organization that has been working to protect people’s health and the environment in our community, through democracy in action. I first crossed paths with LVEJO while working as a computer teacher at the Little Village Boys and Girls Club. When the club faced closure, the staff and students rallied with the help of LVEJO to keep it open because it serves an important role as a place for local youth to gather, learn, and play. Attracted to community organizing, I later took a position with LVEJO. That was after my first son was born, who had his first asthma attack when he was just three months old. Now, two of my three kids suffer from asthma.
In 2002, a Harvard School of Public Health study validated what Little Village residents had long suspected; air pollution from the antiquated Fisk and Crawford coal plants in our neighborhoods was linked to over 40 premature deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and 2,800 asthma attacks each year, as well as heart attacks, bronchitis and other ailments. In order to fight this epidemic on a larger scale, LVEJO helped form the Chicago Clean Power Coalition, made up of 50 community, public health and environmental organizations. The coalition’s tireless efforts eventually led to a victory, with the closure of the dirty, inefficient plants this past September. Now, we are working to make sure the former plant sites are properly cleaned up before any redevelopment takes place.
Working for LVEJO, I have also focused on training young people to stand up for environmental justice and the many issues we still face in Chicago. One of our campaigns is to create more green space in the community. Currently, Little Village is ranked #1 for the worst deficit of open space; no new parks have been built there for 75 years. But, we are encouraged by a proposed new nature walkway on an abandoned rail line and plans for a new 24-acre park, designating 6 acres for urban agriculture to open up access to fresh produce.
We will continue to fight for justice in Little Village, and in the meantime we can breathe a little easier thanks, in part, to the efforts of many people in our neighborhoods who are willing to organize and stand up for the health of our community.
About the Author: Kimberly Wasserman grew up in the Chicago neighborhood of Little Village, the same community where she currently lives and works. She began her work with LVEJO as a part-time organizer, but eventually moved up to full time. As part of her current position, Wasserman is responsible for coordinating all LVEJO campaigns, ensuring that all leaders and bases are an active part of the campaign, and executing the campaign. She is also responsible for building the necessary relationships to ensure that the campaigns move forward.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
By Megan McConville
It all started after Hurricane Katrina. In a previous job as a communications specialist at an environmental nonprofit, I went to New Orleans’ Ninth Ward to train residents to talk to the media about their vision for rebuilding. The neighborhood was devastated, but nevertheless, the residents had come together around an inspiring goal. They wanted to rebuild in a way that addressed longstanding environmental and health challenges and improved their quality of life, with better access to the services and opportunities they needed to thrive. My role was to help neighborhood leaders create a communications strategy, work with reporters, and generally build support for their vision.
I also provided assistance to disadvantaged communities in Washington, DC; El Paso, Texas; and other cities across the country where residents had similar objectives—to reduce exposure to pollution, clean up and reinvest in existing neighborhoods, provide affordable housing and transportation options, and improve access to jobs and amenities.
Walking audit of neighborhood to examine barriers to walkability such as high vehicle speeds and a lack pedestrian and bicycle routes.
Those experiences showed me that environmental justice, equitable development, and smart growth must go hand in hand. The way neighborhoods, cities, and regions are planned and built has an important influence on public health and the environment, and many of the challenges low-income, minority, and tribal communities face are related to land use decisions. Combining approaches from environmental justice, smart growth, and equitable development can help avoid future health, environmental, and economic disparities, ensure that development processes are inclusive, and result in projects, policies, and regulations that enhance quality of life for everyone.
EPA’s new publication, Creating Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Communities: Strategies for Advancing Smart Growth, Environmental Justice, and Equitable Development, brings together these related, but too often separate, concepts. It provides a menu of land use and community design strategies that community-based organizations, local and regional decision-makers, developers, and other stakeholders can use to revitalize their communities. These strategies include:
The redevelopment of Egleston Crossing in Boston.
- Conducting community assessments
- Reducing exposure to facilities with potential environmental concerns
- Fixing existing infrastructure first
- Designing safe streets for all users
- Preserving affordable housing
- Creating new development that strengthens local culture, and others.
The publication also contains in-depth case studies of seven low-income, minority, tribal, and overburdened communities that have used these strategies: Edmonston, MD; Chicago, IL; Spartanburg, SC; New Orleans, LA; Ohkay Owingeh, NM; Boston, MA; and Seattle, WA.
