(10/07/15) HONOLULU - The E.P.A. is providing $11.5 million to American Samoa for environmental protection work.
"EPA's backing enables American Samoa to advance their goals in the pursuit of clean air, water and land as part of our "Making a Visible Difference" initiative," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. "We congratulate the American Samoa Le Ofisa O Puipuiaga O le Si'osi'omaga and ASPA for their work benefitting the island residents and their resources."
In June, E.P.A. announced its commitment to American Samoa to combat drinking water and climate change challenges as part of the Agency's
Making a Visible Difference in Communities effort in 50 communities nationwide. The effort is designed to direct technical assistance and other resources to advance the goals of these 50 communities. By supporting American Samoa E.P.A. (ASEPA) and American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) through programmatic and infrastructure grants, as well as new backing sources for wetlands and groundwater protection, E.P.A. is working alongside American Samoa to address its toughest environmental challenges.
ASPA, the agency that provides utility services to residents, will gain over $9 million from EPA. Nearly all of it will be used for water infrastructure to enhance drinking water quality, including removing existing boil water notices, as well as prevent water pollution. $42,000 of the backing will be used for solar power battery storage to support renewable energy on the Manu'a islands.
ASEPA, the agency that implements the environmental programs, will gain over $2.2 million to support air, water, and land inspections, monitor the safety of beaches and drinking water, clean up sites contaminated by waste, enhance piggery compliance, and respond to emergencies.
Additionally, for the 1st time ASEPA will also gain $292,000 in 2015-2016 Wetlands Plan Development Grants to conduct water quality monitoring and assess the health of watersheds and their adjacent coral reefs.
American Samoa E.P.A. Environmental Plan Priorities include:
· Improving their ability to assess watershed health, stream water quality, and coral reef health. This includes a comprehensive ridge-to-reef assessment Plan and collection of data that can be used to predict threats to ecosystem health in the watersheds, pinpoint specific sources of degradation, and develop models for identifying threats to coral, plus develop a training toolkit using ecosystem health monitoring criteria.
· Work to remove the existing boil water notice areas on Tutuila, and ensure access to potable drinking water for 100 percent of American Samoa residents;
· Protect Faga'alu Watershed, designated a priority watershed by the US Coral Reef Task Force, and its coral reefs through the reduction of silt and contaminants into Faga'alu stream.
· Protect human health and reduce leptospirosis through implementation of ASEPA's Piggery Compliance Program;
· Protect coastal waters, coral reefs and indigenous biota through water quality monitoring and beach monitoring to help ensure American Samoa has clean beaches for swimming and fishing;
· Conduct outreach and education to American Samoa's schools and communities, the "Keep American Samoa Beautiful (KASB) Campaign, and American Samoa's Anti-Litter Program; Clean up and development contaminated sites;
· Educate farmers on proper pesticide application techniques, and eliminate illegal importation and use of unregistered/foreign pesticides;
· Inspect underground and above ground fuel storage tanks;
· Emergency response, hazardous waste, and clean air Plan management.
The EPA's Pacific Southwest Region (Region 9) administers and enforces federal environmental laws in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands and 148 tribal nations -- home to in excess of 48 million people.
