Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced $3,346,030 in federal funding to monitor and combat air pollution in New York. The funding was allocated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and the Inflation Reduction Act and will allow historically marginalized communities across the state to identify sources of air pollution and collect data on indoor and outdoor air quality in order to improve public health outcomes.
“Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan, the Empire State is getting a gust of federal support to fight pollution and keep our air healthy and clean,” said Senator Schumer. “From Buffalo to the South Bronx, this federal investment in environmental justice will ensure all communities get the support they need to monitor and fight for clean air, improve public health, and build a more sustainable future.”
“Access to clean air is a right we must fight to protect,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This investment will help ensure that communities from the South Bronx to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe have the resources they need to study and combat air pollution. It will keep New Yorkers healthier and our cities and towns cleaner. I’m proud to be delivering this money to New York and I’ll keep fighting to bring more federal dollars to our state.”
A full list of recipients is below:
|
Recipient |
Amount |
County |
Purpose |
|
Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe |
$381,729 |
Franklin County |
Deploy a low-cost air quality monitoring network in Akwesasne to address gaps in air pollution monitoring for sources that are of concern to the community. Identify sampling locations and use a real-time data dashboard and in person/virtual townhall sessions to disseminate the monitoring results to the community. |
|
Onondaga Lake Cleanup Corp |
$465,367 |
Onondaga County |
Create a community-based education and outreach campaign that will provide accessible air quality data through a web-based dashboard. Residents and communities can use the information to protect individual and community health and advocate for effective solutions. |
|
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice Inc. |
$500,000 |
Bronx County |
Collect air quality data in the vicinity of the Cross Bronx Expressway. This data, along with advocacy and environmental justice trainings, community meetings, and events, will support the redevelopment of the Expressway so that it benefits the South Bronx community. |
|
Research Foundation of SUNY Amherst |
$499,963 |
Erie County |
Deploy low-cost air pollution sensors at sampling sites in the residence of the marginalized African American community in Buffalo and develop a community-specific air quality prediction model by integrating the collected sensor measurements with existing data. Data will be useful to develop interevent adverse health outcomes, particularly for vulnerable population, in the community. |
|
Red Hook Initiative |
$500,000 |
Kings County |
Increase the capacity of the Red Hook community to measure, document, and interpret air quality issues; expand air monitoring through neighborhood-wide analysis and air quality monitors; and build an advocacy agenda to address air quality issues and implement strategies to mitigate environmental harms. |
|
Research Foundation for the State University of New York, University at Albany |
$499,939 |
Albany County |
Create the NY Capital District communities air quality measurement network, which will be built based on low-cost sensors outdoor/indoor measurements, with five community schools as sites and supplemented by mobile lab measurements. Analysis of these measurements will provide air pollution outdoor/indoor exposure estimations and promote policies and practices to improve air quality and health outcomes. |
|
SUNY at Albany |
$499,032 |
Albany County |
Create the NY Capital District communities air quality measurement network, which will be built based on low-cost sensors outdoor/indoor measurements, with five community schools as sites and supplemented by mobile lab measurements. Analysis of these measurements will provide air pollution outdoor/indoor exposure estimations and promote policies and practices to improve air quality and health outcomes. |