"Green" jobs will be created and existing jobs protected by $7.2 billion in economic stimulus funding targeted for Environmental Protection Agency clean water, environmental cleanup, and diesel emissions projects and programs, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Feb. 19.rn"EPA's portion of the plan will create good, sustainable jobs that help produce cleaner drinking water, purer air, environmentally friendly urban and rural redevelopment, and reduced greenhouse gases," Jackson said in a statement issued by the agency. "This is a perfect example of economic growth and environmental protection working hand in hand to the benefit of all Americans," she said.rnPresident Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus bill (Pub. L. No. 111-5) into law Feb. 17. EPA officials told BNA Feb. 19 that they expect the agency to receive its portion in the near future.rnWhile predicting that funding in the bill for EPA programs will generate employment, EPA officials said they cannot immediately predict the number of new jobs that would be created or how long they will last, or how many current jobs will be saved.rn"We're a little bit too early in the process" for that forecast, George Hull, spokesman for the agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, told BNA.
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