MEDIA CONTACT:
STEVEN ENGELHARDT (314) 504-4029
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY 2.09.11

Clay Encourages Community-Based Organizations to Apply for EPA Environmental Justice Grants

Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri announced today that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting grant applications for $1.2 million in funding to support projects designed to research, educate, empower and enable communities to understand and address local health and environmental issues.

Eligible applicants from non-profit, faith-based and tribal organizations working in the community of the proposed project are encouraged to apply.

These grants are available to Missouri (and other states) through the EPA Region 7 office in Kansas City, Kan.

Environmental Justice Small Grants funding is available for two categories of projects:

• Forty grants of up to $25,000 each to support projects that address a community’s local environmental issues through collaborative partnerships, and;

• Four grants of up to $50,000 each to gather better science on the environmental and health impacts of exposure to multiple sources of pollution in communities.

Environmental justice means the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race or income, in the environmental decision-making process. Environmental justice issues often involve multiple sources of contamination, like pollution from several industrial facilities within one neighborhood, environmental hazards at the workplace or home, or contamination resulting from the consumption of fish or other foods.

Environmental contamination can lead to costly health risks and can discourage investments and development in low-income, minority, and indigenous communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. Understanding the impacts of multiple environmental risks can help communities develop more effective solutions to their environmental and health concerns.

The Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program is designed to help communities understand and address their exposure to multiple environmental harms and risks.

Applications must be postmarked by March 31, 2011.

For more information, including eligibility requirements, purposes, goals, and general procedures, please visit www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/resources/publications/grants/ej-smgrants-rfp-2011.pdf
or contact EPA Region 7 toll-free at 1-800-223-0425.