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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNCD980602163_19950411_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_USEPA - Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Report to the President on Executive Order 12898-OCR... . . REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT ON EXE C UT IV .E O RD E R .I 2 8 9 8 , rr o· Cr* * ~* *~ ,¢r 11-l..a ~.,;x ~~ =~ y i ~ * ~ V ; . : . :·-~~~: in Minority Populations and Low Income Populatipns . April 1 f, 1995 . . -.·. __ ,t. -:. -: .. · =,,.·:·:.., -:--·:···· . ··, ,-_ ' .•.• ·-.. . . . I . Report to the President on Executive Order 12898 I. INTRODUCTION The President's Executive Order 12898, "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice In Minority Populations and Low Income Populations" ("the Executive Order''), signed February 11, 1994, requires the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Deputy Assistant to the President for Environmental Policy to submit this report to the President. J"his report describes the implementation of the Executive Order, and includes the final environmental justice strategies. The attached strategies have a primary emphasis on matters of process, such as increasing outreach to aftected communities, and revising internal management and decision making to incorporate environmental justice concerns. The emphasis on process in the effort to date has been valuable because improvements in outreach and the policy making structure will help agencies to more meaningfully dialogue with stakeholders and refocus policies and programs. However, Mure emphasis must be placed on discrete, concrete actions that will specifically address the needs of partfcular communities in the near term. II. BACKGROUND The environmental justice movement has grown· from a group of African American students protesting a garbage dump in Houston in 1967 to a national movement that encompasses thousands of grassroots organizations, the commitment of hundreds of state and local officials, the initiative of business leaders, and, through Executive Order 12898, the force of the federal government. As President Bill Clinton has stated,.-•AI~ Americans have a right to be protected from pollution-not just those who can · afford to live it the cleanest, safest · communities." · · The environmental. justice movement is a response to the reality that historically, low-income populations and minority~ have suffered . ·.:· -.:/ :c~ -~;: :-. ~.-:.._ :: : disproportionately· from"-:~.~ ~-and'.~eiwironrnei ... :-,-.~c-'-WhJi~~~-~-~ scholars disagree about the reasoni. for this. there is no ·question that In both rurat ~ · · ~- and urban communities low-income · and minority populations consistently demonstrate higher levels of environme~ly-related health disorders than the general population. In response, thousands of people_ in neighborhoods, towns, cities, and counties across the country have formed the environmental justice · movement. These individuals work to ensure that city dwellers, disproportionately exposed to air pollution, breathe cleaner air; that children are p, otected from peeling and exposed lead paint and dust. that the individuals who provide America with our bounty of agricultural products are not slowly poisoned 'by pesticides; ~ that those who subsist on native fish and wildlife can conti .ue ID do so.--: · --'. · -· --'"· · -, . ' . . . .· .----.::---·,-::-,,;:_;~..::...:,~'..;_~:-::···~-?-·7--.-:·----:· .: · ....... ~-~ -• -;: .-·>'-. \. •. In addition to these grassroots organizers, several States and the National Governors' Association have joined in the environmental justice movement through legislation and other initiatives. Arkansas became the first State, in April 1993, to pass environmental justice legislation. Tennessee, Louisiana, Virginia. and Florida are among the many states that have passed laws, created commissions. or begun studies. These activities have helped to increase the participation of all communities in environmental decisionm$king and ensure that environmental laws are enforced in every community. Industry leaders have also recognized that addressing environmental justice concerns makes good business sense. Industry increasingly recognizes that future siting plans must involve greater community participation. Both the Chemical Manufadurers Association and the National Association of Manufadurers as well as individual companies such as AT&T. Dow, Dupont. and VVMX have initiated environmental justice projeds. These