U.S. EPA Press Release:

This press release was issued on Tuesday, November 10th in CNMI (Chamorro Standard Time)     

EPA awards over $2.4 million to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for environmental protection

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded over $2.4 million to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Bureau of Coastal and Environmental Quality (BECQ) to strengthen its capacity to protect human health and the environment.

“We are pleased to support BECQ programs that are committed to achieving a better environment for all the residents of CNMI. We know BECQ will continue to do excellent work,” said EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud.

“The BECQ is implementing essential environmental programs to support health and environment in the CNMI,” said Chad McIntosh, Assistant Administrator for International and Tribal Affairs.  “We are proud to provide needed resources to the BECQ for this important work."

BECQ uses U.S. EPA funding to support air, water, and land inspections; monitor the safety of beaches and drinking water; clean up contaminated sites; inspect fuel storage tanks; protect coral reefs; and, respond to emergencies. 

Other environmental priorities for the funds include:

• Ensuring access to potable drinking water for all CNMI residents and working to remove the need for boil-water notices.
• Improving watershed health, stream water quality, and coral reef health.
• Reducing potential environmental and public health harm from unsafe handling of hazardous waste.
• Providing technical assistance to farmers on proper pesticide application techniques and eliminating illegal importation and use of unregistered foreign pesticides.
• Enhancing shared accountability for environmental protection and cultural preservation through intergovernmental collaborations.

BECQ Administrator Eli Cabrera said of the award, “We welcome the news of this grant award, which will fund our environmental protection programs and services for the new fiscal year. These programs and services benefit everyone in the CNMI, as we all benefit from our pristine environmental resources. We are grateful to U.S. EPA Region 9 and also to our community, whose participation in our programs and services is crucial for effective environmental management." 

U.S. EPA funding for BECQ has been instrumental in enabling CNMI to advance several environmental priorities. For example, BECQ is able to regularly monitor 84 recreational beaches for microbiological contamination and provide notices to the public of any related risk. As a result of EPA support, BECQ is also able to support the clean-up and redevelopment of former industrial land that may be contaminated, test schools and other buildings for radon contamination, and respond to disasters such as typhoons.

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.

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For Immediate Release: November 9, 2020
Media Contact: Alejandro Diaz, 808-541-2711, diaz.alejandro@epa.gov

This press release was issued on Tuesday, November 10th in Guam (Chamorro Standard Time)     

U.S. EPA awards nearly $3.1 million to Guam for environmental protection

DEDEDO, Guam– Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $3,080,680 in grants in 2020 to the Guam Environmental Protection Agency (GEPA) to strengthen its environmental protection program capacity.

“We are pleased to support Guam EPA programs that are committed to achieving a better environment for Guam residents,” said EPA Regional Administrator John Busterud, “EPA continues to work closely with GEPA staff to develop priorities and provide technical assistance to improve environmental protection.”

Guam EPA will use EPA funding to support environmental inspections, monitor the safety of drinking water and beaches, clean up contaminated sites, inspect fuel storage tanks, protect coral reefs and respond to environmental emergencies.

The funding will enable GEPA to continue ongoing environmental programs including:

• Ensuring access to potable drinking water for all Guam residents.
• Improving watershed health, stream and marine water quality, and coral reef health.
• Reducing environmental and public health harm from unsafe handling of hazardous waste.
• Providing technical assistance to farmers on proper pesticide application techniques and eliminating illegal importation and use of unregistered foreign pesticides.
• Cleaning-up contaminated sites for productive use.
• Conducting inspections to prevent leaks from fuel storage tanks.
• Conducting radon assessments at homes and institutional buildings most at risk.

“We remain grateful for the financial and technical support from our partners at Region 9 as the Agency renews its capacity to serve our island, ensuring environmental stewardship and compliance through responsive, sustainable environmental programs and policies, especially during these times of uncertainty,” said Guam EPA administrator Walter S. Leon Guerrero.

Guam EPA has used previous US EPA funding on priority projects such as reducing stormwater runoff in the Guam watershed; protecting the Northern Guam Lens groundwater aquifer, Guam’s primary drinking water source; weekly monitoring of 44 recreational beaches for microbiological contamination; providing real-time public access to environmental data and updates to GEPA’s geographic information system; making the air permit application process more efficient for the public; and responding to disasters such as typhoons.

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.

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