The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has created a bipartisan oversight email to track how any freeze on federal funding is impacting Tribal Nations and Native communities. If your community or Nation is affected, please share your experiences and concerns by contacting the bipartisan inbox:

oversight@indian.senate.gov

Your personal information will be kept confidential, but please include in your response the name of the federal agency and the programs affected.

EPA’s report, The Environmental Value of Applying Compost: Improving Soil Health for Stormwater Management, Contaminated Site Remediation, Ecosystem Restoration, Landscaping and Agriculture, summarizes the published science on the benefits of compost use in various sectors and at larger scales.

• Learn more

The logistics of removing waste from remote areas of the country can be very challenging. Learn about Backhaul Alaska and the development of a mobile app to help support backhaul in rural Alaska.

• Read the article 

With the spate of devastating wildfires in California and the prospect of more fires in the near future, EPA and other organizations are sharing information on how to address the health effects. 

• ITEP Training: After a Wildfire – Health and Safety Considerations is a new online course from the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP). The course provides Tribes with wildfire safety considerations for indoor air quality and how to return safely after a wildfire in 6 modules: 
   
  • Module 1 – Wildfire Effects, Monitoring, and Communication/Indoor Air Quality
  • Module 2 – After a Wildfire: Indoor Air
  • Module 3 – Distribution and Deposition of Wildfire Smoke Residues
  • Module 4 – Re-Entry Safety Considerations
  • Module 5 – Clean-Up Safety
  • Module 6 – (Optional) ACAC Fire and Smoke Damage Certification 

• Smoke Ready Toolbox: Use EPA’s toolbox to educate your community public about the risks of smoke exposure and actions people can take to protect their health.
   
• Protecting Children from Wildfire Smoke and Ash: Children are especially at risk for health effects from exposure to wildfire smoke and ash. Learn what you can do to keep kids safe in this EPA factsheet,
   
• Air Cleaners: Air cleaners, also called air purifiers, can help clear out wildfire smoke particles and other asthma triggers from the home. Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP) has a whole host of resources to help you select and maintain one. If you’d like to build your own air purifier, visit the EPA web page Do It Yourself Air Cleaners. (Yep, they work!) 

Learn a whole lot more on EPA’s Wildfires web page. 

EPA’s Office of Grants and Debarment hosted a December webinar series on the following topics: 

• Participant Support Costs
• 2024 Revisions to 2 CFR Part 200 Regulations – Impacts to Tribes as Federal Award Recipients
• 2 CFR Updates to the Appendix, NOFOs, and Competition

Visit these pages to find the presentations and recordings.

You may also with to visit the Community Library of Frequently Asked Questions to find answers to common questions about EPA grants. 

The Exchange Network is an intergovernmental, collaborative partnership of EPA, states, territories, and Tribes to foster better environmental management and decision-making through increased access to timely, high quality environmental information.

EPA is soliciting project applications to: 

• Facilitate sharing of environmental data, especially through shared and reusable services.
• Reduce burden and avoid costs for co-regulators and the regulated community.
• Streamline data collection and exchanges to improve its timeliness for decision making.
• Increase the quality and access to environmental data through discovery, publishing, outbound and analytical services so it is more useful to environmental managers.
• Increase data and IT management capabilities needed to fully participate in the EN.

Application tools, such as optional fillable templates, are available through the Grants.gov listing and on EPA’s EN website. 

• Apply

Many Superfund sites are well suited to support alternative energy production, and 110 Superfund sites now host alternative energy facilities. As of October 2024, these facilities provide enough energy to power more than 280,000 homes for one year.  

• Read the highlights

This EPA calculator can be used to estimate the methane emissions avoided per ton of food waste by diverting food waste from landfills over time. Anyone can download and use the calculator, which may be useful for grant applications, program planning, and reporting. Find the calculator on EPA’s Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfilled Food Waste webpage. 

EPA has updated its Hazardous Waste Cleanup website to include a new landing page for all corrective action program topics and initiatives; a new searchable, sortable table of corrective action guidance, regulations, rulemakings, and resources; and a new training webpage. EPA has also posted a new webpage to help schools and small businesses safely dispose of e-cigarettes, which contain lithium batteries and nicotine, making them hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. 

The Build America Buy America Act, enacted as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on November 15, 2021, established a domestic content procurement preference for all Federal financial assistance obligated for infrastructure projects after May 14, 2022.  The domestic content procurement preference requires that all iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in covered infrastructure projects are produced in the United States.

The Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Education, Energy, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development. Environmental Protection Agency, and Federal Emergency Management Agency have issued a Multi-Agency Tribal Public Interest Build America, Buy America (BABA) Waiver for Tribes whose total prime federal award or subaward does not exceed $2.5 million and the federal award or subaward amount does not exceed $2.5 million for the life of the award. The waiver will remain in effect for 5 years.

For federal financial assistance to Tribes obligated between the effective date and September 30, 2026, recipients will be permitted to purchase non-compliant manufactured products, regardless of the Federal financial assistance amount. For federal financial assistance issued prior to the effect date of the waiver, the waiver would apply to funds not yet expended.

EPA will host a webinar about the waiver on Jan. 22.  

• Read the waiver 

Project WET (Water Education Today) works to solve critical environmental challenges by teaching the world about water by providing hands-on, science-based water education resources to educators around the world. The Project Wet Conference will be held in person in Lexington, KY.

• Register. Early bird registration ends Jan. 24.

ASHRAE Guideline 44, “Protecting Building Occupants from Smoke During Wildfire and Prescribed Burn Events,” released in December, recommends building measures to minimize occupant health impacts from wildfire and prescribed burn smoke events. It is the first guideline of its kind to provide recommendations to help owners and managers of commercial, institutional and multi-unit residential buildings prepare for and respond to smoke. It includes:

• Detailed information about the impacts of smoke on indoor air quality and human health.
• Best practices in building design and operation to reduce the impact of prolonged smoke events on indoor air quality.
• Ways to reduce occupants’ exposure to wildland fire smoke and protect their health and wellbeing.
  
  • Obtain a free version through Feb. 11.
  • Purchase a copy

The ASHRAE Journal podcast episode, “Where There’s Smoke, There’s HVAC,” discusses the ASHRAE Guideline and how wildfire smoke impacts buildings, people and public health

Native Climate, a project that supports climate adaptation efforts in Native American communities of the Southwest and Northern Plains, compiled local climate projections for 633 tribally controlled areas in the United States, including Alaska Native Villages. The data are based on the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections dataset.

• Download the data and explore the interactive map

On December 23, EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights released the agency’s Environmental Justice Strategic Plan. The plan lays out three goals for agency:

1. Promote environmental justice and civil rights at the federal, Tribal, state, local, and community levels
2. Embed environmental justice and external civil rights into EPA’s programs, policies, and activities
3. Strengthen external civil rights enforcement to protect access to a healthy environment for all people

n its FY2022-2026 Strategic Plan, EPA committed to assembling a set of indicators of disparities in environmental and public health conditions relevant to the agency’s work, consistent with the broader effort to advance environmental justice. EPA has now released the pilot Indicators of Environmental Health Disparities. The six indicators include:   

• Blood Lead Levels 
• Population in Monitored Counties Meeting PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
• Age-adjusted Hypertension 
• Adverse Birth Outcomes 
• Childhood Asthma Prevalence 
• Life Expectancy  

Each indicator represents an environmental health concern or potential health impact that is shaped by a wide range of factors. EPA is working to help mitigate environmental contributions to these health outcomes and disparities, in alignment with its mission to protect human health and the environment.

Through E-Enterprise for the Environment, EPA, states, and Tribes are working together to improve environmental program management by streamlining processes and modernizing technology. It is governed by three goals:

1. Early and meaningful dialogue with partners who make decisions together
2. Streamlining and simplifying processes
3. Leveraging technology, where it makes sense, to optimize effectiveness.

Learn more:

• Read the fact sheet.
• Watch a video.
• Subscribe to the E-Enterprise Bulletin.
• Join E-Enterprise Connect

On Jan. 3, EPA announced the addition of 9 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to the list of chemicals covered by the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). TRI data is reported to EPA annually by industrial and federal facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use TRI-listed chemicals above set quantities. Information collected through TRI allows communities to learn how facilities in their area are managing listed chemicals. Reporting is now required for these nine additional PFAS, bringing the total PFAS subject to TRI reporting to 205.

• Read the press release

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas. Carbon monoxide symptoms can be flu-like or may look like other health problems. At high levels, carbon monoxide can be deadly. Share this excellent fact sheet with your community.  

EPA Region 10 is updating its web page, Training and Technical Assistance Opportunities for Tribes in Region 10. If you have other opportunities you think we should include, please email Susan Conbere at Conbere.Susan@epa.gov.

In the meantime, take a gander at a wide range of administrative and environmental trainings – including online training, webinars, workshops, conferences, and college courses – to help you manage grants and address environmental issues. We recently added the Tribal Exchange Network (entry 66!).