EPA National News: Press Advisory: (1) EPA Announces Grants To Reduce Indoor Air Pollution, Supports World Rural Women's Day; (2) Grants Awarded to Develop Pesticide Risk Reduction Programs
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Press Advisory: (1) EPA Announces Grants To Reduce Indoor Air Pollution, Supports World Rural Women's Day; (2) Grants Awarded to Develop Pesticide Risk Reduction Programs

Following are some Agency developments which may interest you. If you need more information on any of these subjects, call the appropriate contact.



(1) EPA Announces Grants To Reduce Indoor Air Pollution, Supports World
Rural Women's Day

Contact: John Millett 202-564-7842 / millett.john@epa.gov

In support of World Rural Women's Day, Oct. 15, 2004, and the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air, EPA is announcing $1.3 million in grants to reduce health risks from indoor air pollution resulting from burning crop waste, animal waste, wood and coal indoors for home cooking and heating in rural areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The grants will fund 11 pilot projects seeking to improve health, livelihood and quality of life by increasing affordable, reliable, clean, efficient, and safe home cooking and heating practices that reduce people's exposure to indoor air pollution. The $1.3 million in funding is the first of its kind provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and U.S. EPA. In announcing the pilot project, U.S. EPA affirms its support for United Nations Development Programme and World Health Organization efforts to raise awareness and spur action to reduce indoor air pollution from home cooking and heating practices in rural areas of the developing world.

In a 2002 report the World Health Organization said indoor smoke from solid fuels is a major risk factor contributing to the global and regional burden of disease. More than two billion people, almost half of the world's population, still burn traditional fuels like firewood, coal, crop residues, and dung indoors for home cooking and heating. This widespread use results in the premature deaths of an estimated 1.6 million people annually, with women and children being most significantly affected.

The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air pilot project grants will increase awareness of indoor air pollution, its impact on rural women, and generate global action to improve families' health and quality of life. The grants will increase the awareness of the dangers of indoor air pollution and benefits of improved alternatives among one million people, and reduce exposure of 160,000 people over the next two years.

The 11 pilot projects include the following:

Mexico Solar Household Energy will manufacture and sell 2,000 solar panel ovens in rural Mexico.

Nigeria Centre for Household Energy and Environment (CEHEEN) will introduce methanol stove-fuel cooking system in Nigeria.

Guatemala HELPS International will encourage the use of the retained heat cooker in rural areas of Guatemala.

Honduras Trees, Water & People will promote more efficient wood-burning stoves in an urban area of Honduras.

Uganda Venture Strategies, in collaboration with Center for Entrepreneurship in International Health and Development, will promote local technology and more efficient wood stoves in urban areas of Uganda.

India Development Alternatives: improved wood burning stoves (and other technologies) in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, India.

India Alternative Rural Technology Institute will introduce biogas technology in rural areas of Maharashtra, India.

China The Nature Conservancy will promote solar water heaters, biogas units, and biomass stoves in northwest Yunnan Province, China.

China Institute for Environmental Health and Related Product Safety will promote improved coal and biomass technology in rural Guizhou and Gansu Provinces of China.

Projects in Mauritania and South Africa will soon be announced. More information on each of the projects is available online at: http://www.pciaonline.net/grantees.cfm .

In August 2002 at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, EPA and other partners launched the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air. This partnership is bringing together governments, industry, and non-governmental organizations to address the serious health effects associated with elevated indoor levels of smoke from cooking and heating practices. To learn more about the Partnership's efforts to improve indoor air in homes around the world, go to: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pcia.html .

(2) Grants Awarded to Develop Pesticide Risk Reduction Programs

Contact: Enesta Jones 202-564-7873 / jones.enesta@epa.gov

EPA announced that 13 states and state universities will receive grants to develop programs to reduce the risks associated with pesticide use in agricultural and non-agricultural settings in the United States. Under the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship (PESP) Regional Initiative Grant program, EPA will award $507,100 for outreach, education, training, demonstration, and measurement projects that advance pesticide risk reduction. Since 1996, EPA has awarded more than $4.5 million in grants under the PESP Regional Initiative Grant Program. PESP partners submit annual, measurable activities to achieve pesticide risk reduction to EPA. More information on the funded projects and the PESP Regional Initiative Grant program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/PESP/regional_grants/funded_regional_grants.htm .

The awards were granted for the following projects:

Reducing Pesticide Risks in Cold Climate Wine Grape Production - an Emerging New Crop in Northern New England University of Vermont
YardScaping: Minimizing Reliance on Pesticides by Example Using Demonstration, Outreach and IPM Training Maine Board of Pesticides Control
Development of a Landscape IPM Program in Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico Agricultural Extension Service
Collaborative IPM Education and Outreach in Underserved Row House Communities in Philadelphia Pennsylvania State University
Residential IPM Strategies in Rural Native American Communities North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Pest Management Provider Education Network to Support IPM Adoption in Indiana Child Care Settings Purdue University
Promoting the Use of Advanced IPM in Wisconsin Apple and Cherry Orchards University of Wisconsin Madison
Measuring the Success of School IPM in Texas Southwest Technical Resource Center, Texas Cooperative Extension
Documentation of Pest Management Practices and Implementation of IPM In Oklahoma Public Schools Oklahoma State University
Implementing Integrated Pest Management Practices in Missouri Schools Missouri Department of Agriculture
Reducing Pesticide Use by Floriculture Professionals in the Inter-Mountain Western Region of the United States Through Education Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
Developing an In-field Inspection Program and Chain of Custody Procedures for LWWC Sustainable Winegrape Productions Certification Program Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission
Integrated Pest Management for Raspberry Beetles Using Life Stage Prediction and Cultural Management in Red Raspberry Production Washington State University


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Release date:10/14/2004 Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email

 

 
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