EPA-CDC/ATSDR Collaboration for Community-Based Environmental Health

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Center for Environmental Health, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) are all federal agencies that have a role in addressing environmental health issues at the community level. In 2007, the three agencies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) [PDF - 277 KB] and formed a federal collaboration to assist communities coping with health problems that may be related to environmental hazards. A set of pilot sites were conceived as part of the original vision to serve as laboratories to explore how collaboration between CDC, ATSDR, and EPA could enhance service delivery and capacity building when more than one of these Agencies was working in the same community. All pilot sites had been awarded grants from EPA’s Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. In addition, each site was receiving either a grant from CDC’s Environmental Health Capacity Building program, or technical assistance from ATSDR in evaluating exposures and community involvement. The four community pilot sites were:

• Boston, Massachusetts (EPA CARE grant and CDC capacity building grant)
• Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma (EPA CARE grant and technical assistance from ATSDR)
• Grand Rapids/Kent County, Michigan (EPA CARE grant and CDC capacity building grant)
• Savannah, Georgia (EPA CARE grant and technical assistance from ATSDR)

Through the EPA-CDC/ATSDR Collaboration for Community-Based Environmental Health, the following overarching resources have been made available:

• EPA/CDC/ATSDR Federal Grants Guide for Community Environmental and Public Health Activities [PDF - 545 KB] – Information on funding opportunities related to meeting environmental and public health goals
• Community Action for Environmental Public Health Web page – Resources from EPA, CDC, and ATSDR to help communities working on environmental and environmental public health action. The site contains information, tools, links, and media to assist communities in general as well as grant recipients and those communities engaged with particular EPA, CDC, and ATSDR programs.

In addition, several of the pilot sites funded by CDC’s Environmental Health Capacity Building program developed tools and products that other communities and jurisdictions can use or adapt for their own communities. Visit EH Capa-City to explore these products.

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