Biden

Monday, August 28, 2023 at 7:59 AM

Washington, D.C. (KINY) - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is investing $808 million to help rural cooperatives and utilities build and improve electric infrastructure and increase electric grid reliability and security, connecting hundreds of thousands of people in rural areas. This funding will also help provide clean drinking water and sanitary wastewater systems in rural areas for years to come.

The announcement will benefit nearly 480,000 people in 36 states and two U.S. territories while building and strengthening rural infrastructure, and creating good-paying jobs.

The funding announced advances President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, to grow the American economy from the middle-out and bottom-up – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over $500 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating good-paying jobs and building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.

“USDA invests in rural America because we know strong communities are rooted in their people,” Secretary Vilsack said. “Powering people with modern infrastructure creates good-paying jobs and supports opportunities for people to build brighter futures. The investments we’re announcing today demonstrate the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to ensuring that people who live and work in rural areas have every opportunity to succeed – and that they can find those opportunities right at home.”

The 139 investments announced today will help people living in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Puerto Rico and the Marshall Islands.

For Alaska:

Zender Environmental Health and Research Group is receiving $265,700 in grants. This investment will be used to deliver a series of solid waste management trainings and provide direct assistance for three villages. The training sessions will cover Landfill Equipment Operationand Maintenance, Rural Refrigerant Recovery, and Climate Change Planning for Solid Waste Utilities and Budgeting. In Shaktoolik, direct assistance will reduce black carbon pollution and improve landfill operation safety. In Kongiganak, direct assistance will reduce CFC pollutants and repurpose scrap. In Akiachak, direct assistance will reduce waste pollution and improve landfill operations. This rural development investment willalso be used to generate and distribute educational materials on the topics of Fish Net and Tire Recycling and provide one-on-one support to trainees and distressed communities on solid waste, climate change planning, water quality, and backhaul

Alaska Forum Inc. is receiving $111,700 in grants that will be used to provide solid waste management training to Alaska landfill operators. The training will include how to manage household hazardous waste.