Biden-Harris Administration Announces $500,000 for Monitoring of Pollution from Delaware City Refinery as Part of Investing in America Agenda
PHILADELPHIA (Oct. 24, 2023) —The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the award of $500,000 today to fund the Delaware Valley Citizens Council for Clean Air to monitor for air toxics and assess the benefits of reducing air pollution from the Delaware City Refinery in Delaware City, Delaware, as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
The Delaware Valley Citizens Council for Clean Air, which EPA has selected through its Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Cooperative Agreement will use the funds for training, monitoring, public education, and development of disaster preparedness plans.
Community-led air and other pollution monitoring, prevention, and remediation helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants and ensures that disadvantaged communities that have historically suffered from underinvestment have access to clean air and water and climate resilience solutions, in alignment with the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 Initiative.
Thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in U.S. history—this funding is a part the largest investment ever announced under these longstanding EPA programs. This is the first in a series of environmental justice grant announcements the agency will announce before the end of the year.
“No President has invested more in environmental justice than President Biden, and under his leadership we’re removing longstanding barriers and meaningfully collaborating with communities to build a healthier future for all,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Together, these community-driven projects will improve the health, equity, and resilience of
communities while setting a blueprint for local solutions that can be applied across the nation.”
“This funding to Delaware is another example of how the Biden-Harris Administration is investing in our most vulnerable places and the governments that serve them,” said EPA Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “Everyone deserves a future with clean water, climate resiliency, and most importantly – a government that has the best interest of its communities front of mind.”
“Ensuring that every Delawarean has clean air to breathe starts with having effective air pollution monitoring systems,” said U.S. Senator Tom Carper, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act’s unprecedented environmental justice block grants, much-needed resources are coming to Delaware to help monitor and reduce harmful air pollution. Today’s announcement will go a long way toward better protecting public health and enhancing air quality, which is good for communities and good for business.”
“One of my top priorities since coming to Congress has been ensuring Delaware families have clean water to drink and clean air to breathe, and that all begins with reliable data,” said U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester. “It’s why I’ve championed and passed legislation to bring local air monitoring systems to environmental justice communities, and why I’m so thrilled to see this announcement from the EPA which will help fulfill President Biden’s Justice40 initiative and ensure Delaware communities will have transparency and safety when it comes to clean air.”
The grant announced today deliver on President Biden’s commitment to advance equity and justice throughout the United States. The programs directly advance the President’s transformational Justice40 initiative to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving (EJCPS) Program
EPA’s EJCPS program provides financial assistance to eligible organizations working to address local environmental or public health issues in their communities. The program builds upon President Biden’s Executive Orders 13985 and 14008, creating a designation of funds exclusively for small nonprofit organizations, which are defined as having 5 or fewer full-time employees, thus ensuring that grant resources reach organizations of lower capacity that historically struggle to receive federal funding. Eleven of the organizations selected for EJCPS this year are small nonprofit organizations, receiving over $1.6 million in total.
Additional Background:
From day one of his administration, President Biden has made achieving environmental justice a top priority. And in August 2022, Congress passed, and President Biden signed, the Inflation Reduction Act into law, creating the largest investment in environmental and climate justice in U.S. history. EPA received $3 billion in appropriations to provide grants and technical assistance for activities advancing environmental and climate justice.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, EPA has launched and expanded innovative programs to provide more support than ever before to communities that unjustly bear the burdens of environmental harm and pollution. This includes the $177 million for the creation of 16 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) to remove barriers to federal resources and help communities pursue funding opportunities like those made available through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda. EPA has also launched and will award funds through the $550 million Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program before the end of 2023.
To learn more about environmental justice at EPA, visit: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice