EPA-R-HQ-CCIA-23-01.v2.pdf

FEDERAL AGENCY AND OFFICE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE: Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA)

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Request for Applications (RFA)

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: EPA-R-HQ-CCIA-23

ASSISTANCE LISTING NUMBER: 66.957

IMPORTANT DATES:

October 12, 2023 Closing Date

By March 2024 Anticipated Notification of Selections

By July 2024 Anticipated Start of Period of Performance

DEADLINE: Application packages must be submitted on or before October 12, 2023 at 11:59

PM (Eastern Time) through Grants.gov. Applications received after the closing date and time will not be considered for funding. Please refer to Section IV.A: Due Date and Submission Instructions and Appendix A: Grants.gov Application Submission Instructions for further instructions.

NOTE: Transfers of EPA funds awarded through this competition must comply with the

Procurement Standards in 2 CFR Parts 200 and 1500, EPA Subaward Policy, and EPA Guidance on Participant Support Costs, depending on the vehicle that the grantee uses to transfer funds, as well as the Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in EPA Programs requirements in 40 CFR Part 33. Prior to naming contractors (including consultants) or subrecipients in your application, please carefully review Section IV.d, “Contracts and Subawards,” of EPA Solicitation

Clauses as well as the guidance in Section III.B: Named Contractors and Named Subrecipients.

EPA does not accept justifications for sole source contracts for services or products available in the commercial marketplace based on a contractor’s role in preparing an application or existing relationships that an applicant may have established without complying with competitive procurement requirements. For this competition, EPA requires applicants that name subrecipients to submit coalition applications and include the named subrecipients as coalition members; all named subrecipients must be coalition members.

As discussed in Section IV.A: Due Date and Submission Instructions, in concert with EPA’s commitment to conducting business in an open and transparent manner, copies of applications selected under this funding opportunity may be made publicly available on the GGRF website or another public website for a period of time after the selected applications are announced.

Therefore, clearly indicate which portion(s) of the application, if any, you are claiming contains confidential, privileged, or sensitive information. As provided at 40 CFR § 2.203(b), if no claim of confidential treatment accompanies the information when it is received by EPA, it may be made available to the public by EPA without further notice to the applicant.

https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/documents/epa-guidance-on-participant-support-costs.pdf https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/documents/epa-guidance-on-participant-support-costs.pdf https://www.epa.gov/grants/disadvantaged-business-enterprise-program-requirements https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses

Contents Section I. Funding Opportunity Description A. Background

B. Statutory Authority

C. GGRF Program Objectives

D. Competition Terminology

E. Scope of Work

F. Environmental Results and Strategic Plan Information

G. Measuring Environmental Results: Example Outputs and Outcomes

H. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into the Funding Opportunity

Section II. Federal Award Information A. Number and Amount of Awards

B. Conditional Awards

C. Period of Performance

D. Partial Funding

E. Additional Awards

F. Funding Type

Section III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants

B. Named Contractors and Named Subrecipients

C. Threshold Eligibility Criteria

D. Allowable and Unallowable Costs

E. Cost Sharing or Matching

Section IV. Application and Submission Information A. Due Date and Submission Instructions

B. Application Materials

C. Content of Application Submission

D. Pre-Application Assistance

Section V. Application Review Information A. Evaluation Criteria

B. Review and Selection Process

Section VI. Award Administration Information A. Award Notification and Disputes

B. Grant Drawdown Schedule

C. Program Income and Other Income Requirements

D. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

E. Reporting Requirements

F. Audit Requirements

G. Remedies for Non-Compliance

Section VII. Contact Information

Appendix A. Grants.gov Application Submission Instructions A. Requirement to Submit through Grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures

B. Submission Instructions

C. Technical Issues with Submission

Appendix B. CCIA-Eligible Project Checklist

Appendix C. Guidance for Low-Income and Disadvantaged Community Expenditures

Appendix D. Program Budget

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Background In the United States and globally, we are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. As described in The Long-Term Strategy of the United States, the time is now for decisive action, and the United States is boldly tackling the climate crisis. The Biden Administration has set climate goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50-52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030, reach 50 percent zero-emission vehicles share of all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in 2030, achieve a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035, and achieve net-zero emissions by no later than 2050, as outlined in the U.S. Nationally Determined Contribution and in Executive Order

14037 (Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks). Further, the Biden

Administration has been clear that achieving these and other climate goals must simultaneously deliver against other critical priorities, including promoting equity and environmental justice, strengthening our economic competitiveness, creating high-quality jobs, and growing our energy independence. President Biden has codified these priorities in Executive Order 14005 (Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America's Workers), Executive Order 14008

(Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad), Executive Order 14082 (Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022), and Executive

Order 14096 (Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All). President

Biden is furthering these priorities through targeted initiatives, such as the Interagency Working

Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities, which targets the economic revitalization of coal and power plant communities, and the Justice40 Initiative, which sets the goal that 40% of the overall benefits from certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities. Achieving these goals and priorities will require a tremendous amount of financing and private capital for greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects across the country, especially in and for the benefit of low-income and disadvantaged communities.

President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act authorized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) to implement the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to help achieve these goals and priorities, creating a historic $27 billion investment in communities across the country—from states to territories to Tribal lands, from the largest urban cities to the most remote rural towns.

This bold investment will not only deploy clean energy and combat the climate crisis but also improve health outcomes, lower energy costs, and create high-quality jobs for Americans—all while strengthening our country’s economic competitiveness and ensuring energy security.

As part of this investment, EPA is launching three distinct but complementary grant competitions:

a $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund competition to finance clean technology deployment nationally; a $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator competition to finance clean technology deployment in low-income and disadvantaged communities while simultaneously building the capacity of community lenders that serve those communities; and a $7 billion Solar for All competition to spur adoption of clean distributed solar energy that lowers energy bills for millions of Americans in low-income and disadvantaged communities. The National Clean

Investment Fund and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will work in tandem to deploy much-needed capital for clean technologies into communities across the country. The National

Clean Investment Fund will create centralized, long-term financing institutions with the scale required to transform financial markets, while the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/US-Long-Term-Strategy.pdf https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/NDC/2022-06/United%20States%20NDC%20April%2021%202021%20Final.pdf https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/08/10/2021-17121/strengthening-american-leadership-in-clean-cars-and-trucks https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/08/10/2021-17121/strengthening-american-leadership-in-clean-cars-and-trucks https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/28/2021-02038/ensuring-the-future-is-made-in-all-of-america-by-all-of-americas-workers https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/28/2021-02038/ensuring-the-future-is-made-in-all-of-america-by-all-of-americas-workers https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/09/16/2022-20210/implementation-of-the-energy-and-infrastructure-provisions-of-the-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/09/16/2022-20210/implementation-of-the-energy-and-infrastructure-provisions-of-the-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/26/2023-08955/revitalizing-our-nations-commitment-to-environmental-justice-for-all https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/26/2023-08955/revitalizing-our-nations-commitment-to-environmental-justice-for-all https://energycommunities.gov/ https://energycommunities.gov/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/ build the capacity of community lenders to draw on that capital to catalyze deployment of projects in communities all across the country—especially in communities that have long faced barriers accessing capital and that most need the benefits of clean technology projects. All competitions are covered under the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which sets the goal that 40% of the overall benefits from certain federal investments in climate, clean energy, and other areas flow to disadvantaged communities. This competition will require each grantee to expend 100% of funds for the purposes of providing financial and technical assistance in low-income and disadvantaged communities, as defined in this funding opportunity.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity provides details on the $6 billion Clean Communities

Investment Accelerator competition. This competition will provide grants to 2–7 hub nonprofits that will provide funding and technical assistance to specific industry networks of public, quasi-public, not-for-profit, and nonprofit community lenders, supporting the goal that every community in the country has access to the capital they need to deploy clean technology projects in their homes, small businesses, schools, and community institutions. These community lenders could include community development financial institutions (including Certified Native CDFIs), credit unions, green banks, housing finance agencies, minority depository institutions, and other types of lenders. As a result of this competition, hundreds of these community lenders will launch new or expand existing programs to provide low-income and disadvantaged communities much-needed capital to deploy emissions- and air pollution-reducing projects that reduce energy costs, improve health outcomes, create good jobs, and more—and they will have the financial and technical resources to sustain these programs for years to come. To multiply the impact of public funds, these hub nonprofits will provide funding and technical assistance that not only mobilizes private-sector investment on projects directly supported by grant funds but also creates self-sustaining programs across hundreds of community lenders. To ensure that public funds are spent efficiently and for the maximum benefit of American communities, especially low-income and disadvantaged communities, these hub nonprofits will be subject to, among other measures, rigorous low-income and disadvantaged community engagement and accountability strategies; comprehensive equity policies and practices; robust labor and workforce plans; strong governance structures; stringent legal and compliance risk management and consumer protection plans; and cohesive programmatic, financial, and administrative reporting and transparency requirements—in addition to being subject to conducting significant diligence prior to providing funding and technical assistance to community lenders.

