Public Encouraged to Submit Comments in Writing Before March 31 Deadline
Ohio EPA will hold a public hearing, Friday, March 24, 2023, on proposed funding priorities for the Ohio Environmental Education Fund (OEEF) for July 2023 through June 2024.
The meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m., March 24, in Conference Room A (Autumn) at Ohio EPA, 50 West Town Street, Columbus.
Comments received in writing will be given equal consideration to those that are received at the hearing.
OEEF provides grants for environmental education projects that benefit the regulated community, pre-school through university students and teachers, and Ohio adults. Priority focus areas for the grant program include education efforts to:
- Encourage careers in environmental science and environmental engineering;
- Reduce nutrient loading to Ohio’s streams and lakes, improve water quality, and prevent harmful algal blooms;
- Improve air quality by reducing emissions;
- Improve water quality by managing storm water and reducing nutrient loadings into streams and lakes that can result in Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs); and
- Encourage habitat restoration to improve biodiversity and improve air and water quality.
In addition to awarding environmental education grants, the OEEF also supports priorities through several outreach initiatives:
• Water Quality Education: Ohio EPA coordinates the national Project Wet (Water Education for Teachers), Healthy Water, Healthy People and Getting Little Feet Wet curricula by offering educator and facilitator workshops. Agency staff help citizen scientists, environmental professionals, volunteers, and school classes monitor the health of local streams through Ohio’s credible data program. The OEEF also funds Ohio EPA’s annual sponsorship of the Ohio Storm Water Conference.
• Promoting Environmental Careers: OEEF supports college scholarships for Ohio students in environmental science and engineering, and competitions for K-12 students including State Science Day, the Future City engineering competition for middle schools, the Ohio Envirothon competition for high schools, and the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council’s “Teachers, Industry and the Environment” conference. A partnership with the Environmental Education Council of Ohio and the Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources is supporting a statewide network of more than 450 environmental professionals visiting schools as career ambassadors.
The law that created OEEF requires the program to develop an agenda (with spending priorities) for each fiscal year. After a public hearing, the agenda is submitted to the Ohio General Assembly April 1.
A fact sheet on the 2024 annual agenda is available on Ohio EPA’s website. Comments about the annual agenda can be sent to Carolyn Watkins, Ohio EPA Office of Environmental Education. P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049, or e-mail to oeef@epa.ohio.gov. Comments received by 5 p.m. on March 31 will be included in the official record.