The agreement provides funding under inflation reduction act to conduct ambient air monitoring of pollutants of greatest concern in communities with environmental and health outcomes disparities…

This $500,000 Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the CFDA program 66.034 - Surveys, Studies, Research, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Special Purpose Activities Relating to the Clean Air Act will fund community-based air quality monitoring in South Bronx neighborhoods. The grant recipient, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Inc., will assemble air quality monitoring teams with local community-based organizations to conduct ambient air monitoring of pollutants of greatest concern in areas with environmental and health disparities. Key activities include training community leaders on air quality data collection and analysis using AirBeam technology, establishing permanent air monitoring stations, and promoting partnerships between communities and government entities to address local air pollution issues. The project aims to build sustainable community capacity for long-term air quality monitoring and environmental advocacy.

The agreement provides funding under inflation reduction act to conduct ambient air monitoring of pollutants of greatest concern in communities with environmental and health outcomes disparities stemming from pollution and covid-19 pandemic.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. First task will be to hire the project manager and project assistant responsible for organizing and executing the project. The project manager and project assistant will assemble air quality monitoring teams for each corridor of the cross bronx expressway, with the help of partner CBO's in identified south bronx catchment areas, including parkchester/castle hill, jerome/washington heights, hunts point, and west bronx, in addition to ympj's own catchment of bronx river/soundview. Ympj will issue an open call for CBO partners who will be selected through a panel review process led by a steering committee made up of at least 2 local ympj young adults who have taken part in the ympj air quality data collection projects in the past, a science department staff member from our local high school (fannie LOU hamer freedom high school), and one staff member from our project partner habitatmap. This process will allow US to select the organizations with the greatest potential to effectively implement and continue community-led air quality monitoring for the length of time needed to achieve meaningful results (5-10 years). Ympj has longstanding partnerships and relationships with many south bronx organizations who we expect to apply for the opportunity, including love in the bronx, the point, new settlement, and the bronx river alliance. Ympj will conduct targeted outreach to organizations we feel are ideal candidates and encourage them to apply. Once the full cohort of partner cbos is assembled, each will identify four community leaders in their catchment to receive deep training to collect and analyze air quality data. Central to this project is building community capacity to continue air quality monitoring and environmental advocacy beyond the life of the project. Therefore, training for community leaders will be comprehensive and ongoing throughout the project period. Habitatmap and ympj will train leaders in air quality and how IT influences daily life and health outcomes in the south bronx. Habitatmap will train the community leaders to use airbeam technology, including how, when, and how frequently to collect data, how to download data to the information system, and how to troubleshoot the technology should problems arise. Following this training, community leaders will begin collecting air quality data along predetermined routes of 45 mins to 1 hour that are traversed 3 times per week at predetermined times in their catchment area. Ympj project staff will ensure that data is collected on a regular basis and will work with CBO's to identify solutions if community leaders need assistance. Habitatmap will also provide community leaders with at least two additional workshops. One of those will be a hands-on event where leaders identify pollution sources in their neighborhoods and learn about the pollutants emitted from those sources. The second will use the list of pollution sources to identify the best stationary location for air quality monitoring throughout the expressway redesign process. Ympj's project manager and project assistant will support the community leaders through installation of this station