News Releases from Region 08

EPA’s Mountains and Plains Region transfers N-95 masks to Federal Emergency Management Agency

DENVER (April 17, 2020) - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Mountains and Plains regional office announced that it has transferred more than 1,000 N-95 face masks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); as it assesses its supply of personal protective equipment in hopes of donating additional PPE to state and local agencies battling COVID-19. The Agency maintains a range of PPE for mission-critical work such as responding to emergencies; including chemical, oil, radiological and biological incidents.

“EPA is working hard to support our nation’s first responders as they risk their own safety to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “After searching our inventory of personal protective equipment, we identified excess supplies and sent them to those on the frontlines of this fight. At EPA we are here to help in any way we can and I encourage everyone else to do the same.”

“With the peak of hospitalizations still ahead, now is the time for us to do our part to help flatten the curve in our area,” said EPA Region 8 Administrator Greg Sopkin. “We want to get our excess PPE into the hands of those who need them most, such as our healthcare workers and first responders.” 

EPA maintains a supply of personal protective equipment as part of the Agency’s laboratory, inspection and emergency response functions. EPA also provides additional response assistance when state and local first responder capabilities have been exhausted or when additional support is requested.

EPA is currently developing an Agency-wide plan for rapid distribution of available personal protective equipment to state and local governments that are working COVID-19 operations.

For information about EPA’s involvement with the COVID-19 response, please visit: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/coronavirus