Introduction

[Tom Chao <tchao@mail.arc.nasa.gov>]

I am a low profile, non-management civil service worker who just by chance is employed at NASA Ames.  As I've come across some of the agency's 'Environmental Forums,' 'Environmental Brown Bag Events,''Earth Day' activities, and other health & safety outreach--I am particularly interested in the problem of 'environmental justice,' EO 12898, 1994, and California State Government Code Sec 65040.12 & Public Resources Code 72002, 1999, since it is similar to a worker-community environmental clause, and because 'EJ' and least-toxic, integrated pest management are elements of  any biodiversity management plan, which I believe to be the next logical step after the ESA.  As a volunteer, I am concerned that problems with the 'nestled infra-structures' of regulatory government and within the free market cause the EPA to be not as effectual as it should be.  I think that an integrated EPA solution incorporating 'EJ'/biodiversity management could be part of a more efficient, re-engineered system.

Note that with the 'public trust,' I naively interpret 5 USC 552b to mean meetings should be open to-the-public, and that the shareholders or owners of the government is the public.  Then, the problems such as of the ESA need to be presented in a continual dialogue to the local and regional communities and at the state level as  streams of consciousness (electronics media) with high reciprocity (FOIA).  Also, note that I agree with the statement that 'pollution discriminates,' and that for a bureaucracy the protection of the poor, minority populations and under-represented is the key to problems of structural integrity for a monopoly agency.  Devices such as mitigation and development banking as included in the California Memorandum of Understanding, 'The Agreement on Biological Diversity' need to be developed futher.