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News Releases from Region 06

EPA Resources Can Improve Your Schools Environment

08/27/2015
Contact Information: 
Joe Hubbard (r6press@epa.gov)
214-665-2200
Jennah Durant

DALLAS - (Aug. 27, 2015) School environments play an important role in the health and academic success of children. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) environmental education resources and programs can help establish, maintain or enhance a school environmental health program.

EPA encourages states to implement policies to help establish a robust school environmental health program. States can use existing policies and standards or look for new or additional opportunities to protect children's health. EPA provides a handbook of voluntary guidelines as a resource for state lawmakers and decision makers seeking model statutes that support school environment health. Read more about these guidelines and how you can implement them at your school at http://www.epa.gov/schools/guidelinestools/ehguide/.

Would you like to establish an environmental health program at your school? These programs provide comprehensive strategies for preventing and addressing environmental health issues through well-maintained school buildings and grounds. Sustainable school environmental health programs promote environments that are conducive to learning and protect the health of building occupants. Learn more about model school programs at http://www.epa.gov/schools/guidelinestools/ehguide/model.html.

EPA also provides guidelines to help local school districts and community members evaluate environmental factors to make the best possible school-siting decisions. These guidelines are designed to be used prior to deciding whether to renovate an existing school or build a new one, acquiring land for school facilities, or other school-siting decisions. Find out more at http://www.epa.gov/schools/guidelinestools/siting/.

Protecting children's health and advancing environmental justice are critical goals for EPA. EPA's mission to protect human health and the environment requires us to pay special attention to the vulnerabilities of children, and we seek continued progress in reducing their exposure to the environmental hazards they encounter in their daily lives.

More about EPA and schools: http://www.epa.gov/schools/

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Activities in EPA Region 6: http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-6-south-central

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