2001 EPA Community Involvement Conference and Training
Agenda

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM

Conference Registration

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Plenary Session: Welcome • Keynote Presentation • EPA's Public Participation Policy • Organize Open Time

Betty Williamson, U.S. EPA, Region 6 welcomed everyone, and relayed apologies from the Mayor who was detained. She thanked Cheryl Malina and Anita Schmidt for serving as co-chairs of the conference.

Keynote Speaker – Robert J. Huston, Chairman, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. He spoke about expanding the framework of community involvement and public participation from the Texas perspective. He sees two essential roles in shaping public involvement public policy and that many different communities have a common interest to these two questions. First, asking the question “what is the nature of community involvement?” And second, “how is it effective?” His perspective was that community involvement is not about making demands and leaving, but more like the United Nations in its quest for balance, compromise and solutions. One of the solutions Texas has chosen is to structure the organization to assist in community involvement. They are committed to the concept of community involvement to the extent that they have established an Office of Public Interest within their organizational structure. They also assisted in the formation of the Alamo Area Council of Governments and the Resource Committee which has several subcommittees that provide a venue for region wide input. In the final analysis, the Chairman determined that community involvement also depended on leadership that was not afraid to take risks. He closed with a rare definition of involvement from the Oxford dictionary that was mathematical in nature. Involvement would “empower to the highest level” mathematically represented as “a + x(multiplied) = involved⁵.” The Chairman answered questions from the audience. The first question was about the problems associated with building trust inherent to representing the federal or state government. He replied that there are only two things that government must do over a period of time to earn trust – Have an open process and be consistent. The analysis should be done in an open manner where the decisions are made and explained openly and this must be obvious to the public and worked on daily.

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM

Break

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Concurrent Sessions

A Model Cooperative Partnership: Dickinson County, Kansas, Water Improvement Program
Presented by: David Gurss, Dickinson County Water Improvement Program

Formed in 1997 in response to high nitrate levels in the Sand Springs Aquifer, the Dickinson County Water Improvement Program is funded by an EPA 319 grant to the City of Abilene. The Program’s project administrator, David Gurss, is directed by a joint city/county board and is located in the county conservation district/NRCS office. This session discusses how this cooperative arrangement has helped gain community-wide support for several projects coordinated by the Program. Part of the discussion will focus on the public education program. The Program received a State of Kansas Pollution Prevention (P2) award in 2000 in the category of “education/communication.”

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(3.57MB/PDF)

A Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Residents' Physical Environment in Eastside and Southwest Detroit, Michigan: A Case Study of a Participatory Public Health Evaluation and Intervention
Presented by: Stephanie Farquhar, University of North Carolina; Erminia Ramirez, Community Health and Social Services

This session will consider multiple methods of assessing urban blight and deterioration [e.g., vacant lots, illegal dump sites, abandoned factories, odors] by including community residents in the evaluation design, data collection, and analysis. The case study is drawn from an NIEHS/EPA-funded program in Detroit, Michigan. Presentation goals include familiarizing session participants with 1) the principles of community-based participatory public health research; 2) multiple methods of assessing environmental stressors; 3) the benefits and challenges of involving community members; and 4) specific “best practices” and “lessons learned” during the one-year assessment and intervention design. Session participants will be encouraged to share their experiences with community involvement and mobilization efforts. The participants also will contribute to a “physical environment assets mapping” exercise to learn to apply the tools learned during the session to his/her own community.

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(0.36MB/PDF)

Computer Graphics that Build Confidence and Communicate Expertise: Lessons Learned at the Capitol City Plume Site in Montgomery, Alabama
Presented by: Mary Wenska, Black & Veatch Special Projects Corporation; Humberto Guzman, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This presentation demonstrates the power of using computer technology (3-D modeling), along with innovative meeting techniques, to present site information to a highly sensitive (politically charged) community. The City of Montgomery has ambitious plans for downtown redevelopment, all of which could be jeopardized if the area is listed as a Superfund site. Using innovative computer graphics, coupled with meetings, such as breakfast presentations to the Chamber of Commerce, EPA told the community (business, civic and government officials) about the site investigation, investigation results, and plans for future site activities. This approach not only provided information in a format and forum that suited community needs, it underscored EPA’s technical expertise and encouraged cooperation to address site issues.

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(3.41MB/PDF)

Community Involvement in the Adoption of New Approaches in Environmental Protection
Presented by: Jori Copeland, Office of Water, Leslie Leahy, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, Susan McDowell, Region 3, and Angela Nugent, Science Advisory Board, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Panelists will discuss the developments resulting from David Gershon’s opening keynote presentation on the Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign (SLC) at last year’s Community Involvement Conference in San Francisco. The SLC, a program adopted by eight localities across the nation, is a delivery system that empowers individuals to choose environmentally friendly behaviors. The session will begin with an introduction of SLC and how SLC helps EPA reach its goals. Next, a summary will be presented about how the SLC began in Philadelphia and its current status. This will be followed by a discussion of the need for EPA to adopt innovative approaches like the SLC and a presentation of the activities of the Environmental Behavior Change Workgroup to integrate EPA’s program goals into the SLC. The session concludes with a facilitated discussion of panelists and participants.

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(0.89MB/PDF)

Opportunities for Small Communities to Be Involved in EPA Rulemaking
Presented by: Hamilton Brown, National Center for Small Communities; Stuart Miles-McLean, OPEI/RMS, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Deborah Rosenbloom, National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration; and C. Thomas McCully, Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Often small communities simply have to make the best of new rules, because they had no chance to shape the rules or offer ideas for achieving benefits at minimum cost. Now there are early opportunities for small communities to learn about and voice concerns on rules affecting them. The Small Community Outreach Project for the Environment and the Small Town and Rural Outreach Program inform communities about upcoming rules and empower small town leaders to improve their communities’ environmental performance. Also, under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, interagency panels solicit input from small communities and recommend mitigating strategies to EPA’s Administrator.

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(0.49MB/PDF)

The Three E's: Enable, Empower, and Encourage Partnerships and Effective Leadership for Environmental Action
Presented by: Noemi Emeric, Region 5, and Charles Lee, Office of Environmental Justice, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Blair Forlaw, East-West Gateway Coordinating Council

The panelists will discuss how EPA and other federal agencies through community-based, environmental justice and community involvement initiatives can address community concerns using the three E’s—Enable, Empower, and Encourage. The three E’s are used to promote environmental action in environmental justice communities. The panelist will explore and discuss the successful partnering and outreach/education initiatives in Region 5 and through two of the sixteen environmental justice demonstration pilots awarded across the nation. More specifically, the panelists will discuss “how” through effective leadership and project management the Region and the Environmental Justice pilots significantly increased community participation in outreach/education efforts by developing and implementing an innovative partnership with stakeholders at every level to not only initiate, but implement collaborative projects. The innovative approach will be discussed from a best practices/lessons learned perspective to provide the audience with a “how to” when working with environmental justice communities. The “how to” will focus on project management roles, skills, and techniques which should be considered when working with partners (i.e. residents, academia, environmental groups, non-profits, businesses, industry, media, and state/local government) to implement the three E’s and form a sustaining, collaborative group. In addition, community partners who were involved in the process will discuss their perspective of what it takes to establish effective leadership and how EPA and other federal agencies can have the most impact when working in environmental justice communities. Lastly the panelists will summarize examples/case studies from two cities where the three E’s were implemented and effective leadership was initiated and sustained by governmental agencies and community-based groups.

