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EPA's Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Model

Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program provides funding for eligible applicants for projects that address local environmental and public health issues within an affected community. The CPS Program assists recipients in building collaborative partnerships to help them understand and address environmental and public health concerns in their communities.

A document explaining EPA's EJ Collaborative Problem Solving Model and providing case studies of its use.

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Collaboration and Partnerships

• Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model : Project and Documentary Film EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

Geographic location or area of activity :   Spartanburg, South Carolina

Description of activity :  The southside of Spartanburg, SC, is home to the low-income and minority communities of Arkwright and Forest Park, which are situated amidst two Superfund sites, an operating chemical manufacturing plant and six Brownfields sites. The collective effect of the residential areas’ close proximity to these sites, as well as the apparent lack of environmental controls during and after facility closures, reduced the value of area real estate and fostered a systemic deterioration of the community.

In 1998, resident Harold Mitchell contacted EPA about the adverse health conditions in his community and the possible link to contaminated local sites.  Although EPA did initial testing and found no immediate threat to human health or the environment, the Agency decided to conduct further investigation.  Meanwhile, Harold Mitchell formed a community organization called ReGenesis and secured a $20K EJ Small Grant to work with community stakeholders to identify local issues.  ReGenesis was also selected as one of the first 15 federal Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group (IWG) demonstration projects, opening doors to funding and attention at the federal and state level.  First, the community identified three areas of concern: (1) the former IMC fertilizer plant, (2) the Arkwright landfill, and (3) the Rhodia chemical manufacturing facility.  The community embarked on a visioning and goal-setting process, and formed the ReGenesis Environmental Justice Partnership to revitalize the 500-acre project area.   

Simultaneously, through the demonstration projects, EPA and the IWG developed the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) Model as a framework for addressing local environmental and public health concerns through collaborative partnerships.  The ReGenesis Environmental Justice Partnership used elements of the CPS Model to leverage the initial grant from EPA to generate more than $166 million in funding (as of 2006), including over $1 million from EPA Region 4.  The partnership marshaled the collaboration of more than 200 agencies as well as local residents, industry and a university to revitalize two Superfund sites and six Brownfields sites into new housing developments, an emergency access road, recreation areas, green space and job training that are vital to the community’s economic growth and well-being. 

ReGenesis proved to be such an excellent example of what can be accomplished with EPA’s funding, training and partnerships that the Office of Environmental Justice produced a documentary film about it as a training tool to put thousands of other communities on the path of collaborative-problem solving.  The DVD can educate other, similarly situated communities about the value of the collaborative problem-solving process, and give them a glimpse of what such communities can achieve.

Interagency partners (main) :   Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); Department of Transportation (DOT); Department of Energy (DOE); SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC); and SC Department of Transportation (SC DOT)

ReGenesis executive director Harold Mitchell with his mother and grandmother on the front porch of their house, a home located right at the center of the community's environmental, health, economic and social problems.

Local partners (main) :   ReGenesis, Inc. (non-profit community-based organization); City and County of Spartanburg, SC; Spartanburg Housing Authority; Rhodia, Inc.; Vigindustries/The Mosaic Company; and University of SC, Upstate

Activity URL :  https://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/ej/ejcps-dvd.html

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Environmental Justice

The environmental justice collaborative problem-solving cooperative agreement program.

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Previous Project Descriptions

The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) Cooperative Agreement Program provides financial assistance to eligible organizations working on or planning to work on projects to address local environmental and/or public health issues in their communities, using EPA's "Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model." The CPS Program assists recipients in building collaborative partnerships to help them understand and address environmental and public health concerns in their communities .

The CPS Program requires selected applicants, or recipients, to use the EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model as part of their projects. The model aims to address local environmental and/or public health issues in a collaborative manner with various stakeholders such as communities, industry, academic institutions, and others. Case Studies highlight some of the successful and effective strategies of previous projects.

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Request for Proposals

The FY 2016 solicitation is now closed. One award will be made per region in amounts of up to $120,000 per award for a two-year project period.  Cooperative agreements will be awarded to local community-based organizations seeking to address environmental and public health concerns in their communities through collaboration with other stakeholders, such as state and local governments, industry, academia and non-governmental organizations.

UPDATE: (November 24, 2015) The FY 2016 solicitation was amended to include additional details governing partnerships and the required training workshop. This version of the RFP supersedes all previous versions .

• FY 2016 Request for Proposals -- Amended 11/24/2015   |  FY2016 Request for Proposals en Español
• FY 2016 Request for Proposals

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This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov . This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

• Community-Port Collaboration
• Ports Initiative

Environmental Justice Primer for Ports: Collaborative Problem-Solving

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• Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Collaborative Model

Consensus Building

Dispute resolution, community benefits agreements, environmental justice collaborative problem-solving model, tips for building consensus and resolving disputes.

• Design processes, both formal and informal, to ensure fair treatment and meaningful participation of all stakeholders.
• Promote the development of a common vision and goals among all partners.
• Use facilitators or mediators to assist in the communication and negotiation process.
• Identify, nurture and promote win/win scenarios and mutual gains.
• Use alternative dispute resolution techniques to resolve crystalized disputes.

