[CPEO-MEF] Report on Environmental Justice at Federal Facilities

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The report of the Federal Facilities Working Group of the National
Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), officially published
last October, is now available for downloading on EPA's web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/ej/nejac_publications.html. 
I am pasting below the submission letter, which summarizes the key
findings and recommendations of the report.

As a member of that working group, I am one of the authors of the report.

Lenny Siegel

***



October 15, 2004
Administrator Mike Leavitt
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Administrator Leavitt, 

Please find attached a copy of the report entitled "Environmental
Justice and Federal Facilities: Recommendations for Improving
Stakeholder Relations Between Federal Facilities and Environmental
Justice Communities, October 2004."

In May 2000, in response to public comments and feedback, EPA, through
its Office of Environmental Justice, requested the National
Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) to identify and evaluate
key issues of concern to communities regarding activities and operations
at and around federal facilities and formulate a set of national policy
recommendations to address the discernible concerns.

This report presents recommendations to the Environmental Protection
Agency, as well as other agencies associated with the cleanup of federal
facilities, with the aim of improving relationships between facilities,
communities, regulators, and governmental bodies involved in the cleanup
of contaminated federal facility sites. The recommendations reflect
consensus among individuals and organizations with diverse backgrounds
and interests who have offered their views on how best to address
concerns from communities that are in proximity to federal facilities.
The report reflects the advice and recommendations from several
meetings, on-site interviews, analyses,  and public comments. It is the
hope of NEJAC that the agencies addressing clean up at federal
facilities will implement these recommendations in the spirit in which
they are offered.

This report proposes several overarching consensus recommendations to
the EPA and other federal agencies. Please find below the five main recommendations:

1. Encourage enhanced community assessments and communication methods to improve
cultural sensitivity for environmental justice communities

* Conduct detailed assessments of cultural differences at environmental
justice communities in close proximity to federal facilities.
* Encourage the documents translation into the common languages.
Translators are encouraged to be present at all Advisory Board and
public meetings.

2. Encourage the provision of access to adequate health services

* Provide and/or support additional health services, including
specialized care, to communities where federal facilities released
significant quantities of hazardous substances.

3. Encourage the provision of additional resources for capacity building

* Encourage the determination of whether affected environmental justice
communities have sufficient capacity to oversee federal cleanup programs
constructively and continuously;
* When capacity is an issue within these communities, funding should be
commensurate with the anticipated level of activity and assistance
should be designed to enable environmental justice communities to
develop priorities, explore issues, and make independent
recommendations; and, 
* Encourage the design and implementation of an internship program that
provides college students from environmental justice communities
appropriate work experience.

4. There is an acute necessity to improve and create more effective
communication between facilities, regulators and environmental justice communities
* Encourage and reinforce the need for tangible opportunities for
community residents who are not members of the advisory board to
participate fully in discussions and decision-
making regarding cleanup activities;
* Encourage the use of a myriad and diverse set of methods to interact
with and engage the public to address community concerns. These methods
should include community workshops, trainings, and community-based
organized activities.

5. New and consistent opportunities are needed to help environmental
justice communities influence decisions
* Create and implement new and consistent opportunities for
environmental justice communities to provide input into the
decision-making process and demonstrate how their recommendations and
concerns are considered and integrated into the final outcome.

* Provide more technical and financial resources to develop capacity,
thus improving the cleanup program and building a working relationship
necessary to conduct long-term stewardship.

NEJAC is pleased to present this report to you for your review,
consideration, response, and action. In addition, NEJAC appreciates any
assistance you can provide in processing the recommendations in this
report through EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response with
consultation, as appropriate, with the Office of Environmental Justice
and other relevant EPA offices. Finally, NEJAC hopes you work closely
with other federal agencies, including DoD, DOE, and states, to ensure
that the recommendations in this report are considered.


Sincerely, 
Veronica Eady
Chair, NEJAC


-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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