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(2.78MB/PDF)

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Lunch

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Concurrent Sessions

A Community Government
Presented by: Shawna Chandler, PPM Consultants; Thelma Manley; Keith Wilkins, Escambia County, FL

In Escambia County, people have banded together into strong neighborhood committees to ask for cleanup, for parks, for jobs, for clean industries, and for support to bring the entire neighborhood back. Escambia County, in cooperation with the stakeholders, has created a model Brownfields community outreach program.

After developing a committee of resources, the County assessed how to get information to the community. Initially, the County advertised meetings in the paper, held meetings during lunch time, used the civic center meeting rooms, and made computer presentations. Although the plans sounded great, community residents never attended the events. The County went back to the drawing board and began to hold night meetings in churches, community centers, and neighborhoods; went door to door; worked with the churches to provide bus transportation and childcare services during the meetings; and listened to what residents were saying.

Next, the County began to hire people from the community, using the community outreach portion of the Brownfield budget, to conduct resident and business surveys, give Brownfield presentations throughout their neighborhoods, create Brownfield basic brochures, and go door to door with personal invites to the meetings. Everyone was asked about their willingness to participate, not only with the surveys and meetings, but as a part of something bigger, a group tapping into any and all resources associated with bringing back their neighborhood.

Conducting Effective Focus Groups
Presented by: Daniel Holcomb, Centers for Disease Control

Conducting focus groups and roundtable discussions seem like daunting tasks to some, but can actually be fun! Methods, techniques, tips and tricks for conducting effective community focus groups to obtain meaningful feedback from community groups and individuals will be shared and demonstrated by use of audience participation, handouts and group discussion. Participants will be asked to share what works and does not work with each other, and to suggest references that they have used to improve their use of these techniques.

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(0.96MB/PDF)

Coordination and Cooperation: Keys to a Successful Project (State and Federal Government Working Hand-in-Hand)
Presented by: Ginny Narsate, Region 5, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Lynn Stone, Illinois Department of Public Health; Michelle Tebrugge, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency; and Kevin Turner, Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge

“Dioxin Contamination and Lead Found in Residential Murphysboro..” Alarming, disconcerting, and “scary” news when you are a homeowner asked to evacuate your home right before the Christmas holiday season. An innocent citizen’s complaint of a trucking company emptying a water barrel’s contents onto the ground resulted in a time of fear, concern, disruption, confusion, and sadness for the Murphysboro community. Fortunately, the United States and Illinois Environmental Protection Agencies, the Illinois Department of Public Health, and the local health officials worked together and with the City of Murphysboro to ensure timely and accurate information was available for citizens. Presentations by community involvement representatives from federal and state agencies will offer insight into their respective roles in the evacuation of homes and excavation of hazardous waste in a mobile home park located in southern Illinois. The coordination of community outreach techniques and the cooperation of all agencies involved provided two-way communication and an information exchange between homeowners and governmental agencies that was both meaningful and expeditious. This discussion will present the benefits and value of not only working with the public but also with counterparts at different governmental agencies. A case study will be provided to illustrate the various techniques employed by the various agencies and how coordination of these techniques contributed to the success of this time-critical removal project. A question and answer period will follow the formal presentations.

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(0.98MB/PDF)

Protecting Drinking Water—A Workbook for Tribes: Effective Approaches for Implementing Population-Specific Education Programs
Presented by: Gary Hansen, Colorado River Indian Tribes; and Rita Schmidt Sudman and Glenn Totten, Water Education Foundation

Indian Tribes face many of the same environmental problems as do other communities, including the need to protect sources of drinking water. Source water assessment and protection programs are mandatory for states, but Tribes are only "encouraged" by federal law to undertake these programs. With extensive involvement of numerous Tribes, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Water Education Foundation developed a workbook under an EPA grant to help Tribes build source water programs that are suited to their needs and resources. This session will present and review the workbook and describe how it can be used by Tribes to build source water programs. Additional material about the Tribal drinking water workbook and other information on water issues is available at the Water Education Foundation's website, www.watereducation.org.

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(0.57MB/PDF)

Some are Weatherwise
Presented by: Stuart Hill, Region 5, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Rod Turpin and Suzanne Wells, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Ben Franklin once said, “Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise.” The goal of the EPA’s Environmental Response Team’s Weather Information Program (WIP) is to help students across the country become “weatherwise”, and at the same time, implement an emergency weather communication network to alert Superfund site managers of extreme weather conditions that may adversely impact site cleanup activities and/or occupational/public health. The goal of this session is to introduce this environmental education tool to others across EPA so more schools can be added to the network.

Weather can greatly impact site cleanup activities. For example, high winds can blow particulates into neighboring yards, and make waste removal activities inadvisable on windy days. This session will show how the students at the 15 schools participating in WIP learn how weather impacts site cleanups, and about standard meteorological terms and equipment. The session will demonstrate how students submit information to WIP over the Internet, and in the process help protect their community during extreme weather conditions. The presenters will describe the difficulties in getting “champions” at the schools to take ownership for submitting information to EPA, the techniques that can be used to make it easier for the schools to participate in the program, and the follow-up needed with the schools to ensure the program operates successfully.

Three Community Involvement Success Stories: The Value of Community Participation in Environmental Decision-Making
Presented by: Michael Fernandez, Oregon State University; Patty Imperia, Kiwanis Park Neighborhood Association; Melissa Vargas, Garden Valley Community Association; and Al White, Oregon State Penitentiary Community Group

EPA stresses the importance of community involvement in its environmental decision-making processes as a means of enhancing these processes. This panel discussion will provide perspectives of three community leaders on how to maximize the benefits of community participation. In particular, each will discuss how community involvement can produce decisions that are more protective of human health and the environment and more congruent with the views of the affected public. Each community leader will provide a brief history of his/her project involvement, factors making this involvement successful, and benefits, both to agencies and the public, resulting from that involvement.

3:00 PM - 3:15 PM

Break

3:15 PM - 4:45 PM Concurrent Sessions

Building a Community Coalition to Characterize and Affect Levels of Hazardous Air Pollutants: The St. Louis Community Air Project
Presented by: Emily Andrews, St. Louis Association of Community Organization; Fernando Serrano, St. Louis University; and David Doyle and James Hirtz, Region 7, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

In response to concerns expressed by residents of the City of St. Louis, EPA Region 7 has developed and is implementing a process to involve community members in a collaborative effort to identify and reduce risks associated with hazardous air pollutants in their community. Session participants will learn about the application of such tools as risk communication and risk management, community organizing, surveys, focus groups, coalition building and other community involvement techniques. Participants also will hear firsthand of the on-going successes and lessons learned in applying such tools. In learning these tools and techniques, session participants will be better prepared to successfully apply such a process in their own communities.

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(1.80MB/PDF)

Community Outreach & Involvement in Supplemental Environmental Projects
Presented by: Charlie Atherton, Community Member; and Kara McKoy Belle, Teresa Cooks, Tony Robledo, and Gloria Moran, Region 6, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Compliance Assurance and Enforcement Division within EPA Region 6 has launched new efforts toward reaching out and involving residents in Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP). During this presentation, examples of successful tools used to educate and involve residents will be presented.
The panel will discuss:
· How community SEP ideas are brought into the negotiation process;
· SEPs that have directly affected citizens, including lessons learned;
· SEP Initiative;
· SEP website; and
· Community SEP ideas.

