Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Conner this week released the federally required annual review of the Allegheny County Health Department's Title V Air Quality Fund and permitting function, which showed repeat concerns with a backlog in permit issuance and accounting practices. Here’s what O’Connor’s office said in a release:   During 2023, the year the audit covers, 30 industrial pollution sources in Allegheny County were subject to Title V permitting.   “Given continuing concerns with air quality in our region, Allegheny County residents are fortunate to have our own air quality monitoring agency with the ability to set and enforce transparent standards for local industries. The Health Department has made progress in recent years in reducing the backlog of outstanding permits and in processing applications more quickly. However, our review shows that further improvements are needed to achieve full compliance with the Department’s obligations under the Clean Air Act,” O’Connor said.   As of the end of 2023, permits had not been issued or denied to five major pollution sources in the County within 18 months of application as required by federal statute. This was up from three outstanding applications at the close of 2022, including two permits outstanding in both years. The Health Department reported that one of these permits had been issued since the end of the audit period and that the others were in various stages of revision or review.   The audit also found that over $584,000 was due to the Title V fund from other funds within the Health Department’s Air Quality program due to cross-charges. Federal law requires funds derived from Title V permitting to be used exclusively for expenditures within the program. Current Department accounting practices could allow these funds to be used for other purposes, auditors found. The same finding was made in the 2022 audit and was not corrected, the audit report states.   “Responsibly maintaining and monitoring funding streams for air quality control across multiple functions of the Air Quality program is crucial to mitigating the impact of industrial pollution on all of our residents, especially highly vulnerable communities near major pollution sources. Along with this examination of the Title V fund, my office issued an audit earlier this year calling for more productive use of the Clean Air Fund designated for community projects related to air quality,” O’Connor said. “I am also in support of the current proposal to modernize the fee structure for air quality permitting, which will allow the Health Department to maintain and improve its work in this area without harmful funding constraints.”   GASP was the first to raise the alarm over ACHD’s Title V permit backlog. Our senior attorney John Baillie has been tracking the backlog and has crafted yearly investigations that you can read here. GASP staff is currently reviewing the report and will keep you posted. Until then: Here’s the Independent Auditor’s Report .   And here’s the complete  Independent Auditor’s Report on Internal Control and Compliance .

Did you hear? The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it has secured a $1.96 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop Pennsylvania-specific outreach and education materials to help communities build out clean, renewable energy projects.   The Renewable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning program (R-STEP) will help communities plan renewable energy projects that can lower utility costs and fight climate change. The R-STEP program aims to increase renewable energy development with more community buy-in and science-based siting for proposed projects. As the grant recipient, DEP along with a project team from the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS), Penn State Extension Energy Team, and Penn State Center for Energy Law and Policy will develop materials that help guide local governments — covering topics like state and federal permitting, community engagement, and local zoning. Since 2021, DEP has collaborated with the Pennsylvania R-STEP team, investing $270,000 from the State Energy Program (SEP) to provide training and technical assistance to local government officials on planning, siting, and permitting large-scale renewable energy projects.  DEP has conducted 26 listening sessions, reaching over 650 officials across all regions of the Commonwealth. These county-level sessions have offered local government practitioners to the opportunity to ask questions about the development of large-scale solar projects and understand the necessary steps to ensure responsible and sustainable implementation. Topics covered in these sessions include: land use and zoning ordinances site engineering and development and decommissioning requirements This initiative also led to the development of the Municipal Officials’ Guide to Grid-Scale Solar Development in Pennsylvania . With the R-STEP award, DEP will be able to expand this effort to reach more Pennsylvania communities and residents.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced $117 million for three separate funding opportunities to advance recycling infrastructure and boost food waste prevention education across the country. Two of the notices are for Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grants – one funding opportunity for Tribes and intertribal consortia and another for communities (such as cities, counties, and parishes) across the country. The third notice is for EPA's Recycling Education and Outreach grant program and is focused on food waste prevention and composting. Some communities that lack waste management infrastructure do not have curbside waste collection services, recycling, or composting programs, which increases the strain on local waste management systems and increases greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, mismanaged waste contributes to health and economic issues in historically underserved and overburdened communities. Increasing recycling reduces climate, environmental, and social impacts of materials use and keeps valuable resources in use instead of in landfills. Preventing wasted food from ending up in landfills plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The grant opportunities announced today will improve waste management systems and consumer education and outreach on waste prevention and recycling, meeting Congress' goal to create a stronger, more resilient, and cost-effective U.S. recycling system. These funding opportunities also put the concrete steps identified in the " National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics " into action. The projects that EPA will fund under the Recycling Education and Outreach grant selection—including a national education and outreach campaign—will lead to more recycling through composting, less wasted food from households, better markets for selling compost, and less contamination in the compost stream. Projects funded through the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grants will improve post-consumer materials management and infrastructure. In addition, the grants support EPA's "National Recycling Strategy " goal of building an economy devoted to keeping materials, products, and services in circulation for as long as possible – what's known as a circular economy. EPA anticipates releasing its final " National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution " in the coming months. All are part of EPA's series on creating a circular economy for all. Both the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling and Recycling Education and Outreach grant programs advance President Biden's historic Justice40 Initiative , which aims to deliver at least 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water, and other investments to communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. "We know that food waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions like methane," GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. "We hope both the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County will consider applying for this funding as another way to help improve our air quality." Wanna learn more? Here are some helpful links: Read more about eligible applicants and activities for this funding opportunity for recycling education and outreach . For information about the current recycling grant program recipients, visit the recycling grant recipient webpage. For more information on preventing wasted food, visit the Sustainable Management of Food webpage . Learn more about EPA's circular economy work .