This agreement provides funding under the inflation reduction act (IRA)

The agreement provides funding to county of hudson, division of planning. Specifically, the recipient will address key environmental justice issues impacting their service area including water quality and pollution and climate resiliency and adaptation. The type of projects to be completed are: (1) public education about water quality and pollution monitoring, prevention, and remediation; and (2) workforce development to enhance climate resiliency and adaptation. As part of the public education portion of this project, the division of planning will work with its partners, hudson county improvement authority (hcia), hackensack riverkeeper, and hudson county community college (hccc), to launch a comprehensive, interactive water pollution prevention campaign aimed at reducing the amount of waste discharged into their waterways, with a focus on improving habitat health and enhancing recreational opportunities for residents of hudson county. This project will engage underserved communities across hudson county, including those with low-income and/or limited english proficiency, in efforts to mobilize the community to reduce littering and clean up waterways. In addition, education-based ECO-cruises and fishing clinics will engage underserved youth, educating them on water quality monitoring techniques and local ecosystems. The climate resiliency and workforce development component of the project will build capacity to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change while advancing career opportunities for underserved groups in line with new jersey statewide goals to build a strong, diverse pipeline of workers for the 'green' workforce. In the long-term, this project will lead to healthier riverine ecosystems, increased workforce capacity to support local green infrastructure projects, and increased community engagement in addressing environmental issues and injustice. Activities:the activities include community clean-UPS, river clean-UPS, education-based fishing clinics and ECO-cruises, a county-wide anti-littering campaign, workforce training program, and an education rain garden. More details on these activities below: -community clean-UPS: the hcia will organize a total of 30 urban community clean-UPS with one clean-up event also including storm drain decoration to draw greater attention to the issue of litter causing waterway pollution. -river clean-UPS: hackensack riverkeeper will organize a total of 45 riverfront clean-UPS along the hackensack river. -sustainable fishing clinics: hackensack riverkeeper will organize a total of 9 sustainable fishing clinics, educating residents on sustainable fishing practices. While these events are complete catch-and-release, a primary goal of these clinics is to educate people about the health risks of consuming fish from non-approved waters. -ECO-cruises: hackensack riverkeeper will provide a total of 151 ECO-cruises, 24 of which will involve an interactive water chemistry component for demonstration/education purposes during the cruise only, which will provide participants with an educational tour of the hackensack river designed to increase awareness of the river as a vital natural and recreational resource. -countywide anti-littering campaign: the division of planning and the hcia will launch a comprehensive educational campaign to educate residents on the impact of littering on our waterways. -educational rain garden: the hcia, hccc, and division of planning will work collaboratively to coordinate the construction of an educational rain garden at laurel hill park. They will incorporate the rain garden into their educational curriculum. -workforce training program: hudson county community college will work with a to-be-contracted qualified training provider to provide training on green infrastructure practices to a total of 90 residents of overburdened communities who h