Environment
Section Newsletter
Spring 2004

Message from the Chair

As the beautiful smells and sites of spring are upon us we are reminded of the fact that we are only six months away from the 2004 APHA Annual Meeting! Similar to the many other APHA Sections, SPIGs, and Caucuses, the Environment Section has been working hard to organize around the many exciting events planned at this year’s Annual Meeting. One successful planning event was the Section’s first Mid-Year Meeting, held in March at APHA Headquarters, in Washington, D.C. A great amount of work was accomplished, further assisting in the direction of section and conference related affairs.

Being that the theme of this year’s APHA Annual Meeting is “Public Health and the Environment,” The Environment Section is very excited to announce the creation of a Green Neighborhood at the APHA Expo! This specific area of the Expo floor section will showcase organizations that focus on environmental health issues. Exhibitors in the Green Neighborhood will be grouped with others whose focus is environmental health, highlighting many wonderful initiatives and services. Currently, an extensive outreach effort is being made to invite organizations to not only have booth space at APHA 2004, but to join us in the Green Neighborhood specifically. For more information please contact Brenda Afzal at <bafzal@son.umaryland.edu> or Robyn Gilden at <rgilden@son.umaryland.edu>.

The program planning for this year’s Annual Meeting is now in its track-organizing phase. Over 350 abstracts were received this year during the grant submission process! I have personally been working with APHA staff, other section and caucus leaders, as well as government agencies and community-based organizations to organize special larger sessions on environmental justice. The input and expertise during this process has been invaluable, resulting in a very intriguing set of sessions!

The Environment Section is pleased to be continuously working with APHA staff to incorporate as many environmentally responsible practices possible during the meeting planning and actual activities on site. Through our pressure, the D.C. Conference Center is now putting together a recycling policy for our review. Organic food options will also be available for social events per our request. The Expo Coordinator is also assisting our efforts by forwarding information to vendors on ways they can also be more responsible. We also hope to have continued exposure in pre-meeting materials.

Finally, the Environment Section is very pleased to announce that our new Web site is now up and running! We encourage all of you to visit it today to learn about the many exciting ways you can become active in Environment Section! Please visit us at <http://www.apha.org/sections>.

In Peace,

Nsedu Obot Witherspoon

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Mid-Year Meeting

On Wednesday March 24, 2004, the APHA Environment Section held its first official Mid-Year Meeting! The all day meeting was held at APHA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The more than 20 participants represented Section members, invited guests, and fellow Section leaders. Specifically, the Public Health Nursing Section provided a great list of suggestions for further collaboration that included joint efforts in program planning, business meetings, and the Continuing Education Institute.

We were joined by Frances Atkinson, Manager of APHA Section Affairs, Lynn Schoen, APHA Exhibits Manager, Tracy Kolian, Policy Fellow, and Dr. Georges Benjamin, APHA Executive Director. Dr. Benjamin highlighted some planned events for the 2004 Annual Meeting to date and voiced his excitement for this year’s theme “Public Health and the Environment.” The Section will continue to work closely with APHA on plenary session organizing, exhibit coordination, and inclusion of environmental health messages and strategies in the overall conference planning.

The Membership Committee reported that current goals include not only obtaining new members but retaining current members as well. The Policy Committee reported that they have reviewed and prioritized existing environmental section policies and selected two areas, air quality and built environment, for official review this year. The policies in these two areas have been listed on the APHA Web site, and comments were solicited from the general membership. The Student Involvement Committee has been working to have students more involved behind the scenes during the APHA Annual Meeting. This Committee is also looking for ways to have students highlighted in scientific sessions, increasing professional development.

The Environment Section annually provides a local field trip in the host city of the APHA Annual Meeting. The group discussed possible locations for this year’s tour in the D.C. metro area. Interest was presented for a built environment focus as well as highlighting a successful community revitalization project.

The success of the Mid-Year Meeting provided consensus among members to make such an event a regular part of section yearly business. This meeting not only provides a specific time for the Section to get a great amount of work accomplished but also serves as a great social time away from the larger APHA Annual Meeting. The Section also found this meeting to be a great way to encourage potential members to actively become engaged in a variety of Section business.

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Letter from the Membership Chair

Dear Colleague:

We are glad to have you as a member of the APHA Environment Section, and want to encourage you to participate in section activities to get the most from your membership. As you know, the Environment Section serves as a multi-disciplinary "home" for all who are concerned about the juncture of environment and health. Our bold mission is to influence public policy and to help facilitate changes that create and sustain healthy environments while enhancing research, public awareness, and the prevention and treatment of disease caused or exacerbated by environmental factors. We seek to develop alliances with others professionals who work in a variety of public and private settings and endeavor to keep our members up to date on relevant environmental health science and policy issues.

