How Awareness of Environmental Justice Affects Project Implementation
Kathy Hoverman, PE
RES (Resource Environmental Solutions)
Richmond, VA
Sharon Moran, PhD
SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
Syracuse, New York
Authors: Kathy Hoverman, PE, and Sharon Moran, PhD
This session will advance conversations on how stream restoration and environmental Justice (EJ) can complement each other and how our efforts to be mindful of this confluence of efforts can have a lasting effect on people. We report on the experience and knowledge of stream restoration professionals regarding environmental justice goals based on new survey data. The survey focused on questions about direct experience working with EJ communities, awareness of programs supporting restoration in EJ communities, and personal knowledge of EJ.
Additionally, we review how the Bi-partisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is incorporating marginalized and ‘environmental justice communities’ in the funding opportunities. Funding for projects associated with stream restoration (e.g., floodplain management, aquatic organism passage, dam removal) have been distributed to numerous federal agencies, with each establishing (varying) criteria for what constitutes a marginalized/EJ community and how they are evaluated within the proposed project. Agency data is discussed during the session, and we also highlight ways to identify marginalized/EJ communities as candidates for grant-funded projects, and how approaches such as community-based participatory research have been used to help build shared understanding among restoration professionals and affected groups.
About Kathy Hoverman, PE
Ms. Hoverman is a registered Professional Engineer in multiple states and senior project manager at Resource Environmental Solutions (RES). She has 21 years of experience providing engineering and ecological expertise for a wide range of stream assessments, design, construction, and monitoring projects with various land use practices and watershed sizes with specialization in dam removal and aquatic organism passage. Ms Hoverman serves on numerous committees, boards and task groups including the Virginia Stream Barrier Removal Task Force, Chesapeake Bay Program Stream Restoration Verification Team, Virginia Lakes and Watershed Association, and the ASCE and AFS Joint Committee of Fisheries Engineering and Science. Ms. Hoverman was featured in the World Fish Migration Foundation’s documentary Love Flows and is a recent Fellow of the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute. These experiences and others have highlighted the need to ensure all communities are included in the benefits of stream restoration. Kathy is a former professional soccer player, an avid adventure racer, mom and wife who loves to share her interest in water and all things outdoors.
Link to LoveFlows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tBtz2uv8fI
LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-hoverman-p-e-16421215/
About Sharon Moran, PhD
Sharon Moran is on the faculty at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York. Dr. Moran is a geographer and her research centers on the human dimensions of environmental issues. She teaches classes on nature-society relationships, sustainable enterprise, and environmental policy. She is a co-author of Revitalizing Urban Waterway Communities: Streams of Environmental Justice (Routledge), together with Richard Smardon and April Baptiste.