Washington, D.C. On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency distributed grants for initiatives to monitor air quality in 37 states, with an emphasis on underserved neighbourhoods and other places with high pollution levels.
132 projects will get a total of $53.
As part of its commitment to focusing on environmental justice in areas that have been negatively impacted by decades of industrial pollution, the Biden administration has pledged $4 million to improve air quality monitoring close to chemical plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities.
The massive climate and health package passed in August and the coronavirus relief plan passed by Congress last year provide funding for the grants.
According to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, “This money is going where it’s needed the most.”
The recently funded projects, according to him, “will make sure that dozens of overloaded towns have the tools they need to better understand air quality concerns in their surroundings and will help safeguard people from the dangers presented by air pollution.”
Eight initiatives are receiving funding in areas that Regan visited during his “Journey to Justice” tour of areas affected by persistent pollution.
Regan, the first Black man to lead the EPA, stated that “all people, regardless of where they reside, deserve clean water, clean air, and the ability to live a healthy life.
The funds come in response to Regan’s announcement in January that unannounced inspections would be conducted at chemical factories, refineries, and other industrial sites in three Gulf Coast states that were thought to be contaminating the air and water and harming the health of the local population.
Recipients include the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, a New Orleans-based advocacy group that has pushed for stricter federal oversight of an 85-mile (137-kilometer) stretch from New Orleans to Baton Rouge officially known as the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor but more commonly called Cancer Alley. The area has a number of hotspots where cancer risks are far higher than what the EPA considers to be tolerable.
According to the EPA, the group will get roughly $500,000 to support neighbourhood organisations in tracking air quality and “becoming more engaged and effective in civic involvement.”
In order to create and run a temporary air monitoring facility in St. James Parish, which is home to major petrochemical industries and refineries, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality got about $480,000. According to the EPA, the apparatus will enable almost real-time data on air quality.
A further $422,000 will be given to the state agency to monitor the air quality in the Alexandria-Pineville region between two wood treatment facilities.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality will get $500,000 to measure air pollution in the Cherokee neighbourhood, while the Louisiana Environmental Action Network will receive $500,000 to evaluate the quality of the air throughout Louisiana’s industrial corridor.
Houston, the fourth-largest city in terms of population, will get $500,000 to monitor four dangerous air contaminants that could endanger the local residents.
Visit https://www.epa.gov/arp/selections-arp-enhanced-air-quality-monitoring-competitive-grant for a comprehensive list of the projects.
Grants are given by the EPA to 37 states to monitor air quality.
About Author
