The Environmental Public Health Performance Standards (EnvPHPS) are a set of ten standards modeled after the National Public Health Performance Standards (NPHPS) and based on the ten Essential Services of Environmental Health. The EnvPHPS being developed by CDC provide an important benchmark for participating agencies to measure the capacity of their local environmental public health system. The assessment process encourages system partners to better coordinate and target their activities and is intended to provide a foundation for implementing performance improvement activities.

Through a multi-year partnership with the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NACCHO provides technical assistance to local health departments and their constituents in conducting community-based environmental health assessments.  To this end, NACCHO developed the Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH), a methodology to guide local communities in identifying and addressing environmental health priorities.

In response to the need for support, encouragement, and evidence of PACE EH efforts, NACCHO implemented the PACE EH Demonstration Site Project to: (1) support interested users; (2) provide additional material for inclusion in PACE EH in Practice (an expandable compendium of local communities documenting their experiences using the methodology); and (3) enhance the peer assistance network for potential and current PACE EH users.  NACCHO, with funding from the National Center for Environmental Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, awarded eight local health departments (each in the amount of $20,000) to serve as PACE EH demonstration sites.

PACE Demonstration Map