Biden-Harris Administration announces $406,482 for community air pollution monitoring project on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota
EAGLE BUTTE, SD – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected The Keya Foundation to receive funding to conduct community air quality monitoring on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. The grant is one of 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states that will receive $53.4 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United States. The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
“This funding will help address air quality information gaps in and near underserved communities on the Cheyenne River Reservation, building tribal capacity and providing community members with more data about the air they breathe” said EPA Regional Administrator, KC Becker. “The data this project produces will help the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal community more closely evaluate potential pollution concerns and opportunities to address them.”
Today’s announcement includes $406,482 in funding for The Keya Foundation, located in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Reservation, to conduct air monitoring for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), including trace metals, and mercury vapor in and around the communities of Eagle Butte, Timber Lake, and Cherry Creek, South Dakota. Tribal members will provide direct input to monitoring location selection, and field sampling will be conducted by local Native American student interns. Data from the project will be presented to stakeholders and interested parties through community-led workshops.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
“This funding will help address air quality information gaps in and near underserved communities on the Cheyenne River Reservation, building tribal capacity and providing community members with more data about the air they breathe” said EPA Regional Administrator, KC Becker. “The data this project produces will help the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal community more closely evaluate potential pollution concerns and opportunities to address them.”
Today’s announcement includes $406,482 in funding for The Keya Foundation, located in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Reservation, to conduct air monitoring for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), including trace metals, and mercury vapor in and around the communities of Eagle Butte, Timber Lake, and Cherry Creek, South Dakota. Tribal members will provide direct input to monitoring location selection, and field sampling will be conducted by local Native American student interns. Data from the project will be presented to stakeholders and interested parties through community-led workshops.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $613,598 for Community Air Pollution Monitoring Projects Benefitting Six West Virginia Communities
(PHILADELPHIA) Nov. 3, 2022 – Six communities in West Virginia will benefit from the work of two non-profit organizations selected for funding by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct community air quality monitoring. The grants are among 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states which will receive $53.4 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United States.
The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, in order to support President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
FracTracker Alliance, headquartered in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, will receive a $495,301 grant for its project to conduct air monitoring in Brooke, Hancock and Marshall Counties in West Virginia. The project will expand an ongoing community-science project that uses low-cost monitors to provide real-time data for a variety of pollutants in an ongoing effort to improve air quality in the Ohio Valley region.
Appalachian Voices, which has offices in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, is receiving a $118,297 grant for a citizen science-based project to monitor for particulate matter in McDowell and Raleigh Counties and Institute, West Virginia. Other underserved communities in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia are included in the monitoring project.
“Funding for these projects will finally give communities, some who for years have been overburdened by polluted air and other environmental insults, the data and information needed to better understand their local air quality and have a voice for real change, ” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “This air monitoring work will also be useful as communities and local leaders work to revitalize neighborhoods and grow their local economy.”
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially selected for funding.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, in order to support President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
FracTracker Alliance, headquartered in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, will receive a $495,301 grant for its project to conduct air monitoring in Brooke, Hancock and Marshall Counties in West Virginia. The project will expand an ongoing community-science project that uses low-cost monitors to provide real-time data for a variety of pollutants in an ongoing effort to improve air quality in the Ohio Valley region.
Appalachian Voices, which has offices in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, is receiving a $118,297 grant for a citizen science-based project to monitor for particulate matter in McDowell and Raleigh Counties and Institute, West Virginia. Other underserved communities in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia are included in the monitoring project.
“Funding for these projects will finally give communities, some who for years have been overburdened by polluted air and other environmental insults, the data and information needed to better understand their local air quality and have a voice for real change, ” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “This air monitoring work will also be useful as communities and local leaders work to revitalize neighborhoods and grow their local economy.”
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially selected for funding.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Biden-Harris Administration announces $452,871 for community air pollution monitoring project in Montana
HELENA, MT – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to receive funding to conduct community air quality monitoring in 183 locations across Montana. The grant is one of 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states that will receive $53.4 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United States. The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
“This funding will help address air quality information gaps in and near underserved and vulnerable communities across the state of Montana, providing community members with more data about the air they breathe” said EPA Regional Administrator, KC Becker. “The data this project produces will help Montana communities more closely evaluate potential pollution concerns and opportunities to address them.”
Today’s announcement includes $452,871 in funding for MDEQ to expand its current air quality network for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) across the state, including in communities where air quality information is currently unavailable. As the duration and severity of wildfires increases and the number of smoke-impacted days rises, the air monitors installed because of this grant will help provide information on air quality and resulting community health impacts to Montanans across the state.