Creating Community Involvement for Water Quality Improvement
Presented by: Sheree Stewart, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

The Oregon Drinking Water Protection Program is structured around citizen involvement at the local level. In fact, it is a required element (through state rules) of developing an approved Oregon drinking water protection plan for any size community. It is a required element because the success of the program is dependent upon citizen engagement in efforts to protect their local sources of drinking water. Public water system operators and government agency staff simply cannot affect change without this citizen involvement. Through workshops and presentations over the past four years, significant issues have been raised through direct feedback from Oregon citizens. The specific suggestions and insights from the public will be highlighted in this presentation.

This presentation also will focus on the answers to several key questions: 1) Why is community involvement absolutely essential to our efforts of improving and protecting water quality? 2) How do you motivate change? 3) What motivates community members to get involved? 4) What values and interest-generating principles might we use to engage the public’s interest in this issue? and 5) What new perspectives and environmental education tools can be used to promote interest in water quality and create behavioral changes? In discussing the answers to these questions, several technical issues will be covered which make community involvement essential in achieving water quality improvements and protection, such as contaminant risks and reporting limits. This presentation will incorporate two Oregon case studies to illustrate how certain tools were successful in motivating community involvement and affecting change in behavior at the local level. Some of the techniques that will be discussed to generate public interest and commitment, include media articles, flyers, “peer appeals”, field trips, festivals, and presentations to the local community citizens.

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(0.33MB/PDF)

Making Brownfields Cleanup and Economic Redevelopment Work for Everyone in an Underused/ Underserved Neighborhood
Presented by: Timothy Beeble and Denis Patterson, City of Stamford; Linda C. Marinilli Kristal, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The City of Stamford received a $500,000 grant from EPA to implement a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) Program to spark cleanup of Brownfields sites, and promote economic redevelopment and revitalization. Many cities are still working to make their first loan, while Stamford has two agreements in place. One reason the Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment works in the city of Stamford is that all parties understood the need for federal, state, and city staff to actively participate in the community in order to better comprehend community needs, and to fully understand government programs and know where these programs could be most effective.

Reaching Beyond the "Choir:" Targeting "Hard-to-Reach" Groups Through Creative Multimedia Education and Outreach
Presented by: Gayle Marriner-Smith, EcoVision, Inc

This session is an instructional case study of two innovative multimedia efforts utilized by the award-winning Peconic Estuary Program’s education/outreach campaign to reach and shift the behavior of those environmentally disinclined within the watershed community. This colorfully descriptive presentation incorporates humor into the “lessons learned” during the creation and running of a multi-faceted Children’s Conference, as well as the production of The Bay Show a monthly news magazine with call-in segments on local access television. The presenter will also lead the audience in brainstorming sessions in an effort to support them in thinking “outside-the-box” when developing education/outreach campaigns.

The Wonderful Works of the Woolfolk Alliance
Presented by: Mario Villamarzo, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This presentation shows how an alliance brought together the community of Ft. Valley, GA. The presentation will focus on community involvement before the Woolfolk Alliance was formed in Ft. Valley as well as the major changes that occurred after the alliance was established. The change in EPA’s public outreach and community involvement approach that occurred because of the alliance also will be discussed. The goal of this session is to show that bringing a community together as a team gives them a much larger voice and enables them to better participate in the Superfund decision making process. Community members from the Woolfolk Alliance also will participate on a “Question and Answer” panel. These community panelists will answer questions about the community and give their view of EPA’s actions and the Woolfolk Alliance. Through this interactive discussion, lessons learned will be discussed, both from the government perspective as well as the community’s. Although community members may not always get along, they have learned to work together through the alliance to make decisions that impact the entire community. Session participants will be able to learn the value of alliances from this success story and possibly apply those lessons to other segregated communities.

4:45 PM - 6:00 PM

Open Time

6:00 PM

Reception

7:30 AM - 9:00 AM

Plenary Session (Breakfast Buffet): Keynote by Robert Potts, The Nature Conservancy-Texas Chapter • Open Time Announcements

Anita Schmidt introduced Ronnie Crossland, Deputy Branch Chief, EPA Region 6 who introduced the keynote speaker.

Keynote Speaker – Robert Potts, Director, The Nature Conservancy-Texas Chapter. Director Potts discussed the evolution of the Nature Conservancy, which is currently celebrating its 50-year anniversary. During the he first 25 years, he explained, the Nature Conservancy believed the best science, acquisition of a habitat and a fence would achieve their mission of conserving wildlife. They have since learned that a small fenced piece of isolated land doesn’t work well. In the last 10 years they have made a concerted effort to involve the entire community by taking a larger landscape view. Director Potts likened the tenuous balance required for community involvement to the three-legged stool needed for a high quality life. The legs are a healthy economy, a healthy environment and a strong community. Director Potts also discussed community-based conservation efforts. He used Davis Mountains as an example of a community in which they had an initial support of 20% or less. The organization acted consistently and used proven community involvement tools. One of their biggest successes was to move an employee of the Nature Conservancy into the community. The employee focused on informal communication within the many community organizations. He became the human face of the organization. Currently, community support for The Nature Conservancy in the Davis Mountains is around 80%.

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Break

9:15 AM - 12:15 PM Concurrent Sessions

Building Community Capacity through Negotiation and Facilitation Training
Presented by: Sanford Jaffe and Linda Stamato, Rutgers University; and William Librizzi, New Jersey Institute of Technology

This session will discuss a Technical Outreach Services for Communities (TOSC) project involving a community’s capacity to participate effectively in implementing a consent decree between EPA and the power authority that operates a generating plant in Cantaño, Puerto Rico. Part of the session will be devoted to presenting the process for designing and presenting a “Negotiations and Facilitation” workshop that was presented to Cantaño community members, U.S. EPA, and Puerto Rico EPA representatives. A role-play exercise and discussion will be used to train participants in how to develop community capacity to negotiate and have open dialogue among adversaries.

"It All Adds Up To Cleaner Air:" A Collaborative Transportation and Air Quality Public Education Initiative
Presented by: Susan Bullard, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Rich Cassidy, Portland Department of Transportation; Reggie Korthals, Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission; Nan Miller, North Central Texas Council of Governments; Kelly Taft, Maricopa Association of Governments; and Charles Ukegbu, New York City Department of Transportation

Although Americans value mobility and clean air more than ever before, congestion is increasing, and 53 million people still live in areas not meeting federal air quality standards. Automobile travel has more than doubled since 1970. While emissions from transportation have been reduced through technology, individuals must become aware of the impact of their behavior and choices on air quality and public health. This initiative reflects an appropriate federal role, supporting community-based solutions to community-identified problems.

Moderated by a federal partner, five partners from diverse, real-world organizations responsible for outreach efforts essential to implement the Clean Air Act and TEA 21, will share their extensive experience, expertise, creativity, perspectives, and humor. The session will clearly demonstrate the value of a program, designed through a collaborative federal effort (U.S. EPA and U.S. DOT) to: create a national context supporting local calls to action; provide high quality research, public information materials, guidance on building partnerships and evaluation techniques; and facilitate the leveraging of resources through partnerships. This support creates national consistency and allows organizations faced with limited funding to use those resources effectively. To date, It All Adds Up... is being implemented in 90+ communities nationwide. Finally, the panel will illustrate the versatility of the It All Adds Up... concepts and materials, through innovative products created or customized locally and used successfully in communities as diverse as Orlando, Portland, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Phoenix, and New York City. The panel will interact with the audience throughout the session to answer specific questions about lessons learned and how the It All Adds Up... “toolkit”might be used.

