Healthy Communities 2018 Final.pdf

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION I, NEW ENGLAND

2018 HEALTHY COMMUNITIES GRANT PROGRAM

Announcement Request for Initial Proposals Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-R1-HC-2018 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 66.110 Action Dates: Initial Proposals due on April 13, 2018

Executive Summary: The Healthy Communities Grant Program is EPA New England’s main competitive grant program to work directly with communities to support EPA’s “Back-to- Basics” agenda to reduce environmental risks, protect and improve human health and improve the quality of life. The Healthy Communities Grant Program will achieve this through identifying and funding projects that:

Target resources to benefit communities at risk [areas needing to create community resilience, environmental justice areas of potential concern, sensitive populations (e.g. children, elderly, tribes, urban and rural residents, and others at increased risk)].

Assess, understand, and reduce environmental and human health risks.

Increase collaboration through partnerships and community-based projects.

Build institutional and community capacity to understand and solve environmental and human health problems.

Advance emergency preparedness and ecosystem resilience.

Achieve measurable environmental and human health benefits.

To qualify as eligible projects under the Healthy Communities Grant Program, proposed projects must: (1) be located in and/or directly benefit one or more of the Target Investment Areas; and (2) identify how the proposed project will achieve measurable environmental and/or public health results in one or more of the Target Program Areas. Please see Section III for further information on eligibility requirements.

Target Investment Areas: Areas Needing to Create Community Resilience, Environmental

Justice Areas of Potential Concern, and/or Sensitive Populations

Target Program Areas: Clean, Green and Healthy Schools; Community and Water

Infrastructure Resilience; Healthy Indoor Environments; and/or Healthy Outdoor Environments

The Healthy Communities Grant Program anticipates awarding approximately 10 cooperative agreements in 2018. Proposals may be submitted for amounts up to $25,000. Project periods may be for one or two years, starting no earlier than October 1, 2018.

This application guidance includes the following information:

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description Section II. Award Information Section III. Eligibility Information Section IV. Application and Submission Information Section V. Application Review Information Section VI. Award Administration Information Section VII. Agency Contact

SECTION I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Program Description The Healthy Communities Grant Program was launched in 2003 and supports EPA’s “Back-to- Basics” agenda by integrating many EPA New England programs including Air Quality Outreach, Assistance & Pollution Prevention, Asthma and Indoor Air, Children’s Environmental Health; Clean, Green and Healthy Schools Initiative, Energy Efficiency Program, Toxics and Pesticides, Urban Environmental Program, and Water Infrastructure (Stormwater, Wastewater, and Drinking Water).

The goal of the program is to combine available resources and best identify competitive projects that will achieve measurable environmental and public health results in communities across New England. In order to streamline and simplify the application and competitive process, eligible applicants are invited to submit an Initial Proposal to EPA New England for funding consideration under this competitive grant program. Based on the quality of the eligible initial proposals as measured against the applicable criterion in Section V, finalists will be invited to submit full project proposals for further evaluation. The Healthy Communities Grant Program anticipates awarding approximately 10 cooperative agreements from these full project proposals in 2018.

The Healthy Communities Grant Program is EPA New England’s main grant program to work directly with communities to reduce environmental risks in order to protect and improve human health and the quality of life, advance resilience, and preserve/restore important ecosystems. The Healthy Communities Grant Program will achieve these goals through identifying and funding projects that:

• Target resources to benefit communities at risk [areas needing to create community resilience, environmental justice areas of potential concern, and/or sensitive populations (e.g. children, elderly, tribes, urban and rural residents, and others at increased risk)].

• Assess, understand, and reduce environmental and human health risks.

• Increase collaboration through partnerships and community-based projects.

• Build institutional and community capacity to understand and solve environmental and human health problems.

• Advance emergency preparedness and ecosystem resilience.

• Reduce pollution at the source.

• Achieve measurable environmental and human health benefits.

The mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment (air, water, and land) upon which life depends. EPA's purpose is to ensure that:

• All Americans are protected from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work.

• National efforts to reduce environmental risk are based on the best available scientific information.

• Federal laws protecting human health and the environment are enforced fairly and effectively.

• Environmental protection is an integral consideration in U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy.

• All parts of society (e.g., communities, individuals, business, state and local governments, tribal governments) have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks.

• Environmental protection contributes to making our communities and ecosystems diverse, sustainable and economically productive.

• The United States plays a leadership role in working with other nations to protect the global environment.