Creating Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Communities was developed jointly by EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and Office of Sustainable Communities, and was informed by comments from 40 reviewers received through a public comment process.
I hope this document is useful to you, whether you’re a community resident advocating for neighborhood revitalization, a local planner working to integrate equity and sustainability into your policies and codes, or a developer seeking to create an authentic and enduring project.
Megan McConville is a Policy & Planning Fellow in EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities. She explores how overburdened communities can combine smart growth and environmental justice strategies to improve their neighborhoods, health, and quality of life.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
Finding Environmental Justice in a Jazz Melody
By Carlton Eley
When I was a student studying urban planning, I always wondered what the outcome would look like when environmental justice was properly addressed during the community planning process. This question nagged me for years because I wasn’t finding satisfactory answers in an academic setting.
Perhaps, the initial project that helped to answer this question for me is the 18th and Vine Jazz District in Kansas City, MO. My first visit to the District was in 1998, shortly after finishing graduate school.
Mural of John “Buck” O’Neil juxtapose to the Monarch Apartments.
Historically, the area encompassing 18th and Vine was the heart of Kansas City’s African-American community. When the community flourished, it was filled with businesses, schools, entertainment venues, churches, and recreational facilities. Kansas City’s reputation for jazz music grew out of this community because of local artists like Count Basie and Charlie Parker. The District is also the place where eight independent black baseball team owners met and formed the first African-American professional league in 1920.
When the trend of suburbanization took effect in Kansas City in the 1940s, 18th and Vine, like so many inner-city neighborhoods, experienced a period of decline that spanned nearly forty years. In part, this trend produced the physical conditions that environmental justice proponents have documented and strive to correct: brownfields; poorly maintained infrastructure; health hazards from lead and asbestos; lack of services; and the social inequality that stems from prolonged disinvestment and benign neglect.
By the late 1980s, the 18th and Vine neighborhood had lost much of its charm. However, the memory of what made it a great place lived on in the citizens of Kansas City. Although the community was distressed, some local leaders realized that resurrecting the distinct historic and cultural legacy of the District could help make the neighborhood come alive once more.
Charlie Parker Memorial Plaza
In 1989, the 18th and Vine Jazz District was created at the recommendation of Emanuel Cleaver, II, who was a city council member at the time. Cleaver’s vision was to balance the goals of economic development and cultural development within the city. Historic properties were renovated, jazz and baseball museums were constructed, residential and commercial development was added, and the performance arts and the humanities of the District were designated as local treasures. As a result, the City was effective in accounting for environmental justice considerations through protecting the cultural assets of African-Americans who left a unique impression on Kansas City’s landscape.
As an urban planner and environmental justice proponent, I am so glad Kansas City moved beyond the false choice of social responsibility versus economic imperative in the case of the 18th and Vine Jazz District. What started out as an attempt to spread the benefits of economic development has evolved into a $70 million success story with tangible results. Because of stewardship, the Jazz District is once again a celebrated destination that offers visitors and residents “an authentic experience.”
Carlton Eley works for the Office of Environmental Justice. He is an urban planner, sociologist, and lecturer. Carlton is credited for elevating equitable development to the level of formal recognition within U.S. EPA as an approach for encouraging sustainable communities. He interned with EPA’s Environmental Justice Program in Region 10 as an associate of the Environmental Careers Organization in 1994.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
Putting the Justice Back in Environmental Issues
By Jessica Knoblauch
“Every little victory, a life is saved. Every big victory is a major advance for our society and for our planet.” During my interview with Vernice Miller Travis, I was reminded that fighting to clean up air or water pollution in your neighborhood is no easy task; and it’s even more difficult in communities already plagued by rundown housing, unemployment and other societal ills.
WE ACT co-Founders Peggy Shepard (right) and Vernice (left)
Environmental justice advocates like Vernice Miller-Travis have fought to end this injustice for years. Working with communities, environmental organizations and government agencies, Vernice has spent her life spreading awareness about environmental justice and helping build strong, sustained grassroots advocacy led by the people most impacted by environmental and public health threats.
