The EPA has long had ambient air quality standards for contaminants of concern through their National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and reinforced these through National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs). These standards are blind to socio-economic conditions and geographies, but they can also be blind to certain emission hotspots if an undue number of significant emitters are located within the same area. These are environmental justice areas - a topic that has been in national spotlight over the last few years. The Biden Administration asked for an orders of magnitude increase in the EPA's EJ budget, to in part go toward various grant programs. These grants can be used to fund ambient air quality stations and related projects in EJ areas around the country and on tribal lands.
My presentation will discuss the recent federal and state actions on EJ, various financial programs available and soon-to-be available through the EPA, and dive into some of the current technology that is available to meet these demands. Site managers, consultants, members of EJ groups, and local government all could be interested in this topic.
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