Plan EJ 2014: Supporting Community-Based Action Programs
EPA improved the effectiveness of its community-based programs by enhancing transparency and access to its financial and technical assistance resources, coordination across programs and the ability to leverage resources. The Agency was guided by the goal of “making community an organizing principle for the Agency’s work.” The lessons learned helped to inform the design and implementation of the Administrator’s priority on Making a Visible Difference in Communities.
- Developed a Resources for Communities web portal to promote better access to EPA’s grant resources. The site features an annual grants forecast for all EPA community based grants and enhanced grants training and technical assistance resources.
- Collected nearly 50 promising practices from its past experience in working with communities, and formulated recommendations for improving community work. The Agency tested these practices through 10 regional pilot projects in which each region identified one underserved and overburdened community where EPA and other federal agency efforts and resources were already focused. These efforts provided lessons learned in planning the transition to the Cross Cutting Strategy on Making a Visible Different in Communities.
- Issued Environmental Justice: Key Resources for Building a Community of Practice for Local Use Planning, providing a comprehensive list of resources that will illustrate how EJ and land use planning can be successfully coupled.
- Issued Equitable Community Development: Using Federal Financial Tools in Support of Local Success, which provides information on a range of financing and technical assistance vehicles that communities may be able to tap.