This agreement provides funding to the new york state department of health (NYSDOH)/health research INC (HRI)

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Federal Grant Program 66.034 - Surveys, Studies, Research, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Special Purpose Activities Relating to the Clean Air Act provides $5,044,509 in funding to Health Research, Inc. (HRI) to build capacity for indoor air quality (IAQ) and greenhouse gas reduction (GHGR) initiatives in K-12 schools across New York State and nationally.

The key products and services to be delivered under this 5-year award include: conducting dozens of educational seminars, conferences, webinars, and trainings to increase knowledge and awareness of IAQ and GHGR among school staff; training approximately 85 disadvantaged and tribal schools to use IAQ monitoring tools; establishing a train-the-trainer program on IAQ and GHGR in each of New York's 37 Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES); and developing comprehensive IAQ best practice resources and guidance for schools. The project aims to enable significant IAQ improvements and GHGR in up to 2,371 disadvantaged and tribal schools, ultimately benefiting the health and performance of New York's 1.6 million disadvantaged students, teachers, and staff.

Specifically, the recipient will provide capacity building in indoor air quality (IAQ) and greenhouse gas reduction (GHGR) in schools throughout new york state (NYS) and among states across the country with K-12 IAQ programs. They will draw on past experience to conduct many educational and training events and other activities to achieve these outputs and outcomes: dozens of seminars, conferences, webinars, and trainings; increased knowledge and awareness among school staff to address IAQ and GHGR in NYS and the nation; a large number of trained school staff; IAQ monitoring in schools; and up to 2,371 disadvantaged and tribal schools in NY adopting a sustainable IAQ management plan to make significant IAQ improvements and GHGR that will improve the health and performance of NY's ~1.6 million disadvantaged students plus teachers/staff.activities:the project will cover activity areas 1-3 (1. IAQ and GHG reduction capacity building; 2. Tribal IAQ and GHG reduction capacity building ; and 3. IAQ and GHG reduction training and education campaign), providing capacity building in indoor air quality (IAQ) and greenhouse gas reduction (GHGR) in schools throughout new york state (NYS) and among states across the country with K-12 IAQ programs. The following activities will be conducted during the project period: capacity building - add 3 members to the sehp steering committee that represent dacs - organize and host 4-8 meetings of the national work group on K-12 IAQ programs - enhance a community of practice around IAQ/GHGR training/education campaign - conduct 125 regional seminars (25 per year X 5 years) - conduct 4 NYS conferences (1 per year X 4 years) - attend 40 partner events (table or present) (8/year X 5 years) - develop and present 27 BI-monthly webinars on IAQ (6 per year X 4.5 years) - conduct 27 IAQ and GHG chat sessions (6 per year X 4.5 years) - develop a toolkit for NYS schools on IAQ/GHGR best practices, implementation, and resources - distribute school EH summary reports - develop new educational materials for schools including infographics - develop presentation on effective proactive health and safety committees - evaluate all seminars, conferences, webinars, etc. - conduct pre-and post- surveys for regional seminars to understand knowledge gained - conduct focus interviews with regional seminar hosts to solicit feedback training - hands-on/ technical - train 85 DAC schools to use the IAQ monitoring tool - establish a train-the-trainer course on IAQ and GHGR in each of the 37 boces - award ceus as part of training for school staff - archive 10 training videos - award 50 scholarships for DAC school staff to attend cuny BPL or other certification program - evaluate all trainings - conduct pre-and post- surveys for IAQ and boces trainings to understand knowledge gainedsubrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:the anticipated deliverables include: - a report for schools on complete IAQ best practices and GHGR strategies - a report on how to adopt and institutionalize IAQ plans - a paper comparing DAC schools with/without IAQ plans - papers on the state of NYS schools' IAQ over time, and on implementation of an IAQ monitoring protocol in schools - reports on evaluation results of events and trainings - an annual report on evaluation of all education and training - a joint report from national work group on K-12 IAQ programs - a final project report the expected outcomes include significant GHG emission and comprehensive indoor air risk reductions for K-12 schools and school districts in low-income, disadvantaged, and tribal communities enabled