Tuesday, April 23, 2024
4/23/2024
Wisconsin's and ATSDR's Partnership to Promote Localized Efforts To Reduce Environmental Exposures Wisconsin’s Cooperative Agreement to Conduct and Coordinate Site-Specific Health Activities, continuously funded by ATSDR since 1987, emphasizes objectives that aim to reduce risks posed by hazardous waste sites. As of 2016 Wisconsin (population 5,813,568; 2018 estimate) has 37 sites on the Superfund/National Priorities List (NPL) and 241 sites listed in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System (CERCLIS), and approximately 10,000 Brownfield and other contaminated sites that threaten human health and the environment. A number of additional sites in Wisconsin are expected to be added to CERCLIS in the next few years. The Wisconsin Division of Public Health (DPH) proposes an integrated program, under the ATSDR/APPLETREE Cooperative Agreement, to address chemically contaminated properties through public health assessment and targeted community outreach. DPH APPLETREE will continue to build and utilize our strong relationships with a broad range of partners that includes local, state, and federal health and environmental agencies, other public and private sector partners, and non-APPLETREE DPH staff. Under this plan, DPH aims to protect the citizens of Wisconsin from environmental hazards and toxic exposures by providing timely assessments of human health risks at chemically contaminated priority sites that include NPL, RCRA, ATSDR-petitioned and other key sites. DPH APPLETREE will: provide recommendations for public health interventions to reduce or eliminate exposures to hazardous substances at sites; educate communities, partners, and policy makers about environmental health risks and interventions associated with contaminated sites; build capacity at the state and local level to better deal with current and future site-specific exposures to chemical hazards through statewide educational activities; and promote policy-level initiatives to prevent hazardous exposures. DPH APPLETREE’s proposal places special emphasis on under-served and vulnerable populations, such as tribes, persons with disabilities, English as a second language communities, children and the elderly. DPH will enhance and expand its Choose Safe Places for Early Care and Education pilot program, providing increased outreach and guidance for the safe siting of child care operations and increasing services to these populations. DPH will work with relevant partners in these efforts and develop plans for long-term sustainability of this program. DPH will also work on two strategies as part of Component 2 funding to build state capacity to prevent harmful exposures to chemicals and address health disparities. DPH will work with local and tribal health departments to increase inclusion of environmental health considerations, especially chemical hazards, in long-term public health planning efforts. DPH will also increase its reach among additional academic institutions increase to recruit a diverse interns and field experience candidates to conduct projects focused on underserved populations. The new three-year APPLETREE cooperative agreement will allow DPH to (1) maintain its strong capacity to protect public health at sites of chemical contamination, (2) enhance Wisconsin’s ability to address health disparities by integrating health equity, environmental health content, and prevention practices in existing programs, policies, and practices, and (3) help develop our future environmental health workforce.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
