EPA UAS Activities Reported in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 The goal of the EPA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) program is to create a framework through which EPA regional offices. EPA headquarters offices and grant recipients can take advantage of UAS technology to protect human health and the environment. EPA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Policy was signed and issued on December 1, 2020 by EPA's CIO Vaughn Noga. It outlines how UAS can be used while taking into consideration privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, accountability, and transparency. Learn more about these considerations in the EPA UAS Handbook and the EPA's UAS Policy which is available at the EPA UAS Program Webpage. EPA provides an annual UAS Usage Report that summarizes UAS activities within the Agency during each fiscal year (FY). This is the first annual UAS Usage Report. It summarizes EPA UAS activities executed within each EPA Region during FY2021. The report lists missions flown, sensors used, types of information acquired, and under what authority such assistance was provided. Not every EPA Region conducted UAS activities in FY2021. For more information about EPA Regions, visit the EPA website. The following tables summarize flights by Region. Region 1 - serving CT, ME, MA, NH, Rl, and VT Region State County Mission Title Start Date End Date Statutory Authority Sensors Region 1 NH Grafton Emission sampling during in situ oil burns 4/21/2021 4/23/2021 CAA Air Region 1 ME Washington Passamaquoddy Tribal Response Program 6/16/2021 6/16/2021 CERCLA Video (RGB) Region 1 VT Windham Archaeological Survey for 250 Birge Street site (Brattleboro, VT) 7/10/2021 7/10/2021 CERCLA Video (RGB), Imagery (RGB) - Photo Region 1 VT Windham Herricks Cove Oil Release PASI 8/4/2021 9/30/2021 OPA Imagery (RGB) - Photo Region 1 VT Orange, Windsor Elizabeth Mine UAS Flight 9/29/2021 9/29/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB) Region 2 - serving NJ, NY, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands Region State County Mission Title Start Date End Date Statutory Authority Sensors Region 2 NY Duchess Use of UAS at Wappinger Creek Superfund Site 5/18/2021 5/18/2021 CERCLA Thermal ------- Region 3 - serving DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV and 7 federally recognized tribes • No UAS activities reported. Region 4 - serving AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, and TN Region State County Mission Title Start Date End Date Statutory Authority Sensors Region 4 MS Jackson Mississippi Phosphate Corporation 4/2/2021 4/2/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Other Region 4 MS Jackson Mississippi Phosphate Corporation 5/24/2021 5/24/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Other Region 4 MS Jackson Mississippi Phosphate Corporation 8/6/2021 8/6/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Other Region 4 MS Jackson Mississippi Phosphate Corporation 9/27/2021 9/27/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Other Region 5 - serving IL, IN, Ml, MN, OH, and Wl • No UAS activities reported. Region 6 - serving AR, LA, NM, OK, and TX Region State County Mission Title Start Date End Date Statutory Authority Sensors Region 6 NM Socorro Sampling Emissions from Detonations 8/2/2021 8/13/2021 CAA Air Region 6 TX Harris Vermiculite Products Inc Site 8/16/2021 8/16/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB) Region 7 - serving IA. KS. MO. and NE Region State County Mission Title Start Date End Date Statutory Authority Sensors Region 7 KS Riley Emission Sampling in the Flint Hills Region 3/29/2021 4/1/2021 CAA Air ------- Region State County Mission Title Start Date End Date Statutory Authority Sensors Region 7 Ml Jasper TSMD - Nelson Subsidence 4/1/2021 4/1/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB) Region 7 Ml Newton Aggus Property 4/29/2021 4/29/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Multispectral Region 7 Ml Lawrence, Newton NCMT Johnson/Butts 1G 6/18/2021 9/30/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Multispectral Region 7 Ml Jasper, Newton E. 17th Repository 8/2/2021 8/2/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Multispectral Region 7 KS Chase, Elk, Riley Sampling Emissions from Flint Hills grassland burns 9/13/2021 9/16/2021 CAA Air Region 8 - serving CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, and WY Region State County Mission Title Start Date End Date Statutory Authority Sensors Region 8 CO San Juan Pride of the West Emergency Response 5/27/2021 6/28/2021 CERCLA Video (RGB), Imagery (RGB) - Photo Region 8 CO,SD, UT,WY Multiple Telluride Valley Floor Removal Action 8/23/2021 8/23/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB) Region 8 CO,SD, UT,WY Multiple Manila Load Removal Action 9/1/2021 9/13/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB) Region 8 CO,SD, UT,WY Multiple Daisy Mine Removal Assessment 9/7/2021 9/7/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB) Region 8 CO,UT, SD,WY Multiple Perigo Mine Removal Assessment 9/9/2021 9/9/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB) Region 8 CO,SD, UT,WY Multiple Bauer Tailings Removal Assessment 9/15/2021 9/15/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB) ------- Region 9 - serving AZ, CA, HI, NV, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau Region State County Mission Title Start Date End Date Statutory Authority Sensors Region 9 CA San Mateo, Santa Cruz 2020 California Wildfires - CZU Complex Fire UAS Surveys - San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties, California 10/2/2020 10/17/2020 Stafford Act Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB), Multispectral Region 9 CA Yuba Custom Chrome and Bumper Site, Yuba City, CA 3/31/2021 6/18/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB), Multispectral Region 9 CA Marin American Challenger UAS Surveys 5/21/2021 6/9/2021 OPA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB), Multispectral Region 9 NM McKinley NFPI - UAS Surveys 7/17/2021 9/30/2021 CERCLA Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB), Multispectral Region 9 CA Plumas, El Dorado 2021 CA Wildfire Surveys-Plumas & El Dorado Counties 9/15/2021 9/30/2021 Stafford Act Imagery (RGB) - Photo, Video (RGB), Multispectral, LiDAR, Thermal Region 10 - serving AK, ID, OR, WA and 271 native tribes • No UAS activities reported. Summary As shown above, EPA flew 29 flights across the country under the following programs: Clean Air Act (CAA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) which is commonly known as Superfund, Oil Pollution Act (OPA), and Stafford Act. For more detailed examples of how EPA uses UAS to fulfill its mission, view the EPA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program: Case Studies Storymap. Data from these missions can be found by searching the Agency's metadata catalog, the Environmental Dataset Gateway. For additional questions please go to EPA's UAS website or contact EPA UAS@epa.gov. ------- |