This month, I had the pleasure of speaking with Vernice about her environmental justice work, which began in her own backyard of West Harlem, NY, in the 1980s. There, Vernice and her neighbors banded together after a giant sewage treatment plant was sited near their community, an area already plagued by a dirty industry, diesel bus depots and highways that fouled the air. The result was WE ACT for Environmental Justice, the first environmental justice organization in New York City, which successfully argued in court that the North River Sewage Treatment Plant was a public and private nuisance. As a result, New York City was forced to fix the plant, and a $1.1 million fund was established to address community concerns related to health, environment and service delivery.
Since that first struggle, Vernice has worked with many communities on environmental justice issues, from fugitive dust from coal ash plants in Maryland to toxic air pollution from hazardous waste recycling across the country. In addition to empowering communities to be their own best advocates on environmental health threats, Vernice believes that working with agencies like the EPA and environmental groups like Earthjustice to actively address environmental injustices is crucial to making progress on this issue.
Today, race continues to play a statistically significant role in the location of toxic waste sites and other hazardous facilities near low-income communities and communities of color. But, Vernice does not get bogged down by the difficulty of solving these complex issues because she has seen how informing, educating, training and mobilizing people on environmental justice issues can achieve astonishing results. She told me, “People can absorb information, can learn it, and can become extraordinarily sophisticated advocates on their own behalf once they realize what the challenge is and what information is being brought to the community.”
To hear Vernice’s entire interview, check out: http://earthjustice.org/features/ourwork/down-to-earth-ecology-without-equality
Also, if you missed it, here is Vernice’s contribution to EPA’s 20th Anniversary of Environmental Justice Video Series:
About the author: Jessica A. Knoblauch is a Content Producer/Associate Editor at Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. Each month, Jessica interviews Earthjustice attorneys, clients and environmental experts on Down to Earth, an Earthjustice podcast, about pressing environmental issues. Previously, Jessica wrote about environmental issues for several online and print publications. Her work can be seen at jessicaknoblauch.org.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
Strong Leaders Matter
By Mustafa Santiago Ali
Leadership is important. In the many years I have worked on environmental issues, I have never seen such a rapid transformation around the agency’s work on environmental justice, as I have observed under the leadership of former Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. During her tenure I have witnessed a refocusing of efforts, and a new enthusiasm throughout program offices, regions, and other federal agencies related to environmental justice.
Lisa (left), Cheryl (center) and Hazel (right)
Administrator Jackson’s video, her final as EPA Administrator, is very important for our video series commemorating the 20th anniversary of environmental justice in EPA, because she chose to talk about another great leader in the EJ movement, Hazel Johnson. Mrs. Johnson was affectionately known as the “Mother of Environmental Justice” for her tireless work in the field of social justice for over 40 years. Mrs. Johnson founded the nonprofit “People for Community Recovery” in 1979 at the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on the Southside of Chicago where she lived, in order to address the disproportionate environmental and public health impacts inside her community.
Over the last 20 years, I was privileged to meet Mrs. Johnson a number of times, and hear numerous stories about her guidance and leadership in helping to create the movement that we now call environmental justice. She lived by the principal that communities should have the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation. One of the things I will always admire about Hazel Johnson was her enduring tenacity for creating positive transformation in communities.
As a trailblazing activist, Hazel brought national attention to EJ and inspired countless other leaders to devote their lives to these issues. In many ways, she helped shape the way we understand the relationships that exist between pollution problems, non-compatible land uses and low-income and minority communities. Because of Mrs. Johnson’s early work around “toxic doughnuts,” a term she used to define the numerous polluting facilities that encircled her community – researchers are now looking at the cumulative impacts that many neighborhoods are facing, and this represents a major shift in assessing risk.
Over the years her work touched and involved many different people, including a young community activist named Barack Obama who helped work on a project to clean up asbestos in Altgeld Gardens properties. Her work with other EJ activists lead to President Bill Clinton signing Executive Order 12898 which focuses federal attention on the environmental and human health conditions in minority and low-income populations with the goal of achieving environmental protection for all communities.
This video underscores the importance of leaders as a part of any movement, and I want to thank both former Administrator Jackson and Hazel Johnson for their commitment to the protection, revitalization and restoration of all communities. Their legacies will continue to grow in present and future generations.
