Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

Soil Projects

The EMPACT Program funded projects in three main categories: (1) EMPACT Metro Grants, (2) EPA-led EMPACT Projects and (3) EPA Office of Research and Development Research Grants.

EMPACT Metro Grants support locally proposed and managed environmental monitoring and communication projects that emphasize active partnerships between local and state government, research institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, and the Federal Government. Local governments representing any of the 156 EMPACT metropolitan areas were eligible to apply for these grants.

The Community Environmental Resource Program (CERP) - St. Louis, MO; East St. Louis, IL:This project will develop an information and communication system which will allow citizens to know the characteristics, rehabilitation potential, security status, ownership and health risks of abandoned and derelict buildings, illegal dumping and brown field properties in the City of St. Louis, MO, East St. Louis, Il and Wellston, MO.

EPA-Sponsored EMPACT Projects were open to EPA Program and Regional Offices and are executed in partnership with local EMPACT metropolitan communities. There are three types of EPA-sponsored projects:
(1) EPA-led Projects: These projects leverage EPA's expertise in implementation of environmental monitoring and information management while building capacity and infrastructure in communities to deliver current environmental data and information.
(2) Technology Transfer Projects: These projects replicate technologies and procedures from fully-implemented EMPACT Projects in adopting communities where they are tailored to meets the unique needs of these communities.
(3) Integration Projects: These projects integrate or network current local environmental monitoring, data delivery/ management and appropriate quality controls among multiple EMPACT Projects or monitoring programs and provide the resulting information in a format that is useful and relevant to users.

Dorchester Lead-Safe Yards Community Lead Assessment - Boston, MA: Provides time-relevant soil lead concentration data so that residents can make educated decisions that will reduce the exposure of pre-school children to lead, and reduce the incidence of elevated blood levels throughout a community within the Boston metropolitan area. National Lead Safe Yard (HUD): In January 2000, EPA New England and the National Center for Lead Safe Housing submitted a joint unsolicited research proposal for the development of efficacy data for the LSYP. The proposal was successful and will be funded by HUD through an interagency agreement with EPA New England. This research study will leverage the three LSYPs slated for 2000 and also capture data from phase I & II of the EMPACT LSYP. The data gathering project will include a retrospective evaluation of the soil intervention work conducted during the summers of 1998 and 1999 and collection of data before, during and after intervention work slated for the summer of 2000. The principle objective of the project is the preparation of a technical paper that will document the effectiveness of low cost interim soil control measures in reducing risk to residents and to make this data available to HUD for policy development.

Quantitative Environmental Indicators of Contamination (QEIC) EMPACT Project - NJ:
Uses a set of basic scientific measures known as quantitative environmental indicators of contamination (QEICs) to summarize the quality of soil, groundwater, and the impact of groundwater contamination on surface water at contaminated sites in communities.

Syracuse Lead Dust Outreach, Monitoring and Education Project: (106 pp, 1.6MB, About PDF) - Syracuse, NY: This project is designed to measure the lead dust content in homes and public buildings within the City of Syracuse, NY. The project also contains an educational component which targets families and landlords in an effort to inform them about lead dust hazards and appropriate control measures. Aided by community-based organization partners, HEPA vacuums will be made available for loan. The project will publish data and other relevant project information on their web site.

Syracuse Lead Safe Yards (SLSY). This project will replicate techniques utilized in the Boston-based Dorchester Lead Safe Yard project to provide time-relevant soil lead concentration data to residents of Syracuse. To reduce the exposure of pre-school children to lead and reduce the incidence of elevated blood lead levels throughout the community, SLSY will provide a community based program for applying low-cost, on site soil mitigation methods as a primary intervention for lead contaminate residential soil. This project will empower the local government and local community groups with the equipment, training and communication tools necessary to continue to provide their citizens with the specific information needed to promote informed decision-making.

EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) conducts research in innovative monitoring and measurement technologies, as well as in tools to interpret data streams and to increase the quality and the number of environmental parameters that can be monitored and reported in EMPACT communities.

There are currently no Research Grants researching soil monitoring technologies.