Michael S. Regan, EPA Administrator | https://en.wikipedia.org/
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced three new funding opportunities aimed at supporting pesticide safety education for farmworkers, training health care providers to better address pesticide-related illnesses, and providing technical assistance for managing these grants. The agency plans to award nearly $10 million to at least four grantees over the next five years.
Over two million farmworkers contribute to growing and harvesting food in the United States. These workers and their families face high risks of pesticide exposure due to their work environments. Pesticide-related illnesses are often misdiagnosed and underreported, partly because health care providers receive limited training on occupational and environmental health issues. Many farmworkers are people of color or immigrants with limited English proficiency, low incomes, and restricted access to health care, making this an issue of environmental justice.
“These programs are a critical step in EPA’s commitment to environmental justice,” said Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff. “Farmworkers are at greater risk of developing pesticide-related illnesses, which is often misdiagnosed and mistreated. It’s vital that we invest in improving pesticide safety education and health care for farmworker communities.”
Details about each funding opportunity are as follows:
**Farmworker Training and Education Program for Pesticide Safety**
The EPA is inviting applications from community-based farmworker nonprofit organizations experienced in training agricultural workers or pesticide handlers or developing educational materials for them. This program aims to support training, materials development, outreach on pesticide safety, and understanding rights under the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS). The agency expects to award two cooperative agreements totaling up to $6.3 million over five years starting in 2025.
**Pesticides Health Care Initiative**
Nonprofit organizations with experience in training health care providers who serve farmworker populations can apply for a five-year cooperative agreement worth up to $2.1 million. This initiative aims to improve healthcare providers' ability to prevent, recognize, treat, manage, and report pesticide-related illnesses by considering nonmedical factors influencing patients' health.
**Pesticide Safety Grants Technical Assistance**
This agreement offers up to $1.47 million over five years for technical assistance with grants administration and compliance related to the Farmworker Training and Education Program for Pesticide Safety and the Pesticides Health Care Initiative agreements. The goal is to ensure grantees have necessary support resources for managing EPA cooperative agreements.
For more information on eligibility criteria or how to apply for these opportunities, visit the respective program websites provided by the EPA.
