                     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
               CHILDREN'S HEALTH PROTECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
                               January 15, 2020
                                Teleconference
                1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004
                                       
                             -  Meeting Summary  - 
On January 15, 2020, the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) held a public teleconference from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST. [See Appendix A for the meeting agenda, Appendix B for a list of the CHPAC members present.]
For questions regarding CHPAC, please contact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) Designated Federal Official (DFO), Nica Louie, at Louie.Nica@epa.gov or at 202.564.7633.
Welcome, Introductions and Agenda Review
Barbara Morrissey, CHPAC chair, introduced the co-chairs of the CHPAC risk communication workgroup and gave an overview of the agenda. Nica Louie, EPA, introduced herself and reminded members of her role as the CHPAC DFO. CHPAC members, OCHP staff, and members of the public introduced themselves.
Rebecca Bratspies, CHPAC risk communication workgroup co-chair, discussed the draft of the CHPAC's risk communication comment letter. She began by reviewing the changes that were made to the letter since the CHPAC's last meeting in September. Rebecca explained that after the meeting she worked with her co-chair, Maureen Little, to incorporate the feedback that they had received into the new draft letter. 
Barbara thanked the workgroup co-chairs and other CHPAC members for their contributions to the letter. She then described where the CHPAC was in the process of finalizing the letter and identifying remaining issues. The CHPAC had two plenary meetings in 2019, including a breakout session in the Fall to brainstorm ideas that should be included in the letter. After the Fall meeting, all CHPAC members were given the opportunity to review the draft of the letter and submit comments. She explained that the focus of today's meeting was to identify any remaining issues and to make sure there is support for the final letter by the end of the meeting. 
Barbara asked the CHPAC members for general comments on the letter. 
 One CHPAC member said the letter was good and clear. Another CHPAC member agreed and said thank you to the co-chairs. 
Review of CHPAC's Risk Communication Comment Letter for the EPA Administrator
Barbara Morrissey, CHPAC chair, asked CHPAC members and the general public to follow along as they began to review the letter line by line. 
The CHPAC had no comments or edits for lines 7-23.
CHPAC members raised the following point when reading lines 24-60:
 One CHPAC member mentioned the section was missing a discussion about the toxicodynamic aspect of children's unique vulnerabilities and that a sentence should be added to capture this important factor.
CHPAC members discussed the following edits while reviewing lines 67-98:
 A CHPAC member said the meaning of the "train the trainer" program was confusing. She was unsure who would be trained and how the training would help EPA improve its risk communication. Another CHPAC member explained that the train the trainer program was meant to help EPA work with partner organizations to better tailor its risk communication messaging to the specific audience that it is trying to target. The program would help EPA draw on the expertise of its partners to develop better and more robust messaging that was more accessible to a range of audiences. Deanna said she would provide the necessary changes to make the letter clearer. 
CHPAC members made the following suggestions for lines 102-177.
 One CHPAC member liked how lines 98-118 were written, but they were confused about how the section related to culturally appropriate and consistent risk communication. The CHPAC member felt that since lines 98-118 focused on ideas related to how EPA can build capacity, it should be included in its own section on "capacity building". The workgroup co-chairs agreed and said they would work on making sure the sections were organized in a way that made sense.
 Two CHPAC members asked that both "Design for the Environment" and "Safer Choice" cleaning supplies be included in this section since both are equally important.
 Another CHPAC member recommended grammar and punctuation edits.
The following points were raised by CHPAC members for lines 182-220:
 One CHPAC member said they liked the examples that were used in this section to illustrate their points.
 A CHPAC member asked that a reference or footnote be added for people who want to find out more information on EPA's integrated pest management program. 
 A member requested that a few words be added to this section to emphasize the need for better coordination between EPA and its regional offices. 
 Another CHPAC member said they liked that the letter mentioned the importance for EPA to better understand and tailor its risk communication to match the literacy level of the intended audience for the messaging.
CHPAC members discussed the following edits for lines 224-263:
 One member suggested that the term "non-traditional audiences" be changed to something that was more comprehensive. The member suggested changing the phrase to "a variety of audiences" or "the fullest range of audiences".
 The CHPAC workgroup co-chair requested that the group read the last paragraph in the sentence and make sure that there is consensus since the paragraph was recently added. There were no additional comments.
 A CHPAC member requested that state and local environmental agencies be added to the list of organizations that support EPA's mission to provide services for school environmental health programs. The member felt that all of EPA's state and local partners should be recognized for their work. The CHPAC co-chairs asked the group if there were any other existing networks of state and local partners that should be added to this section.
CHPAC members made the following recommendations when reviewing lines 264-289:
 Several CHPAC members requested that school nurses, PEHSUs and nurse alliances be referenced specifically in this part of the letter.
 Another CHPAC member agreed and said that the Alliance for Nurses for Healthy Environments and the National Association of School Nurses would both be added to the examples of trusted partners in Charge Question 3.
Appendix 1
CHPAC members discussed adding several new community groups, healthcare organizations, trade associations, and health centers to the list of partners in Appendix 1. The CHPAC co-chair requested that members send her an email with additional information that they wanted included in Appendix 1 after the meeting was over.
Appendix 2
Alternative methods of reaching the target audience were discussed when reviewing Appendix 2. Outreach to trade associations, development of new k-12 curriculum, certificates in environmental health for early childhood educators and social media campaigns targeted at teenagers were a few of the ideas that were mentioned by the CHPAC.
Public Comments
 Michael Bailey, Georgia Department of Human Services, recommended a train the trainer program that would task EPA with training state and local agencies be mentioned in line 91. Michael requested that universities and research institutions be added as trusted partners. He also explained that environmental justice organizations and parent-student associations should be added to the list of community groups in line 333 of the letter. Regarding scientific and healthcare communities, Michael requested that the letter include hospital associations, public health and environmental professional organizations, and groups for professionals in economics. He added that two alternative ways EPA could reach its target audiences through messaging is through county health departments and the offices of vital records, and through the development of continuing education units (CEUs) for early childhood professionals.
Next Steps
 Barbara requested that all CHPAC members send any remaining suggestions in writing to the work group chairs. Barbara explained that a consensus form and final draft of the letter would be sent out shortly. No members indicated that they would not support the final letter.

