(AGENPARL) – mar 16 aprile 2024 Issued: Apr 16, 2024 (1:49pm EDT)
If you wish to unsubscribe please do so
here: http://url6130.epa.mediaroom.com/ls/click?upn=u001.iqz6hAvLdUl-2FaSixKUG3iyFJBsxNAroAZOQ1BID8fKIiLAUfJX2sQlhu1tzKAOIu-2BU84uzAzSpWvmWyHnsNJDRYXWx5dlMz75Zp9ch-2BQlG6mQHPYjReZhS13hvd5qOopI7wK_-2B0Ok6Af7hyz7Kqg6CR74pYblAA1WjrUjKSJUAiv3NOub0DC4O7JPWGxIlQ7kBB-2FSPY3-2FlAePxIenrvxHJ2k60Z9jhROFllqCrVQHSG7J0cGMB4fLFeyAUtNwPCPCUsJUkJK9tfrWMIARPkK81ly5hh28Xdc4vaA3PLp6CQPS-2BDV6bmza2labi38ipTN98w8BOReRLbm0LLETGzZmE4e4mYQ7RwxatuE5RwaHnSL2-2BaWf-2BDYQ2QeBA-2Bt27yLcXKPT
EPA Highlights Air Pollution Monitoring Project in Buffalo, New York
NEW YORK (April 16, 2024) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia and Dr. Eun-Hye Enki Yoo,
Associate Professor, University at Buffalo and Senior Pastor George F.
Nicholas, Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church as well as other
dignitaries gathered in Buffalo, NY to highlight a new collaborative project
led by the University at Buffalo, SUNY. The university received almost
$500,000 to deploy low-cost air pollution sensors at sampling sites in the
residences of the underserved African American community in Buffalo. They will
use this data to develop a community-specific air quality prediction model by
integrating the new measurements with existing data. EPA specifically awarded
funding, partly under Inflation Reduction Act, to increase monitoring in areas
that are underserved to help them better understand what they are exposed to
and to help them work with local and other officials to help address the
sources of pollution.  
“Knowledge is power and when people know more about what they are breathing,
they can better participate in decisions that can address that pollution. This
investment will provide the people of Buffalo with access to local air
monitoring networks, which will raise community knowledge of air
quality,”?said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “The Biden-Harris
Administration has prioritized direct community participation in information
gathering to help reduce harmful air pollution.” 
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Interim Commissioner
Sean Mahar said, “DEC applauds the Biden-Harris Administration, EPA
Administrator Regan, and Regional Administrator Garcia for investing in
Buffalo and the health of its residents through this grant and partnership
with University at Buffalo experts. Governor Kathy Hochul and DEC recognize
the value of research and innovation in addressing our most pressing pollution
challenges, as demonstrated by the statewide Community Air Monitoring
Initiative, and we look forward to continue to work with our partners at EPA
to continue prioritizing New York communities, particularly those most
vulnerable to air pollution and the impacts of climate change.” 
Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, the University
at Buffalo is getting a gust of $500,000 in federal funding to install air
monitoring equipment in underserved communities, paving the way for cleaner
and safer air for Western New York’s families and children,” said Senate
Majority Leader Charles Schumer. “I am proud to deliver this environmental
justice funding to support the East Side of Buffalo, from Delevan-Grider to
the Broadway Market and beyond, in the fight for clean air and will always
advocate to deliver the federal support to build a cleaner, more equitable
future for Western NY.” 
“Conducting air quality monitoring in historically marginalized communities
is an impactful way to improve health outcomes in areas that have been
disproportionately impacted by pollution for decades,” said New York State
Senator Sean Ryan. “I am thankful to the Biden-Harris administration for
prioritizing this important work, and I applaud the decision to leverage the
University at Buffalo’s expertise and resources to bring this program to
Buffalo’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.” 
“As one of nation’s premier public universities, and a flagship of New
York, the University at Buffalo is committed to research, education and
service. I am proud to say that this EPA-funded project meets those goals and
will help reduce health disparities on Buffalo’s East Side,” said Sean
Bennett, PhD, professor of geography and associate dean for social sciences in
the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences.” 
“Today in America, people of color are three and half times more likely to
live in a neighborhood with poor air quality. This combined with poor academic
achievement, substandard housing, persistent under employment and lack of
access to healthy food and medical care, creates a toxic environment that
produces unacceptable health race-based health disparities” said Senior
Pastor and CEO of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity George F. Nicholas. 
“I am encouraged that the EPA is investing valuable resources for research
and programming to improve air quality for all.” 
The grant is one of 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states that will receive
$53.4 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American
Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United
States. The projects are focused on communities that are underserved,
historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President
Biden’s Justice40 Initiative. 
The University at Buffalo will deploy low-cost air pollution (fine particles
and nitrogen dioxide) sensors at sampling sites in the residences of the
underserved African American community in Buffalo and develop a
community-specific air quality prediction model by integrating the collected
sensor measurements with existing data. The data will be further supplemented
via a targeted mobile-monitoring campaign in which the research team will
collect high-resolution monitoring data by driving a vehicle outfitted with an
array of real-time commercial air monitors. This data will be helpful for
vulnerable populations in the community. 
The air pollution monitoring project is one of several are made possible by
more than $30 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds, which supplemented $20
million from the American Rescue Plan and enabled EPA to support 77 additional
projects, more than twice the number of projects initially proposed by
community-based nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and
Tribal governments. 
These grant selections further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40
Initiative and Executive Order,?Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and
Abroad, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain
Federal investments flow?to overburdened communities that face
disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts. By
enhancing air monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is
investing in efforts to better protect people’s health, particularly those
in underserved communities. 
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding to EPA to deploy,
integrate, support, and maintain fenceline air monitoring, screening air
monitoring, national air toxics trend stations, and other air toxics and
community monitoring. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provides
funding for grants and other activities under section 103 and section 105 of
the Clean Air Act. EPA is using approximately $32.3 million of this funding to
select 77 high-scoring community monitoring applications. See the full list of
applications selected for award.