Environmental Justice FY2017 Progress Report - …

1 Environmental JusticeFY2017 Progress ReportBlank Page Environmental Justice FY2017 Progress Report 3 Environmental PROTECTION AGENCY Environmental Justice FY2017 Progress Report TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .. 5 INTRODUCTION .. 7 SECTION I DELIVERING REAL RESULTS IN AIR, WATER AND LAND .. 8 MEASURABLE Environmental OUTCOMES Fine Particle Air Pollution , Small Community Drinking Water Systems, Tribal Drinking Water Systems .. 8 AIR.. 9 Diesel Emission Reduction Act Programs and Environmental Justice Communities .. 10 Near-Port Community Capacity Building .. 12 Asthma Control and Healthy DRINKING WATER .. 14 Drinking Water Measures and Office of Water Program Activities .. 14 Regional Highlight .. 16 LAND .. 17 Brownfields Program .. 17 Omaha Lead Superfund Site .. 18 Fort Peck Indian Reservation Community Projects.

2 19 SECTION II COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM .. 21 STATES .. 22 Lawrence, Massachusetts .. 22 Navassa, North Carolina .. 23 Alexandria/Pineville, Louisiana .. 23 Performance Partnership Agreement in Virginia .. 23 Identifying and Disseminating Best Practices .. 24 Partnering with States to Empower Communities to Participate in the Regulatory Process .. 24 TRIBES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES .. 25 Fort Berthold Indian Reservation .. 25 Efforts with State Recognized Tribes and Indigenous Peoples .. 25 LOCAL GOVERNMENT .. 26 Detroit, Michigan .. 26 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT .. 27 Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice .. 27 Brownfields to Healthfields .. 28 National Environmental Policy Act .. 29 CHILDHOOD LEAD DISPARITIES .. 30 DISASTER RESPONSE .. 32 SECTION III RULE OF LAW AND FAIR PROCESS .. 33 ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE .. 33 Enforcement and Compliance: Advancing, Sustaining, and Innovating on EJ Environmental Justice FY2017 Progress Report 4 National Enforcement Initiatives.

3 33 Geographic Community-Focus Enforcement Initiatives .. 33 SCIENCE .. 34 Air .. 34 Water .. 35 Land ..36 Health Disparities .. 36 Tribal Science Grants .. 37 Tools and Research to Facilitate Community Action .. 37 EJSCREEN .. 37 Environmental Justice AND CIVIL RIGHTS COORDINATION .. 39 SECTION IV BUILDING COMMUNITY CAPACITY AND ENGAGEMENT .. 40 NATIONAL Environmental Justice ADVISORY COUNCIL .. 41 Environmental Justice GRANTS .. 41 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 42 URBAN WATERS .. 43 OFFICE OF SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES .. 44 EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT .. 45 THE NATIONAL Environmental Justice HOTLINE .. 45 TRAINING .. 46 Empowering Government Partners and Communities to Achieve Better Environmental and Health Outcomes .. 46 Empowering Communities, Tribes and Indigenous Peoples to Enhance Meaningful Engagement .. 46 Empowering Communities to Obtain and Leverage Resources.

4 47 Environmental Justice AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS .. 48 CONCLUSION: MOVING FORWARD .. 49 Mention of trade names, products, or services does not convey official EPA approval, endorsement, or recommendation. Environmental Justice FY2017 Progress Report 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of its Office of Environmental Justice , EPA s Environmental Justice FY2017 Progress Report highlights the considerable ongoing Environmental Justice (EJ) work that continues throughout the Agency. Its focus on demonstrating tangible results in minority, low-income, tribal and indigenous communities affirms through action how deeply Environmental Justice is ingrained in EPA s fabric. The Report illustrates the meaningful and impactful work that EPA staff are doing every day and how we can build on them to achieve more for the nation s most vulnerable communities.

5 It focuses on four themes: (1) delivering Environmental results; (2) cooperative federalism; (3) rule of law and fair process; and (4) building community capacity and engagement. Environmental ResultsEPA identified significant national EJ challenges and reported measurable Environmental outcomes for them. These measure were: Fine Particle Air Pollution ( ) In United States (US) counties with monitors, the percentageof the low-income population in the US living in areas in attainment for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards increased from 43% in 2006-2008 (baseline period) to 92% in 2014-2016. This is a significant improvement in helping low-income populations breathe cleaner air. Small Community Drinking Water Small community drinking water systems with repeat health-basedviolations decreased from to nationally in FY2017 , from 754 to 326 systems.

