The New York State (NYS) Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC or Department) is pleased to announce the 2026 Climate Smart Communities Grant (CSCG) Program.
Donor Name: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
State: New York
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/31/2026
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Grant program provides grants to cities, towns, villages, counties, Indian Nations, local public authorities, and local public benefit corporations of the State of New York for eligible climate change mitigation, adaptation, and planning and assessment projects.
At least $18 million is available for the 2026 round CSCG program via this request for applications (RFA). Funding for this grant opportunity is provided by the Environmental Protection Fund and the Clean Water, Clear Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act and administered pursuant to Environmental Conservation Law Article 54, Title 15 and 6 NYCRR Part 492, Climate Smart Community Projects.
The CSCG program is a competitive grant program for local governments, local public authorities and public benefit corporations, and Indian Nations. The CSCG program provides funding to support the completion of 1) a subset of Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Certification actions that move communities to certification under the CSC Certification program while building a solid foundation from which to take implementation action(s), 2) feasibility and design studies for flood risk reduction projects, conversion of existing refrigeration equipment to natural refrigerants, clean energy systems, and smart growth analysis, 3) greenhouse gas mitigation projects, and 4) adaptation projects that directly address or alleviate the impacts from hazards exacerbated by climate change.
Categories
- Certification Project Category
- Certification projects are a subset of the assessments, inventories, and planning activities that are part of the Climate Smart Communities Certification program. These actions also provide a basis for future grant applications in the implementation category. Only the 22 certification actions listed in this section are eligible for grant funding.
- Implementation Category
- Implementation projects are divided into three subcategories
- GHG Mitigation – reducing or eliminating the emission of carbon dioxide and other climate warming gases such as methane.
- Climate Adaptation – reducing risks to residents, infrastructure, and/or natural resources from changing climate hazards).
- Feasibility and design studies – flood risk reduction, natural refrigerant systems, clean energy systems and smart growth analysis.
- Implementation projects are divided into three subcategories
Funding Information
- Certification Project Category
- Total available – up to $1,000,000
- Minimum grant award – $10,000
- Maximum grant award – $200,000
- Implementation Category
- Funding available – At least $17 million
- Minimum grant award – $35,000
- Maximum grant award – $2,000,000
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants do not need to be certified or registered in the CSC Certification program or be working toward CSC Certification to apply in response to this RFA. However, points are awarded to communities that participate in the CSC Certification program as part of the scoring criteria.
- All applicants must submit application authorization. Applications submitted without such documentation will be deemed ineligible. See page 26 of this RFA for details.
- Two or more eligible entities, or an eligible and ineligible entity(ies) may collaborate on a project; however, the applicant must be an eligible entity, accept responsibility for meeting all requirements of the CSC Grant program and the NYS Contract for Grants, accept all grant reimbursements, and enter into a partnership agreement, and potentially a climate change mitigation easement, with the ineligible entity.
- Pursuant to 6 NYCRR Subpart 492-1.1, eligible applicants vary based on project category:
- Certification: For the purposes of this RFA, the following entities in the State of New York are eligible to apply to the certification project category.
- County
- City
- Town
- Village
- Indian Nations as defined in article 2, section 2 of the Indian Law.
- Implementation: For the purposes of this RFA, the following entities in the State of New York are eligible to apply to the implementation project category in response to this RFA:
- County
- City
- Town
- Village
- Indian Nation as defined in article 2, section 2 of the Indian La
- Local public authority or a local public benefit corporation such as a municipal housing authority, municipal solid waste authority or resources recovery agency, municipal water and sewer authority, municipal water authority/board, municipal sewer authority, county soil and water conservation district, local development corporations and local industrial development authority. Note that a local public authority or a local public benefit corporation must complete or manage a municipal project on behalf of its parent municipality. Projects benefiting private entities cannot be completed with CSC Grant funds.
- Certification: For the purposes of this RFA, the following entities in the State of New York are eligible to apply to the certification project category.
For more information, visit NYSDEC.
