Four Communities to Pilot New Federal Environmental Health Partnership

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News for Release: Wednesday, July 18, 2007

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Four Communities to Pilot New Federal Environmental Health Partnership

Contact: Enesta , (202) 564-4355 / jones.enesta@...

Bernadette Burden, CDC, (404) 639-7288 / btb8@...

(Washington, D.C. - July 18, 2007) EPA Administrator L. and

CDC/ATSDR Director Dr. Gerberding signed a formal memorandum of

understanding (MOU) today, signaling their intentions to develop collaborative

strategies that assist communities coping with health problems that may be

related

to environmental hazards.

Under the agreement signed Wednesday, four communities will partner with

experts from EPA, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and CDC's sister agency,

the

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registries (ATSDR) to pilot a new

initiative aimed at strengthening the capacity of communities to identify and

effectively address environmental protection and public health services. The

four communities are Cerro Gordo, Iowa; the Cherokee Nation, Okla.; Savannah,

Ga; and Boston, Mass. The communities, which range from urban centers to

rural areas, were selected for the project because they had strong local

leadership in addressing community issues, experience in working with a wide

range of

private and public sector partners, and a track record of successfully

addressing local health or environmental issues.

" By capitalizing on the strengths of our agencies, EPA and CDC are

empowering our local partners with the resources, tools and expertise they need

to

address their local environmental challenges, " said EPA Administrator

L.

. " Through this collaboration, we're putting communities in the

driver's seat, so they can deliver their residents real environmental results. "

Dr. Gerberding noted that CDC, ATSDR and EPA have a long history of using

community partnerships to address environmental health problems.

" When we improve the health of an environment, whether that environment is a

community or a workplace, we improve the health of the people who live or

work in that environment, " said Gerberding. " Many times, we can greatly

improve people's health and well being by making changes in the immediate

environment. We also know that identifying and putting in place helpful changes

often

requires collaboration and cooperation among a lot of agencies and people.

This agreement provides a very tangible means of making that happen. "

CDC, ATSDR and EPA independently have long supported local organizations and

governments dealing with complex, localized environmental health issues,

such as lead in homes, pollution-induced asthma, and drinking water

contamination. Both agencies also have grant and other programs focused on

community

assistance.

In 2005, for example, EPA developed the Community Action for a Renewed

Environment (CARE) program, a $4 million competitive grant and technical

assistance program for community-based organizations across the country.

In 2000, CDC and the National Association of City and County Health

Organizations developed a community environmental health assessment tool for

local

health departments. This tool has since been distributed to more than 1,000

agencies. The 13-step Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in

Environmental Health (PACE-EH) guides communities through the process of

identifying

local environmental health problems, developing action plans, and evaluating

outcomes.

More information on the EPA-CDC collaboration:

_http://www.epa.gov/care/collaboration.htm_

(http://www.epa.gov/care/collaboration.htm)

More information from the Centers for Disease Control:

_http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/CEHA/collaboration.htm_

(http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/CEHA/collaboration.htm)

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