COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT,REVITALIZATION AND SUSTAINABLE REDEVELOPMENT

摘要

Capacity building programs help poor and disadvantaged communities to improve their ability to participate in environmental decision-making processes.These programs encourage citizen involvement,and provide the tools that enable them to do so.Capacity building enables communities that would otherwise be excluded to participate in the process,leading to better, and more just,decisions. rnThe Department of Energy(DOE)continues to be committed to promoting environmental justice and involving its stakeholders more directly in the planning and decision-making process for waste management and environmental cleanup.Through its environmental justice projects,DOE provides communities with the capacity to effectively contribute to a complex technical decision-making process by furnishing access to computers,the Internet,training and technical assistance.DOE’s Dr.Samuel P.Massie Chairs of Excellence Program(Massie Chairs) functions as technical advisor to many of these community projects.The Massie Chairs consist of nationally and internationally recognized engineers and scientists from nine Historically Black Colleges and Universities and one Hispanic Serving Institution. rnDOE also supports the concept that the cleanup and revitalization process should be completed in a manner that minimizes the potential for waste generation at the reclaimed site.Once a site is cleaned,the local community has the responsibility and authority to determine how the property will be used in the future.Permitted activities that generate little or no waste include open spaces,designated green spaces,environmentally protected areas,park spaces and other non- manufacturing uses.However,in some instances,the best interest of the community dictates that other uses such as light industry,or in some cases,manufacturing activities occur on the reclaimed property.In these instances,the local community has the responsibility to insure that the light industry or manufacturing activities be conducted in a manner that minimizes waste generation,or that waste be managed in a manner that prevents contamination to the property.