The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $1.7 million in grants Friday to fund four air quality monitoring projects in the state.
The Cleveland Department of Public Health received $500,000 and the City of Canton received $302,775. The money will fund air quality monitoring projects that are focused on 鈥渃ommunities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution,鈥� an stated.
Data collected will be used to inform medical providers on barriers to accessing asthma management and will allow cities to produce information and resources on asthma management unique to their neighborhood.
鈥淭his grant funding will support our development of a Community Leveraged Expanded Air Network in Cleveland (CLEANinCLE) that will allow our team of partners to expand our air monitoring network into historically redlined Cleveland neighborhoods that are still experiencing negative health outcomes,鈥� Cleveland鈥檚 Commissioner of the Division of Air Quality David Hearne said in the city鈥檚 news release.
Funding for the projects is part of the Biden administration鈥檚 and the American Rescue Plan Act, which allowed the EPA to support 132 air monitoring projects across 37 states.
鈥淔amilies shouldn鈥檛 have to worry about whether the air they鈥檙e breathing is healthy,鈥� said Sen. Sherrod Brown, who helped to write and pass the legislation. 鈥淏ecause of the work we did in the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, Ohio communities will be able to better monitor harmful pollutants and Ohioans will know the air they鈥檙e breathing is safe."
Ohio鈥檚 remaining funds will be split between the Groundwork Ohio River Valley in Cincinnati, which received $482,662, and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, which got $500,000.