One major initiative is the Built Environment Institute. Developed by our section, the Institute's overall goal is to assist in an effort to identify what combinations of planning, design, and lifestyle choices are prescribed for healthy and sustainable living and more human-focused growth. The Built Environment Institute was launched at the Annual Meeting in San Francisco in 2003, and is supported by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Environment Section offers many opportunities for your participation, professional development, and networking.

Our section offers a dynamic Web site that will provide a connection to section activities through out the year. We invite you to visit our site at <http://www.apha.org/sections>.

The section newsletter, published quarterly, is available only to section members. Section/SPIG newsletters are an APHA membership benefit and can be accessed using your personal APHA username and password. Need help logging in? Go to <www.apha.org/intro_private.cfm>.

We encourage you to sign-on to our section's listserv by sending a blank message to environ-l@liststar.apha.org; type "subscribe environ-l" in the subject line.

Please join us for section business meetings at the APHA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Nov. 6-10. All members are invited and encouraged to participate in business meetings, where the work and direction of our section activities are planned.

We invite you to attend the "meet and greet" section party at the 2004 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The date, time and location will be announced on our Web site and in the APHA annual program announcements. This is a great opportunity to network with fellow section members and enjoy a nice social time.

We want the Environment Section to meet your needs for professional development and networking while advancing our mission of a sustainable and healthy environment. Please get involved in our activities and help this section continue to be one of the best at APHA. A list of this year's section leadership and section committees is pasted below. If you are interested in participating or obtaining additional information, please feel free to contact me or anyone else on the list directly. We look forward to working with you.

ENVIRONMENT SECTION LEADERSHIP AND COMMITTEES

Officers:
Chair - Nsedu Obot Witherspoon (nobot@cehn.org)
Past Chair - Allen Dearry (dearry@niehs.nih.gov)
Chair-Elect - Jill Litt (jill.litt@uchsc.edu)
Secretary - Vince Radke (vradke@cdc.gov)


Section Council:
2004 - Jill Litt (jill.litt@uchsc.edu), Daniel Boatright (daniel-boatright@ouhsc.edu)

2005 - Marni Rosen (mrosen@jaf.org), Michael Reiss

2006 - Patricia Elliot (pelliott@astho.org), Neal Rosenblatt (neal.rosenblatt@mail.state.ky.us)


Governing Council:
Heidi Klein (HeidiMKlein@hotmail.com )
Susan West Marmagas (swest@psr.org )
Beth Resnick (bresnick@jhsph.edu)
David Wallinga (dwallinga@iatp.org)



Committees:

POLICY
John Balbus - Chair (jbalbus@ed.org)
Brenda Afzal (afzal@son.umaryland.edu)
Pat Elliott (pelliott@astho.org)
Tony DeLucia (delucia@mail.etsu.edu)
Susan Stone (stone.susan@epa.gov)
Steve Boese (sboese@healthyschools.org)
Renee Robin (rlrobin@cehn.org)

MEMBERSHIP
Leyla Erk McCurdy - Chair (mccurdy@neetf.org)
Robin Lee (rpl5@cdc.gov)
Brenda Afzal (afzal@son.umaryland.edu)
Dorothy Stephens (des0@cdc.gov)
Susan Stone (stone.susan@epa.gov)

STUDENT INVOLVEMENT
Sacoby Wilson - Chair (smwilson@email.unc.edu)
Max Weintraub (ejhu@ejhu.org)
Aditi Vaidya (avaidya@sph.emory.edu)

BYLAWS
Pat Elliott - Chair (pelliott@astho.org)
Renee Robin (rlrobin@cehn.org)
Nse Obot Witherspoon (nobot@cehn.org)

WEBSITE
Lilah Besser - Chair (lbesser@sph.emory.edu)
Jill Litt (jill.litt@uchsc.edu)
Max Weintraub (ejhu@ejhu.org)
John Balbus (jbalbus@ed.org)

GREEN CONFERENCE
Tony DeLucia - Chair (delucia@mail.etsu.edu)
Michelle Courville (Michele.courville@montgomerycountymd.gov)
Rania Sabty-Daily (rsabtyd@calstatela.edu)
Lilah Besser (lbesser@sph.emory.edu)
Neal Rosenblatt (neal.rosenblatt@mail.state.ky.us)
Brenda Afzal (afzal@son.umaryland.edu)
Renee Robin (rlrobin@cehn.org)
Nse Obot Witherspoon (nobot@cehn.org)

APHA SECTION BOOTH
Jill Litt - Lead (jill.litt@uchsc.edu)
Vince Radke (vradke@cdc.gov)

NEWSLETTER
Rebecca Head - Editor (headr@ewashtenaw.org)

NOMINATIONS
Allen Dearry - Chair (dearry@niehs.nih.gov)
Nse Obot Witherspoon (nobot@cehn.org)
Jill Litt (jill.litt@uchsc.edu)

AWARDS
Leon Vinci - Chair (lfv6@aol.com)
Joe Sliman (jsliman@hjsph.edu)

MANAGEMENT/BUDGET
Nse Obot Witherspoon - Chair (nobot@cehn.org)

_______________________
Leyla Erk McCurdy
Membership Chair

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Important APHA Section Election Information

APHA's 2004 Section elections are quickly approaching, and we are excited to offer you the opportunity to vote online. The elections began May 14, 2004 and will end on June 15, 2004. On May 14 you were sent an e-mail notification letting you know that your Section's election is open. The e-mail subject line read "APHA Voting Information Enclosed." Please do not delete this e-mail.

