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Iowa Department of Natural Resources and K-State University Selected by EPA for Source Reduction Assistance Grants

11/05/2020

Contact Information:

913-551-7364

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Lenexa, Kan., Nov. 5, 2020) - Today, on the 30th anniversary of the Pollution Prevention Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and Kansas State University (K-State) are among 11 organizations across nine states to receive grant funding totaling $1.16 million to support pollution prevention (P2).

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is to receive $127,453. Kansas State University is to receive. $132,000.

These Source Reduction Assistance (SRA) grants will fund innovative, cost-effective, replicable source reduction approaches enabling grant recipients and others to save energy and water, reduce pollution, and improve public health.

“When the groundbreaking Pollution Prevention Act was signed 30 years ago, EPA was given a simple charge: work to prevent pollution before it happens,” said EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dapolito Dunn. “By providing our partners with essential tools, resources and information, we have taken a strategic approach that has yielded millions of dollars in savings and avoided the use of tens of thousands of pounds of hazardous chemicals. I’m looking forward to seeing the contributions of EPA’s 2020 source reduction grantees to our national pollution prevention effort.”

“Source reduction assistance projects are valuable investments that help businesses better protect human health and the environment, use resources more efficiently, and save money,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford. “This pollution prevention research, investigation and innovation will result in sustainable outcomes and replicable best practices for our partners at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and K-State.”

IDNR will use grant funds to conduct four P2 internships at Iowa industrial facilities and produce three instructional videos demonstrating how to use P2 monitoring equipment to generate data and achieve P2 results and recommendations.

The K-State Pollution Prevention Institute will partner with the world’s largest first-tier aerostructures manufacturer to provide source reduction technical assistance through investigation, studies, education, training and demonstration, with the goal of reducing toxic solvents, hazardous waste, and emissions by 10% per airplane built, saving more than $270,000. The results will promote replication via published videos and a case study presented at various state, national and international events.

Throughout the nation, EPA’s individual Source Reduction Assistance (SRA) grant awards range from $43,000 to $174,000 for a two-year funding period. For these grants, EPA prioritized funding for projects that support research, education, and/or training of innovative source reduction techniques. The grantees will document and share source reduction best practices that are identified and developed through these grants so that others can replicate these practices and outcomes.

Since the inception of the program in 2003, EPA has awarded SRA grants to state, local, and tribal government entities; nonprofits; and university partners to work directly with U.S. businesses to develop and implement source reduction techniques.

2020 EPA SRA Grant Recipients and Federal Funding Amounts:

Iowa: Iowa Department of Natural Resources, $127,453
Kansas: Kansas State University, $132,000
Colorado: Boulder County, $105,000
Delaware: Delaware State University, $43,536
Illinois: University of Illinois at Chicago, $95,000
Illinois: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, $99,168
Nevada: greenUP!, $160,000
New York: New York State Pollution Prevention Institute, $174,946
Pennsylvania: North Hampton Community College, $72,146
Pennsylvania: Slippery Rock University, $72,146
Washington: Pollution Prevention Resource Center, $119,872