EPA New England takes these broad goals and applies them directly to service the needs of New England residents in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and federally recognized tribes in New England. Within the broad landscape of these states and tribes, EPA New England recognizes that not all communities share the same environmental and public health conditions. For example, in urban, rural and environmental justice communities throughout New England, residents are exposed to a multitude of environmental and public health hazards, ranging from lead in paint, soil and drinking water to rats on vacant lots to asthma aggravated by poor indoor and ambient air quality.

Another concern is the ability in New England to successfully manage large-scale water quality problems on a watershed basis when governance institutions are based on home rule and local control. All communities need to plan for and address community resiliency to prepare and adapt to extreme weather events (e.g. flooding, drought, hot and cold temperature extremes). Cumulative environmental impacts are difficult to assess and address because of limited data, independent planning across state and municipal jurisdictions, and limited capacity to implement integrated projects. Measures that would positively affect water quality considerations are challenged by the lack of common goals and an effective platform to measure program effectiveness and track improvements. Cumulatively, the effects of these hazards on urban residents and other sensitive populations such as children, the elderly and tribal populations are compounded by issues including environmental injustice, limited economic development opportunities, and social ills. Some suburban and rural communities also face significant risks from industrial, commercial, agricultural or transportation activities in or near their communities. These types of conditions result in disproportionate health risks to residents and stress on the quality of the air, water, and land.

To maximize effectiveness and resources, many EPA New England programs are working in partnership to improve environmental conditions for residents across New England. EPA New England’s Air Quality Outreach, Assistance & Pollution Prevention, Asthma and Indoor Air, Children’s Environmental Health and Clean, Green and Healthy Schools Initiative, Toxics and Pesticides, Tribal, Urban Environmental Program, and Water Infrastructure Programs (Stormwater, Wastewater, and Drinking Water) are working together to competitively identify projects that will achieve measurable environmental and public health results in Target Investment Areas and Target Program Areas across New England (see Section I, C, Target Investment Areas & Target Program Areas, for more details). These participating programs share a focus on preventing and reducing environmental and human health risks and/or advancing ecosystem resilience. Staff and leadership from each of these programs will jointly review and select projects for funding using the criteria listed in Section V of this announcement.

Please read the descriptions below to learn more about each participating program. More information on each participating program’s activities, projects, and accomplishments is available at www.epa.gov/region01.

• Air Quality Outreach: The Air Quality Outreach program aims to increase public awareness of air quality issues so that people can take steps to protect their health and reduce their contribution to air pollution. For example, EPA works with state air agencies to provide real-time air pollution levels, as well as forecasts, to warn residents of poor air quality in their area. EPA also works with states to mitigate wood smoke pollution by promoting measures that individuals can take to reduce emissions from residential wood burning. These include encouraging the change-out of old wood burning appliances for newer, more efficient models and tips for better burning practices that result in more efficient use of wood, lower emissions, and safer burning.

• Assistance & Pollution Prevention: The Assistance and Pollution Prevention Office assists communities, businesses, and municipalities to understand and comply with environmental regulations, understand how to reduce and track pollution most effectively https://www.epa.gov/region01 using limited resources to improve public health or the environment, apply sustainable materials management principles, maximize sustainable outcomes, and support municipal efforts to fund stormwater management practices. Pollution prevention techniques aim to reduce the amount and/or toxicity of pollutants and/or contaminants at the source (e.g., air emissions, water pollutants, solid or hazardous waste). Sustainable materials management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycle to find new opportunities to reduce environmental impacts, conserve resources and reduce cost. In 2018, the program has an emphasis on projects that focus on pounds of hazardous materials or waste reduced, gallons of water reduced, and/or dollars saved by businesses.

• Asthma and Indoor Air: The Asthma Program supports asthma and healthy environmental interventions that promote the management of asthma and the reduction of asthma triggers and other indoor air pollutants, assists with the training of asthmatics, their families, and healthcare professionals on asthma trigger management and the effectiveness of comprehensive asthma management programs; creates healthy homes training opportunities; encourages the support and development of sustainable home intervention programs; promotes sustainable financing for home intervention programs; and promotes the awareness of the primary prevention of asthma. Additionally, collaboration among stakeholders is encouraged if it provides a means to reduce the burden of asthma on a regional level.

• Children’s Environmental Health: The Children’s Environmental Health Program seeks to protect children from environmental health risks in schools, homes, and childcare environments in New England, and to increase awareness of children's unique vulnerabilities to pollutants and other environmental hazards through research, education, outreach, and capacity-building. In 2018, the program has an emphasis on projects that reduce risks to children from lead and other environmental health hazards where they live, learn, and play.

