April 22, 2002 -- Almost a half-million dollars in grant money is being made available to states and tribes to develop programs designed to reduce the risks associated with pesticide use in agricultural and non-agricultural settings in the United States.
The grants are being administered under EPA's Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program, which fosters voluntary partnerships among EPA and different industries and agricultural sectors committed to reducing the risks from pesticides.
A total of $497,000 is eligible to be awarded for research, public education, training, monitoring, demonstrations and studies that advance pesticide risk reduction.
Priority consideration will be given to projects that advance pesticide pollution prevention and that apply principles of integrated pest management (IPM) on a state or tribal level.
Examples of programs that could be considered for grants include use of IPM in schools, research on children's health issues related to pesticides and development of research methods to document adoption of IPM or the reduction of risks associated with changes in pesticide use.
EPA specifically seeks to build state and local IPM capacities and to evaluate the economic feasibility of new IPM approaches at the state level. Local governments, private universities, private nonprofit entities, private businesses and individuals are not eligible for these specific grants.
Applications must be received by the appropriate EPA regional office by May 27, and EPA will make its award decisions by July 10.
Additional information is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/PESP/regional_grants.htm.
