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Collaboration and Partnerships
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
Intergovernmental Outreach to Local Elected Officials
Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations
Geographic location or area of activity: Cities throughout the country where mayors have invited the Deputy Associate Administrator (DAA) for Intergovernmental Relations to participate in outreach activities.
Description of activity: Mayors across the country are demonstrating a strong commitment to environmental stewardship and addressing climate protection through innovative programs, projects and planning. They strongly support the partnership opportunities and assistance provided by EPA to help them achieve important environmental and economic objectives. Mayors are continuously looking for opportunities to showcase the efforts of their cities, and to share best practices with other communities. EPA’s intergovernmental outreach provides important assistance to the mayors in these efforts.
EPA’s regional offices partner with the Office of Intergovernmental Relations as the DAA conducts targeted outreach. The Office of Intergovernmental Relations (OIR) uses several approaches to determine and consider such outreach, including: preliminary meetings with mayors and key staff to provide information about EPA’s programs to assist local officials; and consultation with EPA’s regional and program offices.
To date, the DAA’s invitational outreach has included travel to the cities of: Newark, California; Burnsville, Minnesota; Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Denver, Colorado. During outreach activities, the Mayors and cities have hosted extensive tours to showcase environmental projects; provided forums for the DAA to meet with and address City Councils, and ensured that activities are accessible to the public through media. In addition to learning about the cities’ progress in addressing environmental challenges, the DAA is also able to promote the work of other EPA program offices and the many tools that the Agency offers to assist local governments.
During these visits, mayors and cities are recognized with the presenting of OCIR’s “Environmental Stewardship Certificate of Leadership,” to recognize their efforts toward making their cities models for environmental stewardship. Mayors and cities appreciate this recognition and the outreach efforts and these efforts are an important part of maintaining and strengthening EPA’s working relationship with communities.
Local partners: To date – cities of Newark, CA; Burnsville, MN; Fayetteville, AR; Denver, CO. 2008 potential targets for outreach include: St. Petersburg, FL; Seattle, WA; Minneapolis, MN and Syracuse, NY.