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EPA's Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Model

Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program provides funding for eligible applicants for projects that address local environmental and public health issues within an affected community. The CPS Program assists recipients in building collaborative partnerships to help them understand and address environmental and public health concerns in their communities.

A document explaining EPA's EJ Collaborative Problem Solving Model and providing case studies of its use.

Please directly consult the provider of a potential resource for current program information and to verify the applicability and requirements of a particular program.

Use of EPA collaborative problem-solving model to obtain environmental justice in North Carolina

Affiliation.

• 1 University of Michigan School of Public Health, USA.
• PMID: 20208212
• DOI: 10.1353/cpr.2007.0036

Background: The West End Revitalization Association (WERA), a community-based organization (CBO) in Mebane, North Carolina, was awarded a Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice (EPA OEJ).

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to highlight WERA's efforts to bring stakeholders in three low-income African-American communities where environmental hazards created public health risks together for collaboration rather than litigation.

Methods: WERA's board and staff organized nine working groups with specific areas of expertise that would facilitate research, identify lack of basic amenities, and encourage funding for corrective action and participation in progress reporting workshops. WERA used consensus building, dispute resolution, and resource mobilization as part of the CPS model to address noncompliance with environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, and Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Results: WERA's CPS "Right to Basic Amenities" project produced a framework for (1) grassroots management and ownership of a collaborative problem-solving process; (2) bringing stakeholders together with diverse and conflicting viewpoints; (3) implementation of an innovative community-owned and managed (COMR) research model; and (4) leveraging millions of dollars to fund installation of first-time municipal water/sewer services, street paving, and relocation of the 119-bypass to advance environmental health solutions.

Conclusion: The structure and successes of WERA's Right to Basic Amenities project have been discussed at demonstration and training sessions to help others replicate the model in comparable low-income communities of color in North Carolina and across the United States.

Publication types

• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
• Black or African American
• Community Networks*
• Community-Based Participatory Research*
• Conservation of Natural Resources / methods
• Cooperative Behavior
• Environmental Health
• Environmental Restoration and Remediation / legislation & jurisprudence
• Environmental Restoration and Remediation / standards*
• North Carolina
• Problem Solving
• Rural Population
• Social Justice*
• United States
• United States Environmental Protection Agency / standards*
• Waste Management / legislation & jurisprudence
• Waste Management / standards*
• Water Supply

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• Community-Port Collaboration
• Ports Initiative

Environmental Justice Primer for Ports: Collaborative Problem-Solving

On this page:

• Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Collaborative Model

Consensus Building

Dispute resolution, community benefits agreements, environmental justice collaborative problem-solving model, tips for building consensus and resolving disputes.

• Design processes, both formal and informal, to ensure fair treatment and meaningful participation of all stakeholders.
• Promote the development of a common vision and goals among all partners.
• Use facilitators or mediators to assist in the communication and negotiation process.
• Identify, nurture and promote win/win scenarios and mutual gains.
• Use alternative dispute resolution techniques to resolve crystalized disputes.

The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model defines collaborative problem-solving as when "various stakeholders agree to work together to address a particular issue or concern... Such collaboration fosters the conditions that enable the parties to mobilize the resources necessary to realize stronger, more lasting solutions." 21 The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model (CPS) includes the following seven elements:

At the heart of collaborative problem-solving is consensus building. Building consensus means seeking agreement among different and, often times, competing interests by encouraging all participating stakeholders to seek common ground and derive mutual gains. Consensus building requires members to work together to seek creative solutions to meet the needs and interests of each member of the group.

A dispute happens when a conflict between different parties has reached an impasse. Dispute resolution processes can be legally mandated or consensual. Enlisting a neutral third-partyfacilitator or mediator can greatly assist in resolving disputes productively and provide the parties with greater control over the process and outcomes. Disagreements about facts or the interpretation of data may arise in virtually all situations involving disproportionate environmental and/or public health issues. When disagreements about facts or data occur, the stakeholders can jointly choose to use an expert or team of experts to conduct neutral fact-finding.

