CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina
,
September 13, 2022
(press release)
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Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the selection of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill as a pollution prevention (P2) grant recipient made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s historic $100 million program investment. These grants will allow states and Tribes to provide businesses with technical assistance to help them develop and adopt P2 practices to prevent or reduce pollution before it is even created, while also reducing business and liability costs. Proposed projects include reducing PFAS contamination in food packaging and food waste recycling streams, increasing awareness of green cleaning chemicals in businesses and schools, and helping underserved communities implement P2 best practices to reduce waste and emissions from industrial plants. “The grant selections announced today and made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will reduce air and water pollution in communities in need,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Many of the grants selected support the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to addressing environmental justice concerns in overburdened communities and the impacts of climate change.” Pollution prevention – or P2 – is an area where we can make great strides in protecting human health and the environment,” said Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. “Thanks to President Biden and Congress, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes an historic investment in P2 for communities in need The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNCCH) and their associates will provide technical assistance to improve and measure environmental performance in North Carolina’s steadily growing craft beverage industry. Notable activities and deliverables include facility site visits and benchmarking reports with prioritized P2 recommendations and funding tables, case studies, webinars, cohorts of 10-20 breweries, and a roundtable leadership exchange and recognition event. UNCCH has an emphasis on energy use, the brewing industry’s impact on climate change, and the need for technical assistance resources to finance P2 upgrades. Selected and awarded grantees will document and share P2 best practices they identify and develop through these grants so that others can replicate the practices and outcomes. Each selected grantee will address at least one of the NEAs, which were established to focus resources to achieve measurable results and to create opportunities to share information among P2 grantees and businesses affiliated with similar NEAs. Each selected grantee will also develop at least one case study during the grant period on P2 practices that are new or not widely known or adopted, or where detailed information on the P2 practices could benefit other businesses or P2 technical assistance providers. These grants are the first of five P2 grant programs over the next five years that will be funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. EPA has announced two other new grant opportunities funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. One will encourage products, purchasing, and/or supply chains that are safer, more sustainable, and environmentally preferable and the other will encourage businesses that are working in, or working with, underserved and disadvantaged communities to adopt P2 practices. EPA also anticipates awarding traditional P2 grants administered by the agency for over 25 years later this year. EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied. Grants supported with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds will be fully funded at the time grants are awarded. A full list of the entities in Region 4 selected to receive funding through the grants funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law can be found below. Read more about P2 and the P2 Grant Program. List of Grantees Georgia Institute of Technology Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department for Environmental Protection University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill East Carolina University Clemson University Contact Information EPA Region 4 Press Office (Region4Press@epa.gov) (404) 562-8400 (Main)
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