Your e-mail notification includes:

* Your online election validation number
* Your APHA membership ID number
* Voting instructions
* A direct link to your Section's voting Web site

All you have to do is click on the direct link and VOTE!

If you choose to vote online, please be assured that the site will be secure and you will have the same level of privacy and anonymity as if voting by mail. The system will prevent anyone from voting more than once.

As a member of one of APHA's 24 Sections, your involvement in the
selection of your leadership is an integral part of your Association's governance. We encourage you to take part in this year's election.


Frances Atkinson
Manager of Section Affairs

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2004 APHA Policy Process Update

The APHA Joint Policy Committee (JPC) met for the first round of the 2004 proposed policy review process on April 27-28 at the APHA headquarters in Washington D.C. The JPC is comprised of 12 members appointed from APHA’s three Boards – The Science Board, the Action Board, and the Education Board. The JPC is co-chaired by the chairs of these three boards. The Action Board members represent the various sections of the Association, while the Science and Education Board members are appointed to broadly represent APHA and its members.

During the two-day meeting, the JPC members reviewed each of the draft policy statements submitted for 2004, discussing their merits in terms of their compliance with APHA policies, accuracy of the problem statements, adequacy of their documentation, consistency and appropriateness of the resolution’s action steps with the stated problem, and their relationship to existing policies (i.e., is it duplicative of existing policies?). The JPC does not make judgments with regard to specific subject or content of the proposed policy statement. Only one of the 23 proposed resolutions received a positive endorsement from the JPC. Six received a negative assessment; and the remainder received a conditional assessment. A positive assessment means that the resolution can go forward with only minor, if any, changes by the author. A negative assessment indicates major flaws in the document that would need to be addressed before the policy document could be resubmitted. A conditional assessment indicates that there are some major concerns that need to be addressed by the author(s), but the resolution could go forward if the changes are made.

Below are the list of submitted resolutions and policy papers along with their JPC assessment. The authors of proposed policy statements that receive a negative assessment from the JPC can appeal the decision to the Executive Committee.

GROUP - A: HEALTH DISPARITIES
A-1: Reducing Underage Alcohol Consumption and Advertising to Youth (CONDITIONAL)
A-2: Supporting Environmental Accessibility to Reduce Health Disparities (CONDITIONAL)
A-3: Eliminating Health Disparities Through a Concerted Emphasis on Prevention (NEGATIVE)
A-4: Treatment of Periodontal Disease and Prevention of Pre-term Low Birth Weight Infants (NEGATIVE)
A-5: No Title Submitted. Subject: ER Personnel turning in undocumented immigrants (NEGATIVE)

GROUP - B: ENVIRONMENTAL AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
B-1: Workplace Violence Prevention-Increased Funding for Intervention Research, Training, and Establishment of an Enforceable OSHA Standard (CONDITIONAL)
B-2: Resolution for Support for Overtime Pay (CONDITIONAL)
B-3: No Title Submitted. Subject: Built Environment (CONDITIONAL)
B-4: Resolution Supporting Environmental Health Education for Health Professionals (CONDITIONAL)
B-5: Preventing human Exposure to Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) Fire Retardants to Protect Public Health (CONDITIONAL)
B-6: Affirming the Necessity of a Secure, Sustainable, and Health-Protective Energy Policy (CONDITIONAL)

GROUP - C ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE
C-1: Support for Repeal of Uniform Individual Accident and Sickness Policy Provision Law (UPPL) Exclusions (CONDITIONAL)
C-2: Support for the Licensure of Naturopathic Doctors as Physician-Level Providers of Comprehensive Health Care (NEGATIVE)
C-3: International Volunteer Vision and Eye Care Services (CONDITIONAL)
C-4: Correctional Health Care Standards and Accreditation(CONDITIONAL)
C-5: Support for Coordinated School Health Programs: Essential Public Health Infrastructure (CONDITIONAL)
C-6: Advocating for the Inclusion of Comprehensive Sex Education Programs in the School System (CONDITIONAL)