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(2.98MB/PDF)

Nonviolent Communication: A Method to Deal with Citizen Mistrust
Presented by: Mary Wenska, Black & Veatch Special Projects Corporation

This presentation covers a model for nonviolent communication (NVC) that enables people to respond to themselves and others compassionately, even in adversarial or hostile situations. It is based on the work of Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, a psychologist who founded the Center for Nonviolent Communication. Dr. Rosenberg and others have used NVC methods to support the peace process in the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe. NVC—with a focus on observations, not judgments, and identification of feelings, needs and requests—offers insight for dealing with citizen mistrust of EPA and resolving emotionally charged environmental issues.

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(0.15MB/PDF)

The Oregon Well Water Program: Training for Community Volunteers Doing Drinking Water Protection Outreach
Presented by: Gail Glick Andrews, Oregon State University Extension Service

For the past five years, the EPA-funded Oregon Home*A*Syst Well Water Program has trained community volunteers, student interns, and agency professionals to work on local drinking water outreach projects. This session will cover: 1) recruiting team members; 2) an overview of a typical training through the use of a role playing activity and a hypothetical assessment; 3) designing projects to match communities’ needs and the team’s strengths; 4) a description of some successful outreach projects, including a door-to-door project and drop-in well water clinics with nitrate testing; and 5) an open discussion of “big-picture” implications based on successes, disappointments, and real-world constraints.

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(2.34MB/PDF)

Weighing the Risks: Cultural Impacts of Tribal Community Participation in the EPA Hazard Ranking System
Presented by: Lucy Moore, Lucy Moore Assoc., Inc.; and Margaret Chavez, Pueblo Office of Environmental Protection

Throughout the country communities are successfully cleaning up hazardous waste sites through the Superfund program. Prerequisite to Superfund funding is an evaluation of site contamination through Superfund’s Hazard Ranking System (HRS), which scores hazardous waste sites on a numerical system. Not one of over 200 hazardous sites on Pueblo lands in New Mexico has qualified for clean up under the HRS, a system geared toward dense populations with very different life styles and uses of natural resources. With an EPA pilot grant, The Pueblo Office of Environmental Protection (POEP) is working with pueblo communities to incorporate cultural and religious values into the ranking system, putting a value on medicinal use of herbs, religious use of water, soil, plants and wildlife, and use of certain plants and natural resources in the arts or daily life. This pilot raises difficult questions of: 1) equity between Indian and non-Indian populations; 2) need for privacy of Native American cultural and religious information; 3) impact of one tribal group’s participation and disclosure of information on neighboring pueblos; and, 4) how to express and protect cultural values in a numerical grading system.

This panel presentation will describe the pilot process to date, and identify lessons learned. Tribal leadership from two pueblos-one participating, and one not participating- will offer their thinking on the risk involved in revealing culturally sensitive information in exchange for funding of clean up of sites. The Pueblo Office of Environmental Protection helped each of the 21 tribal communities make the decision, through public involvement processes, consultation with religious leaders, technical information, and governmental decision-making processes. A key challenge raised with the audience will be the need to achieve a balance between the need for confidentiality, the need to protect cultural resources, and the need to cleanup hazardous sites.

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(2.03MB/PDF)

Community Affairs Panel
Presented by: Maria Amaya and Veronica Corella-Barud, University of Texas at El Paso; Kim Collins, San Diego State University; Paul Rasmussen, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Rick Van Schoik, SCERP Directorate; Jose Velasco, Arizona State University; Randy Sturgeon and Vance Evans, Region 3, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Community Affairs Panel includes two separate presentations: one on community issues along the U.S. Mexican border, and one on environmental justice issues at a hazardous waste site in Virginia. The two sessions, each 90 minutes in length, are:

Engagement of the Unique Communities in the U.S.-Mexican Border Region by the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy
The goal of the presentation is to portray the essential role of communities in general, but especially unique border communities, in the successful planning, conduct, and dissemination of environmental health research, and the implementation of recommended results. The communities of the U.S.-Mexican border region are often rural, impoverished, marginalized, and underserved. They often lack basic environmental infrastructure and information and as such are at risk from many threats. The Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy (SCERP), a binational consortium of universities, has conducted several environmental health studies along the border. During this session, the methodologies and results of several SCERP studies and activities will be presented. The specific topics to be presented include: risk perceptions in Colonias; lead in border communities; border air quality issues; and BorderEcoWeb and Institute. The session concludes with an open discussion with conference participants. The positive results of SCERP’s work will be presented as well as some of the key lessons learned.(i.e., the limited role of the internet, public service announcements, and electronic communications) that are applicable to other disenfranchised communities.

Universal Empowerment that Yields Effective Relationships During Site Cleanups or Trust is a Must or the Cleanup’s a Bust
Environmental cleanups can often be a technical nightmare for those doing the work. Treatment technologies, schedules and logistics are, however, only the tip of the iceberg. Any cleanup can also pose numerous social issues and stressors for communities and remedial officials (such as government and contractor entities) as well. Whether the residents are affluent or impoverished fears, tempers and misunderstandings can escalate. One may face additional hurdles if and when Environmental Justice concerns are present.

This presentation will discuss ways to forge trust and positive communication between communities and those involved in the cleanup. On one hand, communities need to understand the procedures and limitations that define the scope of a cleanup. Conversely, officials need to also understand the particular needs, issues and concerns of each community. This will help lead to open and effective communications between all parties. The panel will consist of presenters from the EPA, as well as a video interview with a community leader from the site that will be used as a case study. Also, portions of a televised face off between the site’s project manager and the community representative will be shown.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(1.14MB/PDF)

12:15 PM - 1:30 PM

Lunch

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Concurrent Sessions

Agricultural Environmental Management Systems: Tools to Support Implementation of Community Source Water Protection Plans
Presented by: Elizabeth Bird and Gary Jackson, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Many communities are faced with the need to obtain the cooperation of agricultural land managers to successfully implement their source water protection plans. Developing effective public participation and outreach education programs is an essential component to successful implementation efforts. This presentation will present Farm*A*Syst/Home*A*Syst related case studies to describe what has worked and what has not. Audience participation will enhance discussion on the identification of key audiences, methods of involving those audiences, and options to address obstacles that limit building successful partnerships. The goal of this session is to educate participants on approaches to working with the agricultural community to develop partnerships that support the implementation of community source water protection plans.

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(1.17MB/PDF)

Community Involvement in Designing Sustainable Neighborhoods in the Southwest United States
Presented by: David Pijawka and Frederick Steiner, Arizona State University

In 1997, a project sponsored by Arizona State University was one of 10 projects funded by the U.S. EPA to establish a set of principles that could then be applied to design a sustainable neighborhood. Two sites were identified in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The first site was located in the rural fringe of the Sonoran desert area where suburban growth is quickly encroaching into pristine desert. The second site was characterized as 500 acres in downtown Phoenix, land that was marginalized, contaminated, and passed over for development in the suburbs. The goal of this presentation is to describe the process of involving community members in the design of the two sites based on sustainability goals, ecological integrity and community equity. The presentation will highlight the use of community focus groups, charrette involvement in the design, and feedback. The presentation also will discuss the successes and failures in utilizing community groups in a design process and lessons learned in conveying sustainability principles to the public for action.

