The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia
Monday, 13 November 2023 13:01

Tennessee developing a plan to reduce polution

Tennessee wants to prioritize a developing plan to reduce pollution causing climate warming and wants to hear from residents. A survey was created for residents to share what they wanted to see in a statewide climate pollution reduction plan. The survey closed on Nov. 15.

This planning process is being led by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and is part of the Tennessee Volunteer Emission Reduction Strategy (TVERS), an emission reduction plan currently being developed by TDEC with support from various partners. This plan is funded through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program, which was established in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA).

 

Through this program, funding is being provided to states, local governments, air pollution control agencies, tribes and territories to develop and implement plans for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other harmful air pollutants. 

Tennessee is one of 47 states that accepted allocated funding to participate in this federally funded initiative, with TDEC as the state grant recipient. As part of this program, TDEC will work closely with the three municipalities in Tennessee who also received funding: Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville.