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Other cases, like the complaint filed by the community living around Flint, Mich.'s wood -fired Genesee Power Station, have languished for years (Greenwire, Feb. 19). But farmworker advocacy groups, which have called on EPA to update its standards over the past two decades, acknowledged that the updated worker protection standard represented a greater focus on environmental justice. "The EPA has been very engaged with the farmworker community organizations to correct the deficiencies in the Worker Protection Standard," said Virginia Ruiz, director of occupational and environmental health for Farmworker Justice. "The new final rules are a first important step, but we want to see EPA engaged just as strongly in the implementation and the education and enforcement to make sure they are meaningful," Ruiz added. The addition of a farmworker representative on EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) was a significant step, said Jeannie Economos, pesticide safety and environmental health project coordinator at the Farmworker Association of Florida. "This isn't just a regulation, this isn't just something on paper, it affects the next generation," Economos said. For Vernice Miller- Travis, a longtime environmental justice advocate and member of NEJAC, the recent actions represent a long departure from how the agency used to view civil rights. "Is it everything? No. Is it a significant improvement from what it was? Absolutely," she said. "I feel that our representation is more valued at this moment than it has been heretofore." II III L.. II t II II' II II II iI II II IL f C IL........ II II II IIIC II III " "I "" Al k RU . II C II Y Greenwire is written and produced by the staff of E &E Publishing, LLC. The one -stop source for those who need to stay on top of all of today's major energy and environmental action with an average of more than 20 stories a day, Greenwire covers the complete spectrum, from electricity industry restructuring to Clean Air Act litigation to public lands management. Greenwire publishes daily at 1 p.m.