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.

April 12, 2023
EGLE Media Office, [email protected], 517-284-9278
Mary Pressley, EPA Region 5 media relations, [email protected], 312-886-1443

ICYMI: $3 million federal grant to help Michigan cut climate pollution, grow clean energy economy

Grant precedes launch of $4.6 billion in competitive federal funding

During Michigan’s first MI Healthy Climate Conference this week, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and Governor Gretchen Whitmer highlighted a $3 million planning grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The money will help develop innovative strategies to cut climate pollution and expand Michigan’s clean energy economy. In March, the U.S. EPA announced the availability of the funds from the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program created by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

“Michigan has the momentum and together, we will define the future of climate action, clean energy, and manufacturing,” said Governor Whitmer, who spoke about the grant at the conference. “I am grateful to EGLE for bringing leading policymakers and action takers together in Detroit for the MI Healthy Climate Conference, and I know that by fostering collaboration, we can pursue job-creating, cost-reducing climate action that will grow our economy and protect our natural resources for generations to come. We recently won a $3 million federal grant to implement the MI Healthy Climate Plan, and I proposed over $1 billion of investments in my budget to lower the cost of electric vehicles, reduce industrial emissions, and protect clean air and water in schools. I am a climate optimist because I know that In the months and years ahead, we will compete for every dollar possible from recently passed federal legislation so we can create good-paying clean energy jobs, lower emissions, and build a brighter future for our kids.”

The Mi Healthy Climate Conference, which concludes today, focuses on mobilizing action around Governor Whitmer’s climate commitments as laid out in the MI Healthy Climate Plan, a blueprint for moving Michigan forward on greenhouse gas reductions and the economic opportunities that can be created in communities from climate action across the state. Nearly 600 engaged stakeholders, community and business leaders, advocates, and other partners are participating in the conference.

“The MI Healthy Climate Plan was built with input from hundreds of Michiganders over 18 months to chart a path forward for meeting Governor Whitmer’s climate commitments culminating in statewide carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Cory Connolly, Climate and Energy Advisor at the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. “This federal support will refine that plan and accelerate its implementation. It also will help in engaging and receiving input from communities across Michigan, especially low-income areas that are typically hit ‘first and worst’ by climate impacts. It is vital that all Michiganders share in the protections and benefits of the Climate Plan, and this moves us toward that goal.”

CPRG planning grants will support states, territories, tribes, municipalities, and air agencies in creating comprehensive, innovative strategies for reducing pollution and ensuring that investments maximize benefits, especially for low-income and disadvantaged communities. These climate plans will include:

• Greenhouse gas emissions inventories
• Emissions projections and reduction targets
• Economic, health, and social benefits, including to low-income and disadvantaged communities
• Plans to leverage other sources of federal funding, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act
• Workforce needs to support decarbonization and a clean energy economy
• Future government staffing and budget needs

The EPA is expected to launch a competition for an additional $4.6 billion in funding to implement projects and initiatives included in the plans in the Spring of 2024, which Michigan is eligible to receive. The state can also use this funding to develop strategies for using the other grant, loan, and tax provisions secured by President Biden’s historic legislation, including the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to achieve it clean energy, climate, and environmental justice goals.

Grants will boost energy efficiency in low-income communities

Eleven congregations poised to reduce fossil fuel use, lower expenses

Eleven houses of worship in low-income Michigan neighborhoods from Detroit to the Upper Peninsula will become more energy efficient with support from a $1.24 million grant of federal funds through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).

Based on criteria including financial need and service to low-income communities, the 11 congregations of various faiths and denominations will each receive $100,000 Sacred Spaces Clean Energy Grants to make improvements that reduce their consumption of fossil fuels for electricity, heating, and cooling.

The program required applicants to have annual budgets under $250,000, 50 or more members, at least 10 years of operation, buildings open to the public, and active programs responding to human needs, such as food pantries or health clinics. Applicants within environmental justice communities received preference. Awardees are:

• Greensky Hill Indian United Methodist Church, Charlevoix.
• Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Chassell Township.
• Muslim Center Mosque and Community Center, Detroit.
• Pilgrim Baptist Church, Detroit.
• New Mt. Hermon Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit.
• Peter’s Episcopal Church, Detroit.
• Suzanne/Our Lady Gate of Heaven Catholic Parish, Detroit.
• Asbury United Methodist Church, Flint.
• Trinity Reformed Church, Grand Rapids.
• Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Kalamazoo.
• Luke Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Saginaw.

“The Sacred Spaces Clean Energy grants will lower costs for houses of worship across Michigan, from our city centers to our rural areas,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “Making energy efficiency upgrades to heating, cooling, and electrical systems for these 11 congregations will reduce their utility bills, while helping them dedicate more of their resources toward serving their communities. Let’s keep working together to lower costs and support communities across our state.”

Open to applicants of any faith or denomination, the grant program is a pilot project of the Climate Witness Project (CWP), a partnership between the nonprofit World Renew and the Christian Reformed Church of North America, both of Grand Rapids, Michigan. A World Renew committee selected the honorees and chose the nonprofit Michigan Interfaith Power & Light (Michigan IPL) to lead the grant.

“Congregations are on the front lines of meeting the spiritual and material needs of their communities,” said Michigan IPL Executive Director Leah Wiste. “By investing in energy improvements in these 11 under-resourced congregations, we are shoring up the economic and environmental sustainability of vital community hubs and funneling resources to those with the greatest need.”

Michigan IPL engaged the Detroit-based sustainable development nonprofit EcoWorks for technical assistance.

“We wholeheartedly support the Sacred Spaces grant eliminating disproportionate energy burdens for low-income congregations, inclusive of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities statewide,” said EcoWorks Director of Strategic Initiatives Briana DuBose. “We see this as an opportunity to make a true investment in faith-based organizations, which allows for true systematic change in the community.”

Kris Van Engen, justice mobilizer with World Renew, praised the awardees willing to step up.

“Making renovations to a busy, community service-oriented building isn’t easy, so we plan to provide support to make it a smooth process,” Van Engen said. “We expect that this grant will be a resource for and bring deserved positive attention to leaders who are already making a difference on environmental justice issues in their communities.”

In awardees’ words:

“It’s something that congregations such as ours, which are in a low-income area, are thankful for. The savings will allow us to do more for our community and seniors and expand our programming to meet the needs of the community.”

Pastor Millard Southern, Allen Chapel AME Church, Kalamazoo

“This grant enables us to be as innovative as we can. We see education and programming for both youth and adults as a key component of the project. This is an opportunity to educate our community on green practices and what that could mean in their communities.”

Steve Wasko, St. Suzanne/Our Lady Gate of Heaven Catholic Parish, Detroit

Learn more:

Support for the grant comes from the U.S. Department of Energy and EGLE under Award Number EE0008653. For more information about Energy Services work, please visit EGLE’s Energy webpage.

Congregations can learn more on the Climate Witness Project website. Michigan contractors interested in receiving notification once requests for proposals are released are encouraged to fill out the online “Contractor Interest” form.