Empowering Communities to Use Risk Assessment to Evaluate Local Environments
Presented by: Dave Lynch and Hank Topper, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Deirdre Murphy, Office of Air and Radiation, and Lee Hofmann, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Greg Macek; and Peter Murchie

This workshop will explain how to build community capacity to participate in a successful local-scale risk assessment. Federal agencies can support community involvement by providing technical assistance, training, and strategic planning, and by facilitating the development of partnerships (between community members, industry, small business, and local groups).

The audience will participate in a discussion of key science concepts needed by communities to participate in a risk assessment (i.e., hazard, exposure, risk, environmental modeling, uncertainty, screening) and how to communicate them. Techniques for forming a community partnership will be presented, including posing and answering questions like: Who in the community will participate? How can you get them to participate? What essential roles will the community participants play? Experiences from the audience, OPPT’s Community Assistance Technical Team, Superfund, and OAR’s Urban Toxics Program will be used to illustrate and provide lessons learned.

Environmental Justice and Public Involvement
Presented by: L’Tryce Slade, North Carolina Department of Transportation

The legal, political, and economic institutions have encouraged environmental injustice, but it can be reversed through public involvement and public outreach. Many federal and state agencies who perform public involvement and outreach are under-staffed and many staff members are untrained or lack skills in public participation activities. To achieve the goal of environmental justice, communities and agencies must work together. This session looks at four environmental justice case studies, each with a different lesson about the practice of public participation. The first case study of Anniston, Alabama shows how effective organizing can have a positive result. The second case study of Savannah, Georgia demonstrates that long-term effective organizing can have an immeasurable impact. The third case study looks at Spartanburg, South Carolina, and shows that community cohesion has a positive influence. The final case study of Brunswick, Georgia reveals how leadership may affect results.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(1.20MB/PDF)

Involving the School Community in the Fight Against Childhood Asthma
Presented by: Peggy Caruso, Fort Bend Independent School District; Grace Torres, American Lung Association of Dallas and Fort Worth Texas; and Tracy Enger and Jennifer Keller, Office of Air and Radiation, and Mike Miller, Region 6, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Schools are a critical element of any community, and though we rely on schools to be healthful and productive places of learning for future generations, sadly they are often the most poorly operated and maintained buildings in our communities. Fifty percent of the nation's schools have at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition, such as poor ventilation or water leaks, which pose significant health risks to children and staff. There is a strong link between asthma episodes and indoor environmental triggers that can result from poorly maintained and operated buildings. These are the kinds of problems that EPA's innovative, school-based Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Kit is designed to address. Since the publication of the Tools for Schools Kit, EPA's Indoor Environments Division has developed an excellent track record for involving community partners in this school-based program. Through training, partnerships, incentives, resource tools and other methods, over 4000 schools across the nation have joined with EPA to implement the IAQ Tools for Schools program.

This session will be an interactive 90-minute panel discussion with an EPA program manager, a local school official, and a health advocate who have each embraced the program. The session will begin with a 20-minute overview of how the program works and how various communities have become involved. Then a local school official will give a 15- minute presentation about their work with schools, parent groups, and the Hispanic community in their quest to improve indoor air in schools. Finally, a 15-minute presentation will be given on how health advocacy organizations outside the school system can be effective partners with schools communities.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(0.91MB/PDF)

Using an EPA Technical Assistance Grant for Rural Sustainable Community Redevelopment
Presented by: John D'Addona, The Traverse Group; and Gary Knapp, Community Resource Development, Inc.

This presentation will focus on a small rural community in Antrim County, in the northwest portion of the lower-peninsula of Michigan, approximately 250 miles northwest of Detroit. The Mancelona community has been the recipient of three U.S. EPA grants relating to the cleanup and reuse of the Mancelona Tar Lake Superfund site, and the reuse of Brownfields within the village of Mancelona and two adjacent townships. These grants include a Technical Assistance Grant (TAG), and an EPA Superfund Site Reuse Pilot Grant, as well as an EPA Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Grant. The heart of the EPA grants has been a sustainable community redevelopment process that has engaged the community in assessing Brownfields and working with state and federal agencies to formulate the best reuse of these properties.

Rural communities offer unique challenges that are in clear contrast with urban communities. The presenters will discuss the experience of organizing citizen groups, finding and hiring a technical advisor, and working with the EPA, state and local units of government, as well as private developers in the removal, remediation, and reuse/Brownfields process. The presentation will include outcomes, pitfalls, successes, and lessons learned.

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Open Time

4:00 PM - 5:30 PM Concurrent Sessions

A Model for Effective Community Involvement in Environmental Protection
Presented by: Jori Copeland, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Bill Eaker, Land of Sky Regional Council; and Debbie Maner, North Carolina Rural Water Association

The shift in environmental protection from a regulatory, top-down approach to a local, grassroots approach can be seen in the drinking water protection programs, including Wellhead and Drinking Water Source Protection. Black Mountain, North Carolina participated in a pilot Wellhead Protection Program for their community. With technical assistance from the Land-of-Sky Regional Council, a University of North Carolina (UNC) intern, North Carolina Rural Water Association, the town successfully educated the community about ground water protection and obtained public support and participation. As a result, the project received strong support from the town board, media and the community, and became the first Wellhead program in the state to receive approval. Presentations will be followed by a facilitated open discussion based on questions from the audience and presenters.

Addressing Environmental Challenges Through Community Partnerships
Presented by: Caroline Alston, American Forest Foundation

What is the secret to a successful community outreach program? Is it partnerships? Resources? Participants? Implementation strategies? Evaluation? Project Learning Tree gives communities an opportunity to combine all of the above through the Green Works! Service Learning/Community Service program. The Green Works! program assists communities with implementation of local environmental projects. Session participants will learn how different communities implemented community service projects by utilizing partnerships with schools, local businesses, organizations, and state agencies. Participants will learn how their agencies/organizations can partner with local communities to educate and bring about positive change.

Brownfield Reuse and the Changing Nature of Community Involvement
Presented by: Charles Bartsch, Northeast-Midwest Institute

During the past few years, community concerns over “Brownfields”—sites where contamination, or the perception that contamination exists complicates the process for their reuse—have grown significantly. States and cities are developing new approaches to these real estate deals with an environmental “twist,” and these emerging strategies are changing the way in which effective community participation in the development process takes place. This presentation will focus on the changing nature of community involvement in changing site and land use activities, in four ways. First, it will provide some context and background about the value of stakeholder involvement in Brownfield project settings. Active and inclusive community coordination and involvement has shown to be effective in addressing key Brownfield barriers such as stigma. Second, the session will explore the role of community vision and its place in the Brownfield reuse process, emphasizing things like the type of information (on sites, technologies, public health concerns, etc.) and the resources (responsive staff, GIS, funds for professional services, etc.) needed to establishing the appropriate climate for a constructive community visioning process. Third, the presentation will offer some brief success stories (from places like Trenton and Minneapolis), to illustrate the role of stakeholder involvement and how it can influence reuse and maximize project benefits. And fourth, it will describe several “lessons from the field” based on dozens of real projects, such as the need to communicate effectively at several levels, and to document milestones.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(0.07MB/PDF)

Capacity Building for Environmental Health in the Paso del Norte Region: The Case of El Paso/Juárez
Presented by: Carla Cardoza, Irusema Coronado, Elaine Hampton, and Cecilio Ortiz-Garcia, University of Texas at El Paso

The promotion of environmental health among communities along the U.S./Mexico border is a topic of current interest not only for the region's pressing public health needs, but also in light of the environmental impacts to communities due to the region’s accelerated rate of urbanization and industrialization. Due to the lack of capacity of local entities, Community-Based Organizations have taken the lead with the help of institutions like the EPA, in the promotion of environmental health initiatives in their own communities. During this session, a case study will be presented of the Center for Civic Engagement’s (CCE) efforts to continue the development of civic capacity in 6-9 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), known as Healthy Communities (HCs), in the El Paso-Juárez region. The CCE has assisted Health Community grantees to: expand and continue successful activities; broaden and strengthen community networks; establish baseline indicators and evaluation; and receive more individualized technical assistance.