6 Tribal Drinking Water People living in Indian County served by drinking water systems meeting allapplicable health-based standards increased from to in FY2017 . The number of systems out of compliance decreased from 92 to 65. Examples of tangible Environmental benefits for overburdened and underserved communities included: Percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels in the area around the Omaha Lead SuperfundSite reduced from 25% in 1999 to in 2017; $ million in water infrastructure technical assistance awarded nationally; 38 out of 44 small public drinking water systems in exceedance of lead standards and 31 out of 181such systems in exceedance of arsenic standards were returned to compliance in the Pacific Southwest; 312 Brownfields grants totaling $ million, representing $ in additional benefits leveragedper dollar spent; and Improved air quality around ports, rail yards and freight distribution centers through Diesel EmissionsReduction Act program grants totaling $ FederalismEPA s partnerships with state, local, tribal governments and other federal agencies produced tangible benefits for the nation s underserved and overburdened communities that included: Over $1 million in state, local and EPA Brownfields funding awarded to the City of Lawrence, MA; Community visioning to shape reuse plans for the Kerr-McGee Superfund Site in Navassa, NC; Supporting Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality s regulatory oversight of creosotingfacilities in Alexandra and Pineville, LA; Assisting Detroit, MI, to comprehensively achieve Environmental quality and economic revitalization inits recovery from municipal bankruptcy.

7 Facilitating health care, economic advancement and Environmental Progress in communities with federalinteragency and stakeholder partnerships through Brownfields to Healthfields efforts; and Deploying hundreds of EPA staff in response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Environmental Justice FY2017 Progress Report 6 Cooperative efforts aimed at building EJ capacity within partner agencies involved: Identifying best practices on community involvement and equity in state permitting programs ( Environmental Council of the States Report ), training communities on how to participate in regulatory processes (Clean Air Act training), and incorporating EJ in joint planning (Virginia Performance Partnership Agreement); Strengthened consideration of EJ in the National Environmental Policy Act review process and sharing lessons on collaboration through the federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice .

8 And Working with 11 federal departments and agencies and 6 White House offices to harness their expertise and resources through the development of a federal inventory of lead programs Key Federal Programs to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures and Eliminate Associated Health Impacts. 3. Rule of Law and Fair Process Enforcement and Compliance EPA s enforcement and compliance program focused on sustaining Progress in integrating EJ into all parts of the enforcement life cycle. It compiled important summary national enforcement results related to EJ, three of which are below. In addition, cooperative efforts with states represent new opportunities for EPA s EJ efforts with enforcement. This was illustrated by EPA Region 9 s participation in California EPA s Environmental Justice enforcement initiative, which focused on East and West Oakland, and Pomona in FY2017 .

9 Enforcement Actions National Total Number in Areas with Potential EJ Concerns Percent in Areas with Potential EJ Concerns Final Administrative Penalty Orders 1,259 457 36% Supplemental Environmental Projects 94 42 45% Estimated Environmental Benefits Pollutants Reduced, Treated, or Eliminated (millions of pounds) 217 77 35% Science EPA strengthened the foundational link between EPA science and the needs of underserved and overburdened communities, in areas of air, water, land, health disparities, and in tribal science grants. Coordination between EJ and Civil Rights Programs EPA s two-pronged effort included: (1) investigation of complaints filed with EPA pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and (2) training and technical assistance to 38 states, as well as local agencies and tribes, across all ten EPA Regions, on how to proactively address their civil rights obligations.

10 EJSCREEN EPA continued engagement around EJSCREEN, a tool to further integrate EJ in the Agency s work, and updated it to include a revised surface water data layer and other enhancements. 4. Building Community Capacity and Engagement EPA maintained a comprehensive program to ensure engagement with and build capacity within communities, including: Providing recommendations to the EPA Administrator and lifting up community, tribal and state voices through the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council; Providing financial and technical assistance through 36 EJ Grants totaling $ million, the Urban Waters Small Grants program, the Technical Assistance Services to Communities program, the Office of Sustainable Communities and EPA s work on equitable development; Training by EPA Regions and programs on issues such as lead exposure, grant writing and leveraging resources, and on the Policy on Environmental Justice for Working with Federally Recognized Tribes and Indigenous Peoples.