UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

NEW! U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2022 Appropriations

To View Report Click Here.

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.

Tribal Forestry Student Summit: Investing in the Future of Tribal Forest Resources Management and Wildland Fire

October 12–14, 2022 | Click Here for More Details

Mark your calendars for this hybrid event, featuring in-person and virtual participation options, to address tribal workforce development. This summit is designed for students in forestry or related resource management programs across the country. For more info, including agenda and summit details, please visit eri.nau.edu/tribal-forestry-student-summit.

NC Radon Program Social Media Toolkit

The NC Radon Program has created a free Radon Social Media Toolkit for your use. The materials are in both English and Spanish. All of the materials are in a Google Docs folder. To access this social media toolkit folder

EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website.

NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

 The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration 

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

REMINDER! The Climate Adaptation Forum will host an event on the negative impacts of climate change on the U.S. housing market, potential opportunities, and the need for affordable, climate-resilient housing. September 30, at 9:00 am ET. 

NEW! EPA Clean School Bus Grants: Virtual Listening Session

October 5, 2022| 1:00 – 3:00 PM ET | Register Here

Authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Clean School Bus Program provides $5 billion over five years to replace school buses with low- and zero-emission school buses. The second funding opportunity under this program will be the FY 2023 Clean School Bus Grants.
EPA wants to hear from you on how to build its Clean School Bus Grants Program. Please come prepared to share your feedback on the program, including:

1. What type of support do you need to plan for, apply for, and implement a CSB grant?
   2. How can the CSB Grant Program address gaps in the 2022 CSB Rebate Program?
   3. What is the minimum or maximum number of buses school districts want to fund under a single grant award?
   4. The legislation allows EPA to give priority to applicants that leverage outside resources. Are school districts able contribute financial resources to grant projects?
   5. Are there eligible applicants, such as nonprofit associations or eligible contractors (i.e., bus dealers) with the resources to implement grant projects that will server multiple school districts and/or private bus fleets?For more information, please visit our website: epa.gov/cleanschoolbus

   If you have any feedback, please email: cleanschoolbus@epa.gov

 Toxics/Mobile Sources

REMINDER! U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) EV Grid Assist: Accelerating the Transition initiative Webinar Series

September 8 – November 10, 2022

            This webinar series is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) EV Grid Assist: Accelerating the Transition initiative. It aims to support decision makers by providing timely information on a wide range of topics important to the integration of electric vehicles and the grid.  To learn more about the EVGrid Assist initiative or to download a recording of past webinars, visit  www.energy.gov/evgridassist.

• Charging Station Design – Part 1, September 27, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 EDT, Register Here
• Load Forecasting, October 3, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, Register Here
• Rates and Incentives, October 25, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, Register Here
• Planning for the future, November 10, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, Register Here

EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality

National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!  

Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009.

EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.   

Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!

UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

NEW! On Friday, September 16, 2022,  the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final determinations of attainment status for air quality standards for smog. Here is a link to the press release.  

As required by the Clean Air Act, EPA is finalizing determinations for whether certain areas have attained the National Ambient Air Quality Standards that EPA established for ground-level ozone in 2008 and 2015 by the deadlines required under the law. Breathing ozone can cause coughing and a sore or scratchy throat, make it more difficult to breathe, inflame and damage airways, make lungs more susceptible to infection, aggravate lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis and increase the frequency of asthma attacks. These determinations are an important step in ensuring that all areas of the country achieve healthy levels of ozone air quality, and that areas of the country that are not currently achieving health-based standards adopt additional measures required by the Clean Air Act to reduce ozone pollution. Summary fact sheets and prepublications of each rule can be found through the announcements box at:  https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution.

NEW! Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs; Your Tribal Nation by the Numbers: Census Bureau Webinar

September 27, 2022, | 3:00 PM EDT | Register Here

During this U.S. Census Bureau training you will learn how to access demographic, socioeconomic, and housing data about American Indian and Alaska Native populations, reservations, and trust lands. The workshop will teach novice data users, grant writers, and planners to navigate and use Census Bureau data products from the Decennial Census and the American Community Survey to benefit tribal communities. 

Register today for EPA’s series of webinars, listed below, for grant applicants and recipients in September! Participants will hear from EPA staff about key aspects of the grants process and have the opportunity to submit questions. Additional information on each webinar as well as registration information can be found below. Advance registration is required, and you must register for each webinar separately. 

• NEW! EPA Grants Webinar Series Registration – Complying with EPA Assistance Agreements

September 22, 2022 | 2;00 PM – 3:00 PM ET | Register Here

Learn how to identify key policies and procedures to be a grant recipient that effectively expends and documents the use of EPA grant funds.

NEW! U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2022 Appropriations

To View Report Click Here.

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.

Tribal Forestry Student Summit: Investing in the Future of Tribal Forest Resources Management and Wildland Fire

October 12–14, 2022 | Click Here for More Details

Mark your calendars for this hybrid event, featuring in-person and virtual participation options, to address tribal workforce development. This summit is designed for students in forestry or related resource management programs across the country. For more info, including agenda and summit details, please visit eri.nau.edu/tribal-forestry-student-summit.

NC Radon Program Social Media Toolkit

The NC Radon Program has created a free Radon Social Media Toolkit for your use. The materials are in both English and Spanish. All of the materials are in a Google Docs folder. To access this social media toolkit folder      

EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website.

NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration 

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

The Climate Adaptation Forum will host an event on the negative impacts of climate change on the U.S. housing market, potential opportunities, and the need for affordable, climate-resilient housing. September 30, at 9:00 am ET. 

ENERGY STAR Webinar Series: ENERGY STAR will offer several webinars on Portfolio Manager. These webinars explain how to navigate different parts of Portfolio Manager, from basics to advanced features.

September 7 – 21, 2022, All Times in ET | Click Here For More Information and Registration

• September 20, 2022, 1:00 PM Portfolio Manager 301
• September 21, 2022, 12:00 PM         Ask the Expert

NEW! Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings: Show Me the Money: Financing Decarbonization Projects

September 27, 2022, | 11:00 AM ET | Register Here

            You’ve received approval for a decarbonization project, but how will you fund it? Learn about the carbon financing mechanisms Better Buildings Financial Allies use in their firms and others along with practical steps to identify and source capital from grants, third party investors, bonds, and more.

EPA has updated the Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

EPA’s free, spreadsheet-based Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

            This year’s updates include:

• An optional market-based method to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased through contractual instruments, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
• Revised Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) factors from 1990 through 2019, as available.
• Updated default stationary energy emission factors and heat contents.
• Kerosene and distillate fuel oil as additional stationary energy fuel types.

Find the updated Tribal community and government operations modules and users’ guides here. Are you a long-time inventory tool user with questions about the new updates? Or is this your first GHG inventory? Join this webinar or upcoming offices hours to learn more and ask questions:

 Toxics/Mobile Sources

NEW! U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) EV Grid Assist: Accelerating the Transition initiative Webinar Series

September 8 – November 10, 2022

            This webinar series is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) EV Grid Assist: Accelerating the Transition initiative. It aims to support decision makers by providing timely information on a wide range of topics important to the integration of electric vehicles and the grid.  To learn more about the EVGrid Assist initiative or to download a recording of past webinars, visit  www.energy.gov/evgridassist.

• Charging Station Design – Part 1, September 27, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 EDT, Register Here
• Load Forecasting, October 3, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, Register Here
• Rates and Incentives, October 25, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, Register Here
• Planning for the future, November 10, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, Register Here

EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality

NEW! EPA Webinar: Improve Indoor Air and Breathe Healthier Air in Houses of Worship & Other Facilities

September 20, 2022, | 6:30 PM (ET) | Register Here

            This webinar will focus on how Houses of Worship can improve and protect the indoor air of their worship centers and facilities, to make the indoors safe and healthy for members of the faith communities and those working in faith facilities. The webinar will include a discussion on effective ways to improve indoor air quality, including reducing indoor pollutants such as mold, safer chemical use and integrated pest management, as well as the importance of outdoor air, ventilation and other topics. There will be up to 60 minutes of presentation and at least 30 minutes of Q and A for participants to engage with the presenters.

National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!

Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009.

EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.

Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!

UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

NEW! Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs; Your Tribal Nation by the Numbers: Census Bureau Webinar

September 27, 2022, | 3:00 PM EDT | Register Here

During this U.S. Census Bureau training you will learn how to access demographic, socioeconomic, and housing data about American Indian and Alaska Native populations, reservations, and trust lands. The workshop will teach novice data users, grant writers, and planners to navigate and use Census Bureau data products from the Decennial Census and the American Community Survey to benefit tribal communities.

NEW! Register today for EPA’s series of webinars, listed below, for grant applicants and recipients beginning in September! Participants will hear from EPA staff about key aspects of the grants process and have the opportunity to submit questions. Additional information on each webinar as well as registration information can be found below. Advance registration is required, and you must register for each webinar separately.  

• NEW! EPA Grants Webinar Series Registration – Competition Process

September 13, 2022 | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET | Register Here

            This webinar will cover how to find and successfully apply for EPA grants

• NEW! EPA Grants Webinar Series Registration – Developing a Budget

September 20, 2022 | 2;00 PM – 3;00 PM ET | Register Here

Learn how to develop budgets and budget narratives in this instructor-led version of EPA’s How to Develop a Budget online training course. 

• NEW! EPA Grants Webinar Series Registration – Complying with EPA Assistance Agreements

September 22, 2022 | 2;00 PM – 3:00 PM ET | Register Here

Learn how to identify key policies and procedures to be a grant recipient that effectively expends and documents the use of EPA grant funds.

NEW! EPA has scheduled two listening sessions to seek input on the development of a new Pollution Prevention (P2) grant opportunity

Please see below for additional details, including session dates/times and links to register. The session on Sept. 7 is specifically for tribes and intertribal consortia, while the session on Sept. 8 is for all potential applicants and stakeholders (including tribes).

Register for the webinars using the following links:

• Listening session for tribes and intertribal consortia: Sept. 7, 2022, from 2:00-3:30 p.m. EDT
• Listening session for other potential applicants and stakeholders: Sept. 8, 2022, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT

 NEW! U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2022 Appropriations

To View Report Click Here.

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.

Tribal Forestry Student Summit: Investing in the Future of Tribal Forest Resources Management and Wildland Fire

October 12–14, 2022 | Click Here for More Details

Mark your calendars for this hybrid event, featuring in-person and virtual participation options, to address tribal workforce development. This summit is designed for students in forestry or related resource management programs across the country. For more info, including agenda and summit details, please visit eri.nau.edu/tribal-forestry-student-summit. 

