PROVIDENCE – As smoke from Canadian wildfires hung in the air last week, the state received $178,046 toward air quality monitoring.
The federal funding, provided under the Clean Air Act and announced by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., will allow the R.I. Department of Environmental Management to gather, evaluate and publicly distribute data on local air quality.
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Though the request for funding predates the air quality alerts present across Rhode Island for several days last week, Reed highlighted the effects of the wildfires as a reminder that the state must be prepared for air quality events.
“Clean air is critical to public health and our quality of life,” Reed said in a statement. “Air pollution has no boundaries or respect for borders and state lines. Rhode Island, New England, and other East Coast states are being impacted by this significant Canadian wildfire.
“Hopefully conditions will soon improve,” he continued. “Until then, this type of federal funding can help us be better informed and prepared and we must continue working to prevent pollution and improve air quality.”
The funding follows a previous $500,000 allocated to the R.I. Department of Health to facilitate air quality monitoring in Providence, awarded under the Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan Act.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
