EPA Gives Funding to Reduce Air Pollution, Lead in Schools

On Aug. 22, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the five selected recipients of US$34 million in grant funding to address indoor air pollution in schools. These five selected applications will fund proposed initiatives to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and indoor air pollution at schools from kindergarten through grade 12 in low-income, disadvantaged, and tribal communities across the United States.

“Children spend so much of their day in school,” said Janet McCabe, EPA deputy administrator. “It is critical for their health and academic success that schools have clean and healthy air. These grants will put schools in the best position to improve attendance and academic achievement, while addressing the unique and disproportionate health impacts that children in overburdened communities face as a result of indoor air quality challenges.”

The following entities have been selected for awards:

• The University of Utah will support the development of indoor air quality (IAQ) management and greenhouse gas reduction plans for schools in urban and rural areas in Utah and Nevada, as well as with the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming. This will be accomplished through energy efficiency assessments of school buildings, indoor/outdoor air pollutant monitoring, demonstration of effectiveness of air pollution reduction strategies, development of an IAQ school phone app, community engagement, training, educational activities, and by providing IAQ and greenhouse gas reduction guidance to schools. 
• The American Lung Association will deploy the Clean Air School Challenge to raise awareness, educate, build capacity, increase implementation, and recognize the efforts of schools in low-income, disadvantaged, and tribal communities nationwide as they implement comprehensive IAQ and greenhouse gas management plans.
• The New York State Department of Health and Health Research Inc. will provide capacity building in IAQ and greenhouse gas reduction in disadvantaged and tribal schools throughout New York State and additional states across the country. The two organizations will draw on past experience to enable hundreds of disadvantaged and tribal schools in New York to adopt sustainable IAQ management plans to make air quality improvements and greenhouse gas reductions that will improve the health and performance of New York’s 1.6 million disadvantaged students plus teachers and school staff. 
• The Go Green Initiative will partner with the National School Boards Association and their state affiliates to provide education and training for school staff, administrators, and school board officials involved in improving school IAQ and reducing climate pollution across all 50 states, as well as providing targeted, intensive technical assistance, and capacity building in tribal and low-income school districts in all 10 EPA regions.
• The U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools will build capacity among school district staff in low-income, disadvantaged, and tribal communities to establish IAQ management and greenhouse gas reduction plans. This work builds on long-running and successful support that the Center for Green Schools has provided to hundreds of school district staff, who collectively serve 9.3 million students. The program places direct emphasis on making capacity building and training activities more accessible to school district staff serving low-income, disadvantaged, and tribal communities.

Approximately one-sixth of the U.S. population attends or works in roughly 130,000 schools nationwide, and half of all K-12 students attend schools that do not have IAQ management plans or programs in place. Air quality in schools is of particular concern because of children’s development. Additionally, substantial evidence exists that comprehensive management of IAQ in schools improves student academic performance and attendance, reduces the spread of airborne illnesses like COVID-19, lengthens the lifespan of building systems, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions from schools while providing cost savings through lower energy consumption.

Last week, the EPA also awarded $26 million in funding to protect children from lead in drinking water at schools and childcare facilities. This grant funding will be used by 55 states and territories and the District of Columbia to reduce lead exposure where children learn and play while advancing the goals of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan.

The EPA is also investing $15 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to remove lead pipes and is providing technical assistance to communities to help them develop and implement lead pipe replacement projects.