UPCOMING CALLS/EVENTS/NOTICES

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

 

NEW! OAP’s Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) Program for Tribes

Tuesday, August 3; 12pm EST | Register Here RSVP by August 2nd

Join us for our online webinar to learn how EPA’s RAD program could benefit Tribal Communities as well as hear from one of our RAD partners about their experience. Municipalities, utilities, and any interested community members are encourages to apply!

 

NEW! On July 7, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $50 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to improve ambient air quality monitoring for communities across the United States. EPA will receive a total of $100 million from the ARP to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic, with $50 million specifically to advance environmental justice, and another $50 million to enhance air quality monitoring.

 

NEW! On August 4, 2021, EPA will hold a feedback and insights session to provide an overview of the intended distribution of the air quality monitoring funds with a focus on the competitive grant and direct award criteria.  In addition, there will be a short overview on the $50 million in funding aimed at advancing environmental justice. The purpose of this session is to go over the proposed grant solicitation, timelines, and answer questions and hear from Tribal stakeholders.

EPA’s plans to use the $50 million to enhance air quality monitoring include:

• A $20 million grant competition requesting applications from community groups, state, local and tribal air agencies, individually or in partnerships, to conduct monitoring of pollutants of greatest concern in communities with health outcome disparities,
• $22.5 million in direct awards to state, local or tribal air agencies for enhanced monitoring of fine particle pollution (PM_2.5) and other criteria air pollutants in and near communities facing disproportionate exposure to these pollutants and increased vulnerability to COVID-19,
• $5 million supporting agency mobile monitoring labs or air sensor loan programs to support communities in need of short-term monitoring and air quality information, and
• $2.5 million to improve data management and ensure the grants and programs are properly administered and tracked.

More information on EPA’s plans for the ARP funding is available here and the official news release!

Click the link below to register for this upcoming webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email. Information on “how to join” along with a list of consultation questions for the competitive grants ($20M) will be sent in a follow-up email.  Please register by noon, Tuesday, August 03, 2021. A Webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 04, 2021 (Click link to register) 2:00p.m.-3:30p.m. EDT: Tribal Stakeholders  

 

Wildfire Smoke and Indoor Air Quality

This summer, wildfires have spread across the U.S. creating devastation and dangerous smoke events affecting millions of American lives. If you are in need of immediate wildfire guidance, see EPA’s wildfire webpage for more resources. Smoke from wildfires can adversely affect indoor air quality and put people’s health at risk from exposure to particulate matter and other pollutants. During a wildfire, smoke can make the outdoor air unhealthy to breathe, and local officials may advise you to stay indoors during a smoke event. However, some of the smoke from outdoors can enter the home and reduce indoor air quality. Exposure to fine particles, a major component of wildfire smoke, can cause respiratory symptoms and aggravate chronic heart and lung diseases.

Read on to learn more about:

• How Indoor airPLUS Homes Protect Against the Harmful Effects of Wildfire Smoke
• Reduce Exposure to Wildfire Smoke Inside the Home
• Additional Resources

 

GAP Guidance Evaluation Phase 2 Revisions and Allocation: Tribal Participation Opportunity!

EPA is revising the 2013 Guidance on the Award and Management of General

Assistance Agreements for Tribes and Tribal Consortia. The Indian Environmental General Assistance Program, or GAP, is the largest tribal capacity building program in EPA. The GAP Guidance is for tribes at all levels of capacity building. All perspectives from beginning to advanced stages of tribal capacity development are encouraged on the revision workgroups. Click here to read more!

In addition to revising the 2013 GAP Guidance, EPA will initiate consultation with tribes on how EPA allocates Congressionally appropriated GAP funds to regions annually. Letters will be sent to Tribal Leaders notifying the start of consultation beginning July 19, 2021. More information on EPA’s consultation on the national GAP allocation will be available online at https://tcots.epa.gov.

 

Addressing Air Quality in Tribal Communities (for Beginners)

August 10-12; 9am – 2pm PDT, 12pm – 5pm EDT | Course capped at 12 participants | Register Here

Deadline: The application is due on Wednesday, July 28, 2021.

Learning objective:

At the end of the event, participants will articulate their community’s main ambient (outdoor) air quality concerns and identify the resources (e.g., documents, contacts, training) needed to begin addressing air quality issues in their community.

Who should participate: This workshop is for environmental professionals who are just beginning to address ambient air quality issues in tribal communities. No prior knowledge or background in air quality is needed.

 

EPA’s air quality training program is released three new training materials! These materials are foundational in level, and are being offered to tribal, state, and local air agencies in an e-learning format through our learning management system (LMS).

The materials include:

• A course that explains the purpose of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) within the air quality management process.
• A module that explains each of the six criteria pollutants under the Clean Air Act. This module represents “micro-learning”— a short, focused bit of training on a particular topic.

• A module that explains what air toxics are. Similar to the criteria pollutants module, this module represents “micro-learning.”

To access the course and modules on the LMS (https://epaapti.csod.com), please register (if you haven’t already!), then log in and refer to the “What’s New” section on the home page.

 

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 roll-call, ultimately saving everyone’s time.

 

EPA Policy Call: Call in to hear updates from EPA on policies, actions, and tools relevant to Indian Country and Air Quality. Attend by clicking here. Please join us for a virtual memorial for Bill Thompson that will take place at the conclusion of this Air Policy Call.	Thursday, July 29, 2pm ET
Mobile Sources Work Group: This monthly work group addresses all mobile source pollution issues. Attend by clicking here.	Thursday, August 5, 2pm ET
Indoor Air Quality Work Group: Join this work group every other month to help support IAQ work throughout Indian Country. Attend by clicking here.	Thursday, August 19, 2pm ET
Wood Smoke Work Group: Join this work group every other month to address wood smoke issues in Indian Country. Attend by clicking here.	Thursday, September 23, 1pm ET

 

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.

Climate Change / Energy

 

EPA’s Climate Change Indicators in the United States: EPA’s newly updated website, Climate Change Indicators in the United States, looks at changes to our health and the environment related to the causes and effects of climate change. 

With new science, additional indicators, and more years of data, many of these signs of climate change have become even more evident, stronger, and extreme. Explore the website. You are invited to participate in two upcoming webinars on the resource:

• June 24 will focus on Climate and Heat: Trends, Health Impacts and Risk. This one-hour webinar will feature climate-related temperature trends particularly related to extreme heat and urban heat, human health effects, social vulnerability, and risks (happening now and looking into the future). Visit EPA’s State, Local, and Tribal Webinar Series webpage.

 

ITEP’s Climate Change Adaptation Training Courses registration is online! Learn more about the courses and register here.

 

Toxics/Mobile Sources

 

EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act’s Tribal Grants for FY21

Request for Applications now open! More information can be found on this flyer and on this website. EPA’s 2021 Tribal and Insular Area grant program is now open. EPA anticipates awarding approximately $5 million in DERA funding under this announcement. A total of $4.5 million will be made available to tribal governments (or intertribal consortia) and Alaska Native villages, and $500,000 will be made available to insular area governments. EPA anticipates awarding five to ten cooperative agreements to tribal governments (or intertribal consortia) and Alaska Native villages and two to four cooperative agreements to insular area governments. Click here for more information.

 

The U.S. EPA is in the process of conducting a residual risk and technology review of the 2002 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Major Source Primary Copper Smelting and a technology review of the 2007 Primary Copper Smelting Area Sources NESHAP.

After EPA publishes the rules in the Federal Register, EPA plans to accept comment on these proposals for at least 45 days after publication in the Federal Register. Interested parties can download additional information and a copy of the proposed rules (when they are officially issued by EPA) from EPA’s website and this website. The proposed rules and other background information will also be available either electronically here, EPA’s electronic public docket and comment system. Materials for the proposed actions can be accessed using Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0430. For further technical information about the rule, contact Tonisha Dawson, EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, at (919) 541-1454 or dawson.tonisha@epa.gov.

 

Green Transportation Summit & Expo

August 16-18, 2021 Tacoma, Washington | Registration

The 10th annual Green Transportation Summit & Expo (GTSE) is the region’s premier clean transportation convening event. There has not been a time when clean transportation has had as much potential. With this year’s theme of Reflecting + Refocusing on a Resilient Future, we are giving particular attention to recent events affecting our communities and livelihood. We will be creating space to ensure these critical topics are addressed. All Tribes can get a 20% discount, contact Dara.Marks-Marino@nau.edu for the code!

 

The recent additions to OTAQ’s website in June 2021. You can access these additions as well as new press releases and Federal Register notices related to OTAQ on our website.

• June 8, 2021: EPA releases the annual Fast Facts document that provides information about U.S. transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions (1990-2019).

 

 

The recent additions to OTAQ’s website are listed here. You can access these additions as well as new press releases and Federal Register notices related to OTAQ on our website.

 

Indoor Air Quality

 

US EPA Presents a free webinar in Spanish and English on how to protect your home and family from air pollution: Healthy Air: Indoors and Out on August, 12, 2021 at 12:00 -1:00PM Pacific Time.       Join us to learn about indoor and outdoor air pollution in the U.S.-Mexico border region and what you can do to protect your home and community. Presenters will share information on common air pollution sources, potential health impacts from poor air quality, and tips and tricks for creating safe environments. All members of the public are welcome! Please join this webinar here from your computer, tablet or smartphone. Simultaneous interpretation will be available. For more information, please contact Francisco Dóñez, EPA at Donez.Francisco@epa.gov.   Summer is the perfect time to brush up on ventilation practices for schools! Are you prepared for schools to reopen this fall? Take some time to view these webinars available on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) website, which focus on virus mitigation strategies, including ventilation, filtration and supplemental air purification. ·      Let’s Clear the Air: Using Ventilation Practices to Promote Healthy IAQ in Schools – recorded July 30, 2020 ·      Ventilation and Virus Mitigation in Schools: Creating a Game Plan to Reduce COVID-19 Risk and Make Lasting Improvements to IAQ – recorded on February 25, 2021   How Indoor airPLUS Homes Help Reduce the Occurrence of Asthma Triggers in the Home Here are ways an Indoor airPLUS home can help reduce asthma triggers in the home.

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