• Clean, Green and Healthy Schools Initiative: Under the Healthy High-Performance

Schools subtitle of Title IV of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of December 2007, the Clean, Green and Healthy Schools Initiative is integrated across all EPA programs to address children’s environmental health at K-12 schools and to improve school environmental health through EPA resources, including the EPA School Siting Guidelines and EPA State School Environmental Health Guidelines, such as Tools for Schools.

• Toxics and Pesticides: The Toxics Program regulates and provides oversight over a variety of different toxic chemicals (e.g., Lead, Asbestos, Mercury, PCBs, etc.) regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The Pesticides Program regulates and provides oversight over registration and use of pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

• Urban Environmental Program: The Urban Environmental Program has worked since

1995 to facilitate partnership development with communities, government and other stakeholders to address environmental and public health problems including lead poisoning, asthma and indoor air quality, ambient air quality, open space and green space, vacant lots, environmental justice, and urban rivers and wetlands in targeted New England urban areas across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

• Water Infrastructure Program (Stormwater, Wastewater, and Drinking Water): The Water

Programs works with regulated entities including municipalities, wastewater systems, and drinking water systems to protect the environment and public health. Through regulations, technical assistance, outreach, funding, and training, EPA’s Water Program works with federal, state and local partners to sustain the adequacy and integrity of water infrastructure in communities throughout New England. Particular emphasis has been placed on working with communities to assess vulnerabilities and adapt stormwater, wastewater, and drinking water infrastructure to ensure these critical services will be maintained, even in extreme weather events.

The Healthy Communities Grant Program consists of activities authorized under one or more of the following EPA grant authorities listed under Clean Air Act, Section 103(b)(3); Clean Water Act, Section 104(b)(3); Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442(a) and (c); Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20; Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001; Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10; Marine Protection, Research, & Sanctuaries Act, Section 203; Indian Environmental General Assistance Program Act; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Section 311(a), (b) & (c).

The statutory authorities for this program restrict the use of assistance agreements to support the following activities: conducting or promoting the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects (including health and welfare effects), extent, prevention, and elimination of water pollution.

Demonstrations must involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, and it is encouraged that the results of these projects will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not considered a demonstration project.

To learn more about additional requirements for authorized activities, applicants are encouraged to attend a Healthy Communities Grant Program information session. Please see Section IV, F, Information Sessions for further details.

B. EPA Strategic Plan Linkage and Anticipated Outcomes/Outputs

Linkage to EPA Strategic Plan: The activities to be funded under this announcement support EPA’s FY 2018-22 Strategic Plan. Awards made under this announcement will support Goal 1:

Core Mission; Objective 1.1 Improve Air Quality, Objective 1.2 Provide for Clean and Safe Water, Objective 1.3 Revitalize Land and Prevent Contamination, and Objective 1.4 Ensure Safety of Chemical in the Marketplace; Goal 2: Cooperative Federalism, Objective 2.1 Enhance Shared Accountability, Objective 2.2 Increase Transparency and Public Participation; and Goal 3: Rule of Law and Process, Objective 3.1 Compliance with the Law, Objective 3.2 Create Consistency and Certainty, 3.3 Prioritize Robust Science of the EPA Strategic Plan (available at http://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan.html). All proposed projects must support the goals and objectives identified above.

The activities to be funded under this announcement are intended to further EPA’s current priorities but may differ in selecting the appropriate Goal and Objective identified above depending on how the proposed projects address one or more of the Target Investment Areas (Areas Needing to Create Community Resilience, Environmental Justice Areas of Potential Concern, and/or Sensitive Populations) and one or more of the Target Program Areas (Clean, Green and Healthy Schools;

Community and Water Infrastructure Resilience; Healthy Indoor Environments; and/or Healthy Outdoor Environments). Please see below and Section III for further information.

EPA also requires that grant applicants adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements (see EPA Order 5700.7A1, Environmental Results under Assistance Agreements, https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements). Applicants must include specific statements describing the environmental results of the proposed project in terms of well-defined http://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan.html https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements outputs and, to the maximum extent practicable, well-defined outcomes that will demonstrate how the project will contribute to the priorities described above.

Outcomes & Outputs: Outputs refer to measurable quantitative or qualitative activities, efforts, deliverables, or work products that the applicant proposes to undertake during the project period.

