Northeast waste management officials association will partner with the northeast recycling council and two state-wide environmental justice (EJ) organizations to undertake the development of…

The Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 awarded a $210,000 cooperative agreement to the Northeast Waste Management Officials' Association, Inc. (Newmoa) under the Solid Waste Management Assistance Grants program (CFDA 66.808) to develop guidance and training on environmental justice engagement and regulatory compliance to support anaerobic digestion in communities.

Newmoa will partner with the Northeast Recycling Council and two state-wide environmental justice organizations to prepare guidance materials, training, outreach, and compliance assistance. Specific deliverables include a guide on air, water, and solid waste regulations applying to anaerobic digestion development and food waste processing across 11 Northeast states, along with guidance on navigating related requirements and state environmental justice policies; a training program based on the regulatory guide and five virtual training webinars; a best practices guide on effective engagement with environmental justice communities; and a roadmap to help municipalities and residents understand opportunities to engage in decision-making on potential anaerobic digestion facility locations.

Northeast waste management officials association will partner with the northeast recycling council and two state-wide environmental justice (EJ) organizations to undertake the development of guidance and training on EJ engagement and regulatory compliance to support anaerobic digestion (ad) in communities. All organizations involved in this project are committed to sharing the results of this program with government and private sector sustainable materials management (SMM) programs, ad companies and consultants, food waste diversion and recycling organizations, EJ organizations, and others.activities:project activities include: increasing support for state and local government programs that seek to use ad to increase their food waste diversion rates; developing, modeling, and promoting solutions and approaches for increasing food waste ad utilization that can be replicated by other communities, governments, and other entities; and preparing guidance materials, training, outreach, and compliance assistance to accelerate solutions relating to improved solid waste management.subrecipient:subawards include the following project activities: - participation on the project steering committee - review and promotion of the publications, training webinars, and other activities throughout the project - development of written materials as deliverables of the cooperative agreement outcomes:the intended beneficiaries are the general population of the northeast, the food generators, and the operators of ad facilities, both future and extant. The outcomes/deliverables include: a group of state environmental regulatory and EJ staff to share information on their programs for the development and operation of ad facilities, and to assist with developing a regulatory guide and virtual training; a guide to air, water, and solid waste regulations in the 11 northeast states that apply to ad development and operations for processing food waste, and guidance for successful navigation of these requirements and related state EJ policies/laws; a training program based on the regulatory guide and organize five virtual training webinars; a best practice guide on effective engagement with EJ communities in planning for ad operations; a road map designed to help municipal officials and residents in EJ communities learn where ad facilities may be located understand the basics of ad, the overall regulatory landscape, and the opportunities available for meaningful engagement in decision-making; and two virtual training webinars to promote and share the guide to community engagement and the roadmap.