A grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is supporting Breath SMART (Safety Monitoring Air ‘Round Town). The program will create a community-based network of air quality monitors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin neighborhoods with the highest rates of hospitalizations and emergency room visits related to asthma. Monitors will be installed at approximately 15 schools and students will participate in obtaining data. Workshops will be presented to train residents and community members how to access real-time air quality data about their neighborhoods and learn what they can do to avoid poor air.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Biden-Harris Presidential Administration have announced $53.4 million in funding for 132 air monitoring projects in 37 US states. The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized and overburdened by pollution. The grant selections further the goals of “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” which directs that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain US federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts.