EPA Region 9 EJ Resources and Opportunities Newsletter
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Funding and other Opportunities |
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EPA Environmental
Justice Grants for Tribal Public Participation Project |
$1.6 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to
support Tribal government efforts to establish or modify programs on
environmental justice water and air quality issues. EPA is committed to assisting federally recognized Tribes
in building capacity to establish public participation, community
involvement, education, and communication systems to engage with tribal
members and others living on tribal lands, as noted in the EPA Policy on Environmental
Justice for Working with Federally Recognized Tribes and Indigenous Peoples.
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Closing Date: Thursday, May 19, 2022
To learn more about the pre-application assistance calls and
how to apply for funding, visit: Environmental Justice Small Grants Program.
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EPA Enhanced
Air Quality Monitoring for Communities Grant Applications |
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To view the full
announcement and access the Request for Application document, visit: https://www.epa.gov/grants/enhanced-air-quality-monitoring-communities
For more
information, visit: https://www.epa.gov/grants/air-grants-and-funding
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$23 Million in Pollution
Prevention Grant Opportunities, including $14 Million in Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law Funding |
EPA is
announcing two grant funding opportunities for states and tribes to provide
pollution prevention (P2) technical assistance (e.g., information, training,
and tools) to businesses to help them develop and adopt P2 practices in their
operations.
Eligible
applicants for both P2 grant programs include states, state entities such as
state colleges and universities, U.S. territories and possessions, and
federally recognized tribes and intertribal consortia. Applicants are
strongly encouraged to consider partnering with others in the P2 stakeholder
community to strengthen their ability to provide P2 technical assistance to businesses
and facilitate the development, adoption, and dissemination of P2 solutions.
P2 technical
assistance to businesses can cover a wide range of activities. It might
be an assessment or evaluation of supply chain inputs, identifying specific
opportunities to reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous substances,
pollutants, or contaminants in facility operations, and reduce emissions to
air, water, and/or land. It might be an assessment of practices or
technologies that can help the business conserve energy or water. The
technical assistance might be an evaluation of opportunities to use
lower-toxicity materials or products in a facility such as product
ingredients, refrigerants, equipment cleaning, building cleaners, food-grade
lubrication, and processing techniques and equipment. Those are just a few of
the P2 opportunities for a business.
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Closing
date: Monday, April
11, 2022
To learn
more, visit: |
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Energy
Transitions in Underserved Communities |
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Learn more
and apply here: https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/drivers-and-environmental-impacts-energy-transitions-underserved-communities
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Coming Soon:
$5 Billion Available from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Clean School Bus
Program |
Eligible recipients for funding through this new program
include: state and local governments, certain contractors, nonprofit school
transportation associations, and Tribes, Tribal organizations or
Tribally-controlled schools. |
Informational
Webinar Wednesday,
March 23, 2022 10am PT Click
here to join the webinar
Sign up for
Clean School Bus Program Funding here
More
information available
here
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Free
Technical Assistance: Brownfields and Land Revitalization |
What the
free Program does: ·
Conducts research about past property uses and
environmental sampling for potential contamination. ·
Identifies cleanup alternatives if
contamination is found. ·
Prepares fact sheets about the property to
inform the community and new partners.
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Apply
for Assistance · Publicly- and privately-owned properties qualify for
assessment. · EPA must deem properties as eligible. · EPA accepts online applications on
a rolling basis.
See here for more information |
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Announcements |
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EPA Region 9
Administrator Martha Guzman Meets with Environmental Justice Groups in
California’s San Joaquin Valley |
This week, EPA
Region 9 Administrator Martha Guzman visited California’s San Joaquin
Valley and met with environmental justice organizations to discuss pesticide
safety, carbon sequestration, protecting public health through environmental
regulations, and more. See tweets from her visit:
https://twitter.com/EPAregion9/status/1504922312901943296?s=20&t=UrLHyASJj84M_YeQIv73-g
https://twitter.com/EPAregion9/status/1504924126607073282?s=20&t=UrLHyASJj84M_YeQIv73-g
https://twitter.com/EPAregion9/status/1504195902537355267?s=20&t=UrLHyASJj84M_YeQIv73-g |
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As part of President
Biden’s National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan released March 3rd, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency is releasing the “Clean Air in Buildings
Challenge,” a call to action and a concise set of guiding principles and
actions to assist building owners and operators with reducing risks from
airborne viruses and other contaminants indoors. The Clean Air in Buildings
Challenge highlights a range of recommendations and resources available to
assist with improving ventilation and indoor air quality, which can help to
better protect the health of building occupants and reduce the risk of
COVID-19 spread.
