USDA Deputy Under Secretary Promotes Environmental Justice Goals

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Arthur "Butch" Blazer, on April 2, 2014 at 10:30 AM

Deputy Under Secretary Butch Blazer delivers the keynote address at the 2014 Environmental Justice Conference in Washington, DC. USDA Photo by Bob Nichols

Late last month, I was privileged to deliver the keynote address at the 2014 National Environmental Justice Conference here in Washington.

Environmental justice is “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. It will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.”

USDA was one of the first federal agencies identified in the 1994 Executive Order on Environmental Justice (EJ) from former President Bill Clinton due to the broad sweep of the department’s agencies with respect to the environment.  The department developed an EJ Strategic Plan and promulgated a Departmental EJ Regulation in 1997.

In 2010, the Environmental Justice Interagency Working group, led by the Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, held its first meeting in more than a decade.  Shortly afterwards, then-USDA Under Secretary Harris Sherman convened a meeting of key leadership from across every USDA mission area to set up a working group to review and revise the department’s approach to reflect contemporary issues and opportunities.

Today, environmental justice at USDA refers to meeting the needs of underserved communities by reducing disparate environmental burdens, removing barriers to participation in decision making, and increasing access to environmental benefits that help make all communities safe, vibrant and healthy places to live and work. USDA’s overall goal is not only to institutionalize environmental justice principles but to continuously make a positive difference in the lives of American people.

This year I will lead USDA’s EJ Working Group and will shortly reconvene it.  I would very much like USDA’s agencies to focus our efforts on finding opportunities for intra-departmental coordination and collaboration. I am proud of the EJ efforts made at USDA under Secretary Tom Vilsack and former Under Secretary Sherman.  While the department’s effort is good, I am even more proud of the EJ efforts by the U.S. Forest Service. They’ve made great strides, completing training guides and holding training meetings.  Also, the Forest Service is launching its first (internal) EJ website to share best practices, lessons learned, and educational resources with employees across the nation.

Showcase projects have been identified to demonstrate exemplary Forest Service projects that benefit EJ populations. The intent is to do a better job at capturing the EJ activities that have been established and underway for years and highlight the strengths of those projects and the benefits they provide to communities. An example of that, which will be on the website, is the Urban Tree Canopy Assessment.  That is a decision tool for so they can plan and manage their urban forest by monitoring current tree canopy closure and developing solutions to increase the forest health of their community.

The Forest Service and USDA as a whole will continue to become a fully inclusive organization: an agency where everyone is welcome, respected, and has equal opportunity to contribute and succeed; an agency that reflects America.  This is essential if it is going to serve our diverse communities and compete for the best and brightest candidates in the job market.  If its programs are going to serve all American’s equally, fairly, and well.

Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Butch Blazer (9th from right) along with Tony Tooke, Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System (8th from right); with USDA Forest Service employees at the 2014 Environmental Justice Conference in Washington, D.C. USDA photo by Bob Nichols

Secretary Visits Virginia Farm, Announces Progress on Effort to Reduce Farm Sediment Runoff into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Barbara Bowen, Public Affairs Specialist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Virginia, on December 6, 2013 at 2:00 PM

NRCS Illustration showing a substantial reduction in farm runoff entering the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited a Virginia Century Farm in Stafford County to release a new report that shows how farmers like Gerry Silver are helping make significant progress in reducing sediment and nutrient runoff into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

The Secretary lauded Silver Ridge Farm as a gold standard for conservation because the owners have implemented voluntary conservation practices such as cover crops and no-till planting to control soil erosion and prevent the release of nitrogen and phosphorus into area waterways.  Though the family has kept the land in continuous agricultural use for more than 100 consecutive years, he called the operation a “farm of the future” because the family has continued to evolve their operation over time to maintain productivity and diversify income opportunities.

The farm was the perfect setting to spotlight USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) report, the only regional effort that scientifically and statistically matches farmers’ actions with soil, landscape and climate to quantify agricultural impacts on water quality.  The report estimates that conservation practices applied by farmers and landowners in the region since 2006 are reducing nitrogen and phosphorus leaving fields by 48.6 million pounds each year (26 percent) and 7.1 million pounds (46 percent) respectively.

In addition, the report said the use of cover crops nearly quadrupled from 2003-2006 to 2011, with adoption increasing from only 12 percent of acres to 52 percent of acres with a cover crop at some point in the rotation.  In 2003-2006, 19 percent of cropped acres had a high need for conservation treatment; by 2011, only four percent of acres were in that category.

