RENO, Nev. (AP) - The Desert Research Institute has received $400,000 in federal funds to study air pollutants that impact lake clarity and air quality in the Lake Tahoe Basin and develop strategies to improve the environment.

The funds from the U-S Environmental Protection Agency will be used to monitor air pollution including roadway dust and particulate matter from controlled burns to reduce forest fuel and develop an inventory of air pollution emissions.

Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign, who announced the grant, said the funds generated by the sales of land in southern Nevada would help preserve the environmentally sensitive lake.

The Desert Research Institute is a nonprofit research campus of more than 500 faculty, staff and students engaged in about 300 research projects. The institutes projects focus on atmospheric sciences, earth and ecosystem sciences and hydrologic sciences.

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