GROUP D - PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
D-1: Resolution Condemning Recent Attacks on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender and HIV-Related Research (CONDITIONAL)
D-2: Threats to Public Health Science (LB 03) (CONDITIONAL)
D-3: Community-Based Participatory Research (CONDITIONAL)
D-4: No Title-Subject: Food at APHA meetings (NEGATIVE)
D-5: No Title-Subject: Antibiotic resistance (CONDITIONAL)
D-6: Support for Nutrition Labeling in Fast-Food and Other Chain Restaurants (POSITIVE)

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E-ssentialLearning: Expanded Access to Annual Meeting Sessions

APHA is expanding the educational experience of both presenters and attendees at the APHA Annual Meeting by investing in LCD projectors, computers and new Web-based technology for all scientific sessions. This new technology will enable voice and PowerPoint presentations to be recorded and uploaded to the APHA Web site following the meeting, thus expanding the life of the meeting and providing access to hundreds of actual scientific session presentations that Annual Meeting registrants may have missed while attending other sessions.

Annual Meeting attendees can receive full access to these expanded sessions by registering for E-ssentialLearning on the Annual Meeting registration form. Special introductory discounted fees are $25 for Annual Meeting session presenters, $50 for APHA members (who are not session presenters), and $100 for members and are in effect for anyone registering for the full APHA Annual Meeting by the Oct. 1 pre-registration deadline. These fees will increase substantially for anyone registering on-site in Washington.

Log-in information and password access to these E-ssentialLearning sessions will be provided to registrants immediately following the Annual Meeting.

New! Presenters Able to Upload PowerPoint Presentations in Advance

LCD projectors and computers are now included as part of the standard audiovisual package in each session room. Thise new technology will enable presenters to upload their PowerPoint presentations in advance of the meeting and have them pre-loaded on the APHA session computers. Individual presentations then begin with the click of a mouse. The cost and inconvenience of bringing a computer to the Annual Meeting has been eliminated for presenters, allowing them to take advantage of new technologies as part of the E-ssentialLearning experience.

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APHA 2004 Program Planning Update

Program Planning Process
Abstract Review

We have successfully completed a blinded review of each individual abstract and are putting the finishing touches on placing individual abstracts in 90-minute sessions. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered his or her time and expertise throughout this process. We received over 300 individual abstracts and 19 full session proposals. The Environment Section will have scientific sessions on the following topics: Built Environment Institute, Environmental Public Health Infrastructure, Environmental Health Policy and Practice, Science in Environmental Public Health, Global Environmental Public Health, and Disparities in Vulnerable Populations and Communities.

Overall Process

This year, the Section has made several changes in program planning that have improved the process. We created a Program Planning Advisory Council to help with decision making, reduced the number of tracks from 10 to 6 to reduce overlap and confusion when submitting abstracts, and created a process for submission and review of full session proposals. In addition to the changes in abstract review, the section also changed the business-meeting schedule to eliminate conflict with the New Members Reception on Sunday night. One change to be aware of at the APHA level is that there will be LCD’s and laptops for all oral presentations. While this is great news, it does require a little extra planning for presenters. APHA would like all presentations to be submitted ahead of time to allow them to be loaded on the machines in each room, and if slide projectors are needed they have to be specially requested and paid for.

Student Involvement

The Section is again working on ways to include and recognize student participation in our section’s scientific program. We anticipate having another student poster session to highlight the best student work submitted to our section. In addition we will continue to include various student and new professional presentations throughout our program.

It’s Never Too Early to Talk About Next Year

Several section members have made suggestions of ways to improve the call for abstracts, review, and organizing process. If you have recommendations to consider for next year we would love to hear them now and, more importantly, we welcome you to volunteer for a workgroup that will address these issues before the next program planning process begins at the 2004 Annual Meeting in November. Please let Robyn Gilden know if you are interested, <rgilden@son.umaryland.edu>, (410) 706-4803.

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APHA 132 Built Environment Institute II

Identifying approaches for building sustainable environments that actively improve human health

The Built Environment Institute, in its second year, is continuing its pursuit of identifying approaches for building sustainable environments that actively improve human health. This year's sessions will: explore the connections between the built environment and obesity; gain perspectives on designing healthy futures; investigate transportation issues and offer possible design solutions; consider a more holistic approach to sustainability in the built environment from building materials selection to creating a more healthful, less toxic built environment; school environments; and a host of other topics spanning several sessions over a very full two-day period, Nov. 8-9, 2004.

The Institute is also planning a field trip on Sunday, November 7 to one of the many planned communities surrounding the Washington, D.C. area. The historic communities of Greenbelt and Columbia Maryland are being considered. Other newer planned communities that have been constructed using new urbanist design principles, such as the Kentlands, are under consideration, as well.

The Built Environment Institute would not be possible without the generous support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For this we are grateful as this year’s program continues to develop and as we look into future

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