The Biden-Harris administration recently announced approximately $2 billion in funding available to support community-driven projects that deploy clean energy, strengthen climate resilience, and build capacity for communities to tackle environmental and climate justice challenges.
“The EPA’s Community Change Grants are the single largest investment in environmental justice going directly to communities in history, and will advance collaborative efforts to achieve a healthier, safer and more prosperous future for all,” states an EPA news release.
These funds, part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda, are provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—an investment in clean energy and climate action.
“Throughout my Journey to Justice tour, I’ve heard from residents and advocates calling for resources to support local solutions in communities that have long been overlooked and forgotten,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan in the release. “Today, thanks to President Biden’s commitment to investing in communities that have long struggled to access federal funding, we are delivering on these calls to action. This historic, unprecedented funding has the promise to turn disadvantaged and overburdened areas into healthy, resilient and thriving communities for current and future generations.”
As part of Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, the Community Change Grants (CCGs) will deliver 100% of the program’s benefits to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
This program also dedicates $200 million of IRA funding to provide technical assistance to applicants and grant recipients, which will enhance disadvantaged communities’ ability to access resources for environmental and climate justice activities.
The activities to be performed under the grants are expected to fall under the following categories:
- Climate resiliency and adaptation;
- Mitigating climate and health risks from urban heat islands, extreme heat, wood heater emissions, and wildfire events;
- Community-led air and other (including water and waste) pollution monitoring, prevention, and remediation;
- Investments in low- and zero-emission and resilient technologies and related infrastructure;
- Workforce development that supports the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other air pollutants;
- Reducing indoor toxins and indoor air pollution; and
- Facilitating the engagement of disadvantaged communities in state and federal advisory groups, workshops, rulemakings, and other public processes.
The CCGs Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), administered through the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), has several unique characteristics to advance environmental and climate justice, many of which are responsive to feedback and input the Agency has heard from communities. These include:
- Rolling applications: The NOFO will be open for a year, closing on November 21, 2024, and the EPA will review applications on a rolling basis. This allows applicants to use technical assistance and possibly resubmit a new application if not initially selected. The EPA encourages applicants to apply as early as possible.
- Two-track submission processes: Applications can be submitted under two separate tracks depending on the project scope and funding requested:
- Track I, Community-Driven Investments for Change, is expected to award approximately $1.96 billion to 150 projects for $10 million to $20 million each.
- Track II, Meaningful Engagement for Equitable Governance, is expected to award approximately $40 million to 20 projects for $1 million to $3 million each.
- Oral presentations: Track I applicants may also be invited to participate in an oral presentation. These oral presentations will enable EPA reviewers to hear directly from the applicants and their partners to learn more about community priorities, desired outcomes, and plans for long-term sustainability. This new format has been added in response to community requests to engage with the EPA in more accessible ways.
- Target investment areas (TIAs): Out of the $2 billion in funding, the EPA has identified five TIAs to help ensure communities with unique circumstances, geography, and needs can equitably compete for funding. These are:
- Tribes in Alaska: $150 million for projects benefiting Indian tribes in Alaska, including funds for cleanup of contaminated lands.
- Tribes: $300 million for projects benefiting tribal communities in other states.
- Territories: $50 million for projects benefiting disadvantaged communities in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
- Disadvantaged unincorporated communities: $50 million for projects benefiting small and rural areas that lack fixed, legally determined geographic boundaries, such as Colonias.
- U.S.-southern border communities: $100 million of the grant money is dedicated to projects benefiting nontribal disadvantaged communities within 100 kilometers north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Technical assistance (TA): The $200 million for TA is available in direct response to feedback from communities and environmental justice leaders who have long called for capacity-building support for communities and their partners as they work to access critical federal resources. With this funding, there are two TA programs dedicated as part of the CCGs. Applicants can learn more about, and express interest in, the TA on the EPA’s CCGs Technical Assistance webpage.
The EPA plans to hold several public informational webinars about the CCGs.
Instructions for applying for the grants can be found in Section IV of the CCGs NOFO.