The anticipated outputs for Healthy Communities Grant Program cooperative agreements will vary from applicant to applicant, but will be identified as "Project Deliverables" in the full proposal narrative and work plan. All applicants will be expected to clearly identify their outputs depending on the Target Program Area(s) selected by the applicant and achieve them during the proposed project period. Grant recipients will be required to submit quarterly status reports about their progress towards achieving outputs once the project is implemented.

The anticipated outputs for Healthy Communities projects will vary depending on the scope of the project and linkage to one or more Target Program Area(s). Anticipated outputs for potential projects are organized by Target Program Area below and may include, but are not limited to:

Clean, Green and Healthy Schools:

Number of schools in urban, rural or suburban communities that received school environmental health information (e.g. lead, asthma, exposure to toxic substances, etc.), participated in capacity-building exercises, and/or took action to become cleaner, greener, and healthier.

Number of school decision-makers who received school environmental health information and/or participated in capacity-building exercises.

Number of schools or school districts that have taken action to become cleaner, greener, and healthier.

Number of activities that improve indoor environments and reduce risk factors for asthma onset and/or exacerbations, including remediating water damage, improving HVAC systems, using materials and equipment that do not contain harmful chemicals (e.g., formaldehyde).

Number of activities that encourage training of educators, administrators, and all staff about asthmagens to which they may be exposed in their workplaces (e.g., mold, sanitizers, cleaners, pest control products).

Pounds of hazardous materials reduced through pollution prevention/source reduction in schools.

Tons of air pollution reduced through pollution prevention/source reduction in schools.

Gallons of water saved through pollution prevention/source reduction in schools.

Dollars saved by schools through pollution prevention/source reduction.

Pounds of food recovery in school projects aimed at reducing food waste, diverting food from landfills, and encouraging food donations.

Community and Water Infrastructure Resilience:

Number of personnel at facilities that use and/or store hazardous substances trained to safely manage hazardous substance facilities and/or evaluate hazards presented by these facilities.

Number of communities with completed hazardous waste vulnerability assessments that cover community resiliency planning, including impacts to water infrastructure.

Number of communities and facilities that use and/or store hazardous substances that have conducted emergency preparedness exercises to test the adequacy of local plans in addressing hazardous waste management.

Healthy Indoor Environments:

Number of families, caregivers, individuals, stakeholders, or geographic areas serviced through education, outreach, training or intervention to reduce indoor air pollutants.

Reduction in childhood asthma severity or other health impacts due to better management of asthma trigger.

Number of professionals trained to deliver asthma management and care trainings.

Reduction in exposure to pesticides and/or toxic substances (e.g. lead, mercury, priority chemicals, etc.).

Number of individuals or stakeholders reached with an education and outreach campaign to promote compliance with the federal lead-based paint regulations and/or reduce lead in drinking water.

Design and conduct an education and outreach campaign to promote lead safe drinking water.

Identification of methods or techniques leading to a comprehensive healthy homes project which potentially improves and promotes children’s health by reducing indoor toxins including, but not limited to mold, combustion by-products, lead, asbestos, pesticides, PCBs, dioxin, and mercury.

Number of children, families, individuals, stakeholders, or geographic areas serviced or participating in efforts to reduce exposure to indoor pollutants such as mold, combustion by-products, lead, asbestos, pesticides, PCBs, dioxin, and mercury.

Pounds of material (municipal solid waste) being diverted, reused, recycled or composted in an indoor environment and the impact on ambient air quality emissions.

Reduced quantities (e.g. pounds) of pesticides or other hazardous cleaning agents no longer used in target geographic area.

Number of communities working with businesses to reduce toxics use, particularly in flood-prone communities, in order to eliminate or reduce risks to human health and eliminate or reduce the risk of the release of toxics for hazardous substances into the environment.

Pounds of organic waste diverted from municipal solid waste disposal.

Measurable reductions in hazards (pounds), pollution prevented (pounds), water use (gallons), energy consumption, and/or air pollutant emissions (metric tons of carbon equivalent) through pollution prevention and/or source reduction.

Healthy Outdoor Environments:

Number of families, individuals, municipalities or stakeholders reached through education, outreach, demonstrations, training, surveys and/or studies related to the causes, effects, extent, reduction, prevention or elimination of pollution in soil, water and/or air.

Creation of effective education, outreach, demonstration, and/or training tools to reach target population.

Number of wood smoke education kits distributed to communities.