B. Statutory Authority The Inflation Reduction Act amends the Clean Air Act to include Section 134 (42 USC § 7434), which authorizes the EPA to make competitive grants under the Clean Communities Investment

Accelerator. The Clean Communities Investment Accelerator is funded by $6 billion from Section

134(a)(3) (out of $8 billion provided in Section 134(a)(3)).

The Clean Communities Investment Accelerator implements the statute’s use of funds for indirect investments under Section 134(b)(2). Section 134(b)(2) directs recipients of funds for indirect investments to provide funding and technical assistance to establish new or support existing public, quasi-public, not-for-profit, or nonprofit entities that provide financial assistance to qualified projects at the State, local, territorial, or Tribal level or in the District of Columbia, including community- and low-income-focused lenders and capital providers. Section 134(c)(3) provides https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/ that a qualified project is any project, activity or technology that (A) reduces or avoids greenhouse gas emissions or other forms of air pollution in partnership with, and by leveraging investment from, the private sector; or (B) assists communities in the efforts of those communities to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution.

The statute limits the entities eligible to compete for funds under Section 134(a)(3) to “eligible recipients.” Section 134(c)(1) defines an eligible recipient as a nonprofit organization that (A) is designed to provide capital, leverage private capital, and provide other forms of financial assistance for the rapid deployment of low- and zero-emission products, technologies, and services; (B) does not take deposits other than deposits from repayments and other revenue received from financial assistance using the grant funds; (C) is funded by public or charitable contributions; and (D) invests in or finances projects alone or in conjunction with other investors.

C. GGRF Program Objectives The Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will advance the three GGRF program objectives of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants; delivering benefits to American communities, particularly low-income and disadvantaged communities; and mobilizing financing and private capital.

• Program Objective 1: Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants.

Grantees will provide capital for community lenders to invest and re-invest in projects, activities, and technologies that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants that harm communities and contribute to climate change. Grantees—and the community lenders they support—will accelerate progress toward the climate goals of the

United States, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50-52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030, reaching 50 percent zero-emission vehicles share of all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in 2030, achieving a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035, and achieving net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.

• Program Objective 2: Deliver benefits of greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects to American communities, particularly low-income and disadvantaged communities.1 Grantees will ensure that the projects that community lenders invest in directly benefit Americans by improving health outcomes, lowering energy costs, creating high-quality jobs, and more. 100% of funds awarded under this competition must be used for the purposes of providing financial and technical assistance in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

• Program Objective 3: Mobilize financing and private capital to stimulate additional deployment of greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects. Grantees will work with community lenders to mobilize financing and private capital for underinvested projects and underinvested communities, which will build the long-term capacity of

1 This funding solicitation uses the term “American communities” to refer to communities within the boundaries of the ten EPA regions and to “Americans” as individuals living within the boundaries of the ten EPA regions. The ten regions are: EPA Region 1 (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT, and 10 Indian Tribes); EPA Region 2 (NJ, NY, PR, VI, and 8

Indian Nations); EPA Region 3 (DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV, and 7 Indian Tribes); EPA Region 4 (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN, and 6 Indian Tribes); EPA Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI, and 35 Indian Tribes); EPA Region

6 (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX, and 66 Indian Tribes); EPA Region 7 (IA, KS, NE, MO, and 9 Indian Tribes); EPA Region

8 (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY, and 28 Indian Tribes); EPA Region 9 (AZ, CA, HI, NV, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, and 148 Indian Tribes); and EPA Region 10 (AK, ID, OR, WA, and 271 Indian Tribes).

community lenders to finance clean technology projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities. As a result, grantees will spur market transformation, supporting market-wide accessibility of affordable financing for clean technology projects to multiply the impact of grant funds.

Grantees must align their programs with these three objectives, including setting goals and targets as described in Section IV.C: Content of Application Submission.

D. Competition Terminology

This section defines competition terminology referenced throughout this funding opportunity.

Some of this terminology includes important requirements of the grant award that should be carefully considered in preparing the application.

Capital Mobilization: For this competition, capital mobilization refers to capital contributions made toward CCIA-eligible projects as a result of the grant’s activities, excluding capital contributions made with grant funds. Private capital mobilization is defined as a subset of capital mobilization, excluding additional capital contributions (such as tax credits and other financial incentives) from federal, Tribal, state, territorial, and local government entities. Applicants may define their own methodologies to set goals and targets for capital mobilization for the purposes of their applications. An example methodology is provided below; applicants that do not use this methodology will not be penalized.