                                  Appendix A

                    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
           Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC)
                               January 15, 2020
                                       
                  Call-In Number: 202-991-0477 Code: 9394482#
                                       
                                       
                                    AGENDA
                                       
Meeting Objective 
Review and finalize the CHPAC letter re: Recommendations for Improving Children's Environmental Health Messaging and Risk Communication at EPA. 

Wednesday, January 15, 2020 
10:30  -  10:35 
Welcome 
Nica Louie, Designated Federal Official, EPA Office of Children's Health Protection 

10:35  -  10:40 

Introductions 
Barbara Morrissey, CHPAC Chair 

10:40  -  10:50 

Summary of Changes to the Letter 
Maureen Little and Rebecca Bratspies, Workgroup Co-Chairs 

10:50  -  11:40

Review of Draft Risk Communications Letter 
Barbara Morrissey, CHPAC Chair 

Discussion 

11:40  -  11:50 

Public Comment 

11:50  -  12:00 

Wrap-Up and Next Steps 
Barbara Morrissey, CHPAC Chair 

12:00 

Adjourn 


                                  Appendix B
                                       
                     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
               Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee
                               January 15, 2020
	
                  Members Present on the Teleconference Line

Lori Byron 
Indian Health Service - Crow Agency (Retired) 
Billings 
MT
Ellen Braff-Guajardo
W.K. Kellogg Foundation 
Battle Creek
MI
Rebecca Bratspies 
CUNY School of Law
Long Island City
NY
Joel Forman 
Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 
New York 
NY
Julie Froelicher
Procter & Gamble
Cincinnati
OH
Pinar Kodaman
Yale University
New Haven
CT
Maureen Little 
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 
New York 
NY
Mark Miller 
California Environmental Protection Agency; 
University of California, San Francisco 
San Francisco 
CA
Barbara Morrissey 
Washington State Department of Health 
Olympia 
WA
Tom Neltner 
Environmental Defense Fund 
Washington 
DC
Greg Ornella
Sherwin-Williams
Cleveland
OH
Rubin Patterson 
Howard University 
Washington 
DC
James Roberts
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston
SC
Deanna Scher 
Minnesota Department of Health 
Saint Paul 
MN