groups have worked intensely with the Environmental Protection Agency and community leaders to improve available data and establish lasting channels of communication. As Governor of Arkansas, President Clinton was among the first state leaders to recognize that some of the most vulnerable of our nation's communities are subjed to some of the most serious health and environmental threats. For instance, as Chairman of the Lower Mississippi Delta Commission, then-Govemor Clinton recognized that a critical component in addressing the needs of the poorest region of America involved eliminating the disproportionate effects of environmental pollution and hazardous materials on minority, low-income, and rural communities in the region. Vice-President Al. Gore also has been fundamentally committed to the environmental justice movement from its inception. As a Senator, _he introduced legislation to identify low-income and minority communities disproportionately affeded by toxic materials and to address their unique needs. In addition, Vace- -· President Gore was instnmental in establishing U._~I ~ious.Partn:Grship ., .-:... __ ·;_., __ --_ for the Environment. The Partnership brings togelh.r tile National :eounc1· of .v:;:.t~=V·.t-.,-;;;:-t.~~:-,-.-. Churches, the U.S. Catholc Conferenaf, the Consultaiibn on the Envifonment'~~ ~-:.-~,:;_:. ~ ... Jewish Life, and the Evangelical Environmental Network. The members of the Partnership integrate the groups' traditional concern for the poor and underprivileged · with their concem for the environment. President CDnton and Vice-President Gore, during the 1992 campaign, pledged to protect Jlpeople who are ffK>:1St vulnerable, who are poor, many of whom · live in our inner cities, from unfa~ exposure to enYirorvnental hilzarda."' . The - message of environmental justice was perhaps most poignantly conveyed to the · President by a young man named Pernell Brewer, who spoke at a children's. town .-·. · · . .. .. . . -. . . . _ ·:. __ ; .. -..•.. -•. -_ --:--.?:'.,:.: .• -...... -~ · ..... ,-: . .-:· .!.. .... -_. 2 : ,• ___ .... . ·< ... ..; ~.'. ;_ -.. . . ... :::·:;:/ · . .__._.~;..~-:--- hall meeting in 1993. Pernell dramatically described the toll pollution has taken on his community, a small section of Louisiana once known as "Cancer AJley." This area, with its many chemical plants, is home to many low-income and minority individuals. After years of pollution, this community has been devastated with an unusually high incidence of cancer and other problems. Pernell told the President that twenty of his relatives have been diagnosed with cancer, and most tragically, that his 10-year-old brother died of a rare brain tumor. In response to Pernell and many others like him, President Clinton recognized that the federal government has an obligation to address the environmental · injustices suffered disproportionately by low-ir,come and minority communities. Ill. THE EXECUTIVE ORDER · On February 11, 1994, President Clinton i~ued Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low- Income Populations. The Executive Order established environmental justice, for the first time, as a federal government priority and directed all federal agencies to make environmental justice_ part of their mission. The Executive Order had three goals: • • • to focus federal agency attention on the environment and human health conditions in minority communities and low-income communities; to promote non-disaimination in federal programs that substantially affect human health and the environment; and to provide minority communities and low-income communities greater access to information · on, and opportunities for public participation in, matters relating to human health and the environment. President Clinton directed the following agencies and White House offices to .. · participate in the environmental · justice initiative: the Departments of Justice, Defense, Energy, Labor; lntaior, Transportation, Agriculture. Housing ·anct Urban .·'-~ . ·,· · . Dev~~-~m~ .. Hear.h -arp_~~-the-:Environinentat:~~~~,t.::;~~5!,·- . Protection ~. the Office of Management and Budget; the· Office of Science-and . ·.· • : . · Technology Policy,. the Courd on Environmental Quality, the Domestic Policy. . · · Council, and the Council on Economic Advisors. In addition, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and ·the National Aeronautics and Space Agency each volunteered to participate. The President directed each federal agency to review its programs. policies, and a~ and develop a sbateg1 for•addressing • appropriate any disproportionately high and adverse human-·bealth or environmental effects. on minority populatkJr-. and low income populations; The-~ strategies accompany this report. Highlights are discussecf below. -. =-· ·· . . -· · · · · · . .