Capital mobilization is defined as additional capital contributions toward projects that are financed by community lenders through capitalization funding provided by the grantee (this figure excludes the capitalization funding itself). Additional capital contributions may include financing provided by community lenders with funds raised from private capital providers and philanthropic sources, additional sources of financing provided to project sponsors from private capital providers, and equity contributions from project sponsors. The capital mobilization ratio is defined as the grantee’s capital mobilization, divided by the grantee’s (indirect) capital commitments through capitalization funding. This ratio excludes the grantee’s expenditures for technical assistance subawards, technical assistance services, and program administration activities.

Capitalization Funding: Section 134(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act directs that grantees provide funding to community lenders. Consistent with Section 134(b)(2), grantees will provide

“capitalization funding” to existing community lenders for the sole purpose of providing financial assistance to CCIA-eligible projects. In general, a community lender may receive a maximum of

$10 million in total capitalization funding from all grantees under this competition; however, under limited exceptions, a community lender may receive total capitalization funding from a grantee(s) in excess of the $10 million cap, provided that the framework for those exceptions is specified by the grantee(s) in the application(s) or a post-award request for an exception is granted under procedures described by the terms and conditions of the grant(s). Grantees must pass-through a minimum of 80% of the grant award to community lenders through capitalization funding as well as a minimum of 90% of the grant award to community lenders through both capitalization funding and technical assistance subawards (defined as the direct costs of funds passed through as well as any associated indirect costs).

Grantees may deliver capitalization funding through either (a) subgrants and/or (b) subsidies.

Grantees may propose programs that provide one or both of these forms of capitalization funding to community lenders.

a. Subgrant: When a grantee provides capitalization funding to a community lender in the form of a subgrant, the subgrant is characterized as a Subaward and the community lender is characterized as a Subrecipient, as defined in 2 CFR § 200.1. The community lender must use the subgrant exclusively as capital to provide financial assistance for CCIA-eligible projects. The financial assistance that the community lender provides with the subgrant will be characterized as either a Subaward, Participant support costs, or the acquisition of Intangible property for a financial assistance purpose, as defined in 2 CFR

§ 200.1, with the characterization dependent on the nature of the financial assistance.

b. Subsidies: When a grantee provides capitalization funding to a community lender in the form of transaction-level subsidies or other payments that meet the 2 CFR § 1500.1(b) definition of Participant support costs, the community lender is characterized as a Program beneficiary, for the purposes of that regulation and the EPA Guidance on Participant

Support Costs. The grantee must provide the subsidies exclusively to subsidize a community lender’s financial assistance for CCIA-eligible projects. For example, a grantee may make a one-time commitment to a community lender to contribute a certain percentage of capital for the community lender’s transactions (such as loan originations) that meet the definition of financial assistance for CCIA-eligible projects (capped at $10 million in total subsidies). Participant support costs are subject to 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E—Cost

Principles, which requires that subsidies are “reasonable.”

CCIA-Eligible Projects: Section 134(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act directs that grantees use funds to establish new or support existing community lenders that provide financial assistance to qualified projects. For this competition, projects that are ultimately supported by capitalization funding, technical assistance subawards, and technical assistance services must meet the requirements of all three criteria listed below and are referred to as “CCIA-eligible projects.” Appendix B: CCIA-

Eligible Project Checklist provides an illustrative checklist of the requirements.

a. The project, activity, or technology must be a qualified project;

b. The project, activity, or technology must be within a priority project category; and

c. The project, activity, or technology must be in a low-income and disadvantaged community.

Coalition Application: A coalition application is one of two types of eligible applications under this competition, with the other type being an individual application as described in Section III.A:

Eligible Applicants. A coalition application is composed of one lead applicant, which partners with one or more non-lead coalition members that are named in the application and would receive subawards (in the form of subgrants) to carry out a portion of the grant’s activities if the application is selected. The lead applicant must be an eligible recipient and submit the application on behalf of the coalition. The non-lead coalition member(s) may be eligible recipients or other types of organizations eligible for subawards under the EPA Subaward Policy. A coalition application should describe the lead applicant’s program plan and programmatic capabilities, incorporating the activities of coalition members as well as the lead applicant’s management and oversight of those activities. For example, the pass-through strategy should describe how funds will be passed through to community lenders through activities carried out by the lead https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2018-g05 https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2018-g05 https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients applicant and non-lead coalition members, and the legal and compliance risk management plan should describe how the lead applicant will manage legal and compliance risk across its own activities as well as the activities of non-lead coalition members.