EPA: USEPA – SIGNED: Air Toxics Standards for Stationary Engines – Final Amendments to Address Court Vacatur

On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule that amends the Code of Federal Regulations for two stationary engine rules. EPA does not expect any emissions changes as a result of this final action. The final action codifies a court mandate that has been in place since 2016 related to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Stationary Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) and the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Stationary Internal Combustion Engines (ICE). A pre-publication version of the notice and a fact sheet are available at https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines and on the websites for each rule at:

• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/national-emission-standards-hazardous-air-pollutants-reciprocating-internal-0
• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-compression-ignition-internal-0
• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-spark-ignition-internal-combustion-0

NC Radon Program Social Media Toolkit

The NC Radon Program has created a free Radon Social Media Toolkit for your use. The materials are in both English and Spanish. All of the materials are in a Google Docs folder. To access this social media toolkit folder

EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website. 

NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

 The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration 

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

NEW! ENERGY STAR Webinar Series: ENERGY STAR will offer several webinars on Portfolio Manager. These webinars explain how to navigate different parts of Portfolio Manager, from basics to advanced features.

September 7 – 21, 2022, All Times in ET | Click Here For More Information and Registration

• September 7, 2022, 12:00 PM Ask the Expert
• September 8, 2022, 12:00 PM Find Rebates on Commercial Building Equipment
• September 13, 2022, 1:00 PM Portfolio Manager 201
• September 20, 2022, 1:00 PM Portfolio Manager 301
• September 21, 2022, 12:00 PM         Ask the Expert

NEW! Department of Energy (DOE) in collaboration with American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): Strategies for Achieving Zero Energy in Multifamily Buildings

September 13, 2022, | 11:00 AM ET | Register Here

            This webinar was organized in collaboration with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). ASHRAE’s latest Advanced Energy Design Guide for Multifamily Buildings, developed with support from DOE, assists multifamily building owners and operators, design professionals, and developers in achieving zero energy buildings. The guide’s creators will walk attendees through various strategies while demonstrating how the document can serve as a step-by-step guide for organizations to pursue zero energy buildings.

NEW! Clean Energy Group: Advancing Solar for Manufactured Homes through Community Solar

September 14, 2022, | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT | Register Here

            In this Clean Energy States Alliance webinar, panelists will share more information about how community solar can be used to bring the benefits of solar to manufactured homes; how to engage with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP); and successful examples of community solar projects that have benefitted manufactured homes and communities.

NEW! Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings: Show Me the Money: Financing Decarbonization Projects

September 27, 2022, | 11:00 AM ET | Register Here

            You’ve received approval for a decarbonization project, but how will you fund it? Learn about the carbon financing mechanisms Better Buildings Financial Allies use in their firms and others along with practical steps to identify and source capital from grants, third party investors, bonds, and more. 

EPA has updated the Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

EPA’s free, spreadsheet-based Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

            This year’s updates include:

• An optional market-based method to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased through contractual instruments, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
• Revised Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) factors from 1990 through 2019, as available.
• Updated default stationary energy emission factors and heat contents.
• Kerosene and distillate fuel oil as additional stationary energy fuel types.

Find the updated Tribal community and government operations modules and users’ guides here. Are you a long-time inventory tool user with questions about the new updates? Or is this your first GHG inventory? Join this webinar or upcoming offices hours to learn more and ask questions:

Toxics/Mobile Sources

NEW! Clean Energy: “Transportation Electrification in the Southeast” Report Webinar

September 8, 2022, | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET | Register Here

            On Thursday, September 8, SACE will host a webinar on to discuss the forthcoming “Transportation Electrification in the Southeast” third annual report published in partnership with Atlas Public Policy. The updated report will release on the same day, September 8. This year’s report tracks substantial momentum in the Southeast across electric vehicle (EV)market indicators, including economic and workforce development, EV sales and charging infrastructure deployment, and government and electric utility funding. During the webinar, report author, Tom Taylor of Atlas Public Policy, and Stan Cross, Electric Transportation Policy Director at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, will highlight findings from the report and discuss how the Southeast can take a leadership role in the rapid transition to EVs.

NEW! U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) EV Grid Assist: Accelerating the Transition initiative Webinar Series

September 8 – November 10, 2022

            This webinar series is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) EV Grid Assist: Accelerating the Transition initiative. It aims to support decision makers by providing timely information on a wide range of topics important to the integration of electric vehicles and the grid.  To learn more about the EVGrid Assist initiative or to download a recording of past webinars, visit  www.energy.gov/evgridassist.

• Grid Aware Selection, September 8, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 EDT, Register Here
• Charging Station Design – Part 1, September 27, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 EDT, Register Here
• Load Forecasting, October 3, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, Register Here
• Rates and Incentives, October 25, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, Register Here
• Planning for the future, November 10, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, Register Here 

EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality

Reminder! EPA Webinar: Innovations in Financing Environmental Asthma Home Visits

 Within Medicaid

September 13, 2022 | 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT | Register Here

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division (IED) will showcase solutions to help communities reduce indoor environmental risks to improve asthma disparities and community health, including health care reimbursement for multi-sector workforces that deliver home environmental asthma interventions.

IED will host a series of three webinars starting on September 13, 2022, to explore ways to address the indoor environmental determinants of health (IEDOH) where they cluster—in homes and communities—with a combination of the following:

• Health care reimbursement mechanisms in use across states to support asthma home visits.
• Trends in health care to pay new team members (e.g., community health workers) for home visits and for new services, including some home environment modifications.
• Best asthma care strategies that align with environmental health equity goals where health and housing sectors collaborate to deliver healthy housing solutions.
• Contact Us via email EPAAsthmaProgram@asthmacommunitynetwork.org.

NEW! EPA Webinar: Improve Indoor Air and Breathe Healthier Air in Houses of Worship & Other Facilities

September 20, 2022, | 6:30 PM (ET) | Register Here

            This webinar will focus on how Houses of Worship can improve and protect the indoor air of their worship centers and facilities, to make the indoors safe and healthy for members of the faith communities and those working in faith facilities. The webinar will include a discussion on effective ways to improve indoor air quality, including reducing indoor pollutants such as mold, safer chemical use and integrated pest management, as well as the importance of outdoor air, ventilation and other topics. There will be up to 60 minutes of presentation and at least 30 minutes of Q and A for participants to engage with the presenters. 

National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!  

Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009.

EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.   

Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!

UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

Register today for EPA’s series of webinars, listed below, for grant applicants and recipients beginning in September! Participants will hear from EPA staff about key aspects of the grant process and have the opportunity to submit questions. Additional information on each webinar and registration information can be found below. Advance registration is required, and you must register for each webinar separately.

• NEW! EPA Grants Webinar Series Registration – Competition Process

September 13, 2022 | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET | Register Here

            This webinar will cover how to find and successfully apply for EPA grants

• NEW! EPA Grants Webinar Series Registration – Developing a Budget

September 20, 2022 | 2;00 PM – 3;00 PM ET | Register Here

Learn how to develop budgets and budget narratives in this instructor-led version of EPA’s How to Develop a Budget online training course.

• NEW! EPA Grants Webinar Series Registration – Complying with EPA Assistance Agreements

September 22, 2022 | 2;00 PM – 3:00 PM ET | Register Here

Learn how to identify key policies and procedures to be a grant recipient that effectively expends and documents the use of EPA grant funds.

NEW! EPA has scheduled two listening sessions to seek input on the development of a new Pollution Prevention (P2) grant opportunity

Please see below for additional details, including session dates/times and links to register. The session on Sept. 7 is specifically for tribes and intertribal consortia, while the session on Sept. 8 is for all potential applicants and stakeholders (including tribes).

Register for the webinars using the following links:

• Listening session for tribes and intertribal consortia: Sept. 7, 2022, from 2:00-3:30 p.m. EDT
• Listening session for other potential applicants and stakeholders: Sept. 8, 2022, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT

NEW! U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2022 Appropriations

To View Report Click Here.

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.

Tribal Forestry Student Summit: Investing in the Future of Tribal Forest Resources Management and Wildland Fire

October 12–14, 2022 | Click Here for More Details

Mark your calendars for this hybrid event, featuring in-person and virtual participation options, to address tribal workforce development. This summit is designed for students in forestry or related resource management programs across the country. For more info, including agenda and summit details, please visit eri.nau.edu/tribal-forestry-student-summit.

EPA: USEPA – SIGNED: Air Toxics Standards for Stationary Engines – Final Amendments to Address Court Vacatur

On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule that amends the Code of Federal Regulations for two stationary engine rules. EPA does not expect any emissions changes as a result of this final action. The final action codifies a court mandate that has been in place since 2016 related to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Stationary Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) and the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Stationary Internal Combustion Engines (ICE). A pre-publication version of the notice and a fact sheet are available at https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines and on the websites for each rule at:

• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/national-emission-standards-hazardous-air-pollutants-reciprocating-internal-0
• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-compression-ignition-internal-0
• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-spark-ignition-internal-combustion-0

NC Radon Program Social Media Toolkit

The NC Radon Program has created a free Radon Social Media Toolkit for your use. The materials are in both English and Spanish. All of the materials are in a Google Docs folder. To access this social media toolkit folder      

EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website.

NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

 The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration 

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

EPA has updated the Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

EPA’s free, spreadsheet-based Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

            This year’s updates include:

• An optional market-based method to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased through contractual instruments, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
• Revised Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) factors from 1990 through 2019, as available.
• Updated default stationary energy emission factors and heat contents.
• Kerosene and distillate fuel oil as additional stationary energy fuel types.

Find the updated Tribal community and government operations modules and users’ guides here. Are you a long-time inventory tool user with questions about the new updates? Or is this your first GHG inventory? Join this webinar or upcoming offices hours to learn more and ask questions:

Toxics/Mobile Sources

NEW! EPA Webinar: SmartWay Logistics Tool Demonstration Webinar

August 17, 2022, | 11:00 AM PT | 2:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

This webinar is for third-party logistics companies and Partners who want to learn how to use SmartWay’s ONLINE Logistics Tool. During the webinar, SmartWay staff will review how Logistics Partners can use the 2022 Tool to obtain an emissions profile for their clients, carriers, and their own operations. This webinar begins with some background on SmartWay, walks you through the tool in a live demonstration, and provides insights on how you can use tool outputs to evaluate where performance can be improved.

EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality

NEW! EPA Webinar: Innovations in Financing Environmental Asthma Home Visits

 Within Medicaid

September 13, 2022 | 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT | Register Here

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division (IED) will showcase solutions to help communities reduce indoor environmental risks to improve asthma disparities and community health, including health care reimbursement for multi-sector workforces that deliver home environmental asthma interventions.

IED will host a series of three webinars starting on September 13, 2022, to explore ways to address the indoor environmental determinants of health (IEDOH) where they cluster—in homes and communities—with a combination of the following:

• Health care reimbursement mechanisms in use across states to support asthma home visits.
• Trends in health care to pay new team members (e.g., community health workers) for home visits and for new services, including some home environment modifications.
• Best asthma care strategies that align with environmental health equity goals where health and housing sectors collaborate to deliver healthy housing solutions.
• Contact Us via email EPAAsthmaProgram@asthmacommunitynetwork.org.

National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!  

Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009. 

EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.

Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!

UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

Reminder! U.S. DOT Announces Thriving Communities Program

On August 5, 2022, DOT published a Thriving Communities Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register [Document Number 2022-16860] to hear directly from transportation professionals, local officials, community partners and other stakeholders about the specific issues and technical areas where those living and working in disadvantaged communities need more direct assistance from capacity building providers and the federal government to successfully access infrastructure funding and advance transformative transportation projects. The RFI can be viewed and comments submitted through August 26, 2022.  

NEW! EPA 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates Feedback Webinar

August 24, 2022 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

Authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Clean School Bus Program provides $5 billion over the next five years to replace school buses with low- and zero-emission school buses. The first funding opportunity under this program is the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates.

Attend this webinar to hear about feedback gathered during the application process, share additional feedback, and learn about next steps in the rebate program including the selection process, paperwork requirements, and anticipated timeline.

For more information, please visit our website: epa.gov/cleanschoolbus

If you have any feedback, please email: cleanschoolbus@epa.gov

NEW! EPA has scheduled two listening sessions to seek input on the development of a new Pollution Prevention (P2) grant opportunity

Please see below for additional details, including session dates/times and links to register. The session on Sept. 7 is specifically for tribes and intertribal consortia, while the session on Sept. 8 is for all potential applicants and stakeholders (including tribes).

Register for the webinars using the following links:

• Listening session for tribes and intertribal consortia: Sept. 7, 2022, from 2:00-3:30 p.m. EDT
• Listening session for other potential applicants and stakeholders: Sept. 8, 2022, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT

 NEW! U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2022 Appropriations

To View Report Click Here.

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.

Tribal Forestry Student Summit: Investing in the Future of Tribal Forest Resources Management and Wildland Fire

October 12–14, 2022 | Click Here for More Details

Mark your calendars for this hybrid event, featuring in-person and virtual participation options, to address tribal workforce development. This summit is designed for students in forestry or related resource management programs across the country. For more info, including agenda and summit details, please visit eri.nau.edu/tribal-forestry-student-summit.

EPA: USEPA – SIGNED: Air Toxics Standards for Stationary Engines – Final Amendments to Address Court Vacatur

On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule that amends the Code of Federal Regulations for two stationary engine rules. EPA does not expect any emissions changes as a result of this final action. The final action codifies a court mandate that has been in place since 2016 related to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Stationary Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) and the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Stationary Internal Combustion Engines (ICE). A pre-publication version of the notice and a fact sheet are available at https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines and on the websites for each rule at:

• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/national-emission-standards-hazardous-air-pollutants-reciprocating-internal-0
• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-compression-ignition-internal-0
• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-spark-ignition-internal-combustion-0

NC Radon Program Social Media Toolkit

The NC Radon Program has created a free Radon Social Media Toolkit for your use. The materials are in both English and Spanish. All of the materials are in a Google Docs folder. To access this social media toolkit folder      

EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website.

NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration 

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

EPA has updated the Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

EPA’s free, spreadsheet-based Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

            This year’s updates include:

• An optional market-based method to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased through contractual instruments, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
• Revised Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) factors from 1990 through 2019, as available.
• Updated default stationary energy emission factors and heat contents.
• Kerosene and distillate fuel oil as additional stationary energy fuel types.

Find the updated Tribal community and government operations modules and users’ guides here. Are you a long-time inventory tool user with questions about the new updates? Or is this your first GHG inventory? Join this webinar or upcoming offices hours to learn more and ask questions:

Toxics/Mobile Sources  

EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality 

NEW! EPA Webinar: Innovations in Financing Environmental Asthma Home Visits

 Within Medicaid

September 13, 2022 | 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT | Register Here

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division (IED) will showcase solutions to help communities reduce indoor environmental risks to improve asthma disparities and community health, including health care reimbursement for multi-sector workforces that deliver home environmental asthma interventions.

IED will host a series of three webinars starting on September 13, 2022, to explore ways to address the indoor environmental determinants of health (IEDOH) where they cluster—in homes and communities—with a combination of the following:

• Health care reimbursement mechanisms in use across states to support asthma home visits.
• Trends in health care to pay new team members (e.g., community health workers) for home visits and for new services, including some home environment modifications.
• Best asthma care strategies that align with environmental health equity goals where health and housing sectors collaborate to deliver healthy housing solutions.
• Contact Us via email EPAAsthmaProgram@asthmacommunitynetwork.org.

National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!

Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009. 

EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.

Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!

UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

REMINDER! EPA Clean School Bus Program – 2022 Rebates Application deadline is this Friday, August 19, 2022. SAM.gov entity registration required.

EPA is offering $500 million in rebates for electric and low-emission school buses. Register Today for the Webinars Below! Program Now Open! EPA begins accepting online application submissions here.

• Submit Your Rebate Application by August 19, 2022 ATTENTION:
• Applying for a Rebate? Be sure to get an Active SAM.gov Account First!

• Click hereto view the program guidance and a list of eligible/priority applicants.
• Click hereto begin the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Application process.
• Click hereto sign-up for the Clean School Bus News listserv and add cleanschoolbus@epa.gov to your email contacts to guarantee you receive regular program updates and our messages don’t go to your spam folder.
• Click hereto access the EPA Clean School Bus website to learn more about the program and the benefits of clean school buses.
• Email cleanschoolbus@epa.govwith any questions or feedback to improve the program.

NEW! EPA has scheduled two listening sessions to seek input on the development of a new Pollution Prevention (P2) grant opportunity

Please see below for additional details, including session dates/times and links to register. The session on Sept. 7 is specifically for tribes and intertribal consortia, while the session on Sept. 8 is for all potential applicants and stakeholders (including tribes).

Register for the webinars using the following links:

• Listening session for tribes and intertribal consortia: Sept. 7, 2022, from 2:00-3:30 p.m. EDT
• Listening session for other potential applicants and stakeholders: Sept. 8, 2022, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT

If any questions Contact:

Co-Regulator Liaison, Emily M. Ryan: Ryan.Emily@epa.gov / (202) 566-1235

NEW! U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2022 Appropriations

To View Report Click Here.

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. 

U.S. DOT Announces Thriving Communities Program

On August 5, 2022, DOT published a Thriving Communities Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register [Document Number 2022-16860] to hear directly from transportation professionals, local officials, community partners and other stakeholders about the specific issues and technical areas where those living and working in disadvantaged communities need more direct assistance from capacity building providers and the federal government to successfully access infrastructure funding and advance transformative transportation projects. The RFI can be viewed and comments submitted through August 26, 2022.

EPA: USEPA – SIGNED: Air Toxics Standards for Stationary Engines – Final Amendments to Address Court Vacatur

On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule that amends the Code of Federal Regulations for two stationary engine rules. EPA does not expect any emissions changes as a result of this final action. The final action codifies a court mandate that has been in place since 2016 related to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Stationary Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) and the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Stationary Internal Combustion Engines (ICE). A pre-publication version of the notice and a fact sheet are available at https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines and on the websites for each rule at:

• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/national-emission-standards-hazardous-air-pollutants-reciprocating-internal-0
• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-compression-ignition-internal-0
• https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-spark-ignition-internal-combustion-0

NC Radon Program Social Media Toolkit

The NC Radon Program has created a free Radon Social Media Toolkit for your use. The materials are in both English and Spanish. All of the materials are in a Google Docs folder. To access this social media toolkit folder

EPA Webinar: EPA PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Research Tools and Resources

August 17, 2022, | 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States and around the globe since the 1940s, and they are still being used today. There are thousands of different PFAS, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others. Due to their widespread production and use, as well as their ability to move and persist in the environment, PFAS can be found in surface water, groundwater, soil and air—from remote rural areas to densely-populated urban centers. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that exposure at certain levels to specific PFAS can adversely impact human health and other living things.

This webinar will provide a brief overview of EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and ongoing efforts by EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to address key PFAS research needs for environmental decision-making. ORD scientists will highlight two recently released data sources: EPA’s PFAS Thermal Treatment Database, which contains information on the treatability of PFAS via various thermal processes, and Systematic Evidence Maps for PFAS, which summarize available toxicity evidence for approximately 150 different PFAS. Recent updates to other PFAS resources will also be shared.      

EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website.

NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration 

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

EPA has updated the Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

EPA’s free, spreadsheet-based Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

            This year’s updates include:

• An optional market-based method to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased through contractual instruments, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
• Revised Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) factors from 1990 through 2019, as available.
• Updated default stationary energy emission factors and heat contents.
• Kerosene and distillate fuel oil as additional stationary energy fuel types.

Find the updated Tribal community and government operations modules and users’ guides here. Are you a long-time inventory tool user with questions about the new updates? Or is this your first GHG inventory? Join this webinar or upcoming offices hours to learn more and ask questions:

Brownfields 2022: Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Reichental and EPA Administrator Michael Regan

August 18th, 2022, | Register Here

Dr. Jonathan Reichental is a multiple-award-winning technology and business leader whose career has spanned both the private and public sectors. He’s been a senior software engineering manager, a director of technology innovation, and has served as chief information officer at both O’Reilly Media and the City of Palo Alto, California. Reichental is currently the founder of advisory, investment, and education firm, Human Future, and also creates online education for LinkedIn Learning. He has written three books on the future of cities: Smart Cities for Dummies, Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids, and Exploring Cities Bedtime Rhymes.

Cosponsored by the EPA and ICMA, Brownfields 2022 will be taking place: August 16-19, 2022, in Oklahoma City, OK

Toxics/Mobile Sources

SmartWay Logistics Tool Demonstration

August 17, 2022, | 2:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

This webinar is for third-party logistics companies and Partners who want to learn how to use SmartWay’s ONLINE Logistics Tool. During the webinar, SmartWay staff will review how Logistics Partners can use the 2022 Tool to obtain an emissions profile for their clients, carriers, and their own operations. This webinar begins with some background on SmartWay, walks you through the tool in a live demonstration, and provides insights on how you can use tool outputs to evaluate where performance can be improved.

EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality 

NEW! EPA Webinar: Innovations in Financing Environmental Asthma Home Visits Within Medicaid

September 13, 2022 | 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT | Register Here

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division (IED) will showcase solutions to help communities reduce indoor environmental risks to improve asthma disparities and community health, including health care reimbursement for multi-sector workforces that deliver home environmental asthma interventions.

IED will host a series of three webinars starting on September 13, 2022, to explore ways to address the indoor environmental determinants of health (IEDOH) where they cluster—in homes and communities—with a combination of the following:

• Health care reimbursement mechanisms in use across states to support asthma home visits.
• Trends in health care to pay new team members (e.g., community health workers) for home visits and for new services, including some home environment modifications.
• Best asthma care strategies that align with environmental health equity goals where health and housing sectors collaborate to deliver healthy housing solutions.
• Contact Us via email EPAAsthmaProgram@asthmacommunitynetwork.org.

National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!  

Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009.

EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.

Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!

UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes 

NEW! Invitation: Tribal Consultation on Nature-Based Solutions

August 15, 2022, | 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET |  Register Here

We are inviting you to join the White House for a Tribal Consultation on August 15, 2022, from 4-5pm ET to discuss the forthcoming White House report on nature-based solutions. On April 22, 2022, President Biden signed Executive Order 14072 on “Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies.” In this Order, the President recognized that nature holds special importance to Tribal Nations, and recognized the significance of nature to sustain the plant and animal life fundamental to combatting the global climate and biodiversity crises.
The Executive Order called for a report ‐ led by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, Council on Environmental Quality, and Domestic Climate Policy Office ‐ that identifies key opportunities for greater deployment of nature‐based solutions across the Federal Government, including through potential policy, guidance, and program changes. The Federal members of this effort recognize that the ideas shared in the report may affect Tribal Nations and acknowledge the experience Tribal communities have in applying nature‐based solutions, which often provide other communities and Federal agencies with examples and advances.

NEW! U.S. DOT Announces Thriving Communities Program

On August 5, 2022, DOT published a Thriving Communities Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register [Document Number 2022-16860] to hear directly from transportation professionals, local officials, community partners and other stakeholders about the specific issues and technical areas where those living and working in disadvantaged communities need more direct assistance from capacity building providers and the federal government to successfully access infrastructure funding and advance transformative transportation projects. The RFI can be viewed and comments submitted through August 26, 2022.

NEW! EPA: USEPA – SIGNED: Air Toxics Standards for Stationary Engines – Final Amendments to Address Court Vacatur

On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule that amends the Code of Federal Regulations for two stationary engine rules. EPA does not expect any emissions changes as a result of this final action. The final action codifies a court mandate that has been in place since 2016 related to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Stationary Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) and the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Stationary Internal Combustion Engines (ICE). A pre-publication version of the notice and a fact sheet are available at https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines and on the websites for each rule at:

·       https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/national-emission-standards-hazardous-air-pollutants-reciprocating-internal-0

·       https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-compression-ignition-internal-0

·       https://www.epa.gov/stationary-engines/new-source-performance-standards-stationary-spark-ignition-internal-combustion-0

EPA Seeking Nominations to Serve on the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (Federal Advisory Committee)

EPA is seeking nominations from nonfederal representatives to serve on the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC). Established in 1997, the CHPAC Federal Advisory Committee provides independent advice to the EPA Administrator on a broad range of environmental issues affecting children’s health.

Candidates from diverse backgrounds include, but are not limited to, industry; tribal, state, county and local government; school systems; academia; health care providers (including pediatricians, obstetric professionals, occupational medicine practitioners and community nurses); and non-governmental organizations are encouraged to apply.

EPA values and welcomes opportunities to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility on its Federal Advisory Committees. To obtain nominations of diverse candidates, EPA encourages nominations from a diverse pool of applicants in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and geographic regions.

CHPAC members are appointed by the EPA Administrator for three-year terms with the possibility of reappointment to a second term. The Committee meets 2-3 times annually and the average workload is approximately 10 to 15 hours per month. Through its expert members from diverse stakeholder groups and from its various workgroups, CHPAC reviews and addresses a wide range of developments, issues and research areas such as pesticide exposures to children, environmental health in schools and child care settings, prioritization and data needs to protect children’s health under the Toxic Substances Control Act, childhood lead exposure prevention, and climate change impacts to children.

Nominations should be submitted by August 15, 2022. Please refer to the Federal Register Notice for more details on nomination submission. EPA is aiming to reach a diverse and qualified candidate pool and ask you to share this notice with organizations that you believe may have suitable candidates, or with individuals you believe will be an asset to the CHPAC. Vacancies are expected to be filled by March 1, 2023.

If you have any questions, please contact Amelia Nguyen, Designated Federal Officer for CHPAC at Nguyen.Amelia@epa.gov. 

NC Radon Program Social Media Toolkit

The NC Radon Program has created a free Radon Social Media Toolkit for your use. The materials are in both English and Spanish. All of the materials are in a Google Docs folder. To access this social media toolkit folder

EPA Webinar: EPA PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Research Tools and Resources

August 17, 2022, | 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States and around the globe since the 1940s, and they are still being used today. There are thousands of different PFAS, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others. Due to their widespread production and use, as well as their ability to move and persist in the environment, PFAS can be found in surface water, groundwater, soil and air—from remote rural areas to densely-populated urban centers. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that exposure at certain levels to specific PFAS can adversely impact human health and other living things.

This webinar will provide a brief overview of EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and ongoing efforts by EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to address key PFAS research needs for environmental decision-making. ORD scientists will highlight two recently released data sources: EPA’s PFAS Thermal Treatment Database, which contains information on the treatability of PFAS via various thermal processes, and Systematic Evidence Maps for PFAS, which summarize available toxicity evidence for approximately 150 different PFAS. Recent updates to other PFAS resources will also be shared.

EPA Clean School Bus Program – 2022 Rebates

Click here to register

EPA is offering $500 million in rebates for electric and low-emission school buses. Register Today for the Webinars Below! Program Now Open!

SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES

• August 10 – U.S. Department of Agriculture: Rural Electric Cooperatives Infrastructure Funding All webinars will be held at 1:00 PM Eastern.
• Submit Your Rebate Application by August 19, 2022 ATTENTION:
• Applying for a Rebate? Be sure to get an Active SAM.gov Account First!

CSB Rebates Application deadline is August 19, 2022. SAM.gov entity registration required.

• Click hereto view the program guidance and a list of eligible/priority applicants.
• Click hereto begin the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Application process.
• Click hereto sign-up for the Clean School Bus News listserv and add cleanschoolbus@epa.gov to your email contacts to guarantee you receive regular program updates and our messages don’t go to your spam folder.
• Click hereto access the EPA Clean School Bus website to learn more about the program and the benefits of clean school buses.
• Email cleanschoolbus@epa.govwith any questions or feedback to improve the program.

Important Dates

The Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership, in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and Grand Canyon National Park, is excited to announce an upcoming course for interpreters, informal educators, and Tribal professionals on the Colorado Plateau.

September 6 – 9, 2022 | Click Here for Application | Click Here to Learn More

This course is offered by the Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and Grand Canyon National Park. Together we will provide participants a foundation in climate science and effective climate communication and interpretation; an understanding of the connections between global and local processes; and perspectives on the interdependence of culture and climate on the Colorado Plateau. The course emphasizes a supportive, collegial learning environment. You will:

• Meet with NASA and regional scientists to learn about the latest global and regional climate research and discuss their insights on understanding and responding to changing climate
• Observe, practice, and discuss techniques for successful climate change interpretation and communication
• Hear Native perspectives on climate change and learn about Tribal resilience and adaptation strategies
• Experience first-hand evidence of and responses to local climate change impacts on a field trip
• Meet colleagues from around the region and join a community of interpreters, informal educators, and Tribal professionals committed to communicating regional climate issues and solutions
• Depart with cutting-edge knowledge about climate change, and a plan for bringing the climate story to your visitors in relevant, engaging, inspiring, and hopeful ways
• Learn how you can stay connected with these scientists, fellow climate communicators, and the national Earth to Sky community of practice over the long term. You’re not alone in your efforts!

EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website.

NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

 The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration 

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

DOC NOAA’s Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants Under the IIJA – $85 million |Applications Due: September 6, 2022|

Eligible Entities: County governments, state governments, city or township governments, small businesses, nonprofits, for profit organizations, Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), private institutions of higher education, public and state controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)

The principal objective of this solicitation is to support transformational projects that restore marine, estuarine, coastal, or Great Lakes ecosystems, using approaches that enhance community and ecosystem resilience to climate hazards. Funding will prioritize habitat restoration actions that: demonstrate significant impacts; rebuild productive and sustainable fisheries; contribute to the recovery and conservation of threatened and endangered species; promote climate-resilient ecosystems, especially in tribal or underserved communities; and improve economic vitality, including local employment.

• For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

DOC Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Underserved Communities, Under the IIJA – $10 million | Applications Due: September 30, 2022|

Eligible Entities: County governments, state governments, city or township governments, small businesses, nonprofits, for profit organizations, Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), private institutions of higher education, public and state controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)

The principal objective of this solicitation is to support opportunities for underserved communities, tribes, and/or tribal entities to meaningfully engage in coastal habitat restoration activities. Through this funding opportunity, NOAA intends to support capacity building and restoration project activities that have the greatest potential to lead to habitat restoration that enhances resilience of underserved communities in marine, estuarine, coastal, and Great Lakes areas. Meaningful engagement of underserved communities is intended to ensure that communities are integral to the visioning, decision-making, and leadership for coastal habitat restoration projects; to ensure that the scope of such projects are inclusive of the priorities and needs of communities; and/or to ensure that the benefits of such projects flow back to underserved communities.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

DOE Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling Design and Deployment – $13 million Applications Due: October 11, 2022

Eligible Entities: Unrestricted

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling Design and Deployment Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), which will award $300,000–$13 million for projects that help communities design and deploy geothermal district heating and cooling systems, create related workforce training, and identify and address environmental justice concerns. The FOA will support the formation of U.S.-based community coalitions that will develop, design, and install community geothermal heating and cooling systems that supply at least 25% of the heating and cooling load in communities.

• For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

Tribal Forestry Student Summit: Investing in the Future of Tribal Forest Resources Management and Wildland Fire

October 12–14, 2022 | Click Here for More Details

Mark your calendars for this hybrid event, featuring in-person and virtual participation options, to address tribal workforce development. This summit is designed for students in forestry or related resource management programs across the country. For more info, including agenda and summit details, please visit eri.nau.edu/tribal-forestry-student-summit.

NOAA RESTORE Science Program 2023 – $15 million

Applications Due: November 15, 2022

Eligible Entities: Institutions of higher education; not-for-profit institutions; for-profit organizations; local governments, state governments, tribal governments; and U.S. territories

NOAA RESTORE Science Program is open for proposals for projects up to five years in duration. This announcement invites proposals that request funding from researcher, resource manager, and stakeholder partnerships to execute a previously planned, collaborative research project, develop its findings and products, transfer them to an identified resource manager or management body, and apply them to a specific Gulf of Mexico natural resource management decision. A letter of intent for this proposal is due by August 16, 2022.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

EPA has updated the Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

EPA’s free, spreadsheet-based Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool, first launched in 2013 and updated annually, is based on nationally and internationally recognized GHG accounting and reporting principles.

            This year’s updates include:

• An optional market-based method to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased through contractual instruments, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
• Revised Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) factors from 1990 through 2019, as available.
• Updated default stationary energy emission factors and heat contents.
• Kerosene and distillate fuel oil as additional stationary energy fuel types.

Find the updated Tribal community and government operations modules and users’ guides here. Are you a long-time inventory tool user with questions about the new updates? Or is this your first GHG inventory? Join this webinar or upcoming offices hours to learn more and ask questions:

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Reichental

August 18th, 2022, | Register Here

Dr. Jonathan Reichental is a multiple-award-winning technology and business leader whose career has spanned both the private and public sectors. He’s been a senior software engineering manager, a director of technology innovation, and has served as chief information officer at both O’Reilly Media and the City of Palo Alto, California. Reichental is currently the founder of advisory, investment, and education firm, Human Future, and also creates online education for LinkedIn Learning. He has written three books on the future of cities: Smart Cities for Dummies, Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids, and Exploring Cities Bedtime Rhymes.

Cosponsored by the EPA and ICMA, Brownfields 2022 will be taking place: August 16-19, 2022, in Oklahoma City, OK

Toxics/Mobile Sources

SmartWay Logistics Tool Demonstration

August 17, 2022, | 2:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

This webinar is for third-party logistics companies and Partners who want to learn how to use SmartWay’s ONLINE Logistics Tool. During the webinar, SmartWay staff will review how Logistics Partners can use the 2022 Tool to obtain an emissions profile for their clients, carriers, and their own operations. This webinar begins with some background on SmartWay, walks you through the tool in a live demonstration, and provides insights on how you can use tool outputs to evaluate where performance can be improved.

EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality 

National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!

Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009.

EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.   

Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!

UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

 DOE Grid Hardening State/Tribal Formula Grant Program – $2.3 billion |Applications Due: September 30, 2022|

Eligible Entities: States, U.S Territories, and Indian Tribes

DOE has built a formula grant program to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other natural disasters that are exacerbated by the climate crisis. The program will distribute up to $2.3 billion over five years and will provide grants based on a formula that includes, among other things, population size, land area, probability and severity of disruptive events, and a locality’s historical expenditures on mitigation efforts. Priority will be given to projects that generate the greatest community benefit providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy to everyone, everywhere, anytime.  For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

EPA Clean School Bus Program – 2022 Rebates: Deadline is Aug. 19^th!

Click here to register

EPA is offering $500 million in rebates for electric and low-emission school buses. Register Today for the Webinars Below! Program Now Open!

SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES

• August 10 – U.S. Department of Agriculture: Rural Electric Cooperatives Infrastructure Funding All webinars will be held at 1:00 PM Eastern.
• Submit Your Rebate Application by August 19, 2022 ATTENTION:
• Applying for a Rebate? Be sure to get an Active SAM.gov Account First!

CSB Rebates Application deadline is August 19, 2022. SAM.gov entity registration required.

• Click hereto view the program guidance and a list of eligible/priority applicants.
• Click hereto begin the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Application process.
• Click hereto sign-up for the Clean School Bus News listserv and add cleanschoolbus@epa.gov to your email contacts to guarantee you receive regular program updates and our messages don’t go to your spam folder.
• Click hereto access the EPA Clean School Bus website to learn more about the program and the benefits of clean school buses.
• Email cleanschoolbus@epa.govwith any questions or feedback to improve the program.

Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Area Source Boilers: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP)

EPA finalized amendments to the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters. This final action addresses several issues identified by the D.C. Circuit and will protect air quality and public health by reducing emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) such as formaldehyde, benzene, and polycyclic organic matter. The amendments will also result in reductions in particulate matter, a surrogate for metallic HAP, by an estimated 586 tons per year and sulfur dioxide by an estimated 1,141 tons per year. For more information about this final rulemaking and a fact sheet, please visit https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/industrial-commercial-and-institutional-boilers-and-process-heaters.

EPA Seeking Nominations to Serve on the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (Federal Advisory Committee)

EPA is seeking nominations from nonfederal representatives to serve on the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC). Established in 1997, the CHPAC Federal Advisory Committee provides independent advice to the EPA Administrator on a broad range of environmental issues affecting children’s health.

Candidates from diverse backgrounds include, but are not limited to, industry; tribal, state, county and local government; school systems; academia; health care providers (including pediatricians, obstetric professionals, occupational medicine practitioners and community nurses); and non-governmental organizations are encouraged to apply.

EPA values and welcomes opportunities to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility on its Federal Advisory Committees. To obtain nominations of diverse candidates, EPA encourages nominations from a diverse pool of applicants in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and geographic regions.

CHPAC members are appointed by the EPA Administrator for three-year terms with the possibility of reappointment to a second term. The Committee meets 2-3 times annually and the average workload is approximately 10 to 15 hours per month. Through its expert members from diverse stakeholder groups and from its various workgroups, CHPAC reviews and addresses a wide range of developments, issues and research areas such as pesticide exposures to children, environmental health in schools and child care settings, prioritization and data needs to protect children’s health under the Toxic Substances Control Act, childhood lead exposure prevention, and climate change impacts to children.

Nominations should be submitted by August 15, 2022. Please refer to the Federal Register Notice for more details on nomination submission. EPA is aiming to reach a diverse and qualified candidate pool and ask you to share this notice with organizations that you believe may have suitable candidates, or with individuals you believe will be an asset to the CHPAC. Vacancies are expected to be filled by March 1, 2023.

If you have any questions, please contact Amelia Nguyen, Designated Federal Officer for CHPAC at Nguyen.Amelia@epa.gov.

 NC Radon Program Social Media Toolkit

The NC Radon Program has created a free Radon Social Media Toolkit for your use. The materials are in both English and Spanish. All of the materials are in a Google Docs folder. To access this social media toolkit folder

EPA Webinar: EPA PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Research Tools and Resources

August 17, 2022, | 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States and around the globe since the 1940s, and they are still being used today. There are thousands of different PFAS, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others. Due to their widespread production and use, as well as their ability to move and persist in the environment, PFAS can be found in surface water, groundwater, soil and air—from remote rural areas to densely-populated urban centers. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that exposure at certain levels to specific PFAS can adversely impact human health and other living things. This webinar will provide a brief overview of EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and ongoing efforts by EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to address key PFAS research needs for environmental decision-making. ORD scientists will highlight two recently released data sources: EPA’s PFAS Thermal Treatment Database, which contains information on the treatability of PFAS via various thermal processes, and Systematic Evidence Maps for PFAS, which summarize available toxicity evidence for approximately 150 different PFAS. Recent updates to other PFAS resources will also be shared.

 The Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership, in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and Grand Canyon National Park, is excited to announce an upcoming course for interpreters, informal educators, and Tribal professionals on the Colorado Plateau.

September 6 – 9, 2022 | Click Here for Application | Click Here to Learn More

This course is offered by the Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and Grand Canyon National Park. Together we will provide participants a foundation in climate science and effective climate communication and interpretation; an understanding of the connections between global and local processes; and perspectives on the interdependence of culture and climate on the Colorado Plateau. The course emphasizes a supportive, collegial learning environment. You will:

• Meet with NASA and regional scientists to learn about the latest global and regional climate research and discuss their insights on understanding and responding to changing climate
• Observe, practice, and discuss techniques for successful climate change interpretation and communication
• Hear Native perspectives on climate change and learn about Tribal resilience and adaptation strategies
• Experience first-hand evidence of and responses to local climate change impacts on a field trip
• Meet colleagues from around the region and join a community of interpreters, informal educators, and Tribal professionals committed to communicating regional climate issues and solutions
• Depart with cutting-edge knowledge about climate change, and a plan for bringing the climate story to your visitors in relevant, engaging, inspiring, and hopeful ways
• Learn how you can stay connected with these scientists, fellow climate communicators, and the national Earth to Sky community of practice over the long term. You’re not alone in your efforts!

 EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

 New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website.

 NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

 The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration 

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

 DOC NOAA’s Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants Under the IIJA – $85 million |Applications Due: September 6, 2022|

         Eligible Entities: County governments, state governments, city or township governments, small businesses, nonprofits, for profit organizations, Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), private institutions of higher education, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)

The principal objective of this solicitation is to support transformational projects that restore marine, estuarine, coastal, or Great Lakes ecosystems, using approaches that enhance community and ecosystem resilience to climate hazards. Funding will prioritize habitat restoration actions that: demonstrate significant impacts; rebuild productive and sustainable fisheries; contribute to the recovery and conservation of threatened and endangered species; promote climate-resilient ecosystems, especially in tribal or underserved communities; and improve economic vitality, including local employment.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

 DOC Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Underserved Communities, Under the IIJA – $10 million

Applications Due: September 30, 2022

         Eligible Entities: County governments, state governments, city or township governments, small businesses, nonprofits, for profit organizations, Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), private institutions of higher education, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)

The principal objective of this solicitation is to support opportunities for underserved communities, tribes, and/or tribal entities to meaningfully engage in coastal habitat restoration activities. Through this funding opportunity, NOAA intends to support capacity building and restoration project activities that have the greatest potential to lead to habitat restoration that enhances resilience of underserved communities in marine, estuarine, coastal, and Great Lakes areas. Meaningful engagement of underserved communities is intended to ensure that communities are integral to the visioning, decision-making, and leadership for coastal habitat restoration projects; to ensure that the scope of such projects are inclusive of the priorities and needs of communities; and/or to ensure that the benefits of such projects flow back to underserved communities. For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

 DOE Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling Design and Deployment – $13 million

Applications Due: October 11, 2022|

         Eligible Entities: Unrestricted

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling Design and Deployment Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), which will award $300,000–$13 million for projects that help communities design and deploy geothermal district heating and cooling systems, create related workforce training, and identify and address environmental justice concerns. The FOA will support the formation of U.S.-based community coalitions that will develop, design, and install community geothermal heating and cooling systems that supply at least 25% of the heating and cooling load in communities.

DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office will host an informational webinar on July 26, 2022, 12:00 p.m. ET to discuss the funding program and the areas of focus. Register for the webinar.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

 Tribal Forestry Student Summit: Investing in the Future of Tribal Forest Resources Management and Wildland Fire

         October 12–14, 2022 | Click Here for More Details

Mark your calendars for this hybrid event, featuring in-person and virtual participation options, to address tribal workforce development. This summit is designed for students in forestry or related resource management programs across the country. For more info, including agenda and summit details, please visit eri.nau.edu/tribal-forestry-student-summit.

NOAA RESTORE Science Program 2023 – $15 million |Applications Due: November 15, 2022|

Eligible Entities: Institutions of higher education; not-for-profit institutions; for-profit organizations; local governments, state governments, tribal governments; and U.S. territories

NOAA RESTORE Science Program is open for proposals for projects up to five years in duration. This announcement invites proposals that request funding from researcher, resource manager, and stakeholder partnerships to execute a previously planned, collaborative research project, develop its findings and products, transfer them to an identified resource manager or management body, and apply them to a specific Gulf of Mexico natural resource management decision.

A letter of intent for this proposal is due by August 16, 2022. For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

EPA has updated the Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

EPA’s free, spreadsheet-based Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool, first launched in 2013 and updated annually, is based on nationally and internationally recognized GHG accounting and reporting principles.

         This year’s updates include:

• An optional market-based method to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased through contractual instruments, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
• Revised Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) factors from 1990 through 2019, as available.
• Updated default stationary energy emission factors and heat contents.
• Kerosene and distillate fuel oil as additional stationary energy fuel types.

Find the updated Tribal community and government operations modules and users’ guides here. Are you a long-time inventory tool user with questions about the new updates? Or is this your first GHG inventory? Join this webinar or upcoming offices hours to learn more and ask questions:

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Reichental

August 18th, 2022, | Register Here

Dr. Jonathan Reichental is a multiple-award-winning technology and business leader whose career has spanned both the private and public sectors. He’s been a senior software engineering manager, a director of technology innovation, and has served as chief information officer at both O’Reilly Media and the City of Palo Alto, California. Reichental is currently the founder of advisory, investment, and education firm, Human Future, and also creates online education for LinkedIn Learning. He has written three books on the future of cities: Smart Cities for Dummies, Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids, and Exploring Cities Bedtime Rhymes.

Cosponsored by the EPA and ICMA, Brownfields 2022 will be taking place: August 16-19, 2022 in Oklahoma City, OK

Toxics/Mobile Sources

 SmartWay Logistics Tool Demonstration

August 17, 2022, | 2:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

This webinar is for third-party logistics companies and Partners who want to learn how to use SmartWay’s ONLINE Logistics Tool. During the webinar, SmartWay staff will review how Logistics Partners can use the 2022 Tool to obtain an emissions profile for their clients, carriers, and their own operations. This webinar begins with some background on SmartWay, walks you through the tool in a live demonstration, and provides insights on how you can use tool outputs to evaluate where performance can be improved.

 EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality

New! Please join us for EPA’s next Indoor Air Quality Science Webinar: ASHRAE’s Guidance for COVID-19 Risk Management – Principles and Applications | Tuesday August 9^th, 2022 | 1 – 2:30 PM EST | Register Here

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has developed guidance for COVID-19 risk management. This webinar will focus on engineering controls (ventilation, air distribution, filtration, air cleaning, and others) to reduce indoor exposure to infectious aerosols that cause diseases like COVID-19 as recommended by the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force (ETF). The presentation has two parts. The first part, presented by ETF chair William Bahnfleth, is an overview of the ETF “Core Recommendations,” which are the key principles of engineering controls applicable to most buildings. Dr. Bahnfleth will present the recommendations and the rationale behind them. The second part will be a summary of ETF “Building Readiness” guidance, which addresses the process of identifying and implementing the Core Recommendations by the Building Readiness team chair, Wade Conlan. It will cover the facility assessment process and introduce supporting tools developed by the ETF and others. Featured Speakers include:

William P. Bahnfleth, Ph.D., P.E
Fellow/Presidential Member ASHRAE, is a professor in the Dept. of Architectural Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University—University Park, PA. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois and is a registered professional engineer. He is a Fellow of ASHRAE, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the International Society for Indoor Air Quality and Climate.

Wade Conlan, P.E.
Member ASHRAE, BCxP, CxA, LEED®AP BD+C, has over 26 years of commissioning and design engineering experience and serves as Hanson’s Commissioning and Energy Discipline Manager. He holds a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from Penn State University and is a licensed Professional Engineer in several states.

Vito Ilacqua, Ph.D.
Webinar Host, scientist in the Office of Radiation & Indoor Air at EPA.

National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!

 Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009.

 EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.

 Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!

RESOURCES & FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

New! EPA Webinar: National Tribal Air Association Operations – Request for Applications Informational Webinar

August 1, 2022, | 3:00 – 4:00 PM EST | Click Link to Access Webinar

Or join by phone (audio only): 202-991-0477 Washington DC

Phone Conference ID: 214 622 475#

Find a local number

Webinar to present and respond to questions from interested parties and potential applicants regarding the National Tribal Air Association Operations Request for Applications.  PowerPoint presentation will be made available prior to the webinar.

For questions pertaining to the webinar or the RFA, please contact Pat Childers at childers.pat@epa.gov

DOE Grid Hardening State/Tribal Formula Grant Program – $2.3 billion |Applications Due: September 30, 2022|

Eligible Entities: States, U.S Territories, and Indian Tribes

DOE has built a formula grant program to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other natural disasters that are exacerbated by the climate crisis. The program will distribute up to $2.3 billion over five years and will provide grants based on a formula that includes, among other things, population size, land area, probability and severity of disruptive events, and a locality’s historical expenditures on mitigation efforts. Priority will be given to projects that generate the greatest community benefit providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy to everyone, everywhere, anytime.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

New! NASEM webinar on Respiratory Protection for the Public

Thursday July 28, 2022, from 1:00-3:30pm ET

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division (IED) is pleased to announce that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) will host a discussion with key stakeholders about respiratory protection for the public on July 28, 2022.

Topics covered in this webinar will include:

• The proposed framework described in a recent National Academies reporton recommendations for a unified and authoritative source of information and oversight for respiratory protection for the public;
• Perspectives from Federal and other key stakeholder groups on implementation of the proposed framework and recommendations; and
• Next steps for ensuring improved preparedness and protections for the public during future emergencies requiring respiratory protection.

IED’s Alison Savage will participate in a panel discussion of federal agency reactions to the report, which was sponsored by EPA, CDC, the CDC Foundation, and the Department of State.

New! Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Area Source Boilers: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP)

EPA finalized amendments to the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters. This final action addresses several issues identified by the D.C. Circuit and will protect air quality and public health by reducing emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) such as formaldehyde, benzene, and polycyclic organic matter. The amendments will also result in reductions in particulate matter, a surrogate for metallic HAP, by an estimated 586 tons per year and sulfur dioxide by an estimated 1,141 tons per year. For more information about this final rulemaking and a fact sheet, please visit https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/industrial-commercial-and-institutional-boilers-and-process-heaters.

New! EPA Seeking Nominations to Serve on the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (Federal Advisory Committee)

EPA is seeking nominations from nonfederal representatives to serve on the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC). Established in 1997, the CHPAC Federal Advisory Committee provides independent advice to the EPA Administrator on a broad range of environmental issues affecting children’s health.

Candidates from diverse backgrounds include, but are not limited to, industry; tribal, state, county and local government; school systems; academia; health care providers (including pediatricians, obstetric professionals, occupational medicine practitioners and community nurses); and non-governmental organizations are encouraged to apply.

EPA values and welcomes opportunities to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility on its Federal Advisory Committees. To obtain nominations of diverse candidates, EPA encourages nominations from a diverse pool of applicants in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and geographic regions.

CHPAC members are appointed by the EPA Administrator for three-year terms with the possibility of reappointment to a second term. The Committee meets 2-3 times annually and the average workload is approximately 10 to 15 hours per month. Through its expert members from diverse stakeholder groups and from its various workgroups, CHPAC reviews and addresses a wide range of developments, issues and research areas such as pesticide exposures to children, environmental health in schools and child care settings, prioritization and data needs to protect children’s health under the Toxic Substances Control Act, childhood lead exposure prevention, and climate change impacts to children.

Nominations should be submitted by August 15, 2022. Please refer to the Federal Register Notice for more details on nomination submission. EPA is aiming to reach a diverse and qualified candidate pool and ask you to share this notice with organizations that you believe may have suitable candidates, or with individuals you believe will be an asset to the CHPAC. Vacancies are expected to be filled by March 1, 2023.

If you have any questions, please contact Amelia Nguyen, Designated Federal Officer for CHPAC at Nguyen.Amelia@epa.gov.

New! NC Randon Program Social Media Toolkit

The NC Radon Program has created a free Radon Social Media Toolkit for your use. The materials are in both English and Spanish. All of the materials are in a Google Docs folder. To access this social media toolkit folder

EPA Webinar: EPA PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Research Tools and Resources

August 17, 2022, | 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States and around the globe since the 1940s, and they are still being used today. There are thousands of different PFAS, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others. Due to their widespread production and use, as well as their ability to move and persist in the environment, PFAS can be found in surface water, groundwater, soil and air—from remote rural areas to densely-populated urban centers. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that exposure at certain levels to specific PFAS can adversely impact human health and other living things. This webinar will provide a brief overview of EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and ongoing efforts by EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to address key PFAS research needs for environmental decision-making. ORD scientists will highlight two recently released data sources: EPA’s PFAS Thermal Treatment Database, which contains information on the treatability of PFAS via various thermal processes, and Systematic Evidence Maps for PFAS, which summarize available toxicity evidence for approximately 150 different PFAS. Recent updates to other PFAS resources will also be shared.

EPA Clean School Bus Program – 2022 Rebates

Click here to register

EPA is offering $500 million in rebates for electric and low-emission school buses. Register Today for the Webinars Below! Program Now Open!

SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES

• July 27 – How to Apply with Live Question & Answer Session
• August 10 – U.S. Department of Agriculture: Rural Electric Cooperatives Infrastructure Funding All webinars will be held at 1:00 PM Eastern.
• Submit Your Rebate Application by August 19, 2022 ATTENTION:
• Applying for a Rebate? Be sure to get an Active SAM.gov Account First!

CSB Rebates Application deadline is August 19, 2022. SAM.gov entity registration required.

• Click hereto view the program guidance and a list of eligible/priority applicants.
• Click hereto begin the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Application process.
• Click hereto sign-up for the Clean School Bus News listserv and add cleanschoolbus@epa.gov to your email contacts to guarantee you receive regular program updates and our messages don’t go to your spam folder.
• Click hereto access the EPA Clean School Bus website to learn more about the program and the benefits of clean school buses.
• Email cleanschoolbus@epa.govwith any questions or feedback to improve the program. 

The Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership, in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and Grand Canyon National Park, is excited to announce an upcoming course for interpreters, informal educators, and Tribal professionals on the Colorado Plateau.

September 6 – 9, 2022 | Click Here for Application | Click Here to Learn More

This course is offered by the Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and Grand Canyon National Park. Together we will provide participants a foundation in climate science and effective climate communication and interpretation; an understanding of the connections between global and local processes; and perspectives on the interdependence of culture and climate on the Colorado Plateau. The course emphasizes a supportive, collegial learning environment. You will:

• Meet with NASA and regional scientists to learn about the latest global and regional climate research and discuss their insights on understanding and responding to changing climate
• Observe, practice, and discuss techniques for successful climate change interpretation and communication
• Hear Native perspectives on climate change and learn about Tribal resilience and adaptation strategies
• Experience first-hand evidence of and responses to local climate change impacts on a field trip
• Meet colleagues from around the region and join a community of interpreters, informal educators, and Tribal professionals committed to communicating regional climate issues and solutions
• Depart with cutting-edge knowledge about climate change, and a plan for bringing the climate story to your visitors in relevant, engaging, inspiring, and hopeful ways
• Learn how you can stay connected with these scientists, fellow climate communicators, and the national Earth to Sky community of practice over the long term. You’re not alone in your efforts!

EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website.

NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration =

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

New! DOI BOR WaterSMART Water Conservation Field Services Program – $100 thousand |Applications Due: July 29, 2022|

Eligible Entities: State, tribe, irrigation district, water district, or other organization with water or power delivery authority

This Water Conservation Field Services Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) provides

funding for projects that, when implemented, will increase water reliability and improve water

management through the use of expanded technologies and improved modeling capabilities

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

New! DOC NOAA’s Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants Under the IIJA – $85 million |Applications Due: September 6, 2022|

Eligible Entities: County governments, state governments, city or township governments, small businesses, nonprofits, for profit organizations, Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), private institutions of higher education, public and state controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)

The principal objective of this solicitation is to support transformational projects that restore marine, estuarine, coastal, or Great Lakes ecosystems, using approaches that enhance community and ecosystem resilience to climate hazards. Funding will prioritize habitat restoration actions that: demonstrate significant impacts; rebuild productive and sustainable fisheries; contribute to the recovery and conservation of threatened and endangered species; promote climate-resilient ecosystems, especially in tribal or underserved communities; and improve economic vitality, including local employment.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

New! DOC Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Underserved Communities, Under the IIJA – $10 million | Applications Due: September 30, 2022|

Eligible Entities: County governments, state governments, city or township governments, small businesses, nonprofits, for profit organizations, Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), private institutions of higher education, public and state controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)

The principal objective of this solicitation is to support opportunities for underserved communities, tribes, and/or tribal entities to meaningfully engage in coastal habitat restoration activities. Through this funding opportunity, NOAA intends to support capacity building and restoration project activities that have the greatest potential to lead to habitat restoration that enhances resilience of underserved communities in marine, estuarine, coastal, and Great Lakes areas. Meaningful engagement of underserved communities is intended to ensure that communities are integral to the visioning, decision-making, and leadership for coastal habitat restoration projects; to ensure that the scope of such projects are inclusive of the priorities and needs of communities; and/or to ensure that the benefits of such projects flow back to underserved communities.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

New! DOE Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling Design and Deployment – $13 million |Applications Due: October 11, 2022|

Eligible Entities: Unrestricted

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling Design and Deployment Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), which will award $300,000–$13 million for projects that help communities design and deploy geothermal district heating and cooling systems, create related workforce training, and identify and address environmental justice concerns. The FOA will support the formation of U.S.-based community coalitions that will develop, design, and install community geothermal heating and cooling systems that supply at least 25% of the heating and cooling load in communities.

DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office will host an informational webinar on July 26, 2022, 12:00 p.m. ET to discuss the funding program and the areas of focus. Register for the webinar.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

New! Tribal Forestry Student Summit: Investing in the Future of Tribal Forest Resources Management and Wildland Fire

October 12–14, 2022 | Click Here for More Details

Mark your calendars for this hybrid event, featuring in-person and virtual participation options, to address tribal workforce development. This summit is designed for students in forestry or related resource management programs across the country. For more info, including agenda and summit details, please visit eri.nau.edu/tribal-forestry-student-summit.

New! NOAA RESTORE Science Program 2023 – $15 million |Applications Due: November 15, 2022|

Eligible Entities: Institutions of higher education; not-for-profit institutions; for-profit organizations; local governments, state governments, tribal governments; and U.S. territories

NOAA RESTORE Science Program is open for proposals for projects up to five years in duration. This announcement invites proposals that request funding from researcher, resource manager, and stakeholder partnerships to execute a previously planned, collaborative research project, develop its findings and products, transfer them to an identified resource manager or management body, and apply them to a specific Gulf of Mexico natural resource management decision.

A letter of intent for this proposal is due by August 16, 2022.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

EPA has updated the Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

EPA’s free, spreadsheet-based Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool, first launched in 2013 and updated annually, is based on nationally and internationally recognized GHG accounting and reporting principles.

         This year’s updates include:

• An optional market-based method to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased through contractual instruments, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
• Revised Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) factors from 1990 through 2019, as available.
• Updated default stationary energy emission factors and heat contents.
• Kerosene and distillate fuel oil as additional stationary energy fuel types.

Find the updated Tribal community and government operations modules and users’ guides here. Are you a long-time inventory tool user with questions about the new updates? Or is this your first GHG inventory? Join this webinar or upcoming offices hours to learn more and ask questions:

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Reichental

August 18th, 2022, | Register Here

Dr. Jonathan Reichental is a multiple-award-winning technology and business leader whose career has spanned both the private and public sectors. He’s been a senior software engineering manager, a director of technology innovation, and has served as chief information officer at both O’Reilly Media and the City of Palo Alto, California. Reichental is currently the founder of advisory, investment, and education firm, Human Future, and also creates online education for LinkedIn Learning. He has written three books on the future of cities: Smart Cities for Dummies, Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids, and Exploring Cities Bedtime Rhymes.

Cosponsored by the EPA and ICMA, Brownfields 2022 will be taking place: August 16-19, 2022 in Oklahoma City, OK

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy Webinars: Energy Access and Reliability on Tribal Lands Virtual Listening Session

July 28, 2022, | 1:00 PM ET | Register Here

This virtual listening session, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy, will explore challenges and potential solutions related to energy access and reliability on tribal lands. The goal is to gather important insight directly from Native Nations regarding the current status of unelectrified homes and electricity reliability issues facing tribal communities. The Energy Act of 2020 included specific requirements for DOE to conduct research and report back to Congress on these topics. In accordance with that Act, the Office of Indian Energy is hosting this listening session to provide tribal leaders and staff from energy, planning, natural resources, and other relevant departments the opportunity to make recommendations on the report.This is a follow-up to the first listening session the Office of Indian Energy hosted in November 2021; however, attendance at the first session is not a prerequisite to participate in this one. During this listening session, the Office of Indian Energy will discuss the results of the questionnaire conducted during the first session and share findings from the report to date. Please note that there is a capacity limit for this listening session of 500 participants. Tribes and tribal staff will be given priority to attend if the capacity limit is reached.

ITEP’s Climate Change Adaptation Training Courses registration is online!

Learn more about the courses and register here.

Toxics/Mobile Sources

New! SmartWay Logistics Tool Demonstration

August 17, 2022, | 2:00 PM ET | Click Here to Register

This webinar is for third-party logistics companies and Partners who want to learn how to use SmartWay’s ONLINE Logistics Tool. During the webinar, SmartWay staff will review how Logistics Partners can use the 2022 Tool to obtain an emissions profile for their clients, carriers, and their own operations. This webinar begins with some background on SmartWay, walks you through the tool in a live demonstration, and provides insights on how you can use tool outputs to evaluate where performance can be improved.

 EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality

National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!  

Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009. 

EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.

Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!

UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

New! EPA Tools & Resources Training Webinar: US Remote Sensing Information Gateway

Thursday, August 4, 2022 | 3:00 to 4:00 pm ET | Register Here

State, local and tribal agencies along with EPA are charged with managing our nation’s air quality. Decisions on air quality management are often informed though analyses of complex data by these agencies and/or research findings published by government, academic or non-profit researchers. Facilitating access to complex data sets in an analysis ready fashion is an important component of the data analytics which can aid in improved decision making.

The Remote Sensing Information Gateway (RSIG) is a web-based application which creates a bridge between air quality relevant data sets and data analytics. RSIG was developed by EPA as a simple way to visualize, analyze, and access a select set of Earth science data sets associated with air quality. This tool enables users to access a variety of distributed air quality relevant environmental datasets in a highly efficient manner, and allows the user to subset, aggregate and create composite geo-referenced visualizations of that data or download the data for further analysis. Popular data sets include EPA AirNow, Air Quality System, and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system, along with access to several satellite remote sensing data sets such as the European Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensor.

This training webinar will provide an overview of the Remote Sensing Information Gateway tool, including available data sets, work through an example case study application of the tool, and share ways that data from the tool have been applied.

Who should attend? State and local governments, tribes and others interested in learning more about using the Remote Sensing Information Gateway to visualize, analyze and access air quality data sets.

New! Don’t Miss Out! Order Your Burn Wise Education Materials by July 29

Unfortunately, EPA’s mailing service contract for Burn Wise educational materials is ending later this summer. What does this mean for you? If you believe you will need any Burn Wise materials this Fall or Winter, it is imperative to place your order now by clicking here in order to ensure a timely response.  Order ALL the materials you need for upcoming residential wood smoke outreach (e.g., Fall Wood Smoke Awareness Campaign, changeout program, tabling at a community event) by July 29.  We expect to have a new mailing system in place by next Spring.

New! EPA Webinar: EPA PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Research Tools and Resources

August 17, 2022, | 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET | Registration and more information coming soon!

New! Tribal Forestry Student Summit: Investing in the Future of Tribal Forest Resources Management and Wildland Fire

October 12–14, 2022 | Click Here for More Details

Mark your calendars for this hybrid event, featuring in-person and virtual participation options, to address tribal workforce development. This summit is designed for students in forestry or related resource management programs across the country. For more info, including agenda and summit details, please visit eri.nau.edu/tribal-forestry-student-summit.

EPA Clean School Bus Program – 2022 Rebates

Click here to register

EPA is offering $500 million in rebates for electric and low-emission school buses. Register Today for the Webinars Below! Program Now Open!

SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES

• July 27 – How to Apply with Live Question & Answer Session
• August 10 – U.S. Department of Agriculture: Rural Electric Cooperatives Infrastructure Funding All webinars will be held at 1:00 PM Eastern.
• Submit Your Rebate Application by August 19, 2022 ATTENTION:
• Applying for a Rebate? Be sure to get an Active SAM.gov Account First!

CSB Rebates Application deadline is August 19, 2022. SAM.gov entity registration required.

• Click hereto view the program guidance and a list of eligible/priority applicants.
• Click hereto begin the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Application process.
• Click hereto sign-up for the Clean School Bus News listserv and add cleanschoolbus@epa.gov to your email contacts to guarantee you receive regular program updates and our messages don’t go to your spam folder.
• Click hereto access the EPA Clean School Bus website to learn more about the program and the benefits of clean school buses.
• Email cleanschoolbus@epa.govwith any questions or feedback to improve the program.

The Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership, in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and Grand Canyon National Park, is excited to announce an upcoming course for interpreters, informal educators, and Tribal professionals on the Colorado Plateau.

September 6 – 9, 2022 | Click Here for Application | Click Here to Learn More

This course is offered by the Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and Grand Canyon National Park. Together we will provide participants a foundation in climate science and effective climate communication and interpretation; an understanding of the connections between global and local processes; and perspectives on the interdependence of culture and climate on the Colorado Plateau. The course emphasizes a supportive, collegial learning environment. You will:

• Meet with NASA and regional scientists to learn about the latest global and regional climate research and discuss their insights on understanding and responding to changing climate
• Observe, practice, and discuss techniques for successful climate change interpretation and communication
• Hear Native perspectives on climate change and learn about Tribal resilience and adaptation strategies
• Experience first-hand evidence of and responses to local climate change impacts on a field trip
• Meet colleagues from around the region and join a community of interpreters, informal educators, and Tribal professionals committed to communicating regional climate issues and solutions
• Depart with cutting-edge knowledge about climate change, and a plan for bringing the climate story to your visitors in relevant, engaging, inspiring, and hopeful ways
• Learn how you can stay connected with these scientists, fellow climate communicators, and the national Earth to Sky community of practice over the long term. You’re not alone in your efforts!

EPA’s Community and Tribal Programs Group has a publicly facing Tribal Actions and Events calendar for all to use!

This calendar is also linked under the “Tribal Air and Climate Resources” webpage under the “Policy and Planning” heading available at https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that our Tribal partners are kept apprised of EPA activities that are relevant to them. If you have any questions about the calendars or any recommendations on how EPA can improve upon the calendars please do not hesitate to reach out to Toni Colon (colon.toni@epa.gov) and/or Loren Fox (fox.loren@epa.gov) with any feedback.

New Air Knowledge E–Learning Content

The Air Knowledge training team is pleased to announce the availability of new air quality training materials!

These e-learning courses and modules are at the foundational learning level and are available to tribal, state, and local air agencies through our learning management system (LMS) and to the public here. The website was recently enhanced to provide additional self-instructional and instructor-led training materials.

The new materials include:

• A course that explains the key historic events that led to air pollution control legislation and describes progress made with air pollution control since the passage of the Clean Air Act,
• A course that explains the basic components of state and tribal implementation plans,
• A module that generally defines the transport and fate of air pollutants and how transport and fate are influenced by meteorology and topography,
• A module that explains the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, and
• A module that explains the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including the inventories that the EPA develops.

More detailed information about the contents of these new materials can be found in the attached document.

To access the courses and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), tribal air agencies and organizations can register, log in, and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page. All other users (the public, international community, academia, industry, EPA staff, etc.) can access the courses and modules on the Air Knowledge interim website.

NTAA Upcoming Calls

Contact Andy.Bessler@nau.edu if you have any questions about any call! *Registration instructions* When you register for the GoToWebinar, please remember to include your Tribe, Region, or Organization in parenthesis after your last name. This allows you to see everyone on the call and prevents us from conducting a rollcall, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

Click Here for ITEP’s new Tribal Environmental Management and Planning Online Courses. Sign up for a self-paced course hosted by ITEP’s Waste and Response and Tribal Air Quality programs.  New courses have been added, so check it out!

ITEP’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) hosts the Building Performance: Improving IAQ in Cold Climates, Residential Building Science Review, Radon Fundamentals, Quality Assurance Fundamental, Writing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Emissions Inventory Fundamentals, and Emissions Inventory Advanced.

AIAQTP Schedule and Registration 

Recorded Webinars

Looking for more information check out the Tribal Air Quality Media Space Channel. Recent webinars include an Introduction to Air Quality Programs, Emissions Inventories, Remote Professional Assistance, and Woodstoves in Indian Country. Older classics include a series on Air Quality Planning for Wildland Smoke, Tribal Air Program and Grants, Data Management, and the Clean Air Act.

ITEP’s Tribes and Climate Change Calendar includes conferences, trainings, webinars, and other events related to tribes and climate change.

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series

Click here to see all past and upcoming webinars hosted by the EPA.

Climate Change / Energy

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Reichental

August 18th, 2022, | Register Here

Dr. Jonathan Reichental is a multiple-award-winning technology and business leader whose career has spanned both the private and public sectors. He’s been a senior software engineering manager, a director of technology innovation, and has served as chief information officer at both O’Reilly Media and the City of Palo Alto, California. Reichental is currently the founder of advisory, investment, and education firm, Human Future, and also creates online education for LinkedIn Learning. He has written three books on the future of cities: Smart Cities for Dummies, Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids, and Exploring Cities Bedtime Rhymes.

Cosponsored by the EPA and ICMA, Brownfields 2022 will be taking place: August 16-19, 2022 in Oklahoma City, OK

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy Webinars: Energy Access and Reliability on Tribal Lands Virtual Listening Session

July 28, 2022, | 1:00 PM ET | Register Here

This virtual listening session, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy, will explore challenges and potential solutions related to energy access and reliability on tribal lands. The goal is to gather important insight directly from Native Nations regarding the current status of unelectrified homes and electricity reliability issues facing tribal communities.

The Energy Act of 2020 included specific requirements for DOE to conduct research and report back to Congress on these topics. In accordance with that Act, the Office of Indian Energy is hosting this listening session to provide tribal leaders and staff from energy, planning, natural resources, and other relevant departments the opportunity to make recommendations on the report.

This is a follow-up to the first listening session the Office of Indian Energy hosted in November 2021; however, attendance at the first session is not a prerequisite to participate in this one. During this listening session, the Office of Indian Energy will discuss the results of the questionnaire conducted during the first session and share findings from the report to date.

Please note that there is a capacity limit for this listening session of 500 participants. Tribes and tribal staff will be given priority to attend if the capacity limit is reached.

 EPA has updated the Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool

EPA’s free, spreadsheet-based Tribal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool, first launched in 2013 and updated annually, is based on nationally and internationally recognized GHG accounting and reporting principles.

         This year’s updates include:

• An optional market-based method to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased through contractual instruments, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
• Revised Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) factors from 1990 through 2019, as available.
• Updated default stationary energy emission factors and heat contents.
• Kerosene and distillate fuel oil as additional stationary energy fuel types.

Find the updated Tribal community and government operations modules and users’ guides here. Are you a long-time inventory tool user with questions about the new updates? Or is this your first GHG inventory? Join this webinar or upcoming offices hours to learn more and ask questions:

 ITEP’s Climate Change Adaptation Training Courses registration is online!

Learn more about the courses and register here.

Toxics/Mobile Sources

New! Help Save the US DOT Equity Action Plan

This week the House of Representatives is voting on whether or not the US Department of Transportation (DOT) can implement its Equity Action Plan .

As part of a vote on the transportation budget, the House is considering an amendment by Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI) that would cut funding for the implementation of the DOT’s Equity Action Plan.

Please ask your Representative to vote NO on the Grothman Amendment. 

The US DOT Equity Action Plan includes actions to address inequities, and build a better, more equitable transportation system. This means increasing safe access to everyday destinations for everyone — including improving multimodal options, like bicycling, walking and transit, that have been neglected over decades.

 U.S. Department of Energy: The Information Source for Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles

The Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) provides information, data, and tools to help fleets and other transportation decision makers find ways to reach their energy and economic goals through the use of alternative and renewable fuels, advanced vehicles, and other fuel-saving measures. Click Here for more information about the resources available.

 EPA Past SmartWay Webinars and Events

To address these trends and challenges, EPA developed the SmartWay program.

Launched in 2004, this voluntary public-private program:

• provides a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains
• helps companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement
• supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries
• reduces freight transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of advanced fuel-saving technologies
• is supported by major transportation industry associations, environmental groups, state and local governments, international agencies, and the corporate community

View the SmartWay timeline and learn about the program’s achievements and key milestones reached since SmartWay’s launch in 2002. Our progress to making freight in the supply chain more sustainable and efficient is due to the vision, commitment and hard work of SmartWay Partners and Affiliates! Two Decades of Progress: SmartWay Partnership Milestones (PDF)(1 pg, 345 K, June 2021, EPA-420-H-21-001). Click Here to view past webinars and upcoming webinars

Indoor Air Quality

 National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington

October 24 – 26, 2022, | Register Here

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors invites you to join us for our National Radon Training Event in Seattle, Washington October 24 – 26, 2022. It’s an exciting time as we get to meet again in person!

 Available Now: An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes Webinar Recording

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division recently hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the key basic facts of radon – what it is, what it does to us, how we measure it, how we reduce our exposure, and where to find resources and additional information. A recording of An Introduction to Radon Gas in Homes is now available online. The recorded webinar features a presentation by Bruce Snead, Director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University and director of the National Radon Program Services effort for EPA since 2009.

 EPA: A Fact Sheet for Tribes on State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division is pleased to announce the State and Tribal Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program Fact Sheet. This fact sheet has information on SIRG eligibility, matching requirements, allowable activities, EPA contacts, and more. EPA works collaboratively and values our tribal partnership to support healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) in tribal communities. We work together to develop tools and resources that address the health and the safety of tribal members when it comes to indoor air quality.

Please visit the Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Communities or State Indoor Radon Grants (SIRG) Program and Resources pages to learn more and download the fact sheet.

 Be sure to subscribe to CodeTalk, HUD’s Office of Native American Programs newsletter, for webinars and opportunities!