EPA REGION 9 Recipient: University of Arizona Applicant Type: Institution of Higher Education Award Amount: $10,000,000 Title: Western Environmental Science Technical Assistance Center for Environmental Justice (WEST EJ Center) Location: EPA Region 9 (AZ, NV, CA, HI , and 148 tribes) Partners: Sonoran Environmental Research Institute (SERI) (AZ non-profit) Public Health Institute (PHI) (CA non-profit) University of Southern California (USC) (CA academic) Larson Institute for Health Impact and Equity (NV academic) Hawaii Public Health Institute (HIPHI) (HI non-profit) Goals and Description:
The mission of the Western Environmental Science Technical Assistance Center for Environmental Justice (WEST EJ Center) is to work as authentic partners with communities towards environmental and energy justice (EEJ) by being a one-stop shop for hands-on technical assistance, multi-faceted training, and other eligible forms of assistance, resources, and support to program participants. The WEST EJ Center will serve EPA Region 9 communities and have organized our approach utilizing three initiates specifically aligned to meet the objectives of this EJ TCTAC program, as follows: Initiative 1:
Provide assistance and training to effectively identify, apply for and manage grants and other funding opportunities; Initiative 2: Increase community involvement in environmental and energy decision-making through training in advocacy, environmental science, climate change, public health, energy infrastructure, and through “Community Champion” and student internship programs; Initiative 3: Provide access to environmental and energy expertise that can assist program participants with EJ analysis, study design, protocol development, and project management.
The WEST EJ Center utilizes a hub and spoke model and has established a coalition with five partners with deep community- based networks and knowledge about EEJ needs across Region 9. The Central Hub includes several established units within the University of Arizona and will operate through the following teams: leadership, training, capacity building, technical assistance, marketing outreach, and evaluation. Outputs and outcomes are directly aligned with the RFA.
The WEST EJ Center will utilize innovative and participatory quantitative and qualitative evaluation techniques to provide a narrative for the project to monitor progress, share success stories, and improve WEST EJ Center activities. The EPA’s promise of clean air, clean water and safe land has not reached many historically marginalized communities, due to a complex interaction of physical, social, and economic factors.
In developing the WEST EJ Center, we have brought together a diverse coalition with longstanding relationships and extensive expertise in working with communities to overcome these barriers to work towards EEJ with the aim of assuring self-determination and enabling the meaningful involvement of all people in developing and implementing environmental regulations and policies in their own communities. The University of Arizona will collaborate closely with the San Diego State University Foundation which has also been selected to receive an EJ TCTAC award to communities in EPA Region 9.