Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois Chicago have been selected to receive a total of $2,610,808 in pollution prevention grants through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics. EPA has selected the universities to receive the funding, made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to develop and adopt practices that prevent pollution at the source.
“Achieving lasting environmental justice requires community-driven solutions boosted by federal resources,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “President Biden has secured historic levels of funding to address environmental harms in vulnerable communities under his Investing in America agenda. These dollars have supercharged our ability to empower a wide range of businesses from across the country to deploy solutions that prevent pollution while strengthening economic growth.”
The Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been selected to receive $1,126,972. The University has proposed a multi-state project with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Missouri State University. The teams will work together to help 30 manufacturing and processing facilities across multiple business sectors to reduce water consumption, wastewater generation, energy consumption and hazardous waste. They will offer pollution prevention and energy efficiency assessments, as well as support for businesses adopting pollution prevention recommendations. The project will improve energy efficiency, reduce reliance on fossil fuel energy sources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in overburdened communities near the Mississippi River.
The Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has also been selected to receive a second Pollution Prevention grant of $800,000. The University will launch a second project to help food service businesses reduce their consumption of items containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). They will develop criteria and tools to identify and purchase products without PFAS, as well as on-site assessments for 30 businesses. The project will reduce harmful chemical exposures for food service employees and customers, reduce drinking water contamination and soil pollution and decrease the amount of PFAS-containing products entering landfills or compost facilities.
University of Illinois Chicago has been selected to receive $683,836. The University will help restaurants to transition to reusable, biodegradable, and compostable food contact materials that do not contain PFAS. They will create an awareness campaign and offer incentives to participating restaurants. The project will reduce plastic waste, promote landfill diversion and reduce contamination in composting.
"Preventing pollution is a crucial part of environmental justice efforts across the Great Lakes region,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore. “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the grants being announced today will encourage businesses to help overburdened and underserved communities become cleaner, healthier places to live, learn and work.”
“I’m proud that Illinois is at the forefront of the clean energy revolution,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “These grants will enable our top-tier academic institutions to support businesses across the state in developing sustainable practices to reduce waste and pollution while becoming more energy efficient. We’re working together and taking action to create a more sustainable future for all Illinoisans.”
“Adopting pollution prevention practices will advance environmental justice in underserved communities and combat the climate crisis,” said Sen. Dick Durbin. “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, our institutions can help drive positive change across Illinois and ensure clean air and water.”
“Prioritizing environmental justice communities is a critical key to making a greener, more equitable Illinois a reality,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth. “As co-founder and co-chair of the Senate’s first-ever Environmental Justice Caucus and author of the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, I’m proud that this comprehensive federal funding will help update water systems, prevent forever chemicals and increase energy efficiency for working communities.”
“Addressing pollution is critical for the health of our families and our environment,” said Rep. Nikki Budzinski. “I’m thrilled to join the Environmental Protection Agency to announce more than $2.6 million in federal funding that will help reduce the impacts of pollution across Illinois. The projects supported by these funds and led by the University of Illinois System will help ensure that everyone can enjoy a safe and healthy community.”
“SEDAC is excited to work with EPA Region 5 to reduce PFAS pollution in disadvantaged communities through safer, more sustainable food contact products. We look forward to sharing our findings broadly within Illinois, but especially with the restaurant and food services communities and related EPA P2 partners,” said Dr. Brian Deal, executive director of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Smart Energy Design Assistance Center.
“As one of the most inclusive research-intensive universities in the United States, the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is proud to be at the forefront of research that is inspired by, connects with, and empowers diverse communities. We are honored to receive funding from the U.S. EPA for our latest P2 project led by Dr. Ai. This grant stands as a testament to our unwavering commitment at UIC to leading, innovating, and promoting environmental justice and sustainability,” said University of Illinois Chicago Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda.
The Environmental Justice in Communities grant program will provide pollution prevention technical assistance to businesses to improve human health and the environment in disadvantaged communities. The Environmental Justice Through Safer and More Sustainable Products grant program will assist businesses to increase the supply, demand, and use of safer and more sustainable products, such as those certified by EPA’s Safer Choice program, or that conform to EPA’s Recommendations for Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing.
EPA’s Pollution Prevention Grant Program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Ensuring greater availability and use of safer and more sustainable products can reduce harmful chemical exposures and their human health and the environmental impacts in disadvantaged communities and create a more sustainable and accessible marketplace. These efforts will continue to benefit businesses and communities across the nation by capturing what works and what can be adjusted in other communities. Recipients will share successful practices that are new or not widely known, as well as lessons learned, so that future businesses and communities can continue to innovate.
EPA anticipates awarding the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.
Background:
The United States generates millions of tons of pollution each year and spends billions of dollars per year controlling this pollution. Once in our environment, this pollution harms human and environmental health, which disproportionally impacts underserved communities. Preventing pollution at the source, also known as P2 or source reduction, rather than managing waste after it is produced, is an important part of the solution landscape, and advances a sustainable infrastructure that supports local economies while better protecting public health and the environment. P2 practices can reduce exposure to toxic chemicals, conserve natural resources, and reduce cleanup and financial costs for businesses, particularly for waste management and environmental liability. Practicing P2 is essential for protecting public health and improving environmental conditions in and around disadvantaged communities that have long been overburdened by pollution.
Between 2011-2021, EPA’s Pollution Prevention program has issued nearly 500 grants totaling more than $50 million, which have helped businesses identify, develop and adopt P2 approaches. These approaches have resulted in eliminating 19.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, saving 49 billion gallons of water, reducing 917 million pounds of hazardous materials and pollutants, and saving more than $2.2 billion for business.
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure is boosting these efforts by providing a historic $100 million to support the program’s continued efforts. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, state and Tribal programs that are awarded grants will not be required to provide matching funds, which has helped expand access to these resources and broadened the applicant pool.
Read more about P2 and the P2 Grant Program.
from EPA News Releases https://ift.tt/pwWOkA4