On November 3, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has selected 11 projects to receive more than $4.27 million in funding for monitoring air quality in communities across Pennsylvania.

The projects 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, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.

The Pennsylvania projects include--

--  City Of Philadelphia - $392,658: Recipient will deploy air monitors at three sites which are located in Environmental Justice (EJ) areas near major emission sources. The project will produce results to fill gaps of monitoring data in these areas and will help in strategizing pollution reductions in overburdened communities.

-- Clean Air Council - $419,446: Recipient will develop and expand existing community-based air monitoring pilot projects in environmental justice communities along the industrialized I-95 corridor in Delaware County and Southwest Philadelphia, PA.

-- Community Foundation For The Alleghenies - $449,145: Recipient will involve community members in the design of monitoring plans, deployment of monitoring equipment, data collection, engagement in community data sensemaking, and  coordination of communication and accountability campaigns so that air pollution conditions and community warning and protection capabilities advance in the Upper Ohio River Valley.

-- CWF HQ DC - Clean Water Fund - $340,880: Recipient will monitor the changing patterns of the air quality in their community in South Philadelphia. The air measurements will reveal and document the patterns of toxicity, and this data will support and empower their community to advocate for the sovereign right to environmental justice and equity.

-- FracTracker Alliance - $430,001: Recipient will deploy air monitoring equipment to better assess emissions from the increased shale gas industrial buildout and use that data to educate local community members, elected officials and regulators on the need for a cumulative impact analysis requirement as part of all permitting procedures.

-- FracTracker Alliance (PA, OH, WV) - $495,301: Recipient will expand upon an ongoing community-science project launched in 2020 that uses low-cost monitors to provide real-time data for a variety of pollutants associated with Unconventional Oil and Gas Development (UOGD) and petrochemical-related industries that have rapidly proliferated in the region. Community science has provided opportunities for increased participation and involvement and supported ongoing efforts to improve air quality in the region.

-- Group Against Smog & Pollution - $499,781: Recipient will expand community-owned air monitoring networks to equip residents from across the region with local and accurate estimates of ambient air pollution exposure. Project builds on crowd-sourced odor reporting data from over 1,000 unique individual reporters in the Smell PGH app, and monitoring networks facilitated by community groups throughout the Southwestern Pennsylvania region.

-- JASTECH Development Services, Inc. - $333,121: Recipient will increase awareness of air pollution in targeted environmental justice communities of West Philadelphia. With the engagement of community members in the Overbrook/Wynnefield/Mill Creek/ Mantua communities, the "breathe right" project will monitor 5 pollutants and analyze several heavy metals.

-- Department Of Environmental Protection - $377,443: Recipient will install several monitors outside of transportation corridors, vulnerable populations, and local neighborhoods to gather air quality data. Project aims to gather critical data to help federal, state, and local partners identify sources of air pollution, clarify their relative contributions and develop mitigation strategies to improve health outcomes for the people who live and work in the Environmental Justice communities along the waterfront in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

-- Department Of Environmental Protection - $499,870: Recipient will partner with Lehigh University and Allentown communities to understand the air pollutants in neighborhoods and near sources by conducting air monitoring; identify likely sources and community health concerns; and work with the local community to sustain ongoing engagement in monitoring and activities that diminish health risks from air pollution.

-- Promote PT Inc./DBA Protect PA - $365,887: Recipient will expand Protect PT’s air monitoring efforts in environmental justice communities in Southwestern Pennsylvania to address the lack of knowledge about fossil fuel air emissions and their impact on quality of life for those living in counties that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“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.”

“Today’s announcement is a huge win for the health and safety of families across PA-05,” said Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) “Our region has long struggled with dangerous air quality and the negative health impacts associated with it, including high rates of cancer and childhood asthma.

‘The new funding, made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan, will empower our state and local governments and nonprofits with the tools they need to track and monitor air quality in our communities, particularly in our underserved communities that often bear the brunt of the negative health impacts associated with poor air quality.

‘I’m proud to have cast my vote for the historic pieces of legislation that made this investment possible, and I look forward to my continued work with the EPA and the Biden Administration to deliver the federal funding Pennsylvania families need to grow and thrive.”

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.

Click Here to see the full list of applications selected for award.

(Photo: Pittsburgh-based Group Against Smog & Pollution.)

NewsClips:

-- Post-Gazette: Allegheny County Residents Raise Concerns Over Mon Valley Air Pollution Episode

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Advocates Say Allegheny County’s Air Pollution Rules Should Be Revisited

-- WESA: Concerned About Daily Air Pollution? Experts Advise Against Looking At Only One Reading

-- Pittsburgh-Based EQT Natural Gas Awarded Gold Standard Rating By U.N. Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Reduction Partnership

Related Article:

-- On-Demand Webinar: Creating A Healthy Home And Community With Shale Gas Development In Your Neighborhood  [PaEN]

[Posted: November 3, 2022]

11/7/2022