(AGENPARL) – mer 30 ottobre 2024 Issued: Oct 30, 2024 (3:23pm EDT)
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Biden-Harris Administration Celebrates $34M in Grants to Reduce Air Pollution
at Schools; Highlights Efforts in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (October 30,2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) celebrated $34 million in Inflation Reduction Act grants awarded
to the five organizations across the country that will use these funds to work
with school districts to improve indoor air quality in schools. EPA
Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz joined grantees at Horatio B.
Hackett School in Philadelphia to congratulate them on their awards.  
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda continues
to put kids, communities, and public health first – this time by working to
improve indoor air quality in schools,” said Adam Ortiz, EPA’s
Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator. “EPA is proud to celebrate both the
School District of Philadelphia, a leader in school sustainability, as well as
the five grantees who will work with districts across the country to keep our
students healthy.” 
“EPA’s Indoor Air in Schools program stands as a beacon of hope, ensuring
every child breathes clean air in their learning environment, advancing
environmental justice by prioritizing health equity and fostering safer,
healthier schools for all communities,” said Jasmine Davenport, EPA Senior
Advisor for Climate Justice.  
As part of the celebration, EPA and the grantees heard from leaders from the
School District of Philadelphia (SDP) on their efforts to date to improve air
quality, reduce pollutants, and reduce building costs. District leaders and
school staff are already noting better attendance and school performance in
buildings that have undergone upgrades.  
“We are grateful to the EPA for their investment to improve air quality in
schools, like Philadelphia, and across the nation,” said Oz Hill, Deputy
Superintendent of Operations at the School District of Philadelphia. “The
School District of Philadelphia is strategically working to upgrade HVAC
systems and focus on expanding energy-saving initiatives, reducing emissions,
and enhancing indoor environments across the district as we work to become the
fastest improving, large urban school district.” 
The five grantees will soon begin their work to monitor and reduce indoor air
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions at schools from kindergarten through
grade 12 in low-income, disadvantaged, and Tribal communities.  
These grants to protect children’s health are made possible through the
President’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in climate
action and environmental justice in history. The Biden-Harris Administration
is driving climate action, improving public health, and supporting the
educational achievement of our children, especially those who attend school in
overburdened communities. These projects will help schools develop and
implement comprehensive indoor air quality plans through training, education,
capacity building and research and demonstration projects. 
The following organizations received awards: 
The University of Utah will support the development of indoor air quality
management and greenhouse gas reduction plans for schools in urban and rural
areas in Utah and Nevada, as well as with the Northern Arapaho Tribe in
Wyoming. This will be accomplished through energy efficiency assessments of
school buildings, indoor/outdoor air pollutant monitoring, demonstration of
effectiveness of air pollution reduction strategies, development of an indoor
air quality school phone app, community engagement, training, educational
activities, and by providing indoor air quality and greenhouse gas reduction
guidance to schools.  
The American Lung Association will deploy the Clean Air School Challenge
to raise awareness, educate, build capacity, increase implementation, and
recognize the efforts of schools in low-income, disadvantaged, and Tribal
communities nationwide as they implement comprehensive indoor air quality and
greenhouse gas management plans. 
The New York State Department of Health and Health Research, Inc. will
provide capacity building in indoor air quality and greenhouse gas reduction
in disadvantaged and Tribal schools throughout New York State and additional
states across the country. The two organizations will draw on past experience
to enable hundreds of disadvantaged and Tribal schools in New York to adopt
sustainable indoor air quality management plans to make air quality
improvements and greenhouse gas reductions that will improve the health and
performance of many of New York’s 1.6 million disadvantaged students plus
teachers and school staff.  
The Go Green Initiative will partner with the National School Boards
Association and their state affiliates to provide education and training for
school staff, administrators, and school board officials involved in improving
school indoor air quality and reducing climate pollution across all 50 states,
as well as providing targeted, intensive technical assistance and capacity
building in Tribal and low-income school districts in all 10 EPA regions. 
The U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools will build
capacity among school district staff in low-income, disadvantaged and Tribal
communities to establish indoor air quality management and greenhouse gas
reduction plans. This work builds on long-running and successful support that
the Center for Green Schools has provided to hundreds of school district
staff, who collectively serve 9.3 million students. The program places direct
emphasis on making capacity building and training activities more accessible
to school district staff serving low-income, disadvantaged, and Tribal
communities. 
Background 
Approximately one-sixth of the U.S. population attends or works in roughly
130,000 schools around the country and many of these schools do not have the
resources and support needed to effectively prevent or solve indoor air
quality problems. In fact, half of all K-12 students attend schools that do
not have indoor air quality management plans or programs in place. Air quality
in schools is of particular concern because children’s developing organ
systems are often more sensitive to environmental stressors, children are
frequently more heavily exposed to toxic substances in the environment than
are adults, and children breathe more air in proportion to their body weight
than adults. 
There is substantial evidence that comprehensive management of indoor air
quality in schools improves student academic performance and attendance,
reduces the spread of airborne illnesses like COVID-19, lengthens the lifespan
of building systems, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions from schools while
providing significant cost savings through lower energy consumption. The $34
million in grant funding the EPA is announcing today will help highly
qualified organizations in the field provide much-needed support to schools in
overburdened communities across the country to put in place comprehensive
indoor air quality management programs. 
Learn more about the Grant Funding to Address Indoor Air Pollution at
Schools. This page will be updated in the future with details on how schools
can connect and partner with the grantees.  
Learn more about Indoor Air Quality in Schools. 
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