If selected, the lead applicant will become the grantee, administer the grant as a pass-through entity for the purposes of 2 CFR Part 200 and the EPA Subaward Policy, and be accountable to EPA for effectively carrying out the full scope of work and the proper financial management of the grant

(including subawards to non-lead coalition members). Additionally, if selected, as provided in 2

CFR § 200.332, non-lead coalition members will become subrecipients accountable to the lead applicant for proper use of EPA funding. Note that pursuant to 2 CFR § 200.332(a)(2), as implemented in Items 2 and 4 of EPA’s Establishing and Managing Subawards General Term and Condition, successful lead applicants of coalitions must ensure that the terms and conditions of the grant agreement “flow down” to any coalition members that are provided subawards. EPA has developed a template for subaward agreements, available in Appendix

D of the EPA Subaward Policy.

Community Lender: Section 134(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act directs that grantees provide funding and technical assistance to establish new or to support existing public, quasi-public, not-for-profit, or nonprofit entities that provide financial assistance to qualified projects at the state, local, territorial, or Tribal level or in the District of Columbia, including community- and low-income-focused lenders and capital providers. For this competition, an entity that meets these requirements is referred to as a “community lender.”

Consistent with Section 134(b)(2), an organization must meet the following three requirements to be considered a community lender:

• Must be either a public, quasi-public, not-for-profit, or nonprofit entity.

o A public entity must be a state, municipal, territorial, or Tribal government, including any department, agency, or instrumentality of one of those governments.

o A quasi-public entity must either (1) have a close association with a public entity but not be a public entity, (2) be created by a public entity but be exempt from certain legal and administrative requirements, or (3) not have been created by a public entity but perform a public purpose and be significantly supported financially by a public entity.2 o A not-for-profit entity must meet the definition of or be considered a “not-for-profit” under a federal, state, territorial, or Tribal law of a federally recognized tribe.3

2 For the purposes of this funding opportunity, EPA has determined that any entity that has been determined by the

U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund to meet the CDFI certification requirements set forth in 12 CFR 1805.201, as listed on the CDFI Fund’s website, is a quasi-public entity that meets this requirement. In addition to being quasi-public, an entity meeting this requirement may also meet the requirements of being a not-for-profit or nonprofit entity, depending on the entity.

3 For the purposes of this funding opportunity, EPA has determined that any Federal credit union or State credit union, as defined in Section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act, is a not-for-profit entity that meets this requirement.

https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://www.epa.gov/grants/grant-terms-and-conditions#general https://www.epa.gov/grants/grant-terms-and-conditions#general https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/documents/gpi-16-01-subaward-policy_app-d.pdf https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/documents/gpi-16-01-subaward-policy_app-d.pdf http://www.cdfifund.gov/cdficert o A nonprofit entity must meet the definition of nonprofit organization set forth in 2

CFR § 200.1.4

• Must have the legal authority to provide financial assistance to qualified projects at the state, local, territorial, or Tribal level or in the District of Columbia.

• Must be eligible to receive a subaward under the EPA Subaward Policy.

An individual(s) in the process of establishing a community lender, or an existing organization in the process of becoming a community lender, is not considered a community lender. However, while such individuals and organizations are not eligible for capitalization funding and technical assistance subawards provided by grantees, they are still eligible for technical assistance services provided by grantees.

Financial Assistance: Section 134(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act directs that grantees establish new or support existing community lenders that provide financial assistance to qualified projects. For this competition, consistent with the definition of “Federal financial assistance” in 2 CFR § 200.1, financial assistance constitutes financial products, including debt (such as loans, partially forgivable loans, forgivable loans, zero-interest and below-market interest loans, loans paired with interest rate buydowns, secured and unsecured loans, lines of credit, subordinated debt, warehouse lending, loan purchasing programs, and other debt instruments), equity (such as equity project finance investments, private equity investments, and other equity instruments), hybrids (such as mezzanine debt, preferred equity, and other hybrid instruments), and credit enhancements (such as loan guarantees, loan guarantee funds, loan loss reserves, and other credit enhancement instruments). For this competition, subgrants are not eligible as financial assistance.

