Conference Sessions and Tracks

Plenary Session: Funding and Resourcing Grassroots Work

The availability of funding and other resources has a major impact on the ability to conduct grassroots work around environmental justice issues.  The panel will present resources that are available to community groups, and advice on how to access those resources to support community-based work.

Plenary Session: Sustainability and Green Jobs

This session will focus on the intersection of sustainability, green jobs, and the needs of EJ communities.  A green job is one that supports environmental goals, such as clean air, clean water, and land revitalization, while offering adequate wages, safe working conditions, job security, reasonable career prospects, and worker rights.  This session will also address the issues and barriers that EJ communities face when taking on sustainability and green jobs, and identify available resources and programs that deal with these concerns.  A group of experts drawn from the community, as well as the public and private sectors, will share information and their experiences with attendees.  Topics for discussion include an overview of sustainability, green jobs, and EJ; hands-on experience in green jobs creation; and EJ Communities’ experience with green jobs programs. Open discussion with the panel is encouraged.

Track I:  Goods Movement

This track will focus on strategies to empower communities that are overburdened by air pollution and other negative effects of transporting goods and products, e.g., from rail, truck, and air traffic.  This track will also cover the highlights of the recent Goods Movement policy recommendations provided from the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The focus of this discussion will be on the Community Facilitated Strategy section (CFS) which offers basic principles and recommendations designed to empower community and tribal engagement in the "goods movement supply chain" (from mining and manufacturing to landfill disposal and recycling).  This track will also feature small group discussions on best practices and ideas for alternative air monitoring; legal strategies (such as relocation assistance); and capacity building of EJ and Tribal areas through the use of community-owned and managed research (COMR)
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Track 2:  Ambient Air and Climate Change

This track will highlight recent community, tribal, and government initiatives to improve ambient air quality in overburdened communities and reduce the impacts of climate change on these communities.  Speakers will focus on best practices and innovative approaches. There will also be a 90-minute interactive tools session/demonstration.  Included are tools that can assist communities in developing and evaluating customized plans for reducing climate and local air pollution, such as fenceline monitoring equipment, diesel emissions calculator, and lessons learned from Tribal strategies to mitigate climate change. 

Track 3:  Hazardous Waste Cleanup and Job Training

This track will focus on exposure of workers and communities to environmental toxics from hazardous waste and other contaminated properties such as brownfields, Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDF), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), etc.  This track will also explore the various health effects and exposures to those living, working near, or at these sites as well as resources available to communities for understanding and assessing exposure, and training for communities and workers to safely clean up these sites.  Some of the resources to be shared include: worker training curricula, how to use material safety data sheets and other hazardous waste reference tools, community based exposure/risk assessment tools, and other resources such as community right to know, disaster/emergency response plans, understanding and interpreting Health and Safety Plans (HASP’s) for sites, etc.