The environmental justice program was held from February to May of 2018 consisting of 13 interns reflecting on environmental issues within the different communities from which they come from. Every Saturday the interns and selected facilitators met to discuss the different aspects of what agencies such as the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) do within the community and participated in modules that magnified ways that an individual can become a environmental activist for their area. At the completion of the program a certificate was received for active participation and knowledge of EPA general activities with a $500 stipend.
Intro to the Program
The program started with a simple introduction to what environmental justice is and how injustices of the environment affect our communities. The purpose of environmental justice is to insure the fair treatment and involvement of all people from a wide range of backgrounds particularly low-income and indigenous populations in the environmental decision-making process. Each module discussed the different aspects of the environmental justice process from community involvement to grant writing to fund a specific program aim to make the community habitable.
At the beginning of the program we set objectives that was necessary to be qualified as a activist that fully understands what is important to fight injustices. These objectives consisted of understanding the programs mission and purpose, benefits, requirements, environmental laws and regulations that impact underserved communities, history of environmental justice, mapping and screening tool called EJSCREEN, and grant writing. In our first module we discussed what exactly environmental justice is and how it affects our community with topics of what we as individuals see going on in our communities that needs to be addressed. We also discussed the history of environmental justice and how the EPA was created which I will elaborate more on later within the report.
There are seven collaborative problem-solving techniques that can be applied to a injustice, which are 1- identification community vision and strategic goal setting, 2- community capacity-building and leadership, 3- consensus building and dispute resolution, 4- multi-stakeholder partnership and leveraging of resources, 5- constructive engagement by relevant, 6- sound management and implementation, 7- evaluation lesson learned and replication of best practices. Each technique within the model can be broken down to solve each issue identified through a step by step process.
The first technique on the model involves identifying the problem, such as air pollution; envisioning possible solutions; and then setting goals to achieve those solutions (1). “The second technique is used for community capacity-building, which is finding a way to provide interested groups such as residents with the skills, information, and resources they need to achieve their goals” (1). “The third technique entails consensus building and dispute resolution, which means finding effective ways of making group decisions, involving all appropriate groups and, when necessary, resolving disagreements” (1). This is perhaps one of the most complex and challenging elements in the CPS Model (1). “The fourth technique involves groups partnering on a issue from different backgrounds and using the resources available to leverage a solution. The fifth technique calls for an active, supportive role by other stakeholders, such as businesses, academia, civic organizations, and all levels of government.
These relevant noncommunity stakeholder groups can play an important role in participating and assisting in the collaborative partnership” (1). “The sixth element involves developing sound organization and community conditions. management to produce results. This means developing and carrying out work plans with clear goals and a clear timeframe and giving responsibilities to various people. This technique also involves choosing who will be a leader, spokesperson, or decisionmaker within each group” (1). “The seventh technique calls for reviewing the lessons learned over time and deciding what is working or not working” (1).
History of Environmental Justice
The environmental justice movement started because individuals, mainly African Americans, wanted to address issues of the protection of the environment within the communities they lived in. It was in the 1960’s that the civil rights movement kicked off the public health dangers in the poor communities. The first national broad group of African Americans to address an environmental injustice pertaining to Memphis, TN sanitation workers was on February 11, 1968 investigated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (2). The second nonviolent protest would be considered the catalyst of the environmental justice movement where 500 environmentalist and civil right activist protested a PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) landfill in Warren County, NC September 1982 (2). The first-time race, class, and environmental issues was discussed on a nation level was the study done by the United Church of Christ Commission on racial justices.
This study found that millions of African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians lived where at least one abandoned or uncontrolled waste site was located (2). In the month of July 1990, the EPA administrator created the Environmental Equity Workgroup that address the high environmental risk subjected to poor and minority communities (2).
The 17 Principles of Environmental Justice was created to establish a clear understanding of the rights of those in risk areas. The office of environmental equity was established in November 1992 and later changed in 1994 to what we know today as the office of environmental justice (OEJ) (2). During this time the environmental justice small grant program was established to fund organizations building partnerships to combat injustices in the community and public health that will create solutions to these issues (2).
Identifying Environmental Injustices Within a Community
One of our modules consisted of identifying some of the environmental injustices of the communities that we come from. I looked at the surrounding areas of Sumter and the problems with deforestation in the area that causes animals to breach into neighborhoods because their natural habitat has been exposed and the air pollution caused by factories such as Pilgrims pride that constantly pushes out pollution into the air. The site of Pilgrims Pride is in the area of poor neighborhoods exposing them to the foul smell of air pollution. Areas such as Flint Michigan are prime examples of environmental injustices due to the toxic water coming from pipes. The city is poor and nearly forgotten by the government when the issue with drinking water could have been solved if the proper funds would be applied.
After we conjoined each other’s community injustices we applied the seven collaborative problem-solving techniques to see how we could fix these issues. Linking with other environmental activist to insure every detail is looked at creates a partnership that can improve the betterment of the community. As explained by one of the facilitators from an environmental group in Florence, SC it is better to connect with those that already have a presence in your community because it’s more likely to receive a grant for approaching issues than starting from scratch.
Grant Writing Workshop
As we neared the end of the internship, we began to discuss how to prepare a grant request proposal and ways of going about receiving one. The environmental justice small grant program is way that groups can get funded for small projects to better the community that range from clean air to trash elimination projects. The EPA will fund of to $50,000 to each group that fills out an application. The process consists of each applicant being able to establish and build a collaborative partnership, identify local environmental and public health issues, and to have solutions that will empower the community through education, training and outreach (3). The applicant must be a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization or a non-profit organization recognized by the state that it is within (3).
The program is not a site to collect money then start your project you must have already established a relationship with the community and initiated a start point with progress towards the goal. Below is an example of a grant proposal snippet from red lodge clearinghouse.
Grant Example:
“Grantee: Sonoran Environmental Research Institute, Arizona
Amount: $25000
Purpose: SERI seeks to increase the capacity of the community of Ambos Nogales to understand and address a variety of environmental risks in their neighborhood, while working to collaboratively develop risk prevention and reduction measures. This project will train a group of community women on environmental issues, in addition to developing tools to identify high risk sources, prevention/compliance measures, and a community-based plan for emergency response. SERI will also promote community-wide awareness, create a partnership between the neighborhood team and industry to address risks, and use the new partnership to develop a strategic plan to reduce risks and improve public health. An evaluation will take place throughout the project with a final report at the end.”