The presentation will focus on the public participation, community involvement, and public outreach processes fostered by the University/Community partnership and will present specific examples addressing how the public participation process and public outreach program impacted the capacity of community groups to implement environmental health programs. Both techniques that worked and those that did not work will be explored and discussed with audience members.

EPA's National Asthma Education and Prevention Program
Presented by: Paulina Chen, Brenda Doroski, Tracy Enger, and Tracey Mitchell, Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency is launching a national public education and prevention program to respond to the current asthma crisis in the United States. Asthma has reached epidemic proportions, with over 17 million Americans diagnosed with the disease. Children, certain minorities and urban inner city residents are particularly affected. The goals of this panel discussion include:

• Learn how EPA is partnering with national, state and local governments, non-profit organizations and health care delivery systems to reduce children’s exposure to indoor environmental asthma triggers in homes, schools and child care settings;
• Hear specific examples of EPA’s work with organizations such as the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, the American Lung Association, the American Respiratory Care Foundation, the San Francisco Department of Health, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia;
• Discover the lessons EPA learned with programs that impact under-served populations; and
• Share your ideas of how this campaign can be expanded in your community.

Using Internet-Based Resources to Enhance Public Participation
Presented by: Karl Burgher, Montana Tech University; Mark Hodges, Georgia Institute of Technology; Lisa Szymecko, Michigan State University; and Tom Miller, City of Saginaw, Michigan

The World Wide Web and other Internet resources can improve the ability of communities to participate effectively in environmental planning and decision making. This panel discussion and skills development session will show how members of the EPA Hazardous Substance Research Centers program assist communities by disseminating technical information on the web, providing online environmental education to Native American communities, and developing a model for communities to use in building web sites for environmental information sharing. The session will also identify best practices for Internet use, identify online environmental resources, and provide tools for participants to take home and get started.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(6.99MB/PDF)

6:00 PM

Evening Activity

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM Concurrent Sessions

Community Involvement in Environmental Protection: Navajo Nation EPA Experience
Presented by: S. Deb Misra and Derrith Watchman Moore, Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency

This presentation will focus on community involvement experiences of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA), the first Indian Tribe to obtain Primacy for its Public Water Systems Supervision Program. NNEPA gets the community involved in environmental protection activities in a participatory manner beginning with strategic planning through problem-solving and sharing of environmental responsibilities. Implementation of a proactive, community-based outreach program has been successful in building an informed, sustainable, friendly and empowered community. The lessons learned from incorporating diversity and Navajo holistic values in the community involvement process will be shared with participants.

Creating a Community Plan for the Glenullin Bog in Northern Ireland
Presented by: Jori Copeland, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

An international team of eight, four from North America and four from the British Isles, met for the first time in a small village in Northern Island to assist residents with a threatened resource, a raised but partially drained bog. In less than a week, the “Exchange Team” consulted with over a hundred individuals, local groups, and government organizations. Using diverse areas of expertise, team members presented their findings to the community at the end of the week and submitted a 60 page report with recommendations for bog protection, restoration and acquisition, catchment management, ecotourism, and archaeological and heritage protection. A question and answer session will follow the presentation after which participants will break into small groups to address specific environmental challenges facing communities.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(0.01MB/PDF)

Focus Groups/Surveys of EPA's Environmental Information
Presented by: Vipul Bhatt and Darlene Boerlage, Office of Environmental Information; and John Pine, Louisiana State University

The Office of Environmental Information (EPA’s Central Information Office, formed in November 1999), has responsibility for the expansion of America’s Right to Know. The Information Access Division has conducted focus groups with tribes, Environmental Justice communities, educators, retirees and journalist to assess their needs for environmental information. In addition, OEI has the lead on implementing the results of the National Telephone Survey (conducted in 1999) to assess the public’s use of environmental information and has sponsored the Roper Starch Green Gauge Report for the past two years. The objectives of this session are to:

• Present data from the Roper Starch Green Gauge Report and National Telephone Survey;
• Share information on tribes, Environmental Justice communities, educators, retirees, and journalist needs/requirements for environmental information;
• Share lessons learned from survey tools used including, comments to Web sites, focus groups, phone surveys, and third party surveys; and
• Encourage dialogue about EPA’s information exchange, dissemination, Web sites, educational materials and information resources.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(2.09MB/PDF)

Lessons Learned: A Look at EPA's Public Outreach Program for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)
Presented by: Rafaela Ferguson and Cheryl Malina, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Douglas Sarno, Phoenix Environmental Corporation; Bud Ward, National Safety Council

This presentation looks back at six years of interacting with the public through an outreach program designed by EPA’s Radiation Office to keep stakeholders informed about EPA’s efforts and to obtain input on EPA’s certification of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Located in southeastern New Mexico, the WIPP is the nation’s first underground repository for the storage of transuranic radioactive waste generated from defense activities. WIPP certification was both challenging and controversial, and EPA developed a program that went beyond typical regulatory requirements in hopes of achieving better public understanding of key issues and concerns, and building better relationships with the public. This effort strengthened community ties and kept interested parties informed along the way. The goal of this session is to share with participants the approach, tools, techniques, and lessons learned throughout this unique public outreach process. During the presentation, the audience will hear from EPA staff, the National Safety Council–a partner in the outreach program–and a contractor team that evaluated EPA’s outreach program. Presenters will open the discussion to engage participants in interactive, small group sessions designed to more effectively confront the challenge of working with diverse stakeholders on highly controversial issues.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(0.20MB/PDF)

Linking and Learning: Effecting Behavior Change —A Pacific Island Case Study
Presented by: Grace Omega Garces, Guam Environmental Protection Agency

This presentation will equip participants with a set of tools to modify a community’s behavior for the benefit of its environment and its members. It describes in detail an education model that effects behavioral change in its target audience. This, coupled with its focus on the lifeblood of any community— its watershed—makes it of current interest. The session starts with a description of Guam EPA’s public outreach program for Hasso Guam, a successful household hazardous waste collection program, and includes a detailed discussion of the lessons learned about how to effect community involvement and public participation through multi-media public education. Then those lessons are applied to Guam’s current larger-scale, 5-year watershed education campaign by comparing and contrasting it with Hasso Guam, and providing further details. The presentation includes a two-way question and answer session.