"Montana DEQ is thrilled to be chosen as an award recipient," said Montana DEQ Director Chris Dorrington. "Wildfire smoke has become increasingly prevalent in Montana and giving citizens access to accurate air quality information is critical so they can determine how to reduce exposure. This funding will help DEQ provide better air quality data to rural and underserved communities across the state.”
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
“This funding will help address air quality information gaps in and near underserved and vulnerable communities across the state of Montana, providing community members with more data about the air they breathe” said EPA Regional Administrator, KC Becker. “The data this project produces will help Montana communities more closely evaluate potential pollution concerns and opportunities to address them.”
Today’s announcement includes $452,871 in funding for MDEQ to expand its current air quality network for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) across the state, including in communities where air quality information is currently unavailable. As the duration and severity of wildfires increases and the number of smoke-impacted days rises, the air monitors installed because of this grant will help provide information on air quality and resulting community health impacts to Montanans across the state.
"Montana DEQ is thrilled to be chosen as an award recipient," said Montana DEQ Director Chris Dorrington. "Wildfire smoke has become increasingly prevalent in Montana and giving citizens access to accurate air quality information is critical so they can determine how to reduce exposure. This funding will help DEQ provide better air quality data to rural and underserved communities across the state.”
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $500,000 for Community Air Pollution Monitoring Project in the District of Columbia
PHILADELPHIA (Nov. 3, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) to receive $500,000 for a project to monitor air quality in neighborhoods overburdened with poor air quality. The project is among 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states which will receive $53.4 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United States.
The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
DOEE will select three neighborhoods to participate in its Enhancing Air Quality Data with Storytelling to Advance Environmental Justice project.
“Funding for this project will finally give communities, some who for years have been overburdened by polluted air and other environmental insults, the data and information needed to better understand their local air quality and have a voice for real change,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “This air monitoring work will also be useful as communities and local leaders work to revitalize neighborhoods and grow their local economy.”
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially selected for funding.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
DOEE will select three neighborhoods to participate in its Enhancing Air Quality Data with Storytelling to Advance Environmental Justice project.
“Funding for this project will finally give communities, some who for years have been overburdened by polluted air and other environmental insults, the data and information needed to better understand their local air quality and have a voice for real change,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “This air monitoring work will also be useful as communities and local leaders work to revitalize neighborhoods and grow their local economy.”
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially selected for funding.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Biden-Harris Administration announces $1,284,587 for three community air pollution monitoring projects in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected three Utah groups to receive funding to conduct air quality monitoring in communities across Davis and Salt Lake Counties. These grants are among 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states that will receive $53.4 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United States. The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
“This funding will help address air quality information gaps in and near underserved communities in the Salt Lake Valley, providing community members with more data about the air they breathe” said EPA Regional Administrator, KC Becker. “The data these projects produce will help Utah communities more closely evaluate potential pollution concerns and opportunities to address them.”
Today’s announcement includes funding for the following air monitoring projects in Utah:
Utah Department of Environmental Quality ($285,379) – Deployment of 40 particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) sensors in communities of Magna, West Valley, and target neighborhoods in northwest Salt Lake City, which are disproportionately affected by particle pollution because of their proximity to industry, diesel traffic, and the Great Salt Lake’s exposed lakebed. Community partners will guide all aspects of the project, including sensor siting, data collection, presentation of results, and community outreach.
Salt Lake County ($500,000) – Expansion of the eBus Air Quality Monitoring project, which utilizes air monitors on electric buses to measure fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone, and nitrogen oxide pollutants in underserved communities across west Salt Lake County. Grant funds will be used for the installation and operation of eight mobile air monitors to supplement the current fleet of three. Data from the project will be used to inform Salt Lake County’s efforts in improving air quality through creation of a detailed pollution mapping system.
Utah Department of Environmental Quality ($499,208) – Enhancement of hazardous air pollutant (HAP) and volatile organic compound (VOC) monitoring in underserved communities in Davis and Salt Lake Counties along Utah’s Northern Wasatch Front through the use of mobile VOC monitoring stations. Data will be presented though a public-facing website with an interactive map that allows visualizations of the measurements and sampling routes, and information will be shared during periodic community meetings.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
“This funding will help address air quality information gaps in and near underserved communities in the Salt Lake Valley, providing community members with more data about the air they breathe” said EPA Regional Administrator, KC Becker. “The data these projects produce will help Utah communities more closely evaluate potential pollution concerns and opportunities to address them.”