Note: The Clean Communities Investment Accelerator uses the term “financial assistance” in three ways: (1) capitalization funding must be used for financial assistance to CCIA-eligible projects; (2) technical assistance subawards must be used to build capacity for community lenders to provide financial assistance to CCIA-eligible projects; and (3) technical assistance services must be used to build capacity for community lenders to provide financial assistance to CCIA-eligible projects. If your application proposes to support community lenders in providing financial assistance in the form of equity investments, it will be expected to account for the unique risks of equity investments as well as the capabilities required by community lenders to manage those risks. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that community lenders have the investment policies, staffing plans, and financial risk management practices in place as well as have a plan to generate program income and other income from equity investments to support continued operability.

Low-Income and Disadvantaged Communities (LIDAC): GGRF defines low-income and disadvantaged communities as encompassing the following four categories, as defined below: (a) communities identified as disadvantaged by the CEJST mapping tool; (b) a limited number of additional communities identified as disadvantaged by the EJScreen mapping tool; (c) geographically dispersed low-income households; and (d) properties providing affordable housing.

4 2 CFR § 200.1 states that a nonprofit organization “means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization, not including Institutes of Higher Education, that: (1) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public interest; (2) is not organized primarily for profit; and (3) uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the operations of the organization.”

https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en/#3/33.47/-97.5 https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen

Section 134(a)(3) of the Clean Air Act appropriates funds “for the purposes of providing financial assistance and technical assistance in low-income and disadvantaged communities.” For this competition, grantees will be required to use 100% of grant funds for the purposes of providing financial and technical assistance in the low-income and disadvantaged communities defined below. Appendix C: Guidance for Low-Income and Disadvantaged Community Expenditures provides guidance for assessing expenditures against this 100% requirement.

a. CEJST-Identified Disadvantaged Communities: The Climate and Economic Justice

Screening Tool (CEJST) is a publicly-available mapping tool developed by the White

House Council on Environmental Quality. GGRF’s definition of “disadvantaged communities” includes all communities identified as disadvantaged through the CEJST.

b. EJScreen-Identified Disadvantaged Communities: EJScreen is a publicly-available, place-based environmental justice screening and mapping tool developed by the EPA.

GGRF’s definition of “disadvantaged communities” includes (1) the limited supplemental set of census block groups that are at or above the 90th percentile for any of EJScreen’s supplemental indexes when compared to the nation or state or (2) geographic areas within

Tribal lands as included in EJScreen.5

c. Geographically Dispersed Low-Income Households: GGRF’s definition of

“geographically dispersed low-income households” includes low-income individuals and households that fall within either of the two categories listed below.

• Individuals and households with incomes at or below the greater of:

o For Metropolitan Areas: (1) 80% Area Median Income (AMI) and (2)

200% of the Federal Poverty Level o For Non-Metropolitan Areas: (1) 80% AMI; (2) 80% Statewide Non-

Metropolitan Area AMI; and (3) 200% of the Federal Poverty Level

• Individuals and households currently approved for assistance from or participation in at least one of the following income-based or income-verified federal assistance programs, with an award letter within the last 12 months: (1) U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Low Income Home Energy Assistance

Program; (2) U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program; (3) U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Weatherization

Assistance Program; (4) Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications; (5) USDA’s National School Lunch Program; (6)

U.S. Social Security Administration’s Supplemental Security Income; or (7) any other verified government or non-profit program serving Asset Limited, Income

Constrained, Employed (ALICE) individuals or households designated by the EPA

Administrator

d. Properties Providing Affordable Housing: GGRF’s definition of “properties providing affordable housing” includes properties serving low-income individuals and households that fall within either of the two categories listed below.

• Multifamily housing with rents not exceeding 30% of 80% AMI for at least half of residential units and with an active affordability covenant from one of the following federal or state housing assistance programs: (1) Low-Income Housing Tax Credit;

5 Within EJScreen, EJScreen-Identified Disadvantaged Communities can be found in the “Places” tab by clicking the

“Justice40/IRA” category and then selecting “EPA IRA Disadvantaged Communities.” This includes the following

Tribal lands: Alaska Native Allotments, Alaska Native Villages, American Indian Reservations, American Indian Off-reservation Trust Lands, and Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Areas.

