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News Releases from Region 05

EPA Requests Applications for $6 Million Grant to Monitor Contaminants in Great Lakes Fish

07/27/2020
Contact Information: 
Allison Lippert (lippert.allison@epa.gov)
312-353-0967

CHICAGO (July 27, 2020) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking applications under a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant program focused on monitoring contaminants in Great Lakes fish. Approximately $6 million is available through the Great Lakes Fish Monitoring and Surveillance Program to fund one project over five years. The deadline for applications is Sept. 21, 2020.
 
“Tracking the legacy chemicals and chemicals of emerging concern in the fish population is one of the best ways to understand the health of the Great Lakes food-chain,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This monitoring has informed our science for several decades, so the data gathered is critical to future decisions we make on the health of the Lakes.”
 
“Through this funding, EPA hopes to gain a better understanding of trends in the contaminants in each of the Great Lakes,” said Regional Administrator and Great Lakes National Program Manager Kurt Thiede. “For decades, the Great Lakes Fish Monitoring and Surveillance program has provided critical data on toxic pollutants and has helped inform decisions to improve the water quality throughout the basin.”
 
The Great Lakes Fish Monitoring and Surveillance Program was established in 1977 to monitor the concentrations of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals in fish of the Great Lakes. The program looks at the concentrations of contaminants in fish as indicators of Great Lakes health in general, and specifically, as indicators of potential exposure of contaminants to fish-eating wildlife. 
 
EPA is seeking applications to continue the monitoring of legacy chemicals and chemicals of emerging concern in top predator fish within each of the Great Lakes. EPA expects to provide funding of approximately $6 million over a 5-year period. The selected applicant will analyze legacy and emerging chemicals in whole fish tissue samples to report on long-term trends of chemicals in fish tissue.
 
Qualified non-federal entities eligible to apply for the fish monitoring grant include non-federal governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, and institutions. This includes state agencies; any agency or instrumentality of local government; interstate agencies; federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations; colleges and universities; non-profit organizations; and other public or non-profit private agencies, institutions, and organizations.
 
For more information, visit EPA’s request for applications.
 
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