News Releases from Region 03

EPA Announces Award of $21 Million in Funding for State and Tribal Environmental Priorities for PA

Funding to Pennsylvania will support priorities of two state agencies

PHILADELPHIA (March 4, 2020) –The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today the state of Pennsylvania is among the nation’s states and Tribes to receive a portion of $21 million in Multipurpose Grants for addressing their environmental priorities.  Two Pennsylvania state agencies will use EPA’s multipurpose grant funding to complement existing environmental protection efforts. 

“EPA recognizes the important role of states and local governments in protecting the health and future of our communities,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “This funding enables partners like Pennsylvania to carry out activities that address their environmental and public health priorities.”

EPA’s Multipurpose Grant (MPG) program for States and Tribes supports states, tribes and territories in addressing high-priority environmental issues. Recognizing that environmental challenges differ due to variations in geography, population density, and other factors, this program provides EPA’s co-regulator partners with the flexibility to target funds to their highest priority efforts to protect human health and the environment.  With this grant funding, states and tribes are supporting a range of projects, including: addressing contaminants such as PFAS and lead, streamlining permitting processes, performing inspections, updating air and water monitoring equipment, testing radon in schools, and conducting outreach and education in areas such as pesticides application and harmful algal blooms.

The Multipurpose Grants awarded to Pennsylvania include:

• PA Department of Environmental Protection:
  • $319,674 – The Department will use this funding to characterize ambient concentrations of methane in 10 counties across the Commonwealth.  They will also identify natural gas fugitive emissions near roads from various types of sources, and use drone-based methane detectors to estimate emissions from specific equipment used in natural gas development
• PA Department of Labor and Industry:
  • $52,380 – The Department will add this funding to its lead program, specifically using MPG funds to update the PA Lead Online Database.