RSS feed source: Environmental Protection Agency--Air Quality

Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced The MetroHealth System and The Trust for Public Land in Ohio will receive $17,191,775 and $3,000,000 respectively to help disadvantaged communities tackle environmental and climate justice challenges through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity. Made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the Community Change Grants Program is the single largest investment in environmental and climate justice in history. The funding announcement today is the first of nearly $2 billion from the program that was designed based on community input to award grants on a rolling basis. 

These two groups and other selected applications are the first to come under the Community Change Grants Program’s rolling application process. Informed by robust stakeholder engagement and community feedback, the innovative rolling application process will ensure that applicants have ample time to prepare and take advantage of this historic resource. The Community Change Grants Program notice of funding opportunity, administered through EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, is still accepting applications through November 21. EPA will continue to review applications and announce selections on a rolling basis.  

“Our ability to deliver tangible results for communities depends on listening to them and

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RSS feed source: Environmental Protection Agency--Air Quality

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Record of Decision (ROD) that addresses a source of contaminated soil at the former Shaffer Equipment Company (SEC) property in Minden, West Virginia. Today’s ROD, which applies to the polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”) located at the SEC property at the Shaffer Equipment/Arbuckle Creek Area Superfund Site (Site), lays out in detail why EPA has concluded that the proposed plan and selected cleanup method will meet the needs of the project.

“EPA’s Record of Decision is a significant step forward in protecting the community and waterway from the threat of contaminants like PCBs, and there is still more work to be done,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Administrator Adam Ortiz. “EPA will continue to investigate and study the remaining portions of the site and will work with our partners at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare for the cleanup of the property.”

The site is comprised of the SEC property, Arbuckle Creek sediments, and a handful of other areas where related contamination may be located. Site soils and sediment were historically contaminated with PCBs, which were used by the Shaffer Equipment Company from 1970 to 1984 to manufacture electrical substations for the local coal mining industry.

The components of the SEC property cleanup plan include the excavation, removal, and disposal of the contaminated soil

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RSS feed source: Environmental Protection Agency--Air Quality

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced settlements of two cases involving agricultural worker protection, one with Olomana Orchids Inc., in Kaneohe, and one with Mari’s Gardens LLC, in Mililani. Both farms are located on the island of Oʻahu.

“Reducing pesticide exposure is a high priority for EPA. With our state partners, we’re focused on protecting agricultural workers and pesticide handlers,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “All farms, nurseries, and agricultural establishments must follow pesticide label instructions and ensure their workers are properly trained to safely use and apply pesticides and work in treated areas.”

“The EPA’s Worker Protection Standard helps to protect the health and safety of Hawai‘i’s agricultural workers and their families,” said Sharon Hurd, chairperson of the Hawai‘i Board of Agriculture. “All agricultural operations should make it a priority to ensure the proper use of pesticides and to require proper training for workers.”

Olomana Orchids will pay $2,505 for failing to ensure that two of its workers had been trained in accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Worker Protection Standard (WPS). Mari’s Gardens will pay $1,173 for failing to provide complete decontamination supplies to its handlers in accordance with the WPS. The State of Hawaiʻi conducted the inspections at each nursery in 2021 and  afterwards referred both

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