-·.· ~-·.:::·.·,-_;'._ ~::··,:,_::: ;,i0:,~:: .:,,j,?':~.:~;J~,;,,:·~~~;:~Y'.t•-~f~c -~.-,~~f·?: :'. .. · ·' \_._. _·#-.... ~~f-<\:---~---.~-:-•·-··• ::.~--'."·· .. -.-::'~--··::~.~--~'-:-.~---:= ., ·:-. . · · _·;.:•r ~a·;~~:,:~::.::-·i:::ift{r*{;';~'.~~:§~i.·:~5t1~.·;~t;~~~f f .?ti\f,:; ::.'. .. ·_ • 1. lnteragency Coordination- The Executive Order directs the agencies to form an lnteragency Working Group (the 'Working Group; on environmental justice. President Clinton chose the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Carol M. Browner, to chair this group. EPA's Office of Environmental Justice has enabled the· Working Group to coordinate the diverse activities of the various federal agencies. The Working Group has met approximately monthly since May 1994, and has served as a resource and a clearinghouse for the agencies as they have worked to incorporate environmental justice principles into their programs and activities. In conjunction with the Working Group, ·several task forces were assembled to address the specific elements of the Executive Order. Task forces considered research and health issues, public outreach, data, enforcement and compliance. implementation issues, definitions and standards, interagency pilot projects, and Native American issues. Some of the current and anticipated efforts of the task forces include: • reports Of'.' including diverse populations in health studies, invoMng community members in designing environmental research strategies, protecting those who subsist on fish and wildlife, and addressing. environmental justice in the workplace; • the upcoming release of the first computer-accessible compilation of health, environmental, and geographic data available for use by grassroots environmental justice groups; and • the issuance of guidance to the agencies on how to develop and implement their environmental justice strategies, how to best form in~eragency partnerships, and how ·to consider environmental justice principres in conjunction with the National Environmental Policy Ad (NEPA). . The Executive . Qrder' directs the Working . Group to meet .... the public and: .i. <, .. _.: .· · -· · athe gesti sti __. Ila . • 191 . ---..:... .· . . --.. · :;:-.. ·-~:.;-. g r sug ~ q~-ons,: .... _co.~11!• on.Jnragency ••utw·on -~~~~:t~,=F,~~.,_·:·y_·;, environmental justice~ . 0n January 2b, 1995,· the Working Groi.q, held an . unprecedented public meetil 19 on environmental justice issues involving almost . every cabinet-level agency. Over 350 people from around the country met at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, in ~ forum meetings and one-on-one with agency officials to share their concerns regarding environmental jl IStice and to · _ provide specific suggestions on the agencies' strategies. The evening session was marked by an interactive televised working session on environmental justice hosted by former Georgia State Senator Julian ~ and broadcast by the Black College . Satellite Network. ·The broadcast reached an estimated 40 locations in the United · . . . . : -:--..-.. ·/ ·-..; ~: 4 ·. . ,. ---.. =-~-~ .. -_ .. ~--~--:~~~:•7-/~::t·\-~; .. ~--~:·.:~ ., . ---.. States and Puerto Rico. Throughout the evening, viewers called in questions on environmental justice to a panel of senior Administration officials. The meeting provided federal agency officials with a clear picture of the nationwide concern and -commitment to environmental justice. 2. Environment.al Justice Strategies . The Executive Order directs each federal agency to develop a strategy for implementing the principles of environmental justice into the agency's programs, policies. and activities. In developing -their ·strategies, agencies were directed to consider which of their programs or activities might be modified to: • promote enforcement of all health and environmental statutes in areas with minority populations and low-income populations; • ensure greater public participation in agency decisionmaking; • improve research and data collection relating to the health and environment of minority populations and low-income populations; and , • identify differential patterns of consumption of natural t"e$OUrces among minority populations and low-income populations. Each agency considered these issues in light of its own policies and programs. But the attached strategies reflect common themes: achieving environmental justice in federal programs; enhancing existing agency activities through consideration of environmental justice principles; and improving communication with low-income and minority· populations. i. Achieving Environmental Justice The Executive Order has been successful in helping agencies to identify- -current projects and generate new initiatives, often through interagency cooperation and coordination, that address negative environmental health impacts on minority . · · __ 7:~~~~-!r~'1.