EPA announces $100M in environmental justice grants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the availability of approximately $100 million for projects that advance environmental justice (EJ) in underserved and overburdened communities across the country. This funding is made possible through President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

According to the EPA, this is the largest amount of EJ grant funding offered by the agency. The agency says it has published two requests for applications for this funding through the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program and the Environmental Justice Government-to-Government (EJG2G) Program.

“Last year, we announced EPA’s first-ever national program office dedicated to advancing environmental justice, memorializing our commitment to this critical work. I couldn’t be prouder to now be announcing an unprecedented level of funding thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act for community-based solutions that support underserved and overburdened communities,” says EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “This is a key step that will help build strong partnerships with communities across the country and move us closer to realizing a more just and equitable future for all.”

These grant programs further the goals of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which directed that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to overburdened communities that face disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts, the EPA says.

The EJCPS Program will provide about $30 million in funding to community-based nonprofit organizations, with $5 million reserved for small community-based nonprofit organizations with five or fewer full-time employees. EPA says it anticipates funding about 50 awards of $500,000 and 30 awards of $150,000.

EPA says its EJCPS Cooperative Agreement Program provides financial assistance to eligible organizations working on or planning to work on projects to address local environmental and/or public health issues in their communities. The program assists recipients in building collaborative partnerships with other stakeholders to develop solutions that will address environmental or public health issues at the local level.

EPA says its EJG2G Program, formerly known as the State Environmental Justice Cooperative Agreement program, will provide about $70 million in funding. Of this, $20 million will be for state governments to be used in conjunction with Community-Based Organization (CBO) partners, $20 million will be for local government with CBO partners, $20 million will be for federally recognized tribal nations with CBO partners and $10 million will be for U.S. territories and remote tribes with limited access to CBO partners. In total, the EPA says it anticipates funding up to 70 projects of up to $1 million each for a three-year project.

According to EPA, the EJG2G Program works to support or create model state activities that lead to measurable environmental or public health results in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms and risks. These models leverage or use existing resources or assets of state agencies to develop key tools and processes that integrate EJ considerations into state governments and government programs.

Under both programs, EPA says it will give special consideration to the following focus areas:

• projects addressing climate change, disaster resiliency or emergency preparedness;
• projects located in or benefiting rural areas; and
• projects conducting Health Impact Assessments.

According to the EPA, applicants interested must submit proposal packages on or before April 10 to be considered for the available funding, and applicants should plan for projects to begin Oct. 1.

EPA says it plans to announce an additional EJ grant competition this year, making use of the Inflation Reduction Act resources to establish a network of grant-makers across the U.S. to facilitate awarding assessment, planning and project development grants to communities and their partners.

“This administration is committed to prioritizing protections for communities who have long suffered at the hands of neglect and inaction,” Regan said during a press conference announcing these grants Jan. 10. “Environmental justice work is deeply important to me, and all of this agency’s actions and decisions are viewed through a justice and equity lens. … We will continue to create opportunities for communities to have a stronger say in how funding and resources are allocated where they live, work and play. And we won’t stop until all people of this country—regardless of the color of their skin, community they live in or money in their pockets—have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and the opportunity to lead a healthy life.”