EPA: Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program 2024

The Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant program (Community Change Grants) – the subject of this NOFO – offers an unprecedented opportunity to transform disadvantaged communities across the United States into healthy, climate resilient, and thriving communities for their current and future residents.

Donor Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

State: All States

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 11/21/2024

Size of the Grant: More than $1 million

Grant Duration: 3 Years

Details:

The Community Change Grants will fund community-driven projects that address climate challenges and reduce pollution while strengthening communities through thoughtful implementation. The historic levels of support provided by these grants will enable communities and their partners to overcome longstanding environmental challenges and implement meaningful solutions to meet community needs now and for generations to come.

Objectives

The Community Change Grants will support comprehensive community and place-based approaches to redressing environmental and climate injustices for communities facing legacy pollution, climate change, and persistent disinvestment. These concentrated local investments will fund community-driven, change[1]making projects that center collaborative efforts for healthier, safer, and more prosperous communities.

Designed with meaningful community, Tribal, and other stakeholder involvement, the investments EPA makes through the Community Change Grants are intended to achieve the following objectives:

• Provide resources for community-driven projects to address environmental and climate challenges in communities facing disproportionate and adverse health, pollution, and environmental impacts,  and suffering from generations of disinvestment.
• Invest in strong cross-sectoral collaborations with partners who bring a robust commitment to working with and for communities with environmental and climate justice concerns.
• Unlock access to additional and more significant resources to advance environmental and climate justice goals from across the federal government and other sources.
• Empower communities and strengthen their capacity to drive meaningful positive change on the  ground for years to come.
• Strengthen community participation in government decision-making processes that impact them.

EPA anticipates awarding approximately $2 billion in funding through this NOFO, depending on funding availability, quality of applications received, EPA priorities, and other applicable considerations. EPA will consider applications under two separate tracks:

• Track I applications – Community-Driven Investments for Change will focus on multi-faceted applications with Climate Action and Pollution Reduction Strategies to meaningfully improve the environmental, climate, and resilience conditions affecting disadvantaged communities. Awards under Track I are expected to be $10-20 million each and cannot exceed $20 million. EPA expects to award approximately $1.96 billion for approximately 150 Track I awards, including those under the Target Investment Areas.
• Track II applications – Meaningful Engagement for Equitable Governance will facilitate the engagement of disadvantaged communities in governmental processes to advance environmental and climate justice. Awards under Track II are expected to be $1-3 million each and cannot exceed $3 million. EPA will award approximately $40 million for approximately 20 Track II awards.

Funding Information

EPA anticipates awarding approximately $2 billion in funding through this NOFO depending on funding availability, quality of applications received, EPA priorities, and other applicable considerations. Awards under Track I are expected to be between $10-20 million each and cannot exceed $20 million. Awards under Track II are expected to be between $1-3 million each and cannot exceed $3 million. EPA expects to award approximately $1.96 billion for about 150 Track I awards, including those under the Target Investment Areas described below in B, and approximately $40 million for about 20 Track II awards.

Grant Period

The period of performance of every grant funded under this NOFO cannot by statute exceed three years.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants for the Community Change Grants include a partnership between two community-based non-profit organizations (CBOs), or a partnership between a CBO and one of the following: a Federally recognized Tribe, a local government, or an institution of higher education (IHE), including Minority Serving Institutions.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.