The California Resilience Challenge (CRC) is pleased to invite eligible local California public entities (including California Native American Tribes), non-governmental organizations, and community-based organizations to respond to this Request for Proposals (RFP) for grants in support of climate resilience planning projects, with a preference for projects that will lead to implementation of resiliency infrastructure.
Donor Name: California Resilience Challenge (CRC)
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/29/2023
Size of the Grant: $100,000 and $200,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
Specifically, SB 379 requires general plans to include the following features:
- A vulnerability assessment identifying risks climate change poses to the local government and the geographic areas at risk from climate change impacts.
- A set of adaptation and resilience goals, policies and objectives.
- A set of feasible implementation measures designed to carry out the goals, policies and objectives, including feasible methods to avoid or minimize climate change impacts associated with new land uses and the location of new essential public facilities outside of at-risk areas.
Funding Information
Selected proposals will be for specific planning projects that will commence on or before July 31, 2024 and are to be completed by July 31, 2026. It is CRC’s expectation that individual grants will be awarded for between $100,000 and $200,000, but CRC reserves the right to make smaller or larger grants, and the right to award less than the maximum amount of its Grant Fund.
Eligible Projects
Eligible projects will consist of planning projects that are targeted at improving local or regional resilience to one or more of the following four climate challenges (listed in no particular order), and water and air quality impacts of the foregoing:
- Drought
- Flooding, including from sea level rise
- Extreme heat and increasing frequency of hot days
- Wildfire Project
Eligible Activities and Expenses
Activities eligible for funding are those related to climate resilience planning. The focus of CRC is on use of its grants to leverage planning efforts across the state.
Examples of eligible activities include:
- Feasibility studies
- Public consultation, planning, and economic analysis
- Funding/financing analysis
- Conceptual drawings and design
- Data and geospatial analysis
- Projects that create a plan for, or concurrently involve and leverage, climate adaptation activities that pull together collaborative, cross-sector action that builds capacity in communities through activities such as:
- Convening stakeholders to discuss community needs regarding potential climate change mitigation and adaptation projects eligible for statewide competitive grant programs with specific allocations for under-resourced communities.
- Developing community and project plans, including climate action plans, demonstrating local needs and identifying multiple-benefit projects for implementation.
- Supporting the development of partnerships between stakeholders and potential public and private funding sources.
- Providing policy, program, and technical advice to stakeholders to develop and align multi-benefit projects with potential funding sources. Examples of eligible expenses include:
- Staff time
- Consultant time
- Community/stakeholder meetings and advisory groups (e.g., stipends, catering)
- Project-specific staffing
- Travel costs
Eligibility Criteria
California-based non-government organizations, including community-based organizations, representing under-resourced communities are encouraged to apply, as are local California public entities that represent under-resourced communities in partnership with a California-based nongovernment organization. CRC intends “under-resourced communities” to include and prioritize the following communities that are susceptible to the impacts of climate change and face large barriers to accessing public funds, while also adjusting for significant cost-of-living variations throughout the state.
- “Disadvantaged communities” as defined by CalEnviroScreen (Health and Safety Code Section 39711);
- “Low-income communities”, defined as census tracts with median household incomes at or below 80% of the statewide median income or with median household incomes at or below the threshold designated as low income by the Department of Housing and Community Development’s list of state income limits (Health and Safety Code 39713);
- “Disadvantaged communities”, defined as a community with a median household income less than 80% of the statewide average; and “severely disadvantaged communities”, defined as a community with a median household income less than 60% of the statewide average” (Public Resources Code 75005);
- Frontline communities and underrepresented communities, which are those that experience continuing injustice—including people of color, immigrants, people with lower incomes, those in rural areas, and indigenous people; and
- “Climate vulnerable communities,” as defined in the Governor’s OPR resource, Defining Vulnerable Communities in the Context of Climate Adaptation
Eligible applicants consist of the following:
- California-based non-government organizations (NGOs) that have as a principal mission, serving or advocating for under-resourced communities. Such NGOs may include community based organizations, and may be supported by fiscal sponsors. Such NGOs need not be 501(c) (3) organizations, but must be legal entities authorized and empowered to enter into contracts and hold funds. NGOs are encouraged to partner with a local California public entity.
- Local California public entities applying for projects targeted at benefitting under-resourced communities in their constituencies must partner with an above-described community-based organizations. California Native American Tribes are exempt from the partnership requirement. Such public entities may include:
- California incorporated cities, whether or not charter cities
- California counties
- Local agencies and districts at the county level
- Joint Powers Authorities
- Special Districts such as, but not limited to, Geologic Hazard and Abatement Districts, Community Facilities Districts, Utility Districts and others
- California Native American Tribes
- Metropolitan Planning Organizations
- Councils of Governments State-level and regional public entities, including the State of California and its departments, commissions and agencies, and interstate compact entities are not eligible for this program focused on local efforts.
State-level and regional public entities, including the State of California and its departments, commissions and agencies, and interstate compact entities are not eligible for this program focused on local efforts.
For more information, visit CRC.
