Senior EPA Officials Attend NEJAC Meeting In New Orleans

The National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency independent advisory group, is holding a public meeting in New Orleans Jan. 27-29 to discuss environmental justice issues. EPA Assistant Administrators Cynthia Giles, left, and Mathy Stanislaus, right, along with other senior officials, will take part in an opening dialogue with NEJAC on Jan. 27.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has made promoting environmental justice and expanding the conversation of environmentalism one of the seven key priorities of her tenure at the Agency. Since taking office, she has appointed a Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and a Senior Counsel for External Civil Rights in order to focus the agency’s efforts to address the health and environmental burdens faced by communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. Most recently, and consistent with this commitment, the agency announced that it would assess the impacts of its hazardous waste rule on disadvantaged communities. This action will also be used to inform EPA’s ongoing effort to strengthen the consideration of environmental justice in rulemakings.

WHO: Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response

WHAT: Public meeting on environmental justice

WHERE: New Orleans Marriott Hotel, 555 Canal Street, 504-581-1000

WHEN: Jan.27, 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. CST
Jan. 28, 8:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. CST
Jan. 29, 8:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. CST

NEJAC Information

EPA’s Environmental Justice Program

Lisa Jackson Speaks At EJ Conference in New Orleans

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, left, delivered opening remarks highlighting EPA’s Environmental Justice Initiatives today at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel for the "2010 Conference on Environmental Justice, Air Quality, Goods Movement and Green Jobs" in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference is cosponsored by EPA, Dillard University and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Administrator Jackson has made promoting environmental justice and expanding the conversation of environmentalism one of the seven key priorities of her tenure at EPA. Since taking office, she has appointed a Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and a Senior Counsel for External Civil Rights in order to focus the agency’s efforts to address the health and environmental burdens faced by communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. Most recently, and consistent with this commitment, the agency announced that it would assess the impacts of its hazardous waste rule on disadvantaged communities. This action will also be used to inform EPA’s ongoing effort to strengthen the consideration of environmental justice in rulemakings.

Excerpt:

We can talk about health care. But we also have to talk about how the poor – who get sick more often because they live in neighborhoods where the air and water are polluted – are the same people who go to the emergency room for treatment. That drives up health care costs for everyone. It hurts the local and the national economy.

We can talk about the need for more jobs and small businesses in our urban centers and metropolitan regions. But that conversation must also include the understanding that environmental challenges in our neighborhoods hold back economic growth. Poison in the ground means poison in the economy. A weak environment means a weak consumer base. And unhealthy air means an unhealthy atmosphere for investments. And in many neighborhoods, visible environmental degradation compounds other problems.

FULL STATEMENT

EPA & CBC Announce Joint Environmental Justice Tour

First Stop: Jackson, Mississippi

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, today announced plans to visit American communities most ravaged by environmental degradation and pollution. The joint EPA-CBC Environmental Justice Tour will visit several areas throughout the country to highlight environmental justice challenges faced by Americans in all communities. The tour will also include stops in South Carolina, Maryland, and Georgia among other states.

Mississippi marks the first stop on the tour with visits to Greenville and Jackson on January 22-24. Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), right, will host Administrator Jackson in Greenville where both a roundtable discussion with regional mayors and tour of a local water treatment plant are slated. In Jackson, EPA and the CBC will host an Environmental Justice Conference at Jackson State University with the participation of community leaders, elected officials, students and religious leaders.

Administrator Jackson, left, has made promoting environmental justice and expanding the conversation of environmentalism one of the seven key priorities of her tenure at EPA. Since taking office she has appointed a Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and a Senior Counsel for External Civil Rights in order to focus the agency’s efforts to address the health and environmental burdens faced by communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. Most recently, and consistent with this commitment, the agency announced that it would asses the impacts of its hazardous waste rule on disadvantaged communities. This action will also be used to inform EPA’s ongoing effort to strengthen the consideration of environmental justice in rulemakings.

