DAY 3 – Thursday, March 9, 2023

8:00am - 12:30pm Registration

8:00am - 5:30pm Exhibit Hall Open

Conference Facilitator: Ms. Carolyn Sawyer, Communications Strategist, Tom Sawyer Company

8:00am - 9:15am FIRE-Side Chat: Sharing Lessons on Equity and Governance.

The Biden Administration wrapped up 2022 with optimism as it focused on recovery from the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the Administration rose above a false choice. With the release of more than ninety equity action plans by federal agencies in 2022, the Administration is demonstrating racial equity and a healthy economy are not mutually exclusive goals. Federal civil servants are learning that stewardship of the common good requires encouraging equity as well. This is a marked departure from the previous administration. Race Forward will host this “FIRE-Side Chat.” This plenary session will feature current civil servants, and they will share their lessons learned, discoveries as well as how they are leaning-in to center racial equity in the practice of governance.

Julie Nelson, Senior Vice President of Programs, Race Forward

Christopher Coes (invited), Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation

Michele Perez, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Field, Policy, and Management (FPM), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Radhika Fox (invited), Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

9:15am —10:15am PANEL: The U.S. Department of Justice’s New Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) and the Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy

Todd Kim, Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), U. S. Department of Justice

Cynthia Ferguson, Director, Office of Environmental Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), U. S. Department of Justice

Daria Neal, Deputy Chief, Federal Coordination & Compliance Section Civil Rights Division, Civil Rights Division Liaison to the Office of Environmental Justice, U.S. Department of Justice

Vanessa Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington and Chair of the Environmental Justice & Environmental Issues Subcommittee for the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC), U.S. Department of Justice

Cody McBride, Trial Attorney and Environmental Justice Coordinator, Indian Resources Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice

Brenda Horner, Community Outreach Specialist, Office of Environmental Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division U.S. Department of Justice

10:15am-11:00am PANEL: Community Engineering Corps: Closing the Infrastructure Gap

Natalie Celmo, Senior Program Engineer, Community Engineering Corps

Ellie Carley, Senior Program Coordinator, Community Engineering Corps

Jean Holloway, Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc.

Andrew Beatty

Loudoun Water

Nicole Regobert, MBA PMP

11:00am - 12:15pm PRSENTATIONS (Best Practices):

Tools to Support Environmental Justice Through Informed Participation in Consent-Based Siting of Nuclear Waste

Mark Abkowitz, Vanderbilt University

Robert Claypool, Kanini Software Solutions, Inc.

Sara Hogan

Natalia Saraeva

Juan Uribe

Erica Bickford, U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy

Steve Maheras, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Tracking Engagement of Underserved Audiences in USDA Forest Service Public Outreach and Events

Melissa Taggart, Environmental Education Specialist, USDA Forest Service

Kimberly Winter, NatureWatch National Program Leader

NICE Database Manager, USDA Forest Service

12:15pm - 12:30pm BREAK

12:30pm - 1:30pm LUNCH

Introduction of Luncheon Keynote Speaker

KEYNOTE REMARKS: Tracking Community Benefits and Burdens to Build Trust and Transparency in Government Deloitte Executive

1:30pm - 1:45pm BREAK

1:45pm - 2:45pm PANEL: Offshore Wind and Ocean Justice

Rujeko Muza, Lead Regulatory Associate, Orsted

Kendall Dix, National Policy Director, Taproot Earth

Lovinia Reynolds, Energy Democracy Coordinator, UPROSE

2:45 p.m.—3:45 p.m. PANEL: Cumulative Impact Assessment Research and Regulatory Activities at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

H. Christopher Frey, Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, EPA Science Advisor, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Sarah Mazur, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Charles Lee, Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Ann Wolverton, Office of Policy, National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Alan Walts, Region 5, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Helen Serassio, Office of General Council, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

3:45pm - 4:00pm BREAK

4:00pm - 5:00pm PANEL: Charging an Equitable Transportation Future

Victoria Flowers, Senior Environmental Scientist

Oneida Tribe

Amy Posner, Electric Vehicle Planner, City of Alexandria, VA

David Cooley, Senior Associate, Abt Associates

5:00pm - 5:30pm CLOSING REMARKS AND AWARDS

Dr. Melinda Downing, Environmental Justice Program Manager, U.S. Department of Energy

Timothy Fields, Jr., Senior Vice President, MDB, Inc., Chairman, Board of Directors, National Environmental Justice Conference, Inc.