Thursday, October 12, 2023

EPA Awards Penn State Hershey Medical Center $1.19 Million Community Pollution Prevention Grant To Advance Environmental Justice In PA, NY

On October 12, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it selected Pennsylvania State University Hershey Medical Center to receive a $1,199,108 pollution prevention grant. 

The funding is made possible by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will go to develop and adopt practices that prevent pollution at the source in local communities.

Penn State College of Medicine’s proposed project will provide technical assistance to business sectors within disadvantaged communities in Pennsylvania and New York to develop a partnership that increases the use of 1,900 Safer Choice labeled products

Technical assistance will include engaging with stakeholders to design community‐based solutions and offering Safer Choice training to businesses and end‐users. 

The proposed project will improve human health and the environment in disadvantaged communities by reducing human exposure to conventional cleaning chemicals.

“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.”  

“This funding to Penn State’s College of Medicine is yet another investment the Biden-Harris Administration is making to improve the health and future of communities long overburdened by pollution,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “Getting businesses and households to use safer, greener products will help create healthier, stronger and more sustainable 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. 

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 grant once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.

Visit EPA’s Pollution Prevention (P2) webpage for more information.

NewsClips This Week:

-- TribLive: Some Plum Boro, Allegheny County Residents, Activists Push Back Against 2nd Oil, Gas Wastewater Injection Well

-- Post-Gazette: Plum Boro, Allegheny County, Environmental Group Go To Commonwealth Court Trying To Stop New Oil, Gas Wastewater Injection Well

-- Inside Climate News: Plum Boro, Allegheny County, Environmental Group Go To Commonwealth Court Trying To Stop New Oil, Gas Wastewater Injection Well

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Plum Boro, Allegheny County Residents Battle Penneco, Zoning Board Over Oil, Gas Wastewater Injection Well

-- TribLive: Environmental Groups Claim Victory In EPA Ruling On US Steel Clairton Coke [Coal] Plant Air Permit

-- Morning Ag Clips: York County 4-H Member Suggests Idea For EPA Youth Advisory Council

Related Articles This Week:

-- EPA Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz Visits Brownfields Job Training Site In Pittsburgh, Highlights Conservation Work  [PaEN]

-- EPA Region 3 Celebrates Historic Brownfields Investments With Greater Pittsburgh Area Grantees

-- EPA Awards Penn State Hershey Medical Center $1.19 Million Community Pollution Prevention Grant To Advance Environmental Justice In PA, NY  [PaEN]

-- DEP Extends Public Comment Period On Interim Final Environmental Justice Permit Review Policy To Nov. 30; Will Schedule Additional Hearings  [PaEN] 

[Posted: October 12, 2023]  PA Environment Digest

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