United Parents Against Lead: Measuring the Success of Community Involvement and Public Outreach Programs
Presented by: Vance Evans and Randy Sturgeon, Region 3, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Cynthia Mendy and Zakia Shabazz, United Parents Against Lead

Lead Poisoning, a topic of current interest, is the number one environmental threat to children's health. United Parents Against Lead (UPAL) was organized to increase public awareness of childhood lead poisoning. UPAL is a National organization with eight state chapters (Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Vermont, Georgia, North Carolina, Maine, New York). State chapters work in their communities providing outreach and information on childhood lead poisoning prevention. Partnerships with HUD, the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, The Community Tool Box for Children's Environmental Health, local and state health departments, and other national children's advocacy organizations, have promoted and implemented public participation that has positively impacted and empowered at-risk communities.

This presentation serves as a model and a guide to community based organizations on how to work effectively with various levels of governmental agencies. The goal of this presentation is to demonstrate how UPAL was formed, designed, and implemented in response to community involvement challenges, the most important being how to effectively address and present the issue of lead poisoning to capture the interest of the general public. The presentation will share positive results and successes, how to avoid the pitfalls, and lessons learned. It also will include audience participation and interaction.

10:00 AM - 10:15 AM

Break

10:15 AM - 11:45 AM

Plenary Session: Keynote by Greg Ellis, Edwards Aquifer Authority • Closing Comments

Suzanne Wells, Director, Community Involvement and Outreach Center (CIOC) presented the Citizen’s Excellence in Community Involvement award to Laurie Nehring of Ayer, MA. Ms. Nehring spoke a few words about the site in her town and about her belief in the power of one. She also stressed how individuals supporting each other can accomplish many things. Donn Walters, CIC, Region 6 introduced the keynote speaker.

Keynote Speaker – Greg Ellis, the General Manager of the Edwards Aquifer Authority. Mr. Ellis explained the historical view of water use in Texas by citing major legal cases since 1904. Since Texas law describes land ownership as “absolute ownership - from heaven to hell” the “rule of capture” has been in effect. Mr. Ellis described “rule of capture” as basically taking as much water as you want from your well; if it impacts other wells and/or rivers, so be it. This rule has caused many arguments over the years. The Texas legislature created the Edwards Aquifer Authority in June 1996 because many disputes had reached the state level. The authority began to issue water permits by building a foundation based on a historical basis of water usage and attempted to ascertain water need for the entire jurisdiction. Most landowners were angered by the new permits, as were the agricultural and industrial people. Mr. Ellis stated that, initially, the community was so angry that community involvement involved “ducking” more than anything else. As time passed and some of the anger lessened, the authority added educational and informational components of community involvement. One program he described involves sixth graders who are given water saving devices and instructions to perform simple leak detection experiments at home with their parents. The media also reports the aquifer levels every day on the broadcast news and in the local paper. The two biggest problems they currently face are the drought times and low level springs.

Suzanne Wells, Director, CIOC made some closing remarks. She thanked Cheryl Malina and Anita Schmidt for serving as co-chairs, Jori Copeland and Helen DuTeau for all their continued support. Suzanne spoke of the three-legged stool that Robert Potts used and felt that the imagery could easily translate to the three-legged stool of community involvement. The legs of the stool are the three “L’s” – links, learning and listening. Suzanne shared the breakdown of the conference and described the links and the new partners that were made at the conference. Second, the learning that takes place at the conference includes a number of different techniques because community involvement is an evolving field. The third leg on the stool is listening. Suzanne spoke of the degrees of listening from easy - when the message comes through loud and clear to a bit harder like listening to the protesters regarding their concerns about Kelly Air Force Base. Suzanne reintroduced Cheryl to officially close the conference. Cheryl Malina thanked the planning committee, Suzanne Wells, Tom and Lisa at EMS, and the audience for their attention, ideas and expertise.

11:45 AM - 1:00 PM

Lunch

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM Concurrent Sessions

Communicating in Crisis: Tools You Can Use When There's No Time to Waste (Part 1 of 2)
Presented by: Vance Evans, Region 3, and Ginny Narsete, Region 5, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Tod Lyons and Gene Maestas, U.S. Coast Guard National Strike Force Coordination Center

This 8-hour workshop is designed to provide communicators with tools they can use to make quick communication decisions during an environmental crisis. The training course will focus on ways to manage communications with the public and media by introducing participants to the National Joint Information (JIC) Model, the Emergency Communications and Outreach Team, and a variety of other tools. The instructors will present real case studies and ask participants to join in hands-on exercises to help demonstrate the importance of organization and communication during a crisis.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(8.56MB/PDF)

Community Culture and Environment: A Guide to Understanding a Sense of Place (formerly Community Cultural Profiling Guide) (Part 1 of 2)
Presented by: Theresa Trainor, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This session reviews tools for defining “community,” understanding cultural diversity, and for creatively engaging community members in environmental protection efforts. The session will provide interactive, experiential training with the tools, and discuss case study examples and how participants can use the tools in their own settings. The training will include defining community, social mapping, question design and interviewing, and/or visual methods. This training has proven very useful for thinking “outside-of-the-box” about community and for identifying strategies for working with communities.

Introduction to Community Involvement (Part 1 of 2)
Presented by: Helen DuTeau and Peter Redmond, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This eight-hour workshop is designed to problem solve challenging situations by offering a variety of tools and techniques to plan effective outreach and involvement strategies. The course will focus on designing strategies for planning a successful communication and participation program. The tools and outreach strategies presented in this workshop are based on the experiences of the Superfund program, which requires EPA to involve the public during the investigation and cleanup of hazardous waste sites. Other state or federal programs facing community involvement challenges can use or modify the tools and strategies that Superfund has used for the past 20 years. Whether planning a public meeting or implementing a comprehensive outreach strategy, this workshop will introduce the tools and techniques that have helped EPA be a more effective partner with communities it serves.

This workshop uses a simulated community involvement scenario around which participants will design an outreach/community involvement strategy (ies). Participants will be divided into “teams” to develop a strategy and then present their strategy to the rest of the group. The course also will devote time to coaching participants on different strategies that can be used to address common community involvement challenges and closes with an “advice session” to share ideas and offer solutions to real life community involvement problems posed by participants.

Media Relations Training (Part 1 of 2)
Presented by: Dale Armstrong and Bill Landis, Region 7, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Everyday, EPA employees are responsible for talking to reporters–maybe even YOU. What you say and how you present yourself is critical in establishing trust and credibility for the Agency. This can be nerve-wracking and uncomfortable but it doesn’t have to be! In this eight-hour training, you will be able to demonstrate your MEDIA STAR potential by developing and practicing how to get your message to the media–a key skill that will equip you to handle any press situation. Whether you’re conducting field work, emergency response work or just sitting at your desk, you can be a MEDIA STAR!

