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EPA Pacific Southwest Region awards over $400,000 in pollution prevention grants to state agencies in California, Arizona and Nevada

Release Date: 11/08/2007
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, 808-541-2711, [email protected]

(11/08/07) SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Region recently awarded over $400,000 to state agencies in California, Arizona, and Nevada to support work to reduce the release of potentially harmful pollutants to the air, water, and land.

“Funds awarded through the Pollution Prevention or “P2”, grant programs help assist businesses to identify environmental strategies that save money and reduce toxics,” said Nancy Lindsay, director of Waste Programs for the EPA Pacific Southwest Region. “These solutions reduce or eliminate waste at the source, as opposed to treating pollution after it is generated.”

Pollution prevention projects demonstrate that businesses and industry have ample opportunities to implement pollution prevention, with source reduction as a cost-effective way of meeting or exceeding Federal and State regulatory requirements.

Region 9 is awarding the following grants this year:

* Low Toxicity Cleaning Alternatives for the Chemical Industry: The California Department of Toxic Substances Control received $92,000 to eliminate the use of toxic and VOC cleaning materials and to minimize the generation of hazardous materials and air emissions.

* Safer Alternatives to Copper Antifouling Paints for Marine Vessels: The Port of San Diego received $95,000 to reduce or eliminate the need for copper coatings on boats in the Shelter Island Yacht Basin. The project will also investigate and evaluate different coating application methods which may be required for effective use of the alternative coatings.

* Toxic Release Inventory Facility Pollution Prevention Outreach: Arizona Department of Environmental Quality received $80,000 to examine Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) facilities in Arizona to provide technical assistance to reduce their generation of chemicals and waste.

* Western Regional Pollution Prevention Network: The University of Nevada at Reno received $113,000 to facilitate the development and exchange of information between pollution prevention assistance providers in California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii to showcase pollution prevention activities and to assist with program development and innovative P2 approaches in each of the Region 9 states.

* Collaborative for High Performance Schools Inc. (CHPS): CHPS received $82,482 to develop a professional, web-based, searchable materials database for products and services in schools. The database will provide information on products and services to support green building activities for high performance schools. These materials will use less resources, use less toxic chemicals, generate less waste and help the buildings conserve water and energy, while providing a healthy school environment.

The EPA provides funds annually through Pollution Prevention and Source Reduction grants to help develop and sustain state pollution prevention program activities and pioneer new P2 approaches in the states. Since its inception, the P2 Grant Program has awarded over $94 million to States and Tribes nationally. Approximately $4.5 million in total program funding for FY 2007 has been awarded and managed by EPA’s 10 regional offices.

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