WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Tom Carper, Chris Coons, and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-Del.) announced a $853,180 grant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enhance air quality monitoring in Delaware communities. The awarded projects will focus on underserved and historically marginalized communities overburdened by pollution. This funding came from provisions advocated for by Delaware citizens in the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, which Carper, Coons, and Blunt Rochester helped author and pass into law.

"Ensuring all Delawareans have clean air to breathe starts with having an effective system to measure the pollutants that exist,” Senator Tom Carper, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said in a statement. “Fortunately, our historic investments in the Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan are going to help provide more communities in Delaware with the tools they need to monitor air pollution. These grants will go a long way toward enhancing air quality and improving public health, especially for those most burdened by air pollution who have been advocating for these investments for years.”

“All Americans have the right to clean, breathable air, and I’m proud that investments from the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act will help Delawareans lead healthier lives,” Senator Chris Coons said. “This funding will help us monitor and improve air quality in parts of our state that have historically faced the brunt of air pollution. It is my hope that these commonsense investments into improved air quality monitoring will lead to better public health outcomes and cleaner air for generations to come.”

“Our frontline and fenceline communities have, for decades, been subject to unsafe air and have suffered the long-term health consequences and complications because of it,” Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester said. “Today’s announcement will infuse federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, the latter of which included provisions from the Public Health Air Quality Act, legislation I introduced in the House, to conduct critical air quality monitoring and data collection in environmental justice communities across the First State. I want to thank the EPA and the Biden Administration for their work to enhance our air quality, public health, and quality of life – and I look forward to continuing to work with them to fight for our environmental justice communities while strengthening environmental protections for all Delawareans.”

Project Recipients:

• $357,852 — Community Housing and Empowerment Connections Inc. (CHEC)
  •  CHEC will utilize a collaborative process that engages residents in the development of a community air monitoring network that achieves community priorities while supporting research, public policy, and improved health outcomes in New Castle County, Delaware.

• $495,328 — Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP)
  • SRAP will conduct ambient air data collection of poultry byproduct and its effects on public health and the environment in three Delaware and Maryland communities experiencing environmental injustices. Information gathered will help create community-oriented solutions to improve public health outcomes for every stakeholder in the community.