Funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which passed earlier this year

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced today that Michigan received $8,913,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help assess and clean up underground storage tank petroleum leaks and to support clean diesel projects and loan programs.

“Making sure families across Michigan are safe from potentially hazardous leaks is a top priority,” said Stabenow. “This recovery funding not only keeps our communities and environment safe from harmful substances but helps reduce diesel emissions, while creating good-paying jobs.”

“This EPA funding will help assess and clean up underground storage tank petroleum leaks in Michigan, and it will also make important investments in reducing our diesel emissions,” said Levin. “I am hopeful that this economic recovery funding will help improve environmental protection efforts in Michigan and create jobs at the same time.”

Michigan will receive a total of $7,183,000 from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund to pay for activities at shovel-ready sites to assess and clean-up underground storage tank petroleum leaks from federally regulated tanks. These tanks store petroleum or hazardous substances that can harm the environment and pose serious health risks.

Michigan will also receive a total of $1,730,000 from the State Clean Diesel Grant program to develop and implement grant and loan programs for clean diesel projects that create and preserve jobs and implement technologies that reduce diesel emissions.

For information on EPA’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, visit http://www.epa.gov/recovery.