On Nov. 21, 2023, the Biden-Harris administration 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 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (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. These funds, part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, are made possible by the President’s Inflation Reduction Act—the biggest-ever investment in clean energy and climate action.
The Community Change Grants deliver on President Biden’s historic commitment to advance equity and justice, including his Justice40 Initiative. The Community Change Grants will deliver 100 percent of the benefits of this program to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. This program also dedicates $200 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding to provide technical assistance to applicants and grant recipients, which will enhance the ability of disadvantaged communities 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 emissions and other air pollutants.
- Reducing indoor toxics and indoor air pollution.
- Facilitating the engagement of disadvantaged communities in state and federal advisory groups, workshops, rulemakings, and other public processes.
The Community Change Grants 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.
Read the Community Change Grants NOFO.
OEJECR will also host multiple informational webinars while the NOFO is open, with the first being held on December 7, 2023. These webinars will address questions, and some may facilitate the formation of partnerships and information sharing. More information on upcoming webinars can be found on EPA’s Inflation Reduction Act Community Change Grants Program webpage.
Learn more about environmental justice at EPA
Learn more about Inflation Reduction funding at EPA
For up-to-date information about the NOFO, including information on the webinars, subscribe to the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights’ listserv by sending a blank email to: [email protected]. Follow OEJECR on X (formerly Twitter): @EPAEnvJustice.
For More information and links, click HERE
