Accreditation organizations |
- Offer accreditation to ECE programs that have had an environmental hazard assessment
- Provide information to those seeking accreditation and can help encourage safe siting
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ATSDR |
- Provide technical assistance to partners
- Determine what sampling is needed to determine if a site is safe for an ECE program, and help interpret sampling results
- Explain exposure risks to others and assist with risk communication, if needed
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Child care resource and referral agencies |
- Providing parents with information regarding factors to consider when choosing an ECE program
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Departments of agriculture |
- Identify which sites might have been used in the past as agricultural land
- Identify which sites are near agricultural land
- Identify what types of agricultural pesticides and chemical might be used and when
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Departments of environmental protection |
- Identify known hazardous sites (RCRA and similar sites)
- Evaluate what types of contamination might be present from a former use, nearby site, or naturally occurring
- Evaluate possible sources of contamination at ECE programs that might affect the water quality of a private water source and provide the corresponding guidance on national, regional, and local contaminants
- Identify known areas with naturally occurring contamination; may have records or files for investigation
- Provide information on how to sample for certain contamination and help develop sampling plans
- Provide potential information on past sampling (if any) of a specific site
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Departments of emergency services |
- Provide information on past use of some sites.
- Provide potential site locations on hazardous materials inspections from local emergency services departments
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Departments of public health |
- Evaluate what types of contamination might be present from a former use or a nearby site, or which may be naturally occurring
- Identify what environmental sampling, if any, is needed to determine if a site is safe for a child care center, and interpret sampling results
- Help explain exposure risks to others and assist with risk communication, if needed
- Provide technical assistance to ECEs regarding understanding water quality reports, water testing parameters, private well testing, data interpretation, and water treatment options
- Provide best management practices to ECE programs on proper cleaning practices for water fountains and hot water tanks
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ECE licensing or lead agencies, e.g., CCDF lead agencies |
- Provide information on process for ECE programs to be licensed
- Provide potential geocoded data on where ECE programs are located
- Assist with determining which policies or regulations help to keep ECE programs from being located near an incompatible site
- Provide guidance on state or local drinking water quality regulations that affect ECE programs
- Identify potentially problematic sites
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ECE providers or local organizations |
- Help ensure that their programs are safely sited
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Historic societies |
- Provide information on past use of some sites or sections of a town or city, which can help to identify what chemical contaminants need to be considered
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Law enforcement |
- Identify places where former illegal activity (dumping, clandestine drug labs) has taken place
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Local medical professionals and pediatric environmental health specialty units (PEHSUs) |
- Raise awareness and understanding of how children are susceptible to environmental contaminants
- Help raise awareness of the need for safe siting
- Help with risk communication
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Local planning and zoning boards |
- Identify sites that might have been designated or used as manufacturing or industrial sites
- Identify sites near an ECE site that should be assessed
- Ensure appropriate siting of new ECE programs
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Local water districts |
- Provide information on national, regional, and local drinking water contaminants
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National environmental public health tracking |
- Provide potential resources for GIS with location data for contaminated sites
- Identify potential hazards in a specific location based on shared data from the national, state, and municipal level
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Professional organizations like National Head Start Association or National Association for the Education of Young Children |
- Raising awareness and educating providers
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Town and city planners |
- Identify past use of sites and existing use of nearby sites
- Help access local records
- Ensure any plans they receive for new ECE programs have had environmental exposures considered
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University agricultural extension offices |
- Provide guidance on installation and maintenance of private water systems, drinking water quality, and water treatment options
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U.S. Geological Survey |
- Help identify areas across the United States that have naturally occurring contamination
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