~~'.~~~~~#\~~~¢1.'~'.·;_: __ lead levels in children's bloodstreams.· VVhile this -issue, affects children from all · · · income levels and -housing types, children from low-income families, and families without easy access to safety infonnation are especially_ wlnerable. In response, HUD has provided grants to State and local governments to support public education, paint ~. risk assessments, and lead abatements. One· of HUD's most SL'COeSsful initiatives has involved training community members in· Hispanic and African American communities particularly _ affected by lead-based paint in various abatement techniques and _lead-based-paint hazard reduction. HUD has . . . . :--.... . 5 . . . ·.• .. : . . ·--_. -. ·-. -, ---...... --. -~ ... •l..• ... _... • - worked closely with EPA to coordinate lead-based paint• risk assessment and abatement strategies. EPA and HUD have also worked closely to encourage and enable the -cleanup and reuse of urban "brownfields." Brownfields are usually urban areas previously occupied by some type of industry and now contaminated. Cleaning up these sites promotes economic development and abates health hazards in those communities particularly in need and prevents contamination of as yet undeveloped "greenfields." EPA and HUD are currently engaged in a brownfields initiative - announced by Administrator Browner in January 1995. This ·initiative involves 50 pilot projects around the country in which federal resources will speed environmental cleanups and economic development in distressed urban cores. The first such project, in Cleveland, involved a $100,000 investment by EPA that generated $1.7 million in cleanup and 100 new jobs. The Superfund Medical Assistance Plan is another pilot project that exemplifies both the community focus of environmental justice and successful interagency cooperation. The project is a collaboration between EPA and HHS. The project involves four pilot communities where a Superfund hazardous waste site is located. Federal agency officials working with local residents and local health and environmental . institutions provide a coordinated response to the community's health- related needs and concerns. The Department of Transportation has established a •Liveable Communities" project that demonstrates how even agencies whose primary mission is not protection of human health and the environment can adopt environmental justice principles. One Liveable Communities initiative brought Oakland, California residents from the-predominantly Spanish-speaking_ neighborhood-of-Fruitdale into · the process of developing a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station for the neighborh~. The result is that residents wBI enjoy the development of a new _ BART station along with a number of needed community services, such as. a health clinic and police subslation, within easy access of the _ s&atior... · .. -Recognizing · ttiat the ~ g~ can milt. in achieving · _ · : . ::· · ~, . ,_ -< · e~ Jilllice_ • I 11'.i.lP ~ ~;.c11·as~)N.t:~b,~~of J•~"'-~:~·fg~y '.'· EPA are woi1dng together 1D • afoR::e environmental laws 1n· al communities, ·· -: ~' -· --:~ · · particularly low-income and minority communities. For example, EPA Region 111 · · recently conducted a study of existing · and proposed industrial faclities in and. · around Chester, Pennsylvania and 1t II in the precess of identifying enforcement opportunities. Chester has the highest COhC&i dJ ation of iicluatrial facilities . in Pennsylvania and also has the highest infant mortality rate, lowest birth rate, and among the highest'death nm due to certain malignant -tumors.._ ·EPA Region Iii .has .- already issued • number of field citations to underground ... tank owners in ~ . . ~nd around Chester. -· · . --. -. · -· ·:.--· • : ·: ' -:: c;· ·: ~~ · • --:· : -•.--', · _. · - 8 _ _. ' 0:~..:. >.::•~•}:{-· ;_f:.~ '-; :".!.:'-:<-~ ',_ ·/::~,'.. :· . · .. :} . _: . . ;-. . ,.:..:__ , -·"';, ~ ... ...c7::;:~:·: . ::..::.._~-c:_·;-~~:; __ ::·~·~--:-~ ,. -~-:··· _:. -,.. . .: : .