CDC & ATSDR Nat'l Conversation on Health & Chemicals

The National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). It is a unique and unprecedented collaboration of federal, state, and local, and tribal government agencies; environmental and public health scientists, researchers, and leaders; community, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations; concerned citizens nationwide; and, representatives from private industry. Everyone who cares about the issues of chemical safety and public health is encouraged to lend his or her voice.

The goal of this National Conversation is to develop an effective, efficient, fair, and collaborative action agenda with recommendations for strengthening our nation’s efforts to protect the public from harmful chemical exposures.

The National Conversation is hosting the first of three facilitated Web dialogues to begin gathering public input from Monday, April 5 through Wednesday, April 7. Two virtual conversations will be conducted each day, and the public is invited to participate in one or all six. And because the National Conversation is committed to transparency, archives of all conversations will be available online for public review for five years. The agenda for the first Web dialogue includes:

· Monday, April 5: “Understanding the National Conversation” and “Achieving the National Conversation’s Vision”

· Tuesday, April 6: “Involving People in Decisions that Affect their Health” and “Improving Research & Information Collection & Management”

· Wednesday, April 7: “Preventing Harmful Exposures” and “Responding Effectively to Exposures.”

CDC and ATSDR invite you to participate personally in and blog about this first Web dialogue, and encourage you to invite others to do the same.

For more information and to register for this event

This dialogue is just the first of several upcoming opportunities for the public to participate in the National Conversation. In the coming months, CDC & ATSDR will also be launching:

· The Community Conversation Toolkit, a downloadable resource to encourage real-world conversations. This toolkit will provide background information on chemical exposure issues, a discussion guide, and directions for providing input to the larger National Conversation.

· Two more facilitated Web dialogues to garner public input on developing National Conversation efforts as well as the draft action agenda.

Additional requests for information can be directed to Dagny Olivares at CDC

You can also help keep the conversation going by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

EPA 2010 National Asthma Forum

Register today for the 2010 National Asthma Forum June 17-18, 2010, in Washington, D.C.


Join hundreds of dedicated health care professionals, community organizations, and other leaders to learn what it takes to create strong and sustainable asthma programs in your community.

Network with leaders in asthma care and hear best practices for community-based programs.
Learn how to evaluate your program’s impact, attract funders for program sustainability, and improve health outcomes through home-based environmental interventions.

Create your community’s leadership plan for asthma action with national asthma leaders.
Share your program’s successes with a national audience. Registration is now open.

Why Is John Rosenthall Smiling?

He'll probably wait until the conference to tell us.

The conference coordinator is happy.

The schedule must be going really well.

It must be the speakers list.

Or the attendees. Or a special presenter.

He clearly knows something that he wants to share.

Nat'l Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures

Online dialogues will take place April 5-7, 2010.

For questions regarding the National Conversation, please e-mail

Click on image to enlarge

Environmental Justice: Volume 3, Number 1

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc publishers have issued "Environmental Justice: Volume 3, Number 1" and it includes interviews, original articles, a White House meeting report from last year, and a book review. Founded in 1980, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is acknowledged for publishing peer-reviewed journals, books, and trade magazines in the areas of biotechnology, biomedical research/life sciences, clinical medicine and surgery, alternative and complementary medicine, law, philanthropy, environmental science and sustainability.

EPA Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference

The 2010 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference will take place May 4-6, 2010 in Washington, DC and will bring together union members, environmentalists, business leaders, elected and administration officials. The three day conference will include keynotes, plenaries and workshops dedicated to building a green economy that creates good jobs, reduces global warming and preserves America’s economic and environmental security.

This year’s Conference will also feature the 2010 Green Jobs Expo, which will showcase the companies, products, services and career opportunities in the green economy. Participating in the Expo provides companies and organizations exposure to attendees of the Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference, who come from all facets of industry, academia, government and the non-profit sector, as well as students from colleges, universities and trade schools in the area.

Register

Conference Contact: Carlton Eley

Earth Day 2010

This is the 40th Anniversary of the Original Earth Day in 1970. The Earth Day Network is coordinating activities to commemorate the anniversary. They are encouraging individual, organizations, agencies, businesses, and others to plan events to celebrate this day for the Earth.

Global Days of Service – April 17-18, 2010 - will feature Volunteer Actions by tens of thousands of global participants. These projects in parks, beaches, schools and forests will focus on climate change solutions like tree planting, energy efficiency retrofits, water protection, urban gardens and forest restoration. Volunteer activities will be quantified though their events registration tool and carried out through local partners around the world. Click here to sign up as a partner!

Events on The National Mall in Washington, DC

Earth Day 40th Anniversary Events – April 22

Change the Climate Rally – April 25

Exhibitions and Performances on The National Mall – April 17-25

Earth Day Action Center: A Project of Earth Day Network

EPA EJ Conference at Washington Convention Center

Symposium Sponsored by: National Center For Environmental Research

Title: Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts

Date: March 17 – 19, 2010

Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center801 Mount Vernon Place, NWWashington, DC 20001

Purpose: The US EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, has made the inclusion of environmental justice principles in all U.S. EPA actions a priority.

This Symposium will serve as a platform to stimulate innovative and bold thinking, and foster discussions, about critical topics and approaches to achieve this goal. Please join us at a Symposium to explore opportunities to better assess and address environmental justice in environmental policy and regulatory decision making. Multiple factors including social, political, psychosocial, economic, physical, chemical and biological determinants contribute to disproportionate human health or environmental impacts. Therefore, diverse expertise and multidisciplinary approaches that incorporate the perspectives of impacted communities and populations are necessary to better inform environmental health policy.

Participants from diverse backgrounds are invited, including researchers, academics, policy-makers, non-governmental organization representatives, government officials (e.g. local, regional, national, tribal, international), lay experts, and students.

The Symposium is open and free to the public but space is limited.

Contact:

Devon Payne-Sturges (202) 343-9852

Onyemaechi Nweke (202) 566-2314

Tina Conley (202) 343-9829

Registration: Registration
Logistics: Meeting LocationHotel
Agenda: Agenda

EPA EJView: New EJ Geographic Assessment Tool‏

EJView, a new public mapping tool, was released today and will replace the Environmental Justice Geographic Assessment Tool. The Geographic Assessment Tool was one of the first mapping tools designed to screen for areas with potential environmental justice concerns, but after four years it was time for an upgrade.

EJView maintains all of the functionality and types of data used in the Geographic Assessment Tool, but it runs smoother, faster and easier. With EJView, you can overlay demographic, health, and other environmental information on a map to get a snapshot of the multiple factors affecting a community. You can also focus on an area of concern and generate reports for that area.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Contact Scott Parris

Stanislaus Wants To Know How EPA Is Doing On EJ

LETTER FROM THE EPA ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR

Hi everyone,

A new question of the month has been posted on the OSWER Discussion Forum: How would you grade EPA's role in addressing environmental justice issues in disadvantaged communities?

Administrator Jackson recently made expanding the conversation on environmentalism and working for environmental justice one of her top priorities. How do you feel about EPA’s current efforts toward working for environmental justice? Is EPA’s recent decision to conduct an environmental justice analysis of the Definition of Solid Waste rule a step in the right direction?

February 2009 recap Last month’s question about cleanup at former auto sector sites generated several useful suggestions that we plan to take under advisement. Several commenters emphasized the importance of accessto information and coordination among federal agencies. I encourage you to give these comments a look.

I hope you will continue to participate in the OSWER Discussion Forum; we will be posting new discussion questions at least once a month, and old questions remain available for comment indefinitely. Your input isimportant to me, and the discussions that occur on the Forum and elsewhere help inform OSWER’s work.

Sincerely,

Mathy Stanislaus

Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response

EPA Environmental Justice Video Contest

EPA Announces Environmental Justice Video Contest: Faces of the Grassroots

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is sponsoring an environmental justice video contest that challenges professional or aspiring filmmakers to create videos that capture the faces of the environmental justice movement. The Faces of the Grassroots contest is an opportunity to publicly exhibit creativity with environmental justice stories, and connect with others working to raise awareness of the movement.

Faces of the Grassroots is intended to help EPA expand the conversation on environmentalism and work for environmental justice. Participants can make a difference for the historically underrepresented in their community by using videos to show the struggles and triumphs they have endured to advance environmental justice.

Videos can focus on any environmental justice activity, issue, or topic. Examples would be a music video about climate change, or a video recording a successful environmental justice project that has made a community a healthier and happier place to live.

Awards will be given to the winning submissions in each category. The videos will also be featured on EPA’s Web site and may be used as public service announcements. Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 8, 2010. EPA will announce winners in honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

Below are the categories and prize money:

Public Service Announcements (30 or 60 seconds)

1st Place - $2,500
2nd Place - $1,500
3rd Place - $1,000
Student Winner - $500 (13-18 years old)

Informational Video (3-5 minutes)

1st Place - $2,500
2nd Place - $1,500
3rd Place - $1,000
Student Winner - $500 (13-18 years old)

More information

Informational video on the contest