The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Wednesday announced the availability of 2007 State assistance funding under the Environmental Justice Community Impact Research Grant program.

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. Environmental justice efforts focus on improving the environment in under served communities, specifically minority and low-income communities, addressing disproportionate adverse environmental impacts that may exist in those communities, and ensuring meaningful public participation and environmental benefits.

The Environmental Justice Grants are being made available to local groups that address environmental and/or related public health problems in their communities. Applicants must be located in their proposed project area and must have over 50 percent of their members living in that area. Each applicant community group must either be a Not-For-Profit Corporation or partner with an NFP that will act as the financial agent for the group.

Eligible grant projects must address the exposure of communities to multiple environmental harms and risks and include research and education components. Grants will range from the minimum amount of $2,500 to the maximum amount of $25,000. DEC will determine the amount of the grant award based on the scope of the project identified in the application. In 2006, more than $220,000 in funding was awarded. For 2007, nearly $800,000 in grant funding is available.

Projects that could be eligible for Environmental Justice Grants include but are not limited to community inventories of industrial, municipal, or commercial facilities; assessment and removal of mercury in schools; mobile source emission tracking and monitoring; demonstration projects such as green rooftops and alternative energy projects; research into harms and risks to subsistence fishing populations that use waterways restricted for fish consumption; or projects to identify industrial, commercial or municipal processes that result in pollution, and monitoring the impacts on a community. All research projects must be used to expand the community's knowledge and understanding of how to mitigate exposure to environmental impacts and improve quality of life.