Today’s announcement includes funding for the following air monitoring projects in Utah:
Utah Department of Environmental Quality ($285,379) – Deployment of 40 particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) sensors in communities of Magna, West Valley, and target neighborhoods in northwest Salt Lake City, which are disproportionately affected by particle pollution because of their proximity to industry, diesel traffic, and the Great Salt Lake’s exposed lakebed. Community partners will guide all aspects of the project, including sensor siting, data collection, presentation of results, and community outreach.
Salt Lake County ($500,000) – Expansion of the eBus Air Quality Monitoring project, which utilizes air monitors on electric buses to measure fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone, and nitrogen oxide pollutants in underserved communities across west Salt Lake County. Grant funds will be used for the installation and operation of eight mobile air monitors to supplement the current fleet of three. Data from the project will be used to inform Salt Lake County’s efforts in improving air quality through creation of a detailed pollution mapping system.
Utah Department of Environmental Quality ($499,208) – Enhancement of hazardous air pollutant (HAP) and volatile organic compound (VOC) monitoring in underserved communities in Davis and Salt Lake Counties along Utah’s Northern Wasatch Front through the use of mobile VOC monitoring stations. Data will be presented though a public-facing website with an interactive map that allows visualizations of the measurements and sampling routes, and information will be shared during periodic community meetings.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $950,000 for Four Community Air Pollution Monitoring Projects in Nevada
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected four entities to receive more than $950,000 in grant funding to conduct community air quality monitoring in Nevada. The grants are among 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states that will receive $53.4 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United States. The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
“This funding will enhance air quality monitoring in and around underserved communities in Nevada and provide scientific information needed to better understand and address impacts from air pollution,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “EPA is proud to support efforts at the local level to monitor air quality and promote monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments.”
The grant recipients and projects in Nevada are:
Washoe County District Health Department ($213,204): The Department will establish a new air monitoring station in the western portion of Reno in Verdi to fill a spatial gap in the existing ambient air monitoring network where the highest concentrations of particulate matter in the County typically occur during interstate transport wildfire smoke episodes.
Shoshone Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley ($99,985): The Tribes are proposing to create a first-ever air quality monitoring system on the Reservation. The project will provide data the Tribes need to develop policies and practices to preserve or enhance environmental quality on the Reservation.
Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe ($493,802): The Tribe is planning to establish air quality monitoring for the Reservation to address pollutants from known sources due to historic mining, wildfires, agriculture and vehicles plus planned and currently permitted mining in the Quinn River Valley.
Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe ($150,000): This project will focus on monitoring for particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). Gathering data will not only be valuable to the community but will also portray the severity of the unhealthy air quality as it changes due to increasing wildfires.
Nevada will also benefit from a $499,922 grant to the Hispanic Access Foundation for a project to measure PM2.5 concentrations at 12 heavily populated Latino sites in five states, including in Henderson, Nevada. The project will raise awareness and improve understanding of PM2.5 pollution in the communities and will empower these same communities to make adjustments in their daily lives and to advocate for change as needed.
“Nevada is facing worsening air quality as increased wildfires and carbon emissions pollute our air,” said Senator Jacky Rosen. “I’m glad to announce Nevada will be receiving almost $1 million in federal funding to help Nevada’s communities better monitor air quality levels, address threats to worsening air quality, and help keep our air clean.”
“I’m proud to champion efforts to improve our air quality because reducing air pollution can be the difference between life and death. This funding, made possible by the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Acts which I supported, will enhance air quality monitoring in communities that are underserved and historically marginalized,” said Congresswoman Dina Titus.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. . These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
“This funding will enhance air quality monitoring in and around underserved communities in Nevada and provide scientific information needed to better understand and address impacts from air pollution,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “EPA is proud to support efforts at the local level to monitor air quality and promote monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments.”
The grant recipients and projects in Nevada are:
Washoe County District Health Department ($213,204): The Department will establish a new air monitoring station in the western portion of Reno in Verdi to fill a spatial gap in the existing ambient air monitoring network where the highest concentrations of particulate matter in the County typically occur during interstate transport wildfire smoke episodes.
Shoshone Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley ($99,985): The Tribes are proposing to create a first-ever air quality monitoring system on the Reservation. The project will provide data the Tribes need to develop policies and practices to preserve or enhance environmental quality on the Reservation.
Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe ($493,802): The Tribe is planning to establish air quality monitoring for the Reservation to address pollutants from known sources due to historic mining, wildfires, agriculture and vehicles plus planned and currently permitted mining in the Quinn River Valley.
Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe ($150,000): This project will focus on monitoring for particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). Gathering data will not only be valuable to the community but will also portray the severity of the unhealthy air quality as it changes due to increasing wildfires.
Nevada will also benefit from a $499,922 grant to the Hispanic Access Foundation for a project to measure PM2.5 concentrations at 12 heavily populated Latino sites in five states, including in Henderson, Nevada. The project will raise awareness and improve understanding of PM2.5 pollution in the communities and will empower these same communities to make adjustments in their daily lives and to advocate for change as needed.
“Nevada is facing worsening air quality as increased wildfires and carbon emissions pollute our air,” said Senator Jacky Rosen. “I’m glad to announce Nevada will be receiving almost $1 million in federal funding to help Nevada’s communities better monitor air quality levels, address threats to worsening air quality, and help keep our air clean.”
“I’m proud to champion efforts to improve our air quality because reducing air pollution can be the difference between life and death. This funding, made possible by the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Acts which I supported, will enhance air quality monitoring in communities that are underserved and historically marginalized,” said Congresswoman Dina Titus.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. . These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $974,348 for Two Community Air Pollution Monitoring Projects in Georgia
ATLANTA (November 3, 2022) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected the Center for Sustainable Communities and Environmental Community Action Inc., to receive funding to conduct community air quality monitoring in several underserved communities. These grants are among 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states will receive $53.4 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United States. The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
“These Community Air Monitoring Grants will improve and empower marginalized communities throughout Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District. I thank both the Center for Sustainable Communities and Environmental Community Action Inc. for being co-conspirators for environmental justice. These grants are further proof that the Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan are investing in our communities and we’re just getting started,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“These grants will give communities in the Southeast the tools they need to better understand air quality challenges in their neighborhoods,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. “EPA’s investment in ARP funding will not only advance the agency’s mobile air monitoring labs and air sensor loan programs but improve the agency’s ability to support communities in need of short-term monitoring and air quality information.”
Center for Sustainable Communities - $498,401.00
MAP-USA will deploy commercially available PM2.5 sensors in 11 minority communities located in the region of South Atlanta, Georgia. Partnering with public schools, the monitors will be in areas where there is heightened concern over potential health impacts due to the proximity of these neighborhoods to heavily traveled transportation corridors, and for which there is no existing air quality monitoring capability. A non-profit organization with experience in managing community-based environmental and science and technology projects in Atlanta will lead the project with the assistance of experts at a Tier-1 research university that is anchored in the local community. The project will also develop leadership and analytical capacity in the community through technical training and the development of lesson plans that will be used with students at the schools where the monitors are located. The objective is to empower these under-resourced communities to collect, analyze, and use the data to draw conclusions related to the causes and effects of air quality.
Environmental Community Action Inc. - $475,947.00
ECO-Action, working in partnership with Emory University and other nonprofit organizations, will install air monitoring equipment, collect air samples, share sample data and train residents in five communities so they can advance their advocacy efforts to address longstanding air quality problems where they live. Project outputs include deploying 7 air quality monitors (three of which will be furnished using EPA funds) in underserved communities to collect data over a one-year period; making near real-time air quality data available for the communities and other stakeholders; providing 8-10 training sessions to a minimum of 75 people and working with each of 5 communities to develop specific strategies to reduce the effects of air pollutants on their health. The long-term outcome of this project is to reduce human exposure to the identified pollutants. The shorter-term objectives are to provide additional data that helps community members identify the type and extent of the problems they are confronting, increase community awareness of the risks associated with air pollutants in their communities, and to increase access to information and tools that will help community members decrease the impacts of these pollutants on the environment and on their health.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. . These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
“These Community Air Monitoring Grants will improve and empower marginalized communities throughout Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District. I thank both the Center for Sustainable Communities and Environmental Community Action Inc. for being co-conspirators for environmental justice. These grants are further proof that the Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan are investing in our communities and we’re just getting started,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“These grants will give communities in the Southeast the tools they need to better understand air quality challenges in their neighborhoods,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. “EPA’s investment in ARP funding will not only advance the agency’s mobile air monitoring labs and air sensor loan programs but improve the agency’s ability to support communities in need of short-term monitoring and air quality information.”