https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen/download-ejscreen-data https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen/download-ejscreen-data https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/low-income-home-energy-assistance-program-liheap https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/low-income-home-energy-assistance-program-liheap https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program https://www.energy.gov/scep/wap/weatherization-assistance-program https://www.energy.gov/scep/wap/weatherization-assistance-program https://www.fcc.gov/lifeline-consumers https://www.fcc.gov/lifeline-consumers https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp https://www.ssa.gov/ssi https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=e7373076bd494020aa962123579c5b97 https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=59c522c51a85413e88822e5155485602 https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=b04b580b3e5e40cc8152b14583814073 https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=8661e06adc4c477f99dfe1078f1059fb https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=8661e06adc4c477f99dfe1078f1059fb https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=417d202e8213423f916f3751c6572f83

(2) a housing assistance program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including Public Housing, Section 8 Project-

Based Rental Assistance, Section 202 Housing for the Elderly, Section 811

Housing for Disabled, Housing Trust Fund, Home Investment Partnership Program

Affordable Rental and Homeowner Units, Permanent Supportive Housing, and other programs focused on the goal of ending homelessness funded under HUD’s

Continuum of Care Program; (3) a housing assistance program administered by

USDA under Title V of the Housing Act of 1949, including under Sections 514 and

515; (4) a housing assistance program administered by a tribally designated housing entity, as defined in Section 4(22) of the Native American Housing Assistance and

Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 USC § 4103(22)); or (5) any other housing assistance program designated by the EPA Administrator

• Naturally-occurring (unsubsidized) affordable housing with rents not exceeding

30% of 80% AMI for at least half of residential units6

Network: For this competition, an industry “network” of community lenders is a class of community lenders that is defined by shared characteristics relevant to deploying financial assistance to CCIA-eligible projects, such as the entity’s legal structure or business model.

Applicants must propose serving a network of community lenders that have the capacity to exist across all ten EPA regions over the period of performance.

Program Administration Activities: Under 2 CFR § 200.403 and other applicable provisions of

2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E, costs are allowable under federal awards so long as they are necessary and reasonable for the performance of the grant award. For this competition, consistent with these regulations, program administration activities are allowable costs, with such activities supporting administration of the grant program. Program administration activities include (but are not limited

to) managing processes to distribute capitalization funding and technical assistance subawards;

establishing and convening advisory councils; conducting program performance and other reporting activities (e.g., expenditures for personnel and equipment to procure technology infrastructure and expertise for data analysis, performance, and evaluation); and supporting, monitoring, overseeing, and auditing subrecipients, contractors, and program beneficiaries.

Priority Project Categories: For this competition, priority project categories include: (a) distributed energy generation and storage; (b) net-zero emissions buildings; and (c) zero-emissions transportation. A project that falls within one or more of the priority project categories is likely to be a qualified project, but it is not guaranteed to be a qualified project. All projects ultimately supported through this competition by capitalization funding, technical assistance subawards, and technical assistance services must be both qualified projects and priority projects.

a. Distributed Energy Generation and Storage: Projects, activities, and technologies that deploy small-scale power generation and/or storage technologies (typically from 1 kW to

10,000 kW), plus enabling infrastructure necessary for deployment of such generation and/or storage technologies. For this competition, the projects, activities, and technologies

6 Applicants will be evaluated on their plan to integrate housing affordability protection into the program, including but not limited to maintaining affordability of existing housing stock, minimizing displacement, and preventing rapid cost increases.

must support carbon pollution-free electricity, which is electrical energy produced from resources that generate no carbon emissions, consistent with the definition specified in

Executive Order 14057 (Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal

Sustainability). Examples of the types of projects in this category include (but are not limited to): residential rooftop solar; residential rooftop solar-plus-storage; community wind and solar; fuel cells; stand-alone energy storage, including replacement of backup diesel generators with battery storage; distributed generation and storage assets that support microgrids; and the previously listed projects paired with distribution system upgrades necessary for project interconnection. This priority project category is intended to make an outsized impact on delivering clean energy and energy efficiency benefits to low-income and disadvantaged communities.

b. Net-Zero Emissions Buildings: Projects, activities, and technologies that either (1) retrofit an existing building, making a substantial contribution to that building being a net-zero emissions building and as part of a plan for that building achieving zero-over-time, or (2) construct a new net-zero emissions building in a low-income and disadvantaged community. Net-zero emissions buildings are defined in Executive Order 14057