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A Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) is an agreement between developers, public and private entities, and community-based organizations to address concerns or harms. CBAs represent community concerns and directly relate to the land use and/or environmental impacts of the proposed development. Past CBAs have included a range of benefits, including construction of affordable housing, job hiring commitments, living wage jobs, new public facilities and amenities, new or improved transportation infrastructure, environmental remediation, and commitments to sustainable construction practices. CBAs can play an important role in engaging near-port communities and ports in mutually beneficial partnerships. Employment and job training is a particularly important issue for near-port communities. A port and community entering into a job training and labor agreement that pertains to a new development project proposed by the port is an example of a CBA. Existing conditions assessments can compare the conditions in near-port communities with conditions across the region to assess potential disparities and establish a baseline for improving quality of life. The key steps in developing effective CBAs include: 22

• Conduct a technical assessment of local conditions.
• Identify key stakeholder groups.
• Conduct a needs assessment (derived from interviews with stakeholders).
• Decide CBA legal framework and terms.
• Cross-cultural relationships.
• Collaborative problem-solving.
• Targeted technical assistance.
• Monitor outcomes.

• Collaborative Governance (PDF) Exit (29 pp, 203 K, About PDF ) : 24   Public and private stakeholders come together in collective forums with public agencies to engage in consensus-oriented decision-making regarding agency plans and actions.
• The Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Model : The EPA CARE model provides partnership approaches and methods to empower communities to collaboratively investigate environmental issues and reduce toxic emissions. The CARE Community Resource Guide outlines the CARE model, which is summarized in Table 3.
• Working Effectively with Tribal Governments (PDF) Exit (48 pp, 395 K, About PDF ) : This tool provides an understanding of the unique status of tribes, their historical relationship with the federal government, and how it affects government programs, responsibilities and initiatives.
• Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Exit : 25   A strategy for sustainable, community-driven development. Beyond the mobilization of a particular community, ABCD focuses on linking micro-assets to the macro-environment. The appeal of ABCD lies in its premise that communities can drive the development process themselves by identifying and mobilizing existing – but often unrecognized – assets, and thereby respond to and create local economic opportunity.

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Environmental Justice

Factsheet on environmental justice collaborative problem-solving cooperative agreement program.

• Factsheet on Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program (PDF) (1 pg, 918 K)

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“Environmental justice” means the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment so that people:

• are fully protected from disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects (including risks) and hazards, including those related to climate change, the cumulative impacts of environmental and other burdens, and the legacy of racism or other structural or systemic barriers; and
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This timeline presents EPA's involvement in the Environmental Justice Movement and the major events leading up to it. This is not meant to be an all inclusive history of the movement in general.

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Collaboration and Partnerships

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

Collaborative Problem Solving EPA Region 6 - Dallas - Houston Branch

Geographic location or area of activity : Houston, Texas, primarily the southeast section and zip code 77017 .

Description of activity :  In 2004, the EPA awarded Mothers for Clean Air (MfCA) a $100,000 Environmental Justice Cooperative Agreement grant to address local environmental and public health issues using a collaborative problem-solving approach. The MfCA project is designed to obtain and understand a Southeast Houston community's perception of environmental health risk and to engage the residents in working with regulators and policy makers to change their environment.

“Improving Environmental Quality through Cooperation,” includes local governments, universities, citizen organizations, elected officials, EPA’s Houston Laboratory personnel and industries working together to reduce exposure of residents to air pollution or at least make them aware of potential exposure.  Southeast Houston residents participated in a community-based air-sampling program to identify pollutants of concern and to aid regulatory agencies to enforce the law. The $100,000 grant began this fall and will take three years to complete.

The Houston-Galveston Citizen Air Monitoring Project (HGCAMP), a unique collaboration of government agencies, universities and citizens to complete a regional community air-sampling project that used three different collection devices, was this project’s model. Many of the partners in HGCAMP, including EPA’s Regional Laboratory, will be part of Improving Environmental Quality through Cooperation in Southeast Houston Project.

To implement the project, MfCA, and its collaborating partners, have worked on various projects to inform the residents, involve them in the problem solving and solicit their participation in the air sampling. Some examples are providing technical information on environmental regulations and public meetings, improvement and links to web sites where such information may be obtained, reviewing contingency plans and mechanisms for warnings involving accidental releases and the results of the sample collection in the neighborhood and comparison vis a vis published standards.

Interagency partners US EPA Region 6 Laboratory and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Local partners MfCA, University of Texas School of Public Health, Harris County Pollution Control District, City of Houston and a number of local industries.

Activity URL :      http://www.mothersforcleanair.org

Dr. Thomas Stock of the University, of Texas School of Public Health Sciences, explaining how to place the monitors. 

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