RSS feed source: Environmental Protection Agency--Air Quality

BISMARCK, N.D. – Today, as the Biden-Harris Administration celebrates Earth Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced The Coalition for Green Capital and MHA Nation (The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation) have been selected to receive $62,450,000 and $135,580,000 respectively through the Solar for All (SFA) grant competition to develop long-lasting solar programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed residential solar. This award is part of the historic $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to lower energy costs for families, create good-quality jobs in communities that have been left behind, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis. 

The North Dakota SFA will reduce greenhouse and other air pollutants by increasing the deployment of solar products across the state by providing solar arrays to single family homes. The program will facilitate grant, tax, and low interest lending to develop solar units for multi-family dwellings. These funds will also be used to mobilize financing and private capital by enabling community development financial institutions, credit unions, rural electric cooperatives, and municipal utilities to gain expertise in administering a revolving loan fund without incurring significant risk. The program impact can be measured and used to attract additional funding to the region. Finally, and key to the Justice 40 initiative,

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RSS feed source: Environmental Protection Agency--Air Quality

ATLANTA (April 22, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 marked Earth Day at the Historic Westside Gardens (HWG) Elm Street Urban Farm in Atlanta. EPA leadership and staff joined local community volunteers in garden maintenance activities near the Westside Lead Superfund Site, where EPA has been working to clean up lead contamination since 2019.

“Through our Superfund work, we have built strong ties in Atlanta’s Westside and are grateful for the opportunity this Earth Day to serve the community in a different way,” said EPA Region 4 Chief of Staff John Nicholson. “The experience allowed us to reflect on how important action at the local level is to ensure a healthy planet.”

HWG was founded in 2010 with the mission to promote environmental and economically sustainable practices in the Westside community through educational programs, events and greenspaces that actively engage youth, families and individuals in their environment, health and community, and that develop skills in environmental science, sustainable urban living and organic gardening.

Background

The HWG Elm Street Urban Farm is located in the Westside Lead Site (WSL) which is located in heart of the City of Atlanta. WSL was listed on the Superfund National Priorities List in March 2022. The study area consists of approximately 2,097 residential properties encompassing 637 acres in the Vine City

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RSS feed source: Environmental Protection Agency--Air Quality

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Today, as the Biden-Harris Administration celebrates Earth Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Bonneville Environmental Foundation has been selected to receive $30,260,000 through the Solar for All (SFA) grant competition to develop long-lasting solar programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed residential solar. This award is part of the historic $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to lower energy costs for families, create good-quality jobs in communities that have been left behind, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis.  

The Wyoming SFA Program will expand economic and environmental benefits of solar to low-income, Tribal, and disadvantaged communities across the state. This will be achieved through a community designed program that addresses market and non-market barriers to residential solar through outreach, workforce development, and technical and financial assistance. The program will leverage and mobilize additional capital to maximize the number of households served through single family residential and multifamily residential solar projects. It will deliver significant electricity bill savings along with other meaningful benefits such as enhanced resilience, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and a more inclusive and skilled workforce. 

“Although solar technology has become more affordable for residential use, many communities still face cost barriers to access,” said Regional Administrator KC Becker.

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RSS feed source: Environmental Protection Agency--Air Quality

WASHINGTON – Today, April 19, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking another step in its efforts to protect people from the health risks posed by exposure to “forever chemicals” in communities across the country. Exposure to per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been linked to cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children. This final rule will designate two widely used PFAS chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund, and will help ensure that polluters pay to clean up their contamination.

This final action will address PFOA and PFOS contamination by enabling investigation and cleanup of these harmful chemicals and ensuring that leaks, spills, and other releases are reported. This action builds on the recently finalized standards to protect people and communities from PFAS contamination in drinking water and represents the latest step the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to protect public health and welfare and the environment under EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and to prevent cancer before it starts through the Biden Cancer Moonshot.

In addition to the final rule, EPA is issuing a separate CERCLA enforcement discretion policy that makes clear that EPA will focus enforcement on parties who significantly contributed to the release of PFAS

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