Projects for Underserved & Overburdened Communities
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has announced the availability of approximately $100 million for projects that advance environmental justice in underserved and overburdened communities across the country. The funding is made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act and marks the largest amount of environmental justice grant funding ever offered by USEPA. Two Requests for Applications are open for this funding through the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program and the Environmental Justice Government-to-Government (EJG2G) Program.
Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Program (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program
The EJCPS Program will provide an estimated $30 million in funding directly to community-based nonprofit organizations and partnerships with these organizations, with $5 million reserved for small community-based nonprofit organizations with five or fewer full-time employees. In total, USEPA anticipates funding approximately 50 awards of $500,000 and 30 awards of $150,000.
The 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 such as local businesses and industry, local government, medical service providers, academia, etc., to develop solutions that will significantly address environmental and/or public health issues at the local level.
Environmental Justice Government-to-Government (EJG2G) Program
The EJG2G Program (formerly known as the State Environmental Justice Cooperative Agreement program) will provide an estimated $70 million in funding. Of this, $20 million is targeted 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. USEPA anticipates funding approximately 70 projects of up to $1 million each for a three-year project.
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 should leverage or utilize existing resources or assets of State agencies to develop key tools and processes that integrate environmental justice considerations into State governments and government programs.
Under both EJCPS and EJG2G programs, USEPA will be giving special consideration to the following focus areas:
- Projects addressing climate change, disaster resiliency, and/or emergency preparedness
- Projects located in and/or benefitting rural areas
- Projects conducting Health Impact Assessments (HIA)
Applicants interested must submit proposal packages on or before April 10, 2023, to be considered for the available funding. Applicants should plan for projects to begin on October 1, 2023. Learn more information about environmental justice grant funding.