"Protecting
our public health means improving our indoor air quality. Today, EPA is
following through on President Biden’s plan to move our nation forward in a
healthy, sustainable way as we fight COVID-19. Throughout the pandemic,
building managers and facility staff have been on the frontlines implementing
approaches to protect and improve indoor air quality to reduce risks and keep
their occupants safe and healthy, and we are so grateful for their efforts,”
said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The Clean Air in Buildings
Challenge is an important part of helping us all to breathe easier."
More
information on the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge is available: Clean
Air in Buildings Challenge.
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Meetings/Events |
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Office Hours
are a chance for the public to talk with EPA EJScreen experts about many
topics including how to use and apply the tool, technical issues, and any
other questions.
The trainings
will include information on the updates made to EJScreen 2.0, a demonstration
of the newly available features, and tips on how to use the tool. All
sessions are free, and registration is not required.
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Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2022 Time: 9am ET
EJScreen
Training Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2022 Time: 9am PT
EJScreen
Training Date: Wednesday, May 4, 2022 Time: 9am ET
For more
information on EJScreen, visit: https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen For more
information on EJScreen Office Hours, visit: https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen/ejscreen-office-hours
For
additional questions, contact Tai Lung at: Lung.Tai@epa.gov
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Public Listening Sessions on the Draft Climate and Economic Justice
Screening Tool |
The CEJST will
help Federal agencies identify disadvantaged communities for the purposes of
the Justice40
Initiative—a signature initiative of the Biden-Harris Administration that
seeks to provide 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal
investments to disadvantaged communities. The current version of the tool is
in a public beta form and will be updated based on public feedback and
research. In addition to submitting written comments through the Federal
Register, the public can also provide feedback directly on the
CEJST website.
CEQ will also engage in consultation and coordination with Tribal Nations on
the beta version of the tool. |
Public
Listening Sessions Time: 1pm PT Register here
Date: Friday, April 15, 2022 Time: 1pm PT Register here
The beta version
of the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool can be found at https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov.
Additional
information on the tool can be found here.
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EPA Webinar: Advancing
Considerations of Traditional Knowledge in Federal Decision Making |
The federal government
is seeking ways to advance the consideration of Traditional Knowledge (TK) in
federal decision-making processes, in coordination and collaboration with
federally recognized tribes and indigenous peoples. This webinar will discuss
the importance of considering TK, including ethics, values, etc., in
decision-making, and recent developments and actions of the federal
government to further consider TK, including plans to develop guidance for federal agencies, for
which the government is seeking input.
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Webinar
Details Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 Time: 11:30am-1pm PT Register here For questions
about this webinar, or the EPA EJ Webinar Series for Tribes and Indigenous
Peoples, please contact Danny Gogal (gogal.danny@epa.gov).
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The WHEJAC is
interested in receiving public comments relevant to the beta version of the
Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and federal government agencies’
implementation of the Justice40 Initiative. |
Time: 12-5pm PT
Please
submit any questions to: whejac@epa.gov
To learn more
about the WHEJAC and the public meeting, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/white-house-environmental-justice-advisory-council.
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The sessions
will be an opportunity for EPA to share information and for communities to
offer input on environmental justice considerations related to the
development of the proposed PFAS NPDWR. We encourage the public to share
thoughts on addressing PFAS drinking water contamination issues in their
communities.
In October 2021, EPA released the PFAS Strategic Roadmap laying
out an approach to addressing PFAS across the Agency. Establishing an NPDWR
for PFOA and PFOS is a key action in the Roadmap. |
Time: 2-5pm PT
To view
EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap, visit: https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-strategic-roadmap-epas-commitments-action-2021-2024
More
information is available at: https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas. |
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CCLR East
Bay Environmental Justice Forum |
The Center for Creative
Land Recycling (CCLR) is hosting the East Bay Environmental Justice Forum
workshop to bring together a diverse range of stakeholders to strengthen
brownfields revitalization in an environmental justice and equitable
development framework, focusing on California's Alameda and Contra Costa
counties. The Forum will: · Highlight
local best practices and guidelines for equitable land reuse and share ways
to integrate environmental justice principles into cities and counties' land
use policy framework; · Identify
key local practitioners and resources that are foundational in the EJ space;
and · Demonstrate
how equitable redevelopment is integral to other pillars of community health
and well-being, including housing affordability, climate justice, and public
health.
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Date: Friday, April 22, 2022 Time: 8am-12:30pm PT Location: Freight and Salvage Theater
2020 Allston Way
Berkeley, CA
Registration
is FREE
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