The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model defines collaborative problem-solving as when "various stakeholders agree to work together to address a particular issue or concern... Such collaboration fosters the conditions that enable the parties to mobilize the resources necessary to realize stronger, more lasting solutions." 21 The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model (CPS) includes the following seven elements:

At the heart of collaborative problem-solving is consensus building. Building consensus means seeking agreement among different and, often times, competing interests by encouraging all participating stakeholders to seek common ground and derive mutual gains. Consensus building requires members to work together to seek creative solutions to meet the needs and interests of each member of the group.

A dispute happens when a conflict between different parties has reached an impasse. Dispute resolution processes can be legally mandated or consensual. Enlisting a neutral third-partyfacilitator or mediator can greatly assist in resolving disputes productively and provide the parties with greater control over the process and outcomes. Disagreements about facts or the interpretation of data may arise in virtually all situations involving disproportionate environmental and/or public health issues. When disagreements about facts or data occur, the stakeholders can jointly choose to use an expert or team of experts to conduct neutral fact-finding.

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A Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) is an agreement between developers, public and private entities, and community-based organizations to address concerns or harms. CBAs represent community concerns and directly relate to the land use and/or environmental impacts of the proposed development. Past CBAs have included a range of benefits, including construction of affordable housing, job hiring commitments, living wage jobs, new public facilities and amenities, new or improved transportation infrastructure, environmental remediation, and commitments to sustainable construction practices. CBAs can play an important role in engaging near-port communities and ports in mutually beneficial partnerships. Employment and job training is a particularly important issue for near-port communities. A port and community entering into a job training and labor agreement that pertains to a new development project proposed by the port is an example of a CBA. Existing conditions assessments can compare the conditions in near-port communities with conditions across the region to assess potential disparities and establish a baseline for improving quality of life. The key steps in developing effective CBAs include: 22

• Conduct a technical assessment of local conditions.
• Identify key stakeholder groups.
• Conduct a needs assessment (derived from interviews with stakeholders).
• Decide CBA legal framework and terms.
• Cross-cultural relationships.
• Collaborative problem-solving.
• Targeted technical assistance.
• Monitor outcomes.

• Collaborative Governance (PDF) Exit (29 pp, 203 K, About PDF ) : 24   Public and private stakeholders come together in collective forums with public agencies to engage in consensus-oriented decision-making regarding agency plans and actions.
• The Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Model : The EPA CARE model provides partnership approaches and methods to empower communities to collaboratively investigate environmental issues and reduce toxic emissions. The CARE Community Resource Guide outlines the CARE model, which is summarized in Table 3.
• Working Effectively with Tribal Governments (PDF) Exit (48 pp, 395 K, About PDF ) : This tool provides an understanding of the unique status of tribes, their historical relationship with the federal government, and how it affects government programs, responsibilities and initiatives.
• Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Exit : 25   A strategy for sustainable, community-driven development. Beyond the mobilization of a particular community, ABCD focuses on linking micro-assets to the macro-environment. The appeal of ABCD lies in its premise that communities can drive the development process themselves by identifying and mobilizing existing – but often unrecognized – assets, and thereby respond to and create local economic opportunity.

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Use of EPA collaborative problem-solving model to obtain environmental justice in North Carolina

Affiliation.

• 1 University of Michigan School of Public Health, USA.
• PMID: 20208212
• DOI: 10.1353/cpr.2007.0036

Background: The West End Revitalization Association (WERA), a community-based organization (CBO) in Mebane, North Carolina, was awarded a Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice (EPA OEJ).

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to highlight WERA's efforts to bring stakeholders in three low-income African-American communities where environmental hazards created public health risks together for collaboration rather than litigation.

Methods: WERA's board and staff organized nine working groups with specific areas of expertise that would facilitate research, identify lack of basic amenities, and encourage funding for corrective action and participation in progress reporting workshops. WERA used consensus building, dispute resolution, and resource mobilization as part of the CPS model to address noncompliance with environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, and Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Results: WERA's CPS "Right to Basic Amenities" project produced a framework for (1) grassroots management and ownership of a collaborative problem-solving process; (2) bringing stakeholders together with diverse and conflicting viewpoints; (3) implementation of an innovative community-owned and managed (COMR) research model; and (4) leveraging millions of dollars to fund installation of first-time municipal water/sewer services, street paving, and relocation of the 119-bypass to advance environmental health solutions.

Conclusion: The structure and successes of WERA's Right to Basic Amenities project have been discussed at demonstration and training sessions to help others replicate the model in comparable low-income communities of color in North Carolina and across the United States.

Publication types

• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
• Black or African American
• Community Networks*
• Community-Based Participatory Research*
• Conservation of Natural Resources / methods
• Cooperative Behavior
• Environmental Health
• Environmental Restoration and Remediation / legislation & jurisprudence
• Environmental Restoration and Remediation / standards*
• North Carolina
• Problem Solving
• Rural Population
• Social Justice*
• United States
• United States Environmental Protection Agency / standards*
• Waste Management / legislation & jurisprudence
• Waste Management / standards*
• Water Supply

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Environmental Justice

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“Environmental justice” means the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment so that people:

• are fully protected from disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects (including risks) and hazards, including those related to climate change, the cumulative impacts of environmental and other burdens, and the legacy of racism or other structural or systemic barriers; and
• have equitable access to a healthy, sustainable, and resilient environment in which to live, play, work, learn, grow, worship, and engage in cultural and subsistence practices

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This timeline presents EPA's involvement in the Environmental Justice Movement and the major events leading up to it. This is not meant to be an all inclusive history of the movement in general.