( ESSENCE ) -- As the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency , Lisa Jackson wears many hats : environmentalist , upholder of anti-pollution policy and toxic chemical regulator , to name a few . Lisa Jackson wears many hats as the administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency . But when she reflects on her role as the first African-American to head the agency , her aim is to make people see the connection between the environment and their lives . Jackson spoke to ESSENCE.com about school safety , asthma , environmental racism -- and what she 's doing to battle all three . The following is an edited version of that interview : . ESSENCE.COM : You 've said that your overarching goal is to return the EPA to its roots , to serve the American people and show that your work involves issues that they care about . Can you give us some examples on how you plan to achieve that ? Watch powerful women and grieving mothers » . Lisa Jackson : The example that probably best epitomizes it is what we 're doing on air toxin 's in schools . USA Today did a front-page story saying they 'd done some risk assessments , and think schools across the country have high level of toxins in the air around them . The American people are rightfully worried , thinking , 'So now you 're telling me that when I put my child on a school bus , I have to worry about them once they 're there ? ' We 're in the middle of a 60-site monitoring effort with states to get air toxins information from the schools that are among the worst -- schools near highways with cars , buses and trucks , or schools that might be near factories . We want to try to get a handle on this , not to comfort people , but to get them answers . ESSENCE : Lisa Jackson brings change to EPA . ESSENCE.COM : You 've also spoken about elevated asthma rates in communities of color . What can the EPA do to improve air quality when minority neighborhoods are already so congested ? Jackson : You have to think about the big actions that we do . We know that one of the main triggers is high ozone levels . You ca n't attack that in one area ; that 's a global problem . What the EPA has to do is ratchet down on emissions from cars , trucks , factories and manufacturing processes that produce ozone . That 's regulatory work -- setting permit levels low enough and making sure there 's enforcement so that people abide by those levels . EPA has also proposed a monitoring network near major transportation arteries to better understand the pollution that 's happening in the communities that are located next to them . ESSENCE : Will the new green jobs go to black people ? ESSENCE.COM : Understanding that the EPA does n't necessarily focus on the location of every bus depot or landfill in the country , it 's still a big problem . The decisions to locate polluting sites in minority neighborhoods are usually made by people who do n't live in them . Since their voices are so often not at the table , how can EPA regulate how those decisions are made , to break the cycle ? Jackson : That 's what the environmental justice movement has been saying for a long time , that there ought to be some screen that you can use in permitting decisions to say , `` Are we talking about a place that 's already disproportionately impacted ? And , if so , do n't add to that pollution . '' I think that is the policy challenge of our time . It 's all about public participation to me . As you said , the decision is made not by the people who have to suffer the consequences of it . ESSENCE : Give back like your favorite celebs . People should be able to advocate and say , `` Okay , you can put that here , but we want to make sure that the level of contamination coming from the stack is something that 's acceptable , and that we believe is safe for our community . '' That 's a big difference . ESSENCE.COM : So , how do you educate them about this ? What does EPA outreach to minority communities look like ? Jackson : I think it looks like the kind of outreach we 're doing in general . We do it through enforcement , looking across a state and saying , `` Before you make a citing decision , you have to get adequate public comment that it meets clean air standards . '' The other side of it is that we have grassroots groups out there who organize against additional pollution . But we still have n't plugged in . We still do n't feel that EPA is an accessible enough organization . I can play a role in that because communities feel more at home coming to us when they know there 's an African-American woman at the head , and that she 's making a real effort . They can trust that , when they bring their issues to the table , I 'm not going to sweep them under the rug . In our regional offices , there 's a real emphasis now that one of our priorities is environmental justice , and making sure that disproportionately impacted communities -- low-income populations and communities of color -- feel at home bringing their issues to us and know that they have a voice .
Lisa Jackson is first African-American to head Environmental Protection Agency . Jackson says her overarching goal is to return EPA to its roots . `` What the EPA has to do is ratchet down on emissions , '' Jackson says . Jackson says EPA feels they are still not accessible enough to the people .