If you would like to join our monthly air monitoring grant support calls, or learn more about our pro bono capacity-building technical assistance, please inquire here.
You can also watch a video and access slides on a presentation by Wilma Subra on Community Air Monitoring in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Colorado. Wilma is the president of Subra Company and Technical Advisor to Louisiana Environmental Action Network. She provides technical assistance to citizens across the United States and in some foreign countries concerned with their environment and the human health impacts by combining technical research and evaluations. She has a BS and MS in Microbiology and Chemistry from the University of Southwest Louisiana. She also has over 55 years of experience in sampling and chemical and microbiologic analysis of groundwater, surface water resources, air, and waste, monitoring the environmental and human health impacts of oil and gas drilling and production activities, oil and gas waste treatment and disposal practices, heavy industrial facility operations, compliance and monitoring, and associated human health impacts.
In addition, here are several helpful resources and recommendations for seeking funding for and/or managing community air monitoring projects:
1. Resources for Community Air Monitoring Approaches:
- South Coast AQMD Sensor Educational Toolkit
- Community in Action: A Comprehensive Guidebook on Air Quality Sensors
- AQ-SPEC Sensor Evaluation Summary Tables:
– PM Sensor Evaluations
– Gas-Phase Sensor Evaluations
– VOC Sensor Evaluations - AB 617 Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP) for Wilmington/Carson/West Long Beach (WCWLB)
- U.S. EPA Air Sensor Guidebook
- U.S. EPA Essential Elements of a Citizen Science Project
2. Resources for Quality Assurance:
- The EPA Climate Pollution Reductions Grants team posted several training seminars and presentations on QAPPs: CPRG Training, Tools and Technical Assistance
- EPA’s webinar presentation specifically for QAPPs (July 27, 2023) is very helpful in understanding QAPP development and EPA’s current thoughts on the topic: Quality Assurance Project Plans
- In addition, you can access EPA’s slide presentation: EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants: Noncompetitive planning grants for state, territory, local, and tribal governments
- And below are additional QAPP resources, templates, and sample QAPPS:
– U.S. EPA Editable Template for Citizen Science QA and Documentation
– EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans
– EPA Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans
– EPA Guidance on Systematic Planning Using the Data Quality Objectives Process
– EPA Quality Assurance Project Plan Development Tool
– EPA Quality Assurance Handbook and toolkit for Participatory Science Projects
– EPA Handbook for Citizen Science QA Documentation
– EPA Examples for Citizen Science QA and Documentation
– EPA Template for Citizen Science QA and Documentation
– EPA Editable Template for Citizen Science QA and Documentation
– South Coast AQMD Sample QAPPs:
– Quality Assurance Project Plan for Criteria Pollutant Monitoring Program
– Quality Assurance Project Plan for AB 617 Community Air Monitoring Program
3. Grant Management Resources: To understand the administrative/financial aspects of the grant, the following references are important:
- Specific Administrative and Programmatic Conditions included in the grant award.
- EPA General Terms & Conditions accessible through this link: EPA General Terms and Conditions effective October 1, 2022 or later
- 2 CFR 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Internet search: “2 CFR 200” for various formats)
- For compliance requirements, use an internet search for the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number (CFDA). For EPA grants, the CFDA number format is 66.XXX and can be found on the left side of the EPA Funding Information page of the grant agreement.
- EPA Grant Handbook