- -_. _: -~:( ::.-_-... ·, ~-s#~A=~~f~~::>'.~~:~:-~:;~-~:~~@~2~~'\:-{s;~_---· ·_ Another major interagency initiative involves the Colonias, impoverished rural areas along the United States-Mexico border, characterized by poor housing, inadequate drainage, and substandard or no water and sewer facilities. HUD, EPA, and DOJ have formed a working group to develop an integrated financial and technical assistance plan for people in these areas. The agencies are working together to develop safe water sources and assist residents in economic development to provide a long-term remedy for these problems. In one of several agency projects .to address the environmental justice needs and concerns of Native Americans, DOD has initiated several demonstration projects to address Native Americans' aceess to, and maintenance of, traditional cultural properties located on DOD facilities. One project involves DOD working with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to provide access to traditional Creek properties on approximately 15_ military ba~es in the southeastern United States. These examples of agency and interagency projects demonstrate the federal government's commitment to carry out the mandate of President Clinton's Executive Order to identify and address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of federal government programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations. VVith the twenty-fifth anniversary of Earth Day in April 1995, it is appropriate for the federal government to renew its commitment to environmental justice principles and to consider what the next steps should be in carrying out the mandate of the Executive Order. ii. Enhancing Existing Activities The Ex~e Order has prompted agencies to develop effective internal mechanisms to ensure ·ttiat environmental concerns are addressed:--Many agencies have organized department-wide coordinating committees on environmental justice. These committees have served to educate agency staff on, and to coordinate.· agency responses to, environmental justice issues. Examples include the Department of Defense (DOD) Committee on Environmental Justice, the · Environmental Protection _ Agency (EPA) Executive Steering · Committee for _ _ Environmental Justice and. the Oepau b,.em _ of Energy'a ~ • CorrmiUN · ... _ . -· . : . ;. :··_, ·,. :. , comprised of fow' Secretarial Offlcerl. . ll-'~ work to ·ensure that tt,e':?~~~~!ac~~~:i:"~c':~ long-term goats of the agency are consistent with environme1 Ital justice~ · ·· · · A number of Cabinet Sea'etaries have issued directives on environmental justice. For example, Attorney General Janet Reno issued departmental guidance concerning environmental justice and directed depa. b,tet ital personnel to work to protect environm~ quality in all communities by providing -full : and fair enforcement of environmental,--Civil rights, civD, -~and caininal laws. Similarly, EPA Administrator Carol Browner has established environmental J&.1Stioi9-· • an · agency- wide priority that is to be inco~ into fNf1fY applcable agency prog~. ·. ·. l . --.. .... .... -··-· .. . . -. . . -· -· . 7 .:-, . ·-: .. ~ .. : :. . ,. . . . .. ---. -· ~ -~\-":" -!~ :~:--::·:::-.::~~--:-!,_: ...... .:.;_.:,:_;_-~:-_·· .. -·,. ---- iii. Improving Communication The Executive Order has-caused agencies to reconsider the way they communicate with communities affected by federal programs and to make effective public outreach to all communities an integral part of the way agencies do business. In addition to broad agency participation in the Atlanta meeting described above; each of the agencies has sought public comment specifically on their environmental justice strategies and has also established _ lasting channels of communication with the environmental justice community. For example, under the authority of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, EPA established the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (the "NEJAC"). The-members of the NEJAC, representing community leaders, academic institutions, environmental justice organizations, state, tribal, and local officials, and business leaders, have provided EPA with invaluable . assistance in developing its environmental justice strategy under the Executive Order. · Other agencies have also taken significant steps toward improving communication with low-income and minority populations. For instance, the Transportation Department sponsored a National Conference on Transportation. Social Equity, and Environmental Justice in Chicago on November 17 and 1-8, 1994. The conference brought together grassroots organizers with members of the Secretary of Transportation's staff and representatives from six other agencies to identify key transportation-related environmental and social issues of concern to individuals from low-income and minority neighborhoods. In February 1994, the Department of Health and Human Services · {HHS) held a landmark Symposium on Health Research and Needs to Ensure Environmental Justice. The event drew over · 1,000 participants· from community groups, academia, and the govemment and has helped to initiate a continuing partnership between HHS officials and leaders in the environmental justice movement. · CONCL~-~~==~~~k~~~-t~:£?tr-,' Agencies are currently in the f)roeess . of implementing ·the procedures: ---~: .-· · ·· · · · ··• , , --· Ill. projects, and initiatives outlined in their respective ·strategies. Each appears to have developed sufficient internal mechanisms to ensure tinely implementation of their strategies and adequate oversight and accountabifrty to ensure that potential failings of the strategies . are discovered and addressed., · Nonetheless, there remain significant dlallenges to sustained implementation· and pursuit of the goals of Executive Order 12898. These challenges stem ir:I part . from the nature of the agencies'· efforts to date .. As an initial matter, the sb ategies presented have a primary ~ ~ matters .9' prQCeSs. •~ as increasing · . -. ~ ··: ~ .. ---~-~----:--..:.:-.,~.:-~.~-·~---~ ---=·--~-. J :~··~· :-~ .. --.~ :·- ·--·. 8 . ~ . --~ .;_ ::---~· '• . / . -· . --. - outreach to affected communities and revising the architecture of internal management and decisionmaking to incorporate environmental justice concerns. By contrast, there is less emphasis on discrete, concrete actions that will specifically address ·the needs of particular communities in the near· term. There is also continuing suspicion among affected communities that, in a climate of diminishing agency resources, attention to environmental justice will be among the first casualties of budgetary pressure and agency streamlining. This skepticism is fed by current efforts to curtail or eliminate programs vital to the lives of communities concerned with environmental .justice, ranging from school lunch programs to safe drinking water funds. These chaUenges must be kept in perspective. The emphasis on process in the effort to date has been valuable because improvements in outreach and the policymaking structure will help agencies be more responsive and accountable. Moreover, a number of agencies have already taken effective, concrete actions to aid communities that have suffered disproportionate exposure to environmental harm. EPA and HHS are to be particularly commended in this regard, as illustrated in the EPA brownfields initiative and accompanying efforts to deliver· medical · · services and collect epidemiological data in communities affected by brownfields sites. The concern that attention to the issue of environmental justice will diminish underscores the need for a set of performance milestones that are concrete, well- defined, and achievable within nine to -twelve months. By its terms, the Executive Order calls for a second report to the President following the second year of implementation. At that time, we recommend that each agency covered by the Executive Order be required to submit as its report the following: • a summary of the agency's success to that point in implementing the Executive 0n:1er;· • · a limited · set of discrete, concrete agency actions that have been completed and that wll have concrete benefits for affected . _·. ~~:;i~~i?~:~~-~~~~~;~7:~~~:~~~f <~.•;_~+~:t~~:fi.~-~~;~,~~;>-,~~w~_jf7~f .. 4':~~:,. • a limited set of discrete, concrete agency actions that are piamied for' + .. !:; .·· · ,.: the subsequent year.· · This focused requirement for 1he second report should help sustain and strengthen the agency effort exhibited thus far, while establishing an expectation that this effort will achieve results that wiD have immediacy and importance to the lives of communities that have had · to bear more than their share of environmental hazards. Accordingly, we ask you to 8PPrQY9 this further directive to guide the agencies as they enter what should be a second year ·of succes1 iri ~-and addressing issues of~ ~- ·• ·.':, .· -7:::-·.:. _:_,::., ~~:;:;;__:',::: :·. -~"::·:,:·j.~:<· :. :.-:-<~:::.:.:,:,:i ·< ...