Design and conduct a study to assess PM concentrations in communities impacted by wood smoke and distribute report to relevant stakeholders.

Pounds of pesticides no longer used in target geographic area.

Reduction in the amount of pollutants coming from facilities or common practices due to outreach on accident prevention, facility management, compliance assistance, and pollution prevention-based sector and municipal-based approaches.

Pounds of organic waste diverted from municipal solid waste disposal.

Reduction in pollutants such as pesticides, animal feeding, operations runoff, and/or oils/grease.

Pounds of hazardous materials reduced through pollution prevention/source reduction in communities, municipalities, states, and/or businesses.

Tons of air pollution reduced through pollution prevention/source reduction in communities, municipalities, states, and/or businesses.

Gallons of water saved through pollution prevention/source reduction in communities, municipalities, states, and/or businesses.

Dollars saved by communities, municipalities, states, and/or businesses through pollution prevention/source reduction.

Measurable reductions in hazards (pounds), pollution prevented (pounds), water use (gallons), energy consumption, and/or air pollutant emissions (metric tons of carbon equivalent) through pollution prevention and/or source reduction efforts.

Number of communities, including those working with businesses, to reduce toxic or hazardous materials used, and/or reduce solid or hazardous waste generated, particularly in flood-prone communities, in order to eliminate or reduce risks to human health and eliminate or reduce the risk of the release of toxics for hazardous substances, or pollutants into the environment.

Outcomes refer to the result, effect, or consequence that will occur from carrying out the activities or outputs of the project. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related or programmatic, should be quantitative, and may not necessarily be achievable during the project period. Short-term outcomes include, but are not limited to: increased learning, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and motivation, and must occur during the proposed project period. All of the awards under this announcement are expected to result in the general short term outcomes identified below.

The anticipated short-term outcomes listed below are expected to result in reducing environmental risks to protect and improve human health and the quality of life in order to create healthy communities and ecosystems related to many of the goals in EPA’s Strategic Plan. Anticipated short-term outcomes include, but are not limited to:

Measurable improvements in public health conditions including, but not limited to:

improvement in quality of life for asthmatics, including increased number of symptom-free days; reduction in use of rescue medications; reduction in number of missed school/work days; reduction in number of emergency room visits, and/or hospital readmissions related to asthma; or other quantifiable measures including reductions in the number of lead poisoned children; decreased use of pesticides; increase in pounds of crops grown using integrated pest management.

Measurable improvements to environmental and/or ecosystem conditions and management including, but not limited to: pounds of toxic or hazardous materials reduced, pounds of solid or hazardous waste reduced, gallons of water reduced, number of pounds or metric tons of greenhouse gas eliminated; expanded state and nonprofit organization monitoring capacity and collection and communication of watershed wide data, adoption of riparian and headwaters protection strategies; reduction in kilowatt hours of energy used; adoption of strategies to address nutrients such as adoption of fertilizer use ordinances or laws;

increase in gallons of water conserved, increase in the number of pollution prevention assessments, lifecycle analyses, and/or lean manufacturing assessments conducted at businesses, institutions or local government facilities; adoption of pollution prevention activities at businesses and/or communities; increased strategies and resources for watershed-scale protection and/or restoration of key habitats and physical systems).

Increased resources to benefit communities at risk.

Increased access to information and tools that increase understanding and reduction of environmental and human health risks.

Increased public understanding of chemicals at risk in their community.

Improved institutional and community capacity to understand and solve environmental and human health problems.

In addition, the projects may result in additional outcomes which will vary depending on the Target Program Area(s) identified by the applicant. Both the expected short-term outcomes identified above and any other expected outcomes should be defined in the Initial Project Summary, the Full Proposal Narrative, and the Work Plan.

C. Target Investment Areas & Target Program Areas In order to qualify as eligible projects under the Healthy Communities Grant Program, proposed projects must meet the following criteria: (1) Be located in and/or directly benefit one or more of the Target Investment Areas described below; and (2) Identify how the proposed project will achieve measurable environmental and/or public health results in one or more of the Target Program Areas described below. To learn more about the outputs and outcomes expected, please see Section I, B, EPA Strategic Plan Linkage and Anticipated Outcomes/Outputs.

The Healthy Communities Grant Program seeks to fund projects that are in and/or directly benefit one or more of the Target Investment Areas of: Areas Needing to Create Community Resilience, Environmental Justice Areas of Potential Concern, and/or Sensitive Populations in one or more of the EPA New England States of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and/or tribal lands. Every proposal must clearly identify and explain how the project will link to one or more of the Target Investment Areas listed and described below.

