Citizens are concerned about how environmental factors in and around their homes can affect their health and the health of their families. They are also concerned about how environmental risks can affect the value of their homes and their ability to resell them. Programs to protect and improve both air quality and water quality, and energy conservation programs recognize how many of the design and management decisions that are made in and around the home impact on the environmental quality in homes, neighborhoods and communities. Finally, environmental management programs are becoming more holistic in their approaches. Efforts are underway to develop basin-wide watershed approaches to ecosystem management.
All land uses, whether agricultural, industrial or residential, influence environmental quality. Reducing negative impacts from all land uses requires that all land users and managers understand how their activities affect environmental quality, and their personal and financial health.
Improving environmental quality within any geographic area requires that all of the land users within that area understand how what they do influences environmental risks and learn what they can do to reduce high risks. The Home*A*Syst program is designed to aid homeowners and renters in understanding environmental risks in and around their home. It will also guide them in developing action plans that assist them in making voluntary changes that prevent pollution.
When pollution prevention efforts resulting from Home*A* Syst are coordinated with efforts made by agriculture and industry, the effectiveness of neighborhood, community and watershed basin environmental management efforts will be enhanced. Home*A*Syst will help individuals understand what they can do, why they should do it and how they can get the support they need to get the job done. Most importantly, Home*A*Syst will identify environmental risks in ways that will motivate individuals to take voluntary actions to protect their own health and financial well-being.
Pollution prevention and environmental risk assessment of homes and communities is the concern of multiple agencies and organizations. Involvement of appropriate representatives from state agencies and organizations and the private sector in a coordinated Home*A*Syst development effort can ensure a stronger, more credible program. A multi-agency approach will also raise the quality of materials, and build the capacity to conduct effective staff training.
The approach used to involve agency staff, university specialists and organization representatives will likely vary from state to state. The approach described in this section may assist in attracting involvement from appropriate interested and affected parties.
Consider developing an interdisciplinary, multi-agency team--a small group of individuals who have interest in and expertise related to topics covered by the Home*A*Syst program. Factors to consider when establishing a coordination team include:
Involvement does not require active participation on coordination teams and workgroups. Involvement can also be:
New and separate groups do not need to be developed. This program can be incorporated into existing environmental risk assessment management and education activities, but roles and responsibilities of cooperators should be clearly established.
Home*A*Syst materials are produced nationally and can be used as they are at the local level. However, a contact person will need to be designated as the person to receive materials, coordinate state activities, and report results to the national Home*A*Syst office. This position may be shared between more than one person but one person should be designated as the primary contact to streamline communication channels.
The time the project may take to develop will depend on the scope of the local project.
Early on, more time may be devoted to establishing coalitions or coordinating promotional activities. As the program matures, more time will be spent on education, implementation, and impact analysis. Cooperation and coordination will likely vary as the Home*A*Syst program matures.
Funding for the program will need to come from gifts and grants. The primary contact will want to seek out current sources of funding that can assist in the implementation of the Home*A*Syst program. Some resources may be available locally from EPA, the Department of Health, the Department of Natural Resources, or other locally funded projects. This program may be able to piggyback on other watershed or water district activities.
Some businesses may be willing to cooperate and assist with such things as cost share, some equipment installation, providing water sampling, or providing demonstration areas to illustrate pollution reduction or prevention.
Volunteers can be recruited to help with the distribution of information, to promote the program, to teach others, to persuade businesses and organizations to cost-share projects and to serve as demonstration sites for improved practices. They can help keep the enthusiasm for risk assessment alive in a community in a way that may effectively get key influential people or groups to the table when a problem does occur.
Members of your Home*A*Syst team will probably include representatives from agencies that have responsibility for identifying and prioritizing environmental resource management needs in your state. Watershed projects, community source water protection projects, community-based environmental programming efforts, urban environmental initiatives, environmental justice projects lake protection projects and other state intitiatives all present opportunities to link Home*A*Syst efforts to existing priority initiatives.
By working together to identify state priority areas where Home*A*Syst can be used as a tool to assist in identifying and addressing priority needs, support for Home*A*Syst can be increased. It is important to coordinate with existing priority projects, but statewide availability of Home*A*Syst as a pollution prevention tool should not be overlooked.
Interagency cooperation in the development of well-designed fact sheets and worksheets provides a sound foundation for identifying, discussing and developing cooperative approaches for making this program available to homeowners and renters.
Examples of some primary delivery methods that have been used include:
Personnel and program delivery options that have been used or can be considered include:
Home*A*Syst can be used to collect data that can document the frequency of high pollution risks identified in project areas. This data can be analyzed to determine priority risk reduction actions. Once these priorities are established, the types of support programs needed to increase the ability of program participants to take voluntary actions to reduce risks can be identified.
Developing pollution prevention action support programs may involve developing cooperative agreements with private sector businesses or industries to increase the availability of needed pollution prevention products or services. It may involve local units of government developing programs like community hazardous waste collection programs, improved waste oil collection facilities, or access to community equipment and staff to assist with proper abandonment of unused wells. In other cases, the community may develop cost-share incentives, purchase of development rights programs or property tax reduction incentives that will encourage and support desired actions.
Documentation is an important component of this program. It can help inform key decision makers about important program impacts.
Some elements of evaluation to incorporate into the program might include:
The evaluation results can become a foundation for publicizing the successes of the program. Prepare media and legislative releases in a timely fashion to maintain program momentum.