Project Grant 95314401

DESCRIPTION:THIS ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT PROVIDES FUNDING UNDER INFLATION REDUCTION ACT TO CONDUCT AMBIENT AIR MONITORING OF POLLUTANTS OF GREATEST CONCERN IN COMMUNITIES WITH ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH OUTCOME DISPARITIES STEMMING FROM POLLUTION AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. THE GOAL OF THE OVERBROOK BREATHE RIGHT COMMUNITY AIR MONITORING PROJECT IS TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF AIR POLLUTION IN TARGETED ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES OF WEST PHILADELPHIA. WITH THE ENGAGEMENT OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN THE OVERBROOK / WYNNEFIELD / MILL CREEK / MANTUA COMMUNITIES, THE 'BREATHE RIGHT' PROJECT WILL MONITOR FIVE CRITERIA AIR POLLUTANTS AND ANALYZE SEVERAL HEAVY METALS INCLUDING LEAD IN PM2.5 TO BETTER INFORM COMMUNITY MEMBERS ABOUT THE STATE OF AIR POLLUTION IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS. ACTIVITIES:THE ACTIVITIES WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY AND LOCAL EFFORTS TO MONITOR THEIR OWN AIR QUALITY AND TO PROMOTE AIR QUALITY MONITORING PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN COMMUNITIES AND TRIBAL, STATE, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS THAT: LEVERAGE EXISTING AIR QUALITY EXPERTISE, EXPAND USE OF COMMUNITY MONITORING GROUPS AND OTHER APPROACHES THAT GIVE THE COMMUNITY A VOICE IN THE MONITORING OF THE AIR QUALITY, AND BUILD A FOUNDATION OF TRUSTING RELATIONSHIPS AND ENHANCED UNDERSTANDING FROM WHICH SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO COMMUNITY AIR POLLUTION PROBLEMS CAN BE FOUND. THE ACTIVITIES OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDE COLLECTING, ANALYZING OF AIR SAMPLES, AND DISTRIBUTION OF RESULTS TO COMMUNITY MEMBERS. ANALYSIS OF FIVE TRACE GASES AND PARTICULATE MATTER CONCENTRATIONS (PM2.5 AND PM10) WILL HELP TO INFORM THE COMMUNITY ABOUT THE STATE OF AIR POLLUTION IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS. ADDITIONAL CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF PARTICULATE MATTER (HEAVY METALS INCLUDING PB) WILL HELP TO ASSESS EMISSION SOURCES AND TOXICITY OF PARTICULATE MATTER. LEAD HAS BEEN PROBLEMATIC THROUGHOUT PHILADELPHIA IN AIR POLLUTION THROUGHOUT THE CITY RELATED TO CONSTRUCTION, AMONG OTHER ACTIVITIES. THE BREATHE RIGHT PROJECT IS PROPOSING TWO-YEAR CONTINUOUS SAMPLING FOR PM2.5 AND PM10 AT 15 OUTDOOR SITES AND AN INTENSIVE, TWO-WEEK CAMPAIGN MEASURING TRACE GASES FROM 15 OUTDOOR SITES PER YEAR. A FOUR-WEEK INTENSIVE MEASUREMENT CAMPAIGN WILL ASSESS CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PM2.5 (HEAVY METALS) AT ONE SITE EACH YEAR. WE WILL ALSO MEASURE PM2.5, PM10, AND FOUR TRACE GASES FROM 5 CO-LOCATED INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL SHARE THE RESULTS IN COMMUNITY MEETINGS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD ONCE PER YEAR IN MEETINGS AND ON THE OEEC WEBSITE. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY MEETINGS WILL BE ORGANIZED TOO. ADDITIONALLY, THEY WILL DEVELOP A WEBSITE FOR RESIDENTS TO CHECK THE STATUS OF AIR POLLUTION. SUBRECIPIENT:THE SUBAWARD WITH VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT THE AIR SAMPLING PORTION OF THE PROJECT. THIS INCLUDES INSTALLING THE AIR MONITORS, COLLECTION OF SAMPLES, ANALYZING THE LAB SAMPLES, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESULTS TO THE LARGER COMMUNITY. THE SUBAWARD TO THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES AND DREXEL UNIVERSITY ARE TO SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY PROJECT. THE ACTIVITIES INVOLVED WILL INCLUDE INTERPRETING, TRANSLATING, AND CREATING VISUALIZATIONS OF THE PROJECT RESULTS FOR THE LARGER COMMUNITY. THE RECIPIENT INTENDS TO ISSUE SUBAWARD AGREEMENTS TO ITS PARTNERS IN COMPLIANCE WITH APPENDIX A OF EPA'S SUBAWARD POLICY.OUTCOMES:THE ANTICIPATED DELIVERABLES WILL COMPARE THE COMMUNITY AIR POLLUTION DATA WITH THE EPA CENTRAL MONITORING STATION AND WILL PREPARE AIR QUALITY MAPS USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS). THE INTENDED BENEFICIARY IS THE OVERBROOK NEIGHBORHOOD WHICH HAS A POPULATION OF ROUGHLY 43,172 PEOPLE, AND ITS GEOGRAPHY IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF ITS DEMOGRAPHICS; OVERBROOK IS IN AN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE NEIGHBORHOOD IN PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. KNOWLEDGE OF AIR POLLUTION RISKS AND EXPOSURE ALLOW FOR GREATER COMMUNITY ADVOCACY AND ACTION WITH CITY AND FEDERAL AGENCIES TO BETTER REGULATE AIR POLLUTION. SOME OF THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE COLLABORATIVE DATA COLLECTION OF FIVE CRI