Target Investment Areas: Areas Needing to Create Community Resilience, Environmental

Justice Areas of Potential Concern, and/or Sensitive Populations

a. Areas Needing to Create Community Resilience: For purposes of this grant program, “Areas Needing to Create Community Resilience” include areas that are located within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 500 or 100-year flood zones and United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Hurricane Inundation Zones, or other areas that have been designated as having a risk of flooding through local, state or federal studies.

Areas may also be designated as needing to create community resilience and prepare for extreme weather events based on past impacts experienced during extreme weather events such as Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene or if it is an area with high levels of impervious cover, stormwater runoff, and/or has experienced contamination from bacteria, nutrients, and/or other pollutants of concern (e.g., sediment, heavy metals, phosphorus, nitrogen, etc.) that is negatively impacting, or expected to impact local water quality (e.g., rivers, lakes, ponds, wetlands, etc.). To qualify under this Target Investment Area, applicants must demonstrate that their project will directly involve and/or benefit an area at risk from extreme weather impacts as described above.

b. Environmental Justice Areas of Potential Concern: For the purposes of this grant program, “Environmental Justice Areas of Potential Concern” refers to communities, neighborhoods, geographic areas or tribes in New England that potentially have been disproportionately affected by environmental and/or public health burdens in a defined geographic area. EPA New England is committed to promoting and supporting Environmental Justice which is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no group of people, including any racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic group, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal programs and policies. “Meaningful Involvement” means that: (1) potentially affected community residents have an appropriate opportunity to participate in decisions about a proposed activity that will affect their environment and/or health; (2) the public's contribution can influence the regulatory agency's decision; (3) the concerns of all participants involved will be considered in the decision-making process; and (4) the decision-makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected. To qualify under this Target Investment Area, applicants must provide a description of the characteristics of the population and challenges facing the community, neighborhood, or tribe benefitting from the proposed activity, an identification of the potential environmental and health burdens experienced, and an explanation of how the proposed project will address the identified burdens to demonstrate that their project will provide fair treatment and meaningful involvement to members of communities, neighborhoods, or tribes in New England that potentially have been disproportionately affected by environmental and health burdens.

c. Sensitive Populations: For the purposes of this grant program, “Sensitive Populations” refers to populations including children, elderly, tribes, and/or others at increased risk that may be more susceptible to the effects of pollution and/or places where sensitive populations are located or spend significant time (e.g. schools, day care, elder care facilities, etc.). EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment. However, health-based environmental standards are generally based on risks to healthy adult males, not sensitive populations. Children are more susceptible to the effects of pollution because pound-for-pound, they eat, drink and breathe more than adults and because their immune systems are not fully developed. Older Americans and those with chronic illness also face higher health risks due to their immune system vulnerability. Tribal members may be more susceptible to risks because of their subsistence fishing and hunting practices, poverty and exposure to many sources of environmental pollution. Certain populations and/or places may also be impacted by pollution in air water and/or land that adversely impacts the quality of the environment and/or public health. Examples include, but are not limited to air pollution (e.g. particulate matter, wood smoke emissions, etc.), water pollution (e.g. contaminated rivers, wetlands, lakes, drinking water, etc.), contaminated land (e.g. prevalence of Superfund and/or Brownfield sites, vacant lots, etc.) and/or public health concerns (e.g.

asthma, lead poisoning, chronic pulmonary diseases, etc.). To qualify under this Target Investment Area, applicants must demonstrate that the project will address existing environment and/or public health concerns facing the target population and/or places where sensitive populations are located and the project will directly involve and/or benefit the health of sensitive populations (e.g., children, elderly, tribes and/or others at increased risk) in EPA New England states and tribal lands.

Every proposal must clearly identify how the proposed project will achieve measurable environmental and/or public health results in one or more of the Target Program Areas described below.

Target Program Areas: Clean, Green, and Healthy Schools; Community and Water

Infrastructure Resilience; Healthy Indoor Environments; and/or Healthy Outdoor Environments

a. Clean, Green and Healthy Schools: Projects that focus on creating clean, green and healthy school environments by promoting EPA’s State School Environmental Health Guidelines, EPA’s Voluntary Guidelines for Selecting Safe School Location and their design, construction, and renovation, EPA’s 3Ts for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in Schools, and/or implementing replicable programs across New England serving children’s environmental health at K-12 schools.

