Success and Failures: Evaluating Environmental Justice Strategies in Federal Agencies
Professor Gail Suchman, lecturer at SIPA and Columbia Law School, and Senior Legal Advisor to the Urban Design Lab for Sustainable Development at Columbia's Earth Institute, has been advising the team that worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), West Harlem Environmental Action (WEACT). After collecting national background information, students focused on the regional level, and developed survey questions and spoke to regional representatives. The students also looked for programs in the agencies not under the EJ umbrella but which may be helpful in addressing EJ concerns. Students generated a report summarizing the research and making concrete recommendations for actions by the agencies that will better address EJ concerns in the regions and in the country as a whole. Students also prepared a pullout executive summary for use as an advocacy piece that will be presented, along with the report, to the Obama Administration, the targeted agency heads, and the appropriate regional directors. The group recommends Education & Training, Community Engagement, Regulatory Management, Financial Management, and Program Management in federal agencies. The project will culminate in a presentation at the State of Environmental Justice in America Conference 2010.