Scrap Tire Grants available for 2024

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is pleased to announce the availability of grants that promote and support the cleanup and reuse of scrap tires in Michigan.

Scrap tires pose a fire risk and a human health risk as mosquito breeding grounds.  Through grants, scrap tires can be processed and used in paving products for roads, manufactured products, and energy production.

The Scrap Tire Cleanup Grant is available for property owners to clean up old or abandoned scrap tire piles. EGLE will give priority to collection sites where tires were accumulated prior to Jan. 1, 1991, as well as collection sites that pose an imminent threat to public health, safety, welfare, or the environment. Local units of government and nonprofit organizations are also eligible for funding for cleanup days and roadside cleanup grants.

Scrap Tire Market Development Grants are available to fund up to 50% of total eligible costs for projects that demonstrate new or increased uses of scrap tires in manufactured products or paving projects. EGLE will prioritize proposals based on the amount of scrap tire material being used in developing the project or product, demonstration of a new use of scrap tire material, and demonstration of a viable market for a proposed product.

To apply for a grant, visit the Scrap Tire Website and select the appropriate link under “Grant Information,” or contact us at [email protected].

EGLE will accept Scrap Tire Cleanup and Market Development Grant Applications with all supporting documentation received on or before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.

EGLE partners to develop plan to reduce food system waste

Project seeks stakeholders from across Michigan’s food system to solve challenges of waste and carbon emissions

A $100,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) will help reduce Michigan food waste and carbon emissions in line with goals in the MI Healthy Climate Plan.

EGLE’s support will boost work by the nonprofit Michigan Sustainable Business Forum, Make Food Not Waste, Center for EcoTechnology, and an advisory council of industry stakeholders and national experts to develop a Michigan Food System Waste Reduction Road Map to inform state and local decision makers of policies and programs that encourage decarbonization by reducing waste in production and distribution in various food sectors.

Michigan disposes of more than one million tons of food waste through its municipal waste stream each year. Food waste is the largest source of material disposed of in the state’s landfills and waste-to-energy facilities. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates, 30%-40% of the state’s food supply is lost to waste. The nonprofit Project Drawdown estimates that wasted food is responsible for roughly 8% of global emissions and ranks food waste reduction as the most impactful solution to address climate change.

The MI Healthy Climate Plan – Michigan’s roadmap to a healthy, prosperous, carbon-neutral economy for all Michiganders by 2050 – recommends that Michigan adopt and pursue a joint USDA/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency goal to reduce food loss and waste by half no later than 2030.

The food waste roadmap project will engage stakeholders throughout Michigan’s food system in identifying strategies to guide policymakers on potential incentives, funding mechanisms, technical assistance, outreach, policy changes, and other programs that could be developed to reduce food waste among Michigan businesses and institutions.

The project team is seeking collaborators to join a series of virtual discussions to develop recommendations for cross-sector solutions. Sessions will present current research and the potential applicability of best practices and policies and will draft recommendations for each interest area. Individuals with experience in food loss or food waste within agriculture, food processing and production, grocery and retail, food service, and transportation and logistics sectors are invited to participate by signing up on the Michigan Sustainable Business Forum website, misbf.org, or at https://form.jotform.com/230866368233158.

Working sessions will focus on the following topics:

• Production standards: Current date labeling verbiage and utilization and potential universal verbiage and standardization of low-waste and efficient packaging and production protocols.
• Food donation: Current liability and incentive policies for food donation, technical support needed for constructive donations, and the Michigan food recovery landscape.
• Waste reduction technologies, practice improvements, employee training: Best practices for waste reduction, including supply chain demand planning, methods for measuring food waste, and barriers to effective employee training and engagement.
• Secondary markets: Channels for food surplus (such as animal feed and FlashFood); best practices for food measurement and transport; price impact concerns; business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and upcycling programs; and education and communication tools for industry sectors and the public.
• Infrastructure improvements: Food industry stakeholders’ needs for food collection, processing, storage, and distribution. Resources needed to overcome infrastructure barriers.
• Community awareness and education: Practices to reach household markets with recommendations, involve industry sectors to lead and educate the community, and innovative ideas and progress in food waste reduction.
• Agency collaboration and leadership: Mutually beneficial food system partnerships, how to invite changing perspectives, and how to distribute resources and materials through trusted agencies.

EGLE statement on Southeast Michigan meeting ozone standards

“Ozone attainment is a significant achievement,” said Aaron Keatley, acting EGLE director. “It is a testament to the strides we have made in improving air quality in Michigan’s largest and most industrialized region.”

Meeting the national ozone standard does not mean that the work to reduce ozone in the area stops. When an area is designated back to attainment, federal law requires states to establish a maintenance plan that shows how it will continue to meet the standard. EGLE’s redesignation request (Section 4) includes Michigan’s maintenance plan detailing how air quality will be maintained considering projected growth for a period of 20 years. If future monitoring shows that ozone levels are no longer meeting the criteria, the maintenance plan helps determine the ways the problem will be addressed.

While the region is meeting the federal ozone standards, effects from other air pollutants continue to be a concern in some neighborhoods, particularly those in heavily industrialized areas, which are often in low-income communities of color.

“Our work is not done,” said Keatley.  “EGLE is keenly aware and is working diligently to address neighborhoods where proximity to industry and transportation corridors continues to have disproportionate impact. EGLE is committed to expanding our ozone success in similar ways to further reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, particulate emissions, and air toxics.”

EGLE’s ongoing air quality work in Southeast Michigan includes:

• Continuing to monitor for ozone. EGLE currently has 26 monitoring stations for ozone in the state with eight in southeast Michigan. Monitoring data is available to the public on EGLE’s Air Monitoring webpage.

• Making improvements to the air monitoring network. The draft network review is currently out for comment and includes proposals for a new site around Northeast Detroit near GM Hamtramck and US Ecology-North to measure fine particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM₅) and black carbon. It is anticipated to be functional in the fall of 2023 or spring of 2024. A new site is also being proposed with a continuous fine particulate (PM_2.5) sampler in an enclosure at a location in Marquette, and new continuous fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) samplers for the Oak Park, E. 7 Mile, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians tribal site in Manistee.

• Continuing to collaborate with the city of Detroit in an advisory role and remaining available to provide guidance upon request for the successful deployment and operation of their citywide particulate monitoring program.

• Working to develop a strategy for deployment of air sensors in different areas around the state and in collaborative projects with local partner organizations and communities. Some are already available through EGLE’s environmental lending station.

• Conducting inspection and enforcement initiatives focused on environmental justice communities, like the ones done in partnership with the EPA in North Detroit and Flint over the last year.

• Partnering with community and advocacy groups, as well as state and federal agencies on education around air quality concerns and health.