Project Examples:

Develop, improve upon existing, and/or promote site specific environmental health assessments, which can be used by schools to determine their environmental health baselines, identify issues of concern, and help schools prioritize which environmental health problems to address and promote utilizing EPA developed guidelines to address environmental issues in siting, designing, construction, renovation, and maintaining schools.

Provide training to school officials and/or child care facility operators in order to raise awareness of the risks of lead poisoning and the importance of monitoring lead levels in school and/or child care facility drinking water in order to identify and respond to any existing problems.

Conduct a “cleaning for health program,” promoting procurement of safer cleaners and disinfectants and developing cleaning policies and procedures for programs that support the basic tenets of healthy environments at public schools and other spaces.

Develop cleaning policies and procedures for programs that support the basic tenets of healthy environments at public schools and other spaces.

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/toolkit_leadschools_guide_3ts_leadschools.pdf

Reduce exposure to pesticides and pests by promoting the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies in these settings, e.g., strengthening the training and technical assistance components and advancing IPM techniques using EPA Tools for Schools action kits.

Provide technical assistance to support EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge by reducing, diverting, or minimizing wasted food and other recyclable commodities in the K-12 school sector utilizing EPA’s food recovery hierarchy (source reduction, feed the people, feed the animals, industrial uses, composting).

b. Community and Water Infrastructure Resilience: Projects that provide education, outreach, and training to manage facilities at which hazardous substances are located, advance the emergency preparedness and resilience of communities and water infrastructure through training related to the safe handling and removal of hazardous waste.

Provide training to businesses (particularly small businesses) that use and/or store hazardous substances in order to raise awareness about preventing the release of hazardous substances and hazardous waste during a flood event.

Design and conduct a training for state, local or other personnel to support safe handling of hazardous waste at facilities and/or increase safe handling practices to reduce potential impacts to human health and the environment.

Design training and education for businesses that use and/or store hazardous substances to remove potential hazards to human health presented by facilities which handle, store and/or contain hazardous waste.

Provide training to facilities that handle hazardous waste to minimize potential hazards to human health through the use of alternative and innovative technologies.

c. Healthy Indoor Environments: Projects that focus on reducing and/or preventing childhood lead poisoning through compliance assistance, outreach, and/or education on lead-based paint regulations and/or small drinking water systems, reducing asthma triggers, promoting integrated pest management; promoting recycling, pollution prevention, food waste minimization and/or diversion, and/or renewable energy; reducing childhood exposure to one or more toxins (lead, PCBs, dioxin, mercury, asbestos, pesticides, etc.), promoting comprehensive healthy homes and/or other indoor environments for children or other sensitive populations.

Conduct outreach to prevent and/or manage asthma and asthma triggers in early education centers, day care centers, schools, and residences through training opportunities, education, and other resources to build capacity of impacted target populations.

Design and conduct an education and outreach campaign to promote lead safe indoor environments by minimizing risk of lead in the indoor environment, including risk from lead paint, lead dust, and or lead in drinking water.

Conduct a demonstration project to support EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge by reducing, diverting, or minimizing wasted food and other recyclable commodities in a business and/or institution utilizing EPA’s food recovery hierarchy (source reduction, feed the people, feed the animals, industrial uses, composting). Focus would be both in a geographic area (e.g., community, state, municipality, etc.) and/or one or more of the following sectors: venues (conference centers, sporting venues), hospitality (hotels, restaurants, and malls), college/universities, healthcare facilities, and/or grocers.

Conduct an education and outreach campaign to increase food recovery rates in a geographic area (e.g., environmental justice area of potential concern, urban, rural, etc.).

Design and conduct an education and outreach campaign to increase diversion of food and/or solid waste from landfills and recycling rates in a community or defined geographic area.

Design and conduct an integrated pest management project which reduces pesticide exposures for elderly populations (e.g., nursing homes, community centers, etc.).

Design and conduct an education and outreach campaign to train businesses, facilities and/or individuals to promote compliance with the federal lead-based paint regulations.

Design and conduct an education and outreach campaign to identify housing at risk for lead and/or other toxins and provide in-home education to families to improve children’s environmental health, such as a reduction of asthma triggers.

d. Healthy Outdoor Environments: Projects that focus on reducing and/or preventing exposure to toxics and pollutants in the air, soil and/or water by addressing the causes, effects, extent, reduction, prevention and/or elimination of pollution in rivers and/or other natural resources.

Project Examples:

Develop and conduct workshops to educate communities on the health risks of wood smoke exposure and provide outreach materials promoting woodstove changeout programs and best burning practices.

Develop and implement a sampling plan (in partnership with the EPA regional laboratory) using PM portable sensors to measure PM levels in one or more communities, focusing on areas potentially impacted by wintertime wood smoke.

Design and conduct an education and outreach campaign to address polluted stormwater runoff and poor water quality. Use and promotion of green infrastructure opportunities to achieve pollution prevention is encouraged.

Develop and conduct a multilingual education campaign for urban residents on exposure to toxins in urban rivers or other natural resources and ways to prevent or eliminate those exposures.

Target reduction of combustion by-products, such as environmental tobacco smoke, wood smoke, and smoke from burning of trash and brush through education and awareness campaigns.

Assess business preparedness and/or provide outreach to businesses (particularly small businesses) that use hazardous substances in order to raise awareness about preventing release of hazardous substances and hazardous waste during a flood event.

Design and conduct municipal stakeholder involvement training for pilot communities in MA and NH (using existing materials where possible, including EPA-developed stakeholder outreach materials). The training will support the communities’ development of municipal stormwater funding mechanisms to promote the successful funding and implementation of municipal stormwater programs. Ideally, the pilot will include opportunities to “train-the-trainer” to increase the replicability and transferability of the stakeholder-development training materials.

EPA recognizes that it is important to engage all available minds to address the environmental challenges the nation faces. At the same time, EPA seeks to expand the environmental conversation by including members of communities who may have not previously participated in such dialogues to participate in EPA programs. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages all eligible applicants identified in Section III, including minority serving institutions, to apply under this opportunity.

For purposes of this solicitation, the following are considered MSIs:

Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1061). A list of these schools can be found at White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities;

Tribal Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059(c)). A list of these schools can be found at American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities;

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C.

§ 1101a(a)(5). There is no list of HSIs. HSIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25% Hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application for this grant; and

Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions;

(AANAPISIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059g(a)(2)).

There is no list of AANAPISIs. AANAPISIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate students that is not less than 10% students who are Asian American or Native American Pacific Islander.

SECTION II. AWARD INFORMATION

Proposals may be submitted for amounts up to $25,000. The project period will start no earlier than October 1, 2018 and can last for a one or two-year period. Although the project can last up to two years, the total amount requested for federal resources cannot exceed the $25,000 limit. The grant program requires a match of 5% of the federal funds requested as part of a proposal. Any voluntary match beyond the 5% will not be considered as part of the evaluation and selection process used to make award decisions. Please see Section III, B, Matching for additional information.

This grant program is intended to provide seed funding to inspire and leverage broader investment to create healthy and resilient communities in Target Investment Areas within Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and tribal lands. The Healthy Communities Grant Program anticipates awarding approximately 10 cooperative agreements in 2018. All Target Program Areas have a combined estimated funding of up to $250,000, similar to the FY17 competition.

Successful applicants will be issued a cooperative agreement. A cooperative agreement is an assistance agreement that is used when there is “substantial federal involvement” with the recipient during the performance of an activity or project. EPA awards cooperative agreements for those projects in which it expects to have substantial interaction with the recipient throughout the performance of the project. EPA will negotiate the precise terms and conditions of “substantial involvement” as part of the award process. Federal involvement may include close monitoring of the recipient’s performance; collaboration during the performance of the scope of work; in accordance with 2 CFR 200.317 and 2 CFR 200.318, as appropriate, review proposed procurements; review qualifications of key personnel; and/or review and comment on the content of printed or electronic publications. EPA does not have the authority to select employees or contractors employed by the recipient. The final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient.

EPA anticipates awarding a minimum of one award per Target Program Area, depending on the quality of the proposals received. Funding for these projects is not guaranteed and all awards are subject to the availability of funds, the evaluation of proposals based on the criteria in this announcement and other applicable requirements.

EPA reserves the right to reject all proposals and make no awards under this announcement or make fewer than expected. In appropriate circumstances, EPA reserves the right to partially fund proposals/applications by funding discrete portions or phases of proposed projects. If EPA decides to partially fund a proposal/application, it will do so in a manner that does not prejudice any applicants or affect the basis upon which the proposal or portion thereof, was evaluated and selected for award, and therefore maintains the integrity of the competition and selection process.

EPA also reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy and guidance, and without further competition, if additional funding becomes available after…