Archive: February 19, 2020

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EPA, West Virginia Sign Pact to Expand Efforts Supporting Clean Water, Healthy Farms

CHARLESTON, W.V. (February 19, 2020) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) signed a five-year, first-of-its-kind Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to expand joint activities supporting the agencies’ shared goal of cleaner water and sustainable farms.

EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio and West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt signed the agreement at the West Virginia State Capitol Building in Charleston.

The MOU formalizes a partnership between the two agencies and expands activities to prioritize funding, coordinate on regulatory issues, recognize farmers for environmental stewardship, and provide educational opportunities for producers.

“This agreement builds on the actions our agencies are taking together and with the broader agricultural community to promote a vibrant farm economy and clean rivers and streams,” said Servidio.  “This MOU formalizes our work together in the pursuit of solutions that are good for both agriculture and the environment.”

EPA is developing similar agreements with other states in the Mid-Atlantic region.

“This new agreement between the EPA and WVDA puts a concentrated effort on the ground to further the health of our agriculture industry,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt. “No other industry can say it’s good health for our economy, citizens and the environment of our state. We should be proud of our West Virginia farmers.”

The agreement was signed in the Governor’s Conference Room at the State Capitol with EPA hosted by Commissioner Leonhardt.

In the agreement, the agencies commit to the goal of “well-managed, sustainable farms that produce food for our communities and a clean environment for everyone to enjoy.” 

Under the MOU, the agencies intend to:

• Coordinate and leverage federal, state and private funding to support actions that enhance sustainable agriculture and environmental protection.
• Advance opportunities to provide EPA grant funding directly to the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, particularly when it can improve the timely expenditure of federal funds.
• Host annual meetings with state and federal leaders on priorities and activities, as well as joint trainings to ensure effective implementation of federal and state regulatory programs.
• Sponsor Agriculture Roundtables and farm tours to foster a dialogue between EPA and the agricultural community on successes, challenges and opportunities to work together.
• Participate in state program assessments to identify best practices and opportunities, and further compliance.
• Collaborate on an annual report to highlight achievements under the MOU.

• Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania; to create a paper test to detect lead in tap water.
• Howard University, Washington, D.C.; to design and test a pollution control method that will reduce nutrient emissions that cause cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms.
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg; to develop a low-cost portable desalination system using wave and solar renewable energy, which can be modified for personal use or the use in small communities.
• North Carolina State University, Raleigh; to use electrical properties of carbon filters to improve the efficient removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contaminants from drinking water.
• The University of Alabama, Huntsville; to develop low-cost adsorbents for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for safe drinking water in homes and offices.
• University of North Carolina, Charlotte; to develop eco-friendly membrane systems for water purification.
• University of South Carolina, Columbia; to design a system for removing toxic chemicals from landfill gas.
• Michigan State University, East Lansing; to develop an environmentally friendly approach to make recyclable paper coatings.
• University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; to develop a sawdust that can selectively remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from drinking water.
• St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas; to advance an efficient solar concentrator to produce electricity.
• Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas; to use biochars to remove bacterial toxins in drinking water sources.
• University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; to develop approaches for sidewalk construction using recycled materials that use less energy and limit heat storage capacity.
• University of Texas, Dallas; to design low-cost air quality sensors and provide them to local communities.
• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg; to develop a low-cost filter to be used as an alternative to expensive commercial water filter systems.
• Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado; to develop a portable system to provide accurate and rapid detection of waterborne bacteria and the genotypes of the bacteria population in water systems.
• University of California, Berkeley; to develop a method to remove arsenic from contaminated groundwater to help improve water quality in public water systems in rural California.
• University of California, Riverside; to develop construction material out of wheat straw.

WASHINGTON (Feb.19, 2020) — Today, as part of EPA’s 50th anniversary celebration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of approximately $40 million to assist disadvantaged communities and schools with removing sources of lead in drinking water. This funding will help protect the health of children in disadvantaged communities and makes progress on implementing the Trump Administration’s Federal Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures.

“Protecting children from lead in drinking water is a top priority for President Trump and the EPA,” said U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This new funding—authorized under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act—will be directed to schools and disadvantaged communities and will help support public health and economic potential in Opportunity Zones.”

EPA is announcing the availability of over $17 million for projects that implement or improve corrosion control or conduct lead service line replacements in disadvantaged communities and $22.8 million for projects that remove sources of lead in drinking water (e.g., fixtures, fountains, outlets and plumbing materials) in schools or child care facilities. The agency is prioritizing projects for drinking water systems that service disadvantaged communities, including those that are part of qualified Opportunity Zones, and have exceeded the lead action level during the last three years. Qualified Opportunity Zones include designated low-income or distressed communities where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. The impact that these grants will have on neighborhoods and citizens across the country will supplement the ongoing investment in Opportunity Zones.

This WIIN grant will be competed through a Request for Application process. The funding opportunity is available now and will remain open for 60 days on www.grants.gov. In addition to this announcement of funding availability, EPA is working with states, tribes, and territories to award $87 million in funding through EPA’s two other newly created drinking water grant programs established by WIIN—the Voluntary Lead Testing in Schools and Child Care grant program and the Assistance for Small and Disadvantaged Communities grant program.

Learn more about this grant and EPA’s WIIN grant programs at https://www.epa.gov/safewater/grants

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