Implementing Instructions,7 with the primary focus of reducing emissions but with occupant health, environmental stewardship, and climate resilience also as critical elements of a holistic building design, construction, and operations strategy. Net-zero emissions buildings include residential (e.g., 1- to 4-family homes, manufactured homes, multifamily housing), commercial, industrial, and other buildings—especially properties providing affordable housing. Examples of the types of projects in this category include (but are not limited to): decarbonization of affordable multifamily housing through energy and water efficiency, geothermal heating and cooling, and grid-interactive appliance electrification;

school building space and water heating grid-interactive electrification; whole-home retrofits for 1- to 4-family homes and manufactured homes to improve energy efficiency;

decarbonization retrofits as part of adaptive reuse of existing buildings to create housing, childcare centers, and other community facilities; and new construction of net-zero residential buildings in rural areas as well as in urban infill, transit-oriented locations that are in low-income and disadvantaged communities. This priority project category is intended to make an outsized impact on delivering affordable and sustainable housing benefits to low-income and disadvantaged communities.

c. Zero-Emissions Transportation: Projects, activities, and technologies that deploy zero-emissions transportation modes, plus enabling infrastructure necessary for zero-emissions transportation modes—especially in communities that are overburdened by existing diesel pollution, particulate matter concentration, and degraded air quality. Zero-emissions transportation should be consistent with the zero-emissions transportation decarbonization strategies in The U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization. Examples of the types of projects in this category include (but are not limited to): deployment of chargers (including prewiring for future charger installation) and other infrastructure to support zero-emissions micromobility options (e.g., electric bikes and scooters) as well as zero-emissions light-duty vehicles for individuals and families, particularly at and near

7 As defined in Executive Order 14057, a net-zero emissions building is an efficient, all electric building that is designed and operated so scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions from all facility energy use equal zero on an annual basis, when connected to on-site renewable energy or a regional grid that provides 100 percent carbon-free electricity on a net annual basis.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/12/13/2021-27114/catalyzing-clean-energy-industries-and-jobs-through-federal-sustainability https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/12/13/2021-27114/catalyzing-clean-energy-industries-and-jobs-through-federal-sustainability https://www.sustainability.gov/pdfs/EO_14057_Implementing_Instructions.pdf https://www.sustainability.gov/pdfs/EO_14057_Implementing_Instructions.pdf https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/the-us-national-blueprint-for-transportation-decarbonization.pdf multifamily housing; deployment of chargers and other infrastructure to support zero-emissions medium- and heavy-duty vehicles for small businesses and farms; charging and refueling depots for zero-emissions school buses, trucks, and public transportation vehicles; and small-scale infrastructure to improve walkability and bikeability. This priority project category is intended to make a particular impact on delivering clean transportation benefits to low-income and disadvantaged communities.

Program Income: Consistent with 2 CFR § 200.1, Program income means gross income earned by a grantee (or a subgrantee) that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the grant award. This includes gross income earned by a community lender from capitalization funding provided in the form of a subgrant. For this competition, program income includes but is not limited to loan and other origination fees, interest payments, principal repayments, dividends from equity investments, interest from short-term securities (e.g., cash deposits), asset sales, and other sources of program income. EPA-specific rules on program income are provided at 2 CFR §

1500.8 and on the coverage of allowable fund raising costs are provided under 2 CFR § 200.442

(with additional details in Item 4 of the EPA Guidance on Selected Items of Cost for Recipients).

These rules apply to grantees as well as subgrantees (such as non-lead coalition members) that are provided subgrants for the purposes of carrying out a portion of the grant’s activities, in addition to community lenders that are provided capitalization funding in the form of subgrants. Additional guidance will be provided in the terms and conditions of the grant agreement.

Qualified Project: Section 134(c)(3) of the Clean Air Act provides that a qualified project is any project, activity, or technology that (A) reduces or avoids greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution in partnership with, and by leveraging investment from, the private sector;

or (B) assists communities in the efforts of those communities to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution. For this competition, a project must meet all six requirements listed below at the time of financing to be eligible as a “qualified project.”

a. The project, activity, or technology would reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions,8 consistent with the climate goals of the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

50-52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030, reach 50 percent zero-emission vehicles share of all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in 2030, achieve a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035, and achieve net-zero emissions by no later than 2050. The project, activity, or technology may reduce or avoid such emissions through its own performance or through assisting communities in their efforts to deploy projects, activities, or technologies that reduce or avoid such emissions.

b. The project, activity, or technology would reduce or avoid emissions of other air pollutants.

The project, activity, or technology may reduce or avoid such emissions through its own performance or through assisting communities in their efforts to deploy projects, activities, or technologies that reduce or avoid such emissions.

c. The project, activity, or technology would deliver additional benefits (i.e., in addition to primarily reducing or avoiding emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants) to

American communities within…