Printer-friendlyEnvironment DEC
From the January 2008 issue
New York, Albany and Erie Counties Awarded Environmental Justice Grants
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis announced funding for a rooftop garden in Albany, a water-quality monitoring effort in Manhattan and a grassroots air-quality monitoring project in Tonawanda, in the latest round of environmental grants to groups serving minority and low-income communities. "Fostering grassroots efforts, these grants can help groups provide a cleaner and healthier environment for their communities," said Commissioner Grannis.
Rooftop gardens can thrive in the most unusual places, like this one on top of Rockefeller Center in New York City
Grant Program
Funding comes from the Environmental Justice Community Impact Research Grant (EJ Grant) Program. Launched in 2006, this program helps local organizations with projects that address environmental and/or public health concerns. It concentrates on communities that have historically been overburdened by problems such as a high density of contaminated sites, noise, air and water pollution, health problems and lack of green space and waterfront access.
The grant program, which was created with input from the DEC Environmental Justice Advisory Group, helps communities understand and mitigate environmental harms and risks and improve quality of life. Projects eligible to receive EJ Grants include, but are not limited to: inventories of polluting facilities in the community; air monitoring; green rooftops; urban tree planting; community gardens; alternative energy projects, and lead- and mercury-removal projects. To date, grant applications have ranged from $2,500 to the maximum grant award of $25,000. However, the next grant cycle will include maximum grant awards of $50,000.