The Congressional Black Caucus, under the auspices of its Energy & Environment Taskforce, and the leadership of Barbara Lee, left, is actively engaged on a host of environmental issues including green jobs, climate change, alternative energy options and environmental justice issues. Together with community and business leaders, faith networks and other relevant stakeholders, members of the CBC are continuing to develop a “Green Agenda” that comprehensively builds healthy families and sustainable communities by increasing access to opportunities provided by the federal government.

The environmental justice movement was started by individuals, primarily people of color, who sought to address the inequity of environmental protection in their communities. Grounded in the struggles of the 1960s civil rights movement, the environmental justice movement sounded the alarm about the public health dangers for their families, their communities and themselves. In 1990, the Congressional Black Caucus and a bipartisan coalition of academic, social scientists and political activists met with EPA officials to discuss their findings that environmental risk was higher for minority and low-income populations. In response, the then-EPA administrator created the Environmental Equity Workgroup in July 1990 to address these issues. EPA’s environmental justice office was later established in 1992.

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Note: The Environmental Justice Blog, nor any of those listed on this site, are recommending the product and no listees, to our knowledge, are being compensated for this publicity. It does appear to be a very interesting product.

EPA to Assess Impacts of Waste Rule on Disadvantaged Communities

Mathy Stanislaus
Assistant Administrator
EPA Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response
Consistent with EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s commitment to reach out to communities historically underrepresented in EPA decision-making, the agency is requesting public input on a draft plan for assessing the potential impacts of its hazardous waste recycling rule on low-income, minority and tribal populations. This draft plan is one example of how EPA is bringing historically underrepresented communities into this process and giving everyone a seat at the decision making table.

To encourage safe recycling and to help conserve natural resources, EPA’s Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) rule published in October of 2008, modified the regulations for hazardous materials that are recycled, also known as hazardous secondary materials. EPA is reaching out to stakeholders, including the environmental justice community, requesting public comment before the analysis begins.

EPA’s goal is to ensure these materials are safely managed and the results of the evaluation will be used to decide whether additional action is necessary. Lessons learned from the analysis of the DSW rule will also be used to inform EPA’s ongoing effort to strengthen the consideration of environmental justice in rulemakings.

EPA will discuss the draft methodology with the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) at its national public meeting and host a roundtable to gain public input on the draft methodology. Both meetings are scheduled to be held on January 28, 2010, in New Orleans, La.

A second public roundtable meeting will be held on February 23, 2010 at EPA’s Potomac Yard Conference Center in Arlington, Va., and an online public roundtable will be held on February 25, 2010. The public may also submit written comments on the draft methodology until March 15, 2010.

More information

Memorandum From EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson

The EPA Administrator Addresses Environmental Justice To EPA Employees

MEMORANDUM

From: Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator

To: All EPA Employees

Colleagues:

Almost one year ago, I began my work as Administrator. It has been a deeply fulfilling 12 months and a wonderful homecoming for me. As our first year together draws to a close, we must now look to the tasks ahead.

By working with our senior policy team, listening to your input and learning from the experiences of the last 12 months, we have strengthened our focus and expanded the list of priorities. Listed below [is one theme out of] seven key themes to focus the work of our agency.

Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working for Environmental Justice: We have begun a new era of outreach and protection for communities historically underrepresented in EPA decision-making. We are building strong working relationships with tribes, communities of color, economically distressed cities and towns, young people and others, but this is just a start. We must include environmental justice principles in all of our decisions. This is an area that calls for innovation and bold thinking, and I am challenging all of our employees to bring vision and creativity to our programs. The protection of vulnerable subpopulations is a top priority, especially with regard to children. Our revitalized Children’s Health Office is bringing a new energy to safeguarding children through all of our enforcement efforts. We will ensure that children’s health protection continues to guide the path forward.

[This priority] will guide our work in 2010 and the years ahead. [It is] built around the challenges and opportunities inherent in our mission to protect human health and the environment for all Americans. We will carry out our mission by respecting our core values of science, transparency and the rule of law. I have unlimited confidence in the talent and spirit of our workforce, and I will look to your energy, ideas and passion in the days ahead. I know we will meet these challenges head on, as one EPA.

Sincerely,

Lisa P. Jackson