Whether it’s “60 Minutes” or the local newspaper, you will learn how to handle any interview professionally. Whether you are called upon to answer tough questions on air pollution, Superfund sites, or pesticide plights, you will learn how to give your message to the media. The workshop includes a brief overview of EPA’s history and relationship with the press and a presentation about some universal truths about the journalism profession and how it relates to environmental reporting. The bulk of the workshop will be spent practicing interview skills by crafting and delivering key messages–no matter how tough the questions get. This workshop uses simulated press interviews based on actual press situations EPA employees have encountered. Participants will develop and demonstrate skills through practice exercises, videotaped interviews, and newspaper interviews. Through discussion and feedback, participants will receive positive suggestions to improve their MEDIA STAR potential.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(2.12MB/PDF)

Social Marketing and Effective Media Campaigns to Get Environmental Results
Presented by: Kristy Miller, Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Environmental health risks often depend on personal behavior choices. Social marketing is a systematic, organized way to influence behavior–especially for voluntary risk reduction without a federal mandate. The media is a potent partner in promoting this change and can serve as a launch pad for a broad national (or local) outreach strategy. An innovative, well planned media campaign educates and promotes behavior change in individuals and communities. This four-hour interactive workshop will help you plan a social marketing media campaign. The elements of an effective plan will be discussed, including: develop a “Call to Action;” segment and target the audience(s); design a system of “leveraged partnering;” test messages; evaluation of results; and more. Also included: example campaigns, messages, marketing techniques, media clips, PSA’s, and lessons learned from EPA’s media campaigns for indoor radon, secondhand smoke, and the new award-winning childhood asthma campaign. Bring your own environmental issue and apply lessons learned to designing your own campaign plan.

Understanding and Dealing with Psychological and Social Stresses of Working with Contaminated Communities (Part 1 of 2)
Presented by: Jan Shubert, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, and Pat Seppi, Region 2, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Numerous EPA Regional staff members are actively involved in working directly in communities and dealing with residents about highly controversial issues, such as potential exposures to hazardous materials, health effects of such exposures, property values, and how contamination should/will be cleaned up. Because the individuals or companies that originally caused the problems may be unavailable, EPA staff frequently find themselves the targets of residents’ rage and frustration–a very stressful situation for all concerned. This workshop will examine the potential physiological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral effects of stress, explain how stress also affects communities and why residents behave the way they do, and assist participants to develop healthy ways of relating to residents of communities and of managing their own work-related and personal stress. The presenters have extensive experience as mental health professionals and in working with communities. In addition to providing information on the effects of stress on individuals and communities, they will provide examples of successful and unsuccessful community involvement efforts (and lessons learned from both) and engage participants in developing their own personal stress management plans. Throughout the workshop, the presenters will draw on their own experiences to stimulate a dialogue and experience-sharing by participants. While the presenters’ experiences are based on working with Superfund communities, the workshop content is appropriate for anyone who has had or expects to have experience working with communities on environmental issues.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(10.61MB/PDF)

5:00 PM

Adjourn

8:00 AM - 12:00 PM Concurrent Sessions

Communicating in Crisis: Tools You Can Use When There's No Time to Waste (Part 2 of 2)
Presented by: Vance Evans, Region 3, and Ginny Narsete, Region 5, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Tod Lyons and Gene Maestas, U.S. Coast Guard National Strike Force Coordination Center

This 8-hour workshop is designed to provide communicators with tools they can use to make quick communication decisions during an environmental crisis. The training course will focus on ways to manage communications with the public and media by introducing participants to the National Joint Information (JIC) Model, the Emergency Communications and Outreach Team, and a variety of other tools. The instructors will present real case studies and ask participants to join in hands-on exercises to help demonstrate the importance of organization and communication during a crisis.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(8.56MB/PDF)

Community Culture and Environment: A Guide to Understanding a Sense of Place (formerly Community Cultural Profiling Guide) (Part 2 of 2)
Presented by: Theresa Trainor, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This session reviews tools for defining “community,” understanding cultural diversity, and for creatively engaging community members in environmental protection efforts. The session will provide interactive, experiential training with the tools, and discuss case study examples and how participants can use the tools in their own settings. The training will include defining community, social mapping, question design and interviewing, and/or visual methods. This training has proven very useful for thinking “outside-of-the-box” about community and for identifying strategies for working with communities.

Introduction to Community Involvement (Part 2 of 2)
Presented by: Helen DuTeau and Peter Redmond, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This eight-hour workshop is designed to problem solve challenging situations by offering a variety of tools and techniques to plan effective outreach and involvement strategies. The course will focus on designing strategies for planning a successful communication and participation program. The tools and outreach strategies presented in this workshop are based on the experiences of the Superfund program, which requires EPA to involve the public during the investigation and cleanup of hazardous waste sites. Other state or federal programs facing community involvement challenges can use or modify the tools and strategies that Superfund has used for the past 20 years. Whether planning a public meeting or implementing a comprehensive outreach strategy, this workshop will introduce the tools and techniques that have helped EPA be a more effective partner with communities it serves.

This workshop uses a simulated community involvement scenario around which participants will design an outreach/community involvement strategy (ies). Participants will be divided into “teams” to develop a strategy and then present their strategy to the rest of the group. The course also will devote time to coaching participants on different strategies that can be used to address common community involvement challenges and closes with an “advice session” to share ideas and offer solutions to real life community involvement problems posed by participants.

Media Relations Training (Part 2 of 2)
Presented by: Dale Armstrong and Bill Landis, Region 7, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Everyday, EPA employees are responsible for talking to reporters–maybe even YOU. What you say and how you present yourself is critical in establishing trust and credibility for the Agency. This can be nerve-wracking and uncomfortable but it doesn’t have to be! In this eight-hour training, you will be able to demonstrate your MEDIA STAR potential by developing and practicing how to get your message to the media–a key skill that will equip you to handle any press situation. Whether you’re conducting field work, emergency response work or just sitting at your desk, you can be a MEDIA STAR!

Whether it’s “60 Minutes” or the local newspaper, you will learn how to handle any interview professionally. Whether you are called upon to answer tough questions on air pollution, Superfund sites, or pesticide plights, you will learn how to give your message to the media. The workshop includes a brief overview of EPA’s history and relationship with the press and a presentation about some universal truths about the journalism profession and how it relates to environmental reporting. The bulk of the workshop will be spent practicing interview skills by crafting and delivering key messages–no matter how tough the questions get. This workshop uses simulated press interviews based on actual press situations EPA employees have encountered. Participants will develop and demonstrate skills through practice exercises, videotaped interviews, and newspaper interviews. Through discussion and feedback, participants will receive positive suggestions to improve their MEDIA STAR potential.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(2.12MB/PDF)

Understanding and Dealing with Psychological and Social Stresses of Working with Contaminated Communities (Part 2 of 2)
Presented by: Jan Shubert, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, and Pat Seppi, Region 2, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Numerous EPA Regional staff members are actively involved in working directly in communities and dealing with residents about highly controversial issues, such as potential exposures to hazardous materials, health effects of such exposures, property values, and how contamination should/will be cleaned up. Because the individuals or companies that originally caused the problems may be unavailable, EPA staff frequently find themselves the targets of residents’ rage and frustration–a very stressful situation for all concerned. This workshop will examine the potential physiological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral effects of stress, explain how stress also affects communities and why residents behave the way they do, and assist participants to develop healthy ways of relating to residents of communities and of managing their own work-related and personal stress. The presenters have extensive experience as mental health professionals and in working with communities. In addition to providing information on the effects of stress on individuals and communities, they will provide examples of successful and unsuccessful community involvement efforts (and lessons learned from both) and engage participants in developing their own personal stress management plans. Throughout the workshop, the presenters will draw on their own experiences to stimulate a dialogue and experience-sharing by participants. While the presenters’ experiences are based on working with Superfund communities, the workshop content is appropriate for anyone who has had or expects to have experience working with communities on environmental issues.

View/Download presentation materials in PDF format:
(10.61MB/PDF)