The Allegheny County Health Department is accepting applications for projects hoping to use Clean Air Fund dollars to improve local air quality.
Roughly $5 million has been allocated for such initiatives as fleet electrification, tree canopy expansion, equipment electrification, and climate resiliency and adaptation projects.
The money comes from penalties and fees paid by plants and companies that pollute. It is intended “solely to support activities related to the improvement of air quality within Allegheny County and to support activities which will increase or improve knowledge concerning air pollution, its causes, its effects, and the control thereof,” according to the rule that established it.
Municipalities, Councils of Government, and community and nonprofit organizations are among those eligible to apply. Preference will be given to environmental justice communities that experience disproportionate negative effects of pollution, such as those in the Mon Valley. County officials say they anticipate “that multiple projects will be accepted.”
Though the county accepts applications for projects funded by Clean Air Fund money each year, the recent announcement comes after an audit from the County Controller’s office found that only a small portion of the fund balance had been spent towards improving air quality.
Auditors argued that the application process is complicated and opaque, and they recommended that the Health Department advertise the availability of the funding more effectively.
The Health Department, then under the leadership of acting director Patrick Dowd, pushed back strongly on the report’s conclusions and noted that the department “has never stopped anyone from applying for the use of Clean Air Funds.”
Find more information and applications here. The county will host two informational meetings to learn more about the projects in August. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Sept. 23.
