x>EPA 190B13009 United States Environmental Protection Agency ross-Cutting Fundamental Strat 2013 Action Plan Annual Progress Re Strategy 1: Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism Engage and empower communities and partners, including those who have been historically under-represented, in order to support and advance environmental protection and human health nationwide. Executive Summary In FY 2013, the Agency continued efforts to include a broader range of people and communities in our work and engage with communities that have been historically under-represented in our decision-making processes. These actions expanded access to information and provided communities and the public increased opportunities to understand and engage with the Agency. Most strides were made in the area of limited English proficiency and environmental information. However, some of the environmental education targets were not met. Accomplishments: S To support community and citizen involvement in environmental decision making, EPA published 74 data sets and nine applications from the Agency's national programs in Data.gov. Since FY 2011, EPA has published 296 raw data sets and 44 applications in Data.gov. S EPA's Region 2 has engaged extensively with the culturally and demographically diverse Brooklyn, New York neighborhoods that border the Gowanus Canal, a federal Superfund site considered one of the nation's most contaminated water bodies. During FY 2013, the region worked closely with a broad and diverse range of stakeholders and members of the 55-member Gowanus Community Advisory Group (CAG), established to increase community engagement on the planned cleanup. EPA provided technical assistance, coordinated monthly CAG meetings, held several public meetings on the proposed cleanup plan, provided opportunities for community input in English and Spanish, allowed for a lengthy public comment period, and ultimately received 1400 public comments that were considered before the cleanup plan was finalized. In addition, the region uses its Gowanus Canal website, a Facebook group, regular Twitter feeds and community updates to continually expand the conversation about environmentalism in the Gowanus Canal community. Challenges: S Due to resource constraints, EPA did not complete some of the planned FY 2013 environmental education initiatives. Moving forward, EPA needs to partner with major environmental organizations to leverage resources for campus environmental education programs. FY 2013 Annual Progress Report: Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism ------- FY 2013 Performance Summary Strategy 1: Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism -• FY 2013 Action Plan Activity Status/Explanation ' = Activity Complete Expand interactions with historically under-represented groups (Supports Principles 4, 5, 6, and 7). • National Program Managers and Regions will implement their Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Review Plans and certify implementation to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) by the end of FY 2013. All National Program Managers and Regions certified and implemented LEP Review Plans by the end of FY 2013. • By the end of FY 2013, OCR will establish an Agency- wide Language Access Group to ensure the implementation of EPA's LEP Order 1000.32. The Agency-wide Language Access Group was established by the end of FY 2013. • OCR will coordinate with the Office of External Affairs and Environmental Education (OEAEE) to revise EPA's Translation Protocol and finalize by the end of FY 2013. The target date has been moved to the fourth quarter of FY 2014. 2. Improve environmental awareness and stewardship through implementation of the One EPA Environmental Education initiatives (Supports Principles 3 and 6). • Launch the ecoAmbassadors program in 30 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), minority-serving academic institutions (MSAIs), colleges for women, and faith-based colleges and universities during the September 2012 - May 2013 academic year. EPA did not pursue this activity this year due to resource constraints. Launch the ecoAmbassadors Environmental Science and Technology Engineering and Math (eSTEM) program with five national youth-serving organizations during the September 2012 - May 2013 academic year. EPA did not pursue this activity this year due to resource constraints. FY 2013 Annual Progress Report: Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism ------- FY 2013 Performance Summary Strategy 1: Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism FY 2013 Action Plan Activity Status/Explanation = Activity Complete • Increase the integration of environmental education (EE) activities into Agency programs and expand the creation and distribution of educational resources for a range of target audiences. o EPA National Program Managers (NPMs) and the Office of Environmental Education (OEE) (and Regions, as appropriate) will collaborate to complete development of educational resources or info-graphics for at least five of the most significant environmental and public health programmatic areas or regulatory actions by September 30, 2013. The Administrator's office will select issues with input from the NPMs and the intra-Agency EE workgroup. o OEE and the Office of Public Engagement (OPE), in collaboration with the NPMs, will cultivate and establish two national and two regional/local partnerships to leverage both new and established distribution and outreach channels during FY 2013 to expand the reach of EE resources. EPA did not pursue this activity this year due to resource constraints. • Integrate eSTEM EE activities into the work of the intra-Agency EE workgroup to enhance activities that encourage people to pursue environmental careers. o OEE and the Office of Research and Development (ORD), the Office of the Science Advisor, and the Office of Diversity, Outreach, and Collaboration (ODOC) will develop an e- mentoring strategy during FY 2013 to expand the number of EPA staff members participating in mentoring activities. The strategy includes developing a monthly online webinar or other series highlighting EPA employees who serve as professional eSTEM role models. o OEE, OPE, ODOC, and the Office of Regional Operations will collaborate to develop and conduct ten regional eSTEM roundtables with college and university students and faculty to discuss trends in environmental protection and environmental careers in FY 2013. EPA did not pursue this activity this year due to resource constraints. FY 2013 Annual Progress Report: Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism ------- FY 2013 Performance Summary Strategy 1: Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism FY 2013 Action Plan Activity Status/Explanation = Activity Complete Improve access to and transparency of EPA's environmental data to support community and citizen involvement in decision making (Supports Principles 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7). • By the end of FY 2013, publish an additional 70 data sets and 10 applications from the EPA's national programs in Data.gov to improve access to the EPA's data in support of community and citizen involvement in environmental decision making. At the end of FY 2012, EPA had published 162 new data sets and 28 data tools. In 2011, the Office of Environmental Information (OEI) added 74 raw data sets and nine applications. Since then, EPA has published 296 raw data sets and 44 applications. 4. Expand public awareness and opportunities for involvement in advance of and throughout the development of rules and regulations through social media tools, including Regulations.gov, the rulemaking gateway, Greenversations, webinars, and other tools (Supports Principles 3, 4, 6 and 7). By the end of FY 2013, the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) University Initiative will establish partnerships with at least 2 academic institutions to increase the awareness of TRI data in academic communities; expose students to TRI data, tools, and analyses; and generate innovative programs, activity recommendations, or research that improve the accessibility, awareness, understanding, and application of TRI data. All selected projects have commenced. The eight universities selected to participate in the TRI University Challenge are working on their projects with the support of OEI, as well as regional staff. FY 2013 Annual Progress Report: Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism ------- |