Importantly, conservation practices adopted by Bay producers since 2003-06 have reduced average annual edge of field losses of sediment by 15.1 million tons (60 percent).  This amount of sediment would produce enough dirt to fill 150,000 railroad cars on a train that would stretch 1704 miles, or further than the distance from Washington, DC, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, every year.

Visit to Silver Ridge Farm in Stafford County, Virginia: with Secretary Vilsack (left) are Edward Gerald "Gerry" Silver, Sole Proprietor of Silver Ridge Farm, and Alexa "Lexi" Clark, Soil Conservationist with the NRCS Fredericksburg Service Center. USDA photo.

Richard Street, At-Large Member of the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board, highlighted the need for partnership efforts to improve Bay health. “USDA, NRCS, and state agencies need to work together to assist local jurisdictions and governments to improve the health of the Bay,” said Richard Street.  Street, who is also a Senior Environmental Engineer with Spotsylvania County, added, “In Spotsylvania County, we took our cue from farmers in using a voluntary approach to conservation activities in urban settings with low impact development.”

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) released a statement saying it was pleased by the CEAP report findings. According to NACD, “The report, which demonstrates a reduction in runoff of nutrients and sediment in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, reflects the focused approach on implementing voluntary, incentive-based conservation practices in the Bay through the partnership of conservation districts, producers, state and federal agencies including NRCS and the Farm Service Agency.”

“This is a great day for agriculture,” said NACD President Earl Garber. “The CEAP report clearly demonstrates that producers’ proactive, voluntary use of good conservation practices is paying off in a big way in the watershed.”

Sean Garvin, Region 3 Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency said, “Farmers have stepped up their efforts to implement conservation practices to clean up the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and the progress reported by USDA in its CEAP report today is consistent with the rates reported through the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) Partnership.”

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed touches six states (Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia. The area is home to 17 million people.  More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay, the largest estuary in the United States.

The full report, along with a fact sheet, summary and infographic, is available here. Learn more about USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project.

Edward Gerald "Gerry" Silver, Sole Proprietor of Silver Ridge Farm, discusses conservation efforts with Secretary Vilsack on the farm on Thursday. USDA NRCS photo.

USDA is Composting, You Can Too!

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Lara D’Amore, Management Analyst, Food Safety & Inspection Service, Office of Outreach, Education, and Training; Don Ackerman, Regional Public Health Officer, Food Safety & Inspection Service, Office of Outreach, Education, and Training; Marianne Gravely, Technical Information Specialist, Food Safety & Inspection Service, Food Safety Education Staff, on September 12, 2013 at 9:30 AM

As part of the Food Waste Challenge USDA employees are working together to reduce the amount of food waste at our Headquarters office in Washington, DC. Currently 2,400 pounds of food and paper waste is recycled from our cafeteria each week. Our goal is to increase that by 5% to at least 2,520 pounds of waste by the end of Fiscal Year 2014.

Food is the single largest component of municipal solid waste going to landfills, accounting for over 20% by weight. USDA headquarters employees are reducing food waste every time they eat in the cafeteria. Many of the items they use, such as plates, bowls, trays, paper cups, napkins, utensils and clamshells, are compostable.  The headquarters cafeteria and hallways are equipped with compost bins that are specially designed for all food waste, including meat and dairy products. The bins are emptied several times each day and the waste is transported to a waste pulping system in the basement.

Here’s How It Works: Foodservice waste enters the pulper and mixes with water to create a slurry (95% liquid, 5% solids). The slurry is transported to a water extractor, and then the semi-dry pulp is collected and sent to a commercial composting facility. The extracted water is recovered & returned to the pulping tank for re-use. Removing the water reduces waste volume by 87%.

Some of the department’s food waste, as well as coffee grounds, paper products and even newspapers, go outside to USDA’s People’s Garden. The waste is collected in a compost tumbler, an aerated drum set on giant rollers which turns food waste into compost. Our tumbler also collects compost tea, a nutrient rich liquid produced by soaking the compost materials in water. Compost tea is used as a fertilizer and can be sprayed on the foliage or root system of plants.

You may not have a pulper or hydra-extracter at home, but you can still compost food, paper and yard waste. Composting can divert as much as 30% of household waste away from the garbage can. Compost adds rich humus for lawn and garden applications, which add nutrients to plants and helps to retain moisture in the soil. Microscopic organisms in compost help aerate the soil, break down organic material for plant use and ward off plant disease. Composting also offers a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers.

You can collect food waste in a covered bucket in your kitchen, then start a compost pile on bare earth (or purchase a composting bin similar to the one at the  People’s Garden) with leaves, yard waste, food waste (egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags), and wood ashes.  VA Tech Extension has information on Making Compost from Yard Waste.