My Community

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Public Health and Environmental Protection for All Arizonans

Revised on: May 9, 2022 - 4:21pm

ADEQ supports equal access, meaningful involvement and fair treatment to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to developing, implementing and enforcing environmental laws, regulations and policies that protect and enhance public health and Arizona’s unique environment.

In addition to My Community, some examples of the tools and resources ADEQ has created to increase accessibility to data, provide notice of opportunities to contribute to decision making, and offer opportunities for individuals and communities to manage their environmental exposures follow:

Arizona Counties Demographic and Environmental Dashboard — ADEQ has developed an online tool that provides Arizonans with environmental and demographic data for each county in the state | Learn More >
Place-based Community Liaisons — To assist the public and regulated community in all parts of the state, ADEQ established place-based Community Liaisons covering six regions in Arizona | View Region Map > | Community Liaison Contacts >

Letters of Support — Organizations interested in applying for federal environmental justice grants can request letters of support from ADEQ. For additional information, contact ADEQ’s Title VI Nondiscrimination Coordinator | Email >

Program-Specific Compliance Assistance — To improve facility compliance with environmental regulations, ADEQ seeks opportunities to educate facility owners and operators in a way that will yield the best understanding of legal and technical requirements. One such example is development and distribution of  English/Spanish posters to auto and tire shops throughout the state to provide shop owners and the public with information on properly identifying, storing and disposing of waste tires | View Poster >

Environmental Protection at Arizona’s border with Mexico — Our Border Environmental Protection team is a group of uniquely qualified environmental professionals that work closely with our environmental and public health colleagues in Mexico to improve air quality, the management of solid waste and the quality of surface and groundwater on both sides of Arizona’s border with Mexico. The team also assists other ADEQ programs and community partners to address the unique challenges present along the border including bilingual communication of technical and compliance information, assistance in identifying and applying for border specific grants and facilitating problem solving with state and federal agencies on both sides of the border.

 

State-to-state collaboration is a primary focus of the team. Through development of the Arizona-Sonora Environmental Strategic Plan, over $1M in grant funding was garnered to implement priority projects in air and water quality and waste management in the region between 2017 and 2021.

 

The team has been instrumental in implementing environmental improvements for border communities including air quality monitors to assess the impact of air pollution originating from Mexico, an air quality smartphone app (Air Arizona) for Nogales and Yuma, and allocation of over $38M in federal, state and non-profit funding to upgrade the International Outfall Interceptor, which conveys wastewater from Nogales, Sonora, to Rio Rico, Arizona, for treatment. The team also collaborated with U.S. and Mexico partnering agencies to stop intermittent cross-border sewage flows into Naco, Arizona — through repair and replacement of leaking pipes connected to the Naco, Sonora wastewater treatment system, no cross-border sewage flows into Naco, Arizona, have occurred since December 2018 | Learn More >

Air Arizona App — People living in areas designated as not attaining air quality standards can have forecasts delivered to the palm of their hand so they can plan their days to reduce impacts of air pollution | Learn More >

Enhanced Voluntary Vehicle Repair Program (VVRP) — VVRP helps people with vehicles that have failed emissions inspection tests offset the costs for emissions-related repairs — repairs that reduce vehicle emissions and improve the quality of the air we breathe.  From Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, when the program began, through FY2021, VVRP has eliminated an estimated 864 tons of pollutants associated with vehicle emissions by facilitating repair or retrofit of over 6,263 vehicles — the equivalent of eliminating pollution from 22,686 cars. VVRP also has saved participating vehicle owners more than $3.1 million for these emissions-related vehicle repairs | Learn More >

Air Quality Flag Program — ADEQ’s Air Quality Flag Program promotes a healthy environment for our children, workers, family, friends and neighbors by providing Arizona communities with resources to inform residents about local outdoor air quality conditions, how air pollution impacts health, actions we can take to protect ourselves and ways we can improve the quality of the air we breathe. At any given time, there are more than 200 active participants in the program working to inform communities in Cochise, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties | Learn More >

GateWay Community College Respiratory Therapy Student Britain Guliford shares her inspirational story of what motivated her to bring ADEQ's Air Quality Flag Program to GateWay's campus to help protect her fellow students and local community  | Watch the Video >
Small Water Systems Fund — Small drinking water systems (serving 10,000 or fewer people) are often the sole water provider in rural areas and lack the customer base and revenue required for costly repairs or upgrades required to serve clean drinking water. ADEQ, in consultation with the Arizona Corporation Commission, makes recommendations to the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) to provide grants for small water systems to make infrastructure improvements necessary to maintain healthy and reliable water for their customers. 68 percent of grants recommended by ADEQ totaling over $1 million have been awarded to disadvantaged communities, as defined by WIFA | Visit WIFA to Learn More >

Water Emergency Team — ADEQ leads a multi-agency Water Emergency Team that consists of state government and water industry representatives. The team facilitates immediate relief to water providers and their customers in cases where a water emergency poses an imminent threat to public health and safety from issues like acute contaminants in drinking water or water outages. Since the Water Emergency Team was established in 2016, the team has addressed more than 95 water emergencies statewide. The team also provides guidance and support to all engaged organizations involved in a water emergency.
Brownfields Assistance Program — Brownfields are abandoned or underutilized properties where reuse is complicated by actual or perceived environmental contamination. ADEQ recognizes the impact these Brownfields can have on a community, particularly properties with unresolved environmental issues. Local governments, non-profits, Tribes and hospitals, schools, and police and fire districts may apply for funding through ADEQ’s Brownfields Assistance Program. As of December 2021, ADEQ has awarded 126 Brownfields Grants throughout the state | View Map > |  Watch the Video > | Learn More About Brownfields Grants >
Tank Site Improvement Program (TSIP) — Legislation passed in 2015 authorized ADEQ to provide financial assistance to underground storage tank (UST) owners, operators and property owners to offset the cost of specific tank site improvements that help prevent or reduce the chance of a future release of petroleum contamination into the environment and future costly cleanup activities. Applications for financial assistance are prioritized based on potential impacts to human health receptors, including schools, childcare centers and medical facilities. The age and construction of the UST system and other site-specific conditions are also considered during prioritization | Learn More About TSIP >
US EPA Environmental Justice Underground Storage Tank Pilot Project — ADEQ volunteered to help develop and participate in a pilot program with EPA and other states to generate options for potential grant resource allocation changes states can make to advance environmental justice as a priority. The pilot is being designed and will be deployed in calendar year 2022. EPA’s “EJ Screen” tool and Arizona-specific data will be utilized to assess and direct grant resources to communities that meet environmental justice criteria established by the pilot.
Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund Community Advisory Boards — ADEQ is committed to keeping the public informed and involved in situations where hazardous materials impact the environment. Community involvement activities for WQARF sites are designed to help impacted communities understand the cleanup process and provide input on ADEQ decisions related to cleanup activities in their community. ADEQ facilitates establishment of a Community Advisory Board (CAB), the creation of a Community Involvement Plan (CIP), and issues public notices and holds public meetings designed to provide and receive information.  In fiscal year 2021 alone, ADEQ completed 31 public notices and meetings to share site updates and to provide an opportunity for local communities to share their thoughts on WQARF site activities | View Map > | Learn More >
Accessibility — ADEQ takes reasonable measures, including providing bilingual guidance documents, to provide access to department services to individuals with limited ability to speak, write or understand English and/or to those with speech, hearing, vision, learning or other impairments | Learn More >

 

Data are updated semi-annually