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Strategic Objective
Working to Make a Visible Difference in Communities
Strategic Objective
Overview
EPA must work collaboratively across all programs and hand in hand with other federal agencies, states, tribes, and local communities to improve the health of all families and protect the environment. EPA must expand the work we do to enhance the resiliency, health, and economic vitality of communities and neighborhoods through increased analysis, better science, and enhanced community engagement while continuing to advance environmental justice (EJ) and ensure the protection of basic fundamental rights.
Public health and environmental protection impacts affect us most significantly where we live—at the community level. Both urban and rural communities reap the benefits of a healthier environment in the form of safe drinking water, less polluted air, greater access to green space, and more environmentally sustainable choices for daily living. EPA’s national regulatory efforts, such as eliminating lead from gasoline, have historically contributed to these outcomes. But equally important are EPA’s many community-based efforts which, among other things, work for environmental justice, protect children’s health, and reduce exposures and consider cumulative risks for vulnerable populations. These efforts and commitments will be carried out in partnership with Agency sustainability goals and will lead to better results for all communities.
While EPA efforts have a direct, positive impact on the health and environmental quality of communities, EPA will place additional focus on changing the way we work so that communities can easily identify and achieve their full potential. EPA believes environmental progress can be better supported, demonstrated, and measured in communities, especially those with environmental justice concerns, so that all equally receive the benefits of human health and environmental protection standards. Millions of minority, low-income, tribal, and indigenous individuals are at risk of having poor health outcomes because they live in underserved, overburdened communities. EPA can make a greater and more visible difference by embracing strategies that incorporate an Agency-wide focus on communities. An Agency-wide community perspective helps to leverage diverse resources effectively and supports efforts for identifying sustainable solutions. Specifically, EPA will rely on a variety of approaches, including improved meaningful outreach to communities, better internal alignment and coordination of resources across community-based programs, increased incorporation of EPA community-focused approaches and analyses within regulatory and enforcement actions, and expanded technical assistance and research to improve public health and the environmental performance of communities. Partnering with federal, state, and local governments, as well as other entities, is key to cultivating healthy and sustainable neighborhood solutions that reflect effective land use, green development, and social and economic growth.
To achieve this goal, EPA will proactively work to:
- Improve internal coordination, alignment, and accountability for EPA community-based activities, programs, and tools in order to advance environmental results for communities. Incorporate community-based strategies as a fundamental, organizing principle in EPA core programs and policies by consistently sharing experience and expertise, adopting promising tools, replicating relevant models (e.g., Promising Practices to Improve Community Performance and Sustainability, Plan EJ 2014, Urban Waters Initiative), and improving measurement and tracking of community-based efforts. These models engage multiple partners in the community (local and federal government partners, nonprofit groups, local businesses, and residents) to identify issues and solutions across environmental media, and deliver funding and technical assistance to address the environmental risks, train the community, and share best practices. We will leverage EPA resources, increase awareness and understanding of community needs and risks and related solutions, invest in innovative research and science-based approaches, develop and use appropriate indicators, coordinate data, and track accomplishments. An ongoing priority area will be to continue to advance the work on environmental justice and children’s environmental health in rulemaking, permitting, enforcement and compliance, grants, and policy-making decisions (e.g., use potential supplemental environmental projects to address community needs and increase technical assistance efficiencies).
- Increase public access to EPA community-based resources, helping communities recognize their full engagement potential and problem-solving capacity. Empower community dialogue, engagement, understanding, and action through effective information sharing, including outreach and environmental education that informs the public about policy choices and environmental stewardship to benefit current and future generations. The sharing of critical, up-to-date information (such as skills and services, best practices and success stories, useful contacts, relevant grants and technical assistance, data, and multi-media strategies) supports effective community involvement. Improved information sharing builds public capacity to engage in citizen science (e.g., contribute to environmental research, complement EPA science in support of state or local problem solving, and enhance environmental protection), and encourages environmental education and environmental justice activities. The Agency will also create mechanisms at the regional and program levels to better communicate the community-based benefits of EPA’s work in terms of improved public health and the environment at the local level.
- Build on existing partnerships to create lasting, inclusive, collaborative community networks that include government and other public and private entities. Work with federal agencies through existing partnerships (e.g., the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Department of Transportation-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities and the Environmental Justice Interagency Workgroup), as well as with states, tribes, communities, and other stakeholders to leverage resources, funding opportunities, and technical expertise and assistance to support healthy, sustainable, and green neighborhood solutions. Partner with research organizations and academic institutions to focus and advance basic research and create models and measures to expand the conversation on environmental and human health concerns to address priority-focused, locally based problems, specifically including environmental justice and children’s environmental health issues.
Progress Update
In FY 2014, EPA made significant progress under the community cross-agency strategy to make a visible difference in communities. A key component of the FY 2014 success was the ability of its newly created Agency-wide executive-level body (the Community Facilitation Team) to harmonize various Agency community-based efforts under one umbrella. Through the team, EPA was able to strengthen its “community of practice” through improvements to online tools such as EPA’s Agency-wide project mapping platform called GeoPlatform and the Agency’s internal community practitioner collaboration software tool using SharePoint. The GeoPlatform improvements have contributed to increased cross-office use of GeoPlatform for coordination and strategic planning purposes. The SharePoint site is now actively being used by staff implementing the Administrator’s FY 2015 community cross-cutting strategy action plan.
EPA made significant progress toward a public release of its online EJSCREEN environmental justice mapping and screening tool. In 2015, EPA will launch a single Internet landing page for community stakeholders, including local governments, and make progress toward making EPA resources more easily accessible and navigable for community stakeholders.
EPA now actively seeks to leverage the presence of resources from other Federal agencies for work in communities: coordination with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other agencies increased in FY 2014. EPA provided comments to HUD on its most recent community block grants evaluation criteria; EPA participated directly in HUD and DOT grant application reviews; EPA worked in partnership with USDA, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and CDC to launch the Local Food/Local Places initiative.
Key FY 2015 goals:
- EPA will seek to work in partnership with other federal agencies in 3-5 communities in each of EPA’s 10 regions. The specific agency involved will depend on the nature of the problems each community is seeking to address.
- EPA will launch a single internet landing page for community stakeholders, including local governments.
- EPA will seek to incorporate the use of monitoring tools (e.g., air or water monitors) into negotiated enforcement settlements or EPA-issued permits in 1-2 environmentally overburdened communities per region.
