In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set aside a budget of $254 million to help local communities clean up contaminated sites, thereby stimulating economic recovery. The project is part of a broader plan by the US government to eliminate polluted and disadvantaged areas.
Budgets are distributed over 265 communities, spread over the entire territory of the United States.
environmental justice
The grants were obtained from funds created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. This law allocated $1.5 billion to projects aimed at promoting environmental justice. Those investments were to support the repatriation of chronically polluted and underserved communities.
The funding is part of the Justice40 program for the administration of US President Joe Biden. This initiative aims to direct 40 percent of government investment projects to disadvantaged communities. Among the projects selected in the new program, 86 percent are located in historically disadvantaged areas.
Michael Reagan, CEO of . confirmed Environmental Protection AgencyCommenting on the launch of the project.
coal mine
The program covers a wide range of activities. At a number of sites, efforts will be made to remove asbestos. Elsewhere, there is talk of treating abandoned sites contaminated with chemicals. The projects are located in both urban and rural areas.
In Pennsylvania, an old coal mine in Green County is being converted into a 10-megawatt solar power plant. Other projects include the rehabilitation of the old Nirpara Rubber Tire Plant in Hamilton, New Jersey, or the former Reliance Battery Plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The new initiative aims to enhance the existing Brownfields program, which has been around for years. 9,500 sites across the United States have already been repaired. “This is truly a historic opportunity to give the many vulnerable communities in this country a new future and maximize their potential.”
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