Available EPA Grant Addresses 'Bed Bugs in Rural Alaska'

The EPA is prepared to award a grant of up to $100,000 to help Alaska Native Village communities to fight bed bug infestations by "break[ing] down barriers to effective bed bug management," The Weekly Standard reports.

 

The project, expected to last two years beginning in October 2015, will be a test case and resource for similar programs elsewhere in Alaska. The grant proposal lists four main goals:

 

-Identify appropriate roles of various organizations and regulatory agencies with respect to bed bugs 

-Identify the bed bug treatment, education, and outreach services needed in rural Alaska 

-Provide communities in rural Alaska with effective tools and accurate information to address bed bugs when an infestation occurs

-Use integrated pest management principles in the approach to dealing with bed bugs

 

Specific activities may include creating "culturally appropriate educational materials, providing supplies "such as interceptors, laundry bags", developing a "village action plan" to deal with outbreaks, and  "identify[ing] how pesticides for bed bugs are being used and disposed of throughout the state."

 

Source: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/epa-commits-100k-addressing-bed-bugs-rural-alaska_940890.html