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News Releases

News Releases from Region 04

EPA Awards $122,070 Pollution Prevention Funding to Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

Nationally, EPA Selects over 40 Organizations to Receive $9.3 Million in Pollution Prevention Grants

09/23/2020
Contact Information: 
Melba Table (region4press@epa.gov)
(Direct) 404 562-9086, (Main) 404 562-8400

JACKSON – (SEPTEMBER 23, 2020) Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it intends to award 122,070 to Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, MDEQ in Jackson, MS as part of a total of grant funding totaling $9.3 million to 42 organizations across 39 states to support pollution prevention across the country. These grants will fund projects that provide businesses and other facilities with information, training, and tools to help them develop and adopt cost-effective changes in production, operation, and use of materials to reduce costs and the use of water, energy, and other natural resources.

“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pollution Prevention Act, we are proud to announce more than $9 million in P2 grants which will help businesses in communities across the United States protect the environment, increase sustainability, and reduce waste and costs,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “The work done as a result of EPA’s P2 grants will create best practices that current and future organizations can use to cut pollution and advance innovation and economic growth.”

“With this funding, organizations can develop innovative solutions to reducing pollution,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Mary S. Walker. “The results of work done under these grants support EPA’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment while improving performance and reducing costs.”

MDEQ will use the grant to provide waste reduction and pollution prevention assistance and training to state industries and businesses. The MDEQ P2 program uses the E3(Economy-Energy-Environment) technical assistance framework to assess operations and identify opportunities to reduce solid/hazardous wastes, energy/water consumption and discharges to air/water.

EPA anticipates that it will award these individual grant projects ranging in the amounts of $25,000 to $498,000 once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.

For these grants, EPA emphasizes the importance of grantees documenting and sharing P2 best practices that are identified and developed through these grants, so that others can replicate these practices and outcomes. Each grantee will be required to develop at least one case study during the grant period on P2 practices that are new or not widely known or adopted, or where detailed information on the P2 practices could benefit other businesses or P2 technical assistance providers. The work done under these grants will focus on at least one of the five P2 priority areas, also referred to as National Emphasis Areas and support several of the agency’s Smart Sectors. These areas include food and beverage manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, aerospace product/part manufacturing, and metal manufacturing.

This year marks 30 years since the passage of the Pollution Prevention Act, which focuses industry, government, and public attention on reducing the amount of pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. This week is also P2 Week, a time to celebrate the diverse and creative ways businesses, academic institutes, local governments, and other organizations are working to prevent pollution. In support of the Pollution Prevention Act and P2 Week, these grant awards encourage businesses and other stakeholders to find ways to prevent pollution from entering any waste stream, furthering EPA’s mission to protect public health and the environment.

Read more about P2 and the P2 Grant Program.

2020 EPA P2 Grant Recipients:

Alabama: University of Alabama

Arizona: Arizona State University

California: University of California, at Berkeley

Colorado: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Connecticut: Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Delaware: University of Delaware

District of Columbia: District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment

Idaho: Idaho Department of Environmental Quality

Illinois: University of Illinois

Iowa: Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Kansas: Kansas State University

Kentucky: Kentucky Department of Compliance Assistance

Louisiana: Louisiana State University

Maine: University of Southern Maine

Maryland: Maryland Department of Environment

Michigan: Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy

Minnesota: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Mississippi: Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

Missouri: Missouri State University

Montana: Montana State University

Nebraska: University of Nebraska, at Lincoln

Nevada: Western Nevada College

New Hampshire: New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services

New Jersey: Rowan University; Rutgers University

New Mexico: New Mexico State University

North Carolina: East Carolina University; North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality

Ohio: Ohio Environmental Protection Agency

Oregon: Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University

Rhode Island: Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

South Carolina: Clemson University

Tennessee: Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation

Texas: University of Texas, at Arlington

Vermont: Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation

Virginia: Virginia Department of Environmental Quality; Wytheville Community College

Washington: Washington Department of Ecology

West Virginia: West Virginia University

Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin