This Request for Applications (RFA) aims to further advance the scientific knowledge essential for obtaining an accurate and realistic assessment of the cumulative impacts from multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors, exacerbated by environmental factors, including racial and social injustices in underserved communities. It seeks applications for community-based scientific research to assess cumulative impacts from multiple combined and interacting environmental (chemical [pollutants/contaminants] and non-chemical) stressors upon human health in underserved communities.

While many environmental issues may be common across communities, each community is also unique in terms of its people and the issues they face. A program or policy that works for one community may not work for another. Therefore, for the solution to be effective, it must reflect and address the community’s needs to eliminate environmental health disparities. The goal is not only to understand cumulative impacts from a community perspective, but also to consider community dynamics and variability in the development of solutions.

The RFA will seek research proposals to:

1. improve health, well-being, and quality of life outcomes by assessing and addressing cumulative impacts resulting from combinations of chemical and non-chemical stressors in underserved communities and investigate how the scientific information can be used to develop effective cumulative impact assessment approaches and/or methods; and
2. investigate how cumulative impact assessment approaches and/or methods can be used to shape better informed practical programs, policies, and decisions to eliminate environmental health disparities.

The applicants are asked to identify and work with specific communities, state, tribal, and/or local programs and policies that cumulative impact assessment can improve and inform explicitly where in the decision-making process the cumulative impact assessment can be applied.

Applications must address the two research areas of interest outlined below:

1. Propose cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research to improve health, well-being, and quality of life outcomes by assessing and addressing cumulative impacts resulting from combinations of chemical and non-chemical stressors in underserved communities. Investigate how the scientific information can be used to develop effective cumulative impact assessment approaches and/or methods. Identification of specific health outcomes and key stressors (both chemical and non-chemical) are required.
2. Propose research to investigate how cumulative impact assessment approaches and/or methods can be used to shape better informed practical programs, policies, and decisions to eliminate environmental health disparities.

This RFA is a follow-up to the EPA STAR RFA, “Cumulative Health Impacts at the Intersection of Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and Vulnerable Populations/Lifestages: Community-Based Research for Solutions” in terms of making progress toward developing and evaluating practical approaches or methods to conduct cumulative impact assessments that incorporate key environmental justice factors into solutions.