Center for Sustainable Communities - $498,401.00
MAP-USA will deploy commercially available PM2.5 sensors in 11 minority communities located in the region of South Atlanta, Georgia. Partnering with public schools, the monitors will be in areas where there is heightened concern over potential health impacts due to the proximity of these neighborhoods to heavily traveled transportation corridors, and for which there is no existing air quality monitoring capability. A non-profit organization with experience in managing community-based environmental and science and technology projects in Atlanta will lead the project with the assistance of experts at a Tier-1 research university that is anchored in the local community. The project will also develop leadership and analytical capacity in the community through technical training and the development of lesson plans that will be used with students at the schools where the monitors are located. The objective is to empower these under-resourced communities to collect, analyze, and use the data to draw conclusions related to the causes and effects of air quality.
Environmental Community Action Inc. - $475,947.00
ECO-Action, working in partnership with Emory University and other nonprofit organizations, will install air monitoring equipment, collect air samples, share sample data and train residents in five communities so they can advance their advocacy efforts to address longstanding air quality problems where they live. Project outputs include deploying 7 air quality monitors (three of which will be furnished using EPA funds) in underserved communities to collect data over a one-year period; making near real-time air quality data available for the communities and other stakeholders; providing 8-10 training sessions to a minimum of 75 people and working with each of 5 communities to develop specific strategies to reduce the effects of air pollutants on their health. The long-term outcome of this project is to reduce human exposure to the identified pollutants. The shorter-term objectives are to provide additional data that helps community members identify the type and extent of the problems they are confronting, increase community awareness of the risks associated with air pollutants in their communities, and to increase access to information and tools that will help community members decrease the impacts of these pollutants on the environment and on their health.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. . These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $437,889 for Community Air Pollution Monitoring Project in Alabama
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (November 3, 2022) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected the Southern Research Institute to receive funding to conduct community air quality monitoring in two Birmingham communities. The grant is one of 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states will receive $53.4 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United States. The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
“These grants will give communities in the Southeast the tools they need to better understand air quality challenges in their neighborhoods,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. “EPA’s investment in ARP funding will not only advance the agency’s mobile air monitoring labs and air sensor loan programs but improve the agency’s ability to support communities in need of short-term monitoring and air quality information.”
“This EPA funding, made possible by Democrats’ American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, will be instrumental in our efforts to combat environmental injustice in Birmingham and make our air cleaner and healthier,” said Congresswoman Terri Sewell. “I welcome this much-needed investment and applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for delivering on their commitment to uplift Alabama’s underserved communities.”
This project will monitor criteria air pollutant concentrations in two underserved neighborhoods in Birmingham, Ala. as well as monitor concentrations of key volatile organic compounds including naphthalene and benzene. The goal is to provide these communities with near-real time access to data on the quality of the air that they are breathing and better understand emission patterns and exposures.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. . These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
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“These grants will give communities in the Southeast the tools they need to better understand air quality challenges in their neighborhoods,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. “EPA’s investment in ARP funding will not only advance the agency’s mobile air monitoring labs and air sensor loan programs but improve the agency’s ability to support communities in need of short-term monitoring and air quality information.”
“This EPA funding, made possible by Democrats’ American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, will be instrumental in our efforts to combat environmental injustice in Birmingham and make our air cleaner and healthier,” said Congresswoman Terri Sewell. “I welcome this much-needed investment and applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for delivering on their commitment to uplift Alabama’s underserved communities.”
This project will monitor criteria air pollutant concentrations in two underserved neighborhoods in Birmingham, Ala. as well as monitor concentrations of key volatile organic compounds including naphthalene and benzene. The goal is to provide these communities with near-real time access to data on the quality of the air that they are breathing and better understand emission patterns and exposures.
The air pollution monitoring projects are made possible by more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20 million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal governments.
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those in underserved communities.
EPA will start the process to award the funding by the end of 2022, once the grant applicants have met all legal and administrative requirements. Grantees will have three years to spend the funds from the time EPA awards the grants.
See the full list of applications selected for award.
Background
In spring 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100 million to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that $100 million, was dedicated to air quality monitoring. EPA Regions began awarding nearly $22.5 million from this appropriation in 2022 as direct awards to state, tribal, and local air agencies for continuous monitoring of fine particle and other common pollutants. In addition, EPA Regions are in the process of procuring monitoring equipment using $5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to advance the EPA Regional Offices’ mobile air monitoring capacity and establish air sensor loan programs. . These investments will improve EPA's ability to support communities that need short-term monitoring and air quality information.
In July 2021, EPA announced the $20 million American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Competition. The goal of this competition was to improve air quality monitoring in and near underserved communities across the United States, support community efforts to monitor their own air quality, and promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. EPA received more than 200 applications in response to the competition.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy, integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications.
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