EPA Awards Cooperative Agreement to Support States and Territories in Advancing Environmental Health
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EPA Awards Cooperative Agreement to Support States and Territories in Advancing Environmental Health
WASHINGTON (May 3, 2021) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it awarded a cooperative agreement to the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) to support the work of states and territories in addressing environmental health challenges.
“Robust partnerships with the states and territories are critical for meeting the environmental health challenges we all face as a nation,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “From protecting children’s health to reducing pollution in our air and water, we are stronger when we tackle our shared challenges together. This cooperative agreement ensures EPA’s science and expertise are readily available to get that job done at the state and territorial level.”
“This cooperative agreement serves as the catalyst for ASTHO and EPA to work together to achieve our shared goals of better public health and a cleaner and more sustainable environment for all the people we serve,” said Dr. Meredith Allen, Vice President, Health Security, ASTHO.
Under the formal Cooperative Agreement, EPA and ASTHO reaffirmed their commitment to work as partners to advance shared priorities, including water quality, children’s environmental health, resilience to pollutants, air quality, lead, emerging contaminants of concern, and COVID-19.
Outcomes of the agreement will include increased communication and collaboration, enhanced state and territorial capacity to address environmental health challenges, technical assistance from EPA scientists and engineers, and the exchange of information through regular webinars, face-to-face meetings, and technical training. The agreement will also facilitate seamless EPA support in the event of an emergency, increasing the resilience capacity of state and territorial partners.
The cooperative agreement supports another recently signed Memorandum of Agreement between EPA, ASTHO, and the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) to advance cooperative initiatives in pursuit of environmental health, recognizing that the public health and well-being of residents in the United States relies heavily on the condition of their physical environment. Under that MOA, the partner organizations agree to collaborate in developing tools, reports, workshops, meetings, communications pathways, and other initiatives. This leverages resources and advances their mutually shared mission of protecting public health from environmental threats and hazards and advancing health and environmental equity for all Americans.
For more information on EPA’s research to support states, visit: https://www.epa.gov/research-states
For more information on EPA’s collaborative projects with ASTHO, visit: https://www.epa.gov/research-states/collaborative-projects-state-environmental-health-experts