About the author: Mustafa Ali currently serves as the Associate Director for EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
Reducing Pollution For All American Families
Originally posted on the White House Blog
By Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
When I first became Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, I made a list of my priorities for the Agency. Working for environmental justice was at the top of that list. Ensuring equal environmental protections for all Americans is the unfinished business of the environmental movement.
It’s a simple idea – that all Americans are entitled to clean air to breathe, safe water to drink and a healthy community to raise their families – but often, it is America’s low-income and minority communities that bear the brunt of our country’s pollution.
As a result, these communities are also hit harder by the many illnesses pollution is linked to – conditions like asthma, heart disease, cancer and strokes. Studies show that minority groups face a greater risk of having asthma, and once they have it, they are at a greater risk of needing emergency treatment. African-American children are hospitalized for asthma at twice the rate of white children, and asthma-related deaths among African-American children take place at a rate of four times that of non-Hispanic white children. Hispanic children — especially of Puerto Rican descent — also face higher rates of asthma.
Dirty air, polluted water and contaminated lands not only put families at higher risks of serious and potentially costly diseases – they also discourage new developments and new jobs. Poison in the ground often means poison in the economy. Limiting the economic possibilities of low-income and minority communities only makes it harder to break the cycle of poverty.
Shortly after I was sworn in, I asked EPA employees to make environmental justice part of every decision we make. I called on the whole Agency to think creatively and work hard to make certain that our efforts reach all communities. Plan EJ 2014 – the environmental justice strategy we unveiled more than two years ago– is the tool we created for answering that call. It is aimed at ensuring that environmental justice is integrated into all of EPA’s day-to-day responsibilities – everything from permitting, compliance and enforcement, to community-based programs and the work we do with other federal agencies.
As I prepare to leave EPA, one of my last acts as administrator is issuing the Plan EJ 2014 Progress Report. The report provides ample evidence of how far we have come in making environmental justice an integral and permanent part of EPA’s day-to-day business. It also details how we have mobilized the entire federal government to incorporate environmental justice into the work each agency conducts.
For the first time in our 42 year history, we have laid the groundwork for EPA to fully implement its environmental justice mission of ensuring environmental protection for all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity or income level. I am proud of the work we have started and the progress we have made, and I am confident that it will continue long after I depart.
About the author: Lisa Jackson is the outgoing Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
You Can Help Make Better Government Policies
By Victoria Robinson
As the designated federal officer for the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), I’m happy to announce that EPA is inviting nominations to be considered for appointment to the NEJAC, a federal advisory committee.
Congress passed the Federal Advisory Committee Act in recognition of the fact that federal agencies benefit significantly when they receive advice from voices outside of the government. EPA established the NEJAC in 1993 to provide independent and timely advice and recommendations to EPA about integrating environmental justice into the agency’s work. Through meeting with the public and consolidating advice from members who represent a broad range of viewpoints, the NEJAC provides recommendations that incorporate community and other stakeholder perspectives and helps the government do a better job of considering environmental justice in the agency’s everyday activities.
While each member may bring a different perspective to committee meetings, the one thing all NEJAC members share is a passion for environmental justice. They each want to make a difference in their communities and in other communities across the country. Through their work on the NEJAC these individuals have been instrumental in formulating nearly 700 recommendations to EPA about a wide variety of major public policy issues. For instance, NEJAC recommendations have influenced a variety of EPA’s programs and policies, including the Brownfields program, permitting processes, consultation with tribes and interactions with indigenous communities, and monitoring of air toxics around our nation’s schools. That is why I am always excited to welcome new leaders onto the NEJAC, because I know that they will bring the energy and ideas necessary to keep building upon these important efforts.
You can submit your application for membership to the NEJAC by downloading this electronic form and following the instructions to submit your application. In order to fill the anticipated vacancies by May 2012, nominations should be received by February 20, 2012. For additional details regarding the nomination process and to learn more about the NEJAC, please visit http://www.epa.gov/environmental justice/NEJAC/index.html, or call the EPA Office of Environmental Justice at (202) 564-2515.
Consider the NEJAC – it might be a perfect fit.
About the author: Victoria Robinson is the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), a federal advisory committee. Since 2003, she has been responsible for the day-to-day management of the NEJAC, managing the committee in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
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