State gets $192,000 for environmental programs

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awarding the Kentucky Department of Compliance Assistance $192,000 as part of larger grant funding package to 42 organizations across 39 states totaling $9.3 million that will support pollution prevention projects.

These grants will fund projects that provide businesses and other facilities with information, training, and tools to help them develop and adopt cost-effective changes in production, operation, and use of materials to reduce costs and the use of water, energy, and other natural resources.

EPA anticipates that it will award these individual grant projects ranging in the amounts of $25,000 to $498,000 once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.

These funds will support the Kentucky Pollution Prevention Partnership (KP3) project between the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division of Compliance Assistance (DCA) and the Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center (KPPC).

This partnership proposes to maximize their combined resources, expertise, and communication capabilities to provide education and technical assistance that will aid in preventing pollution in Kentucky and encourage source reduction amongst its industries and businesses.

For these grants, EPA emphasizes the importance of grantees documenting and sharing P2 best practices that are identified and developed through these grants, so that others can replicate these practices and outcomes. Each grantee will be required to develop at least one case study during the grant period on P2 practices that are new or not widely known or adopted, or where detailed information on the P2 practices could benefit other businesses or P2 technical assistance providers.

The work done under these grants will focus on at least one of the five P2 priority areas, also referred to as National Emphasis Areas and support several of the agency’s Smart Sectors. These areas include food and beverage manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, aerospace product/part manufacturing, and metal manufacturing.

This year marks 30 years since the passage of the Pollution Prevention Act, which focuses industry, government, and public attention on reducing the amount of pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. This week is also P2 Week, a time to celebrate the diverse and creative ways businesses, academic institutes, local governments, and other organizations are working to prevent pollution. In support of the Pollution Prevention Act and P2 Week, these grant awards encourage businesses and other stakeholders to find ways to prevent pollution from entering any waste stream, furthering EPA’s mission to protect public health and the environment.

2020 EPA P2 Grant Recipients:

Alabama: University of Alabama

Arizona: Arizona State University

California: University of California, at Berkeley

Colorado: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Connecticut: Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Delaware: University of Delaware

District of Columbia: District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment

Georgia: Georgia Tech

Idaho: Idaho Department of Environmental Quality

Illinois: University of Illinois

Iowa: Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Kansas: Kansas State University

Kentucky: Kentucky Department of Compliance Assistance

Louisiana: Louisiana State University

Maine: University of Southern Maine

Maryland: Maryland Department of Environment

Michigan: Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy

Minnesota: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Mississippi: Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

Missouri: Missouri State University

Montana: Montana State University

Nebraska: University of Nebraska, at Lincoln

Nevada: Western Nevada College

New Hampshire: New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services

New Jersey: Rowan University; Rutgers University

New Mexico: New Mexico State University

North Carolina: East Carolina University; North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality

Ohio: Ohio Environmental Protection Agency

Oregon: Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University

Rhode Island: Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

South Carolina: Clemson University

Tennessee: Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation

Texas: University of Texas, at Arlington

Vermont: Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation

Virginia: Virginia Department of Environmental Quality; Wytheville Community College

Washington: Washington Department of Ecology

West Virginia: West Virginia University

Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin