September—October 2022 Newsletter
EPA Leaders Tour Projects Supporting Redevelopment, Jobs, Equity
In early October, EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe joined Regional Administrator Martha Guzman to tour a number of Bay Area projects supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), including the Hunters Point job training program and the India Basin Waterfront redevelopment site in San Francisco. McCabe announced a BIL grant to the University of California, Berkeley, to help train chemists and engineers to create safer consumer products and target reducing harmful chemicals in overburdened communities. The EPA leaders also met with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, a community group working on the Oakland Port’s transition to zero-emissions.
- SF Gate: UC Berkeley Awarded EPA Grant to Reduce Hazardous Chemicals
- San Francisco Cleans Up India Basin Waterfront Brownfield Site as Part of Greenspace Development Effort
- Twitter: EPA Leaders at India Basin Waterfront Park
- Twitter: EPA Deputy Director at Hunter's Point Job Training Program
- Environmental Justice Small Grants Awarded to Communities Living Near Port and Rail Facilities
A Renewed Commitment to Environmental Justice and Civil Rights
EPA has established a new national office charged with advancing environmental justice and civil rights. The creation of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights elevates these critical issues to the highest levels of the government and solidifies the agency’s commitment to delivering justice and equity for all. The new office will dedicate more than 200 staff towards solving environmental challenges in communities that are underserved. These staff will engage with communities experiencing environmental justice concerns to understand their needs, while coordinating closely with tribal, state, and local partners. They will also award historic levels of grants and technical assistance, and incorporate environmental justice into EPA’s other programs, policies, and processes.
- PBS NewsHour: EPA Launches New Office to Distribute $3 Billion in Environmental Justice Grants
- EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights
Fifty Years of the Clean Water Act
This year is the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. The foundational environmental law establishes the structure for water quality standards and for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States. Here in the Pacific Southwest, many iconic waterways have benefitted from the protections provided under the law, including the San Francisco Bay. Radhika Fox, EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, recently joined EPA Regional Administrator Martha Guzman in Richmond, California, to reflect on the successes of the Clean Water Act and the importance of continuing to protect the bay as a more equitable and resilient water infrastructure is developed to support the diverse communities and wildlife that comprise the San Francisco Bay area.
- Clean Water Act Anniversary Event in Richmond, California (video )
- History of the Clean Water Act
- Fifty Years of Protecting the Ocean
Enforcement Update
Protecting Water in Hawaii
EPA has taken an enforcement action to close two illegal large capacity cesspools at the Wailuku Professional Plaza in Hilo and one cesspool at the SKS Management self-storage business in Kailua-Kona. Large capacity cesspools were banned, under the Safe Drinking Water Act, in 2005. “Big Island companies must do their part to protect our surface water and groundwater resources from the disease-causing pollution found in large capacity cesspools,” said EPA Regional Administrator Martha Guzman.
Children’s Health
Why is Coco Red?
- Why is Coco Red? (English video)
- ¿Por qué Coco es rojo? (Spanish video)
The Inflation Reduction Act
EPA Administrator Michael Regan shares his personal thoughts on the importance of the Inflation Reduction Act, the most aggressive action to tackle the climate crisis in U.S. history.
