Financial Assistance For Community Support Activities To Address Environmental Justice Issues

This program has been terminated. The objective of this program is to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to support community engagement and capacity building efforts and activities to facilitate the ability of community members, resi

This program has been terminated. To achieve the objectives of this program as described above, awards under this listing, which may be grants or cooperative agreements as appropriate, will be related to the following types of projects and activities designed to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to support community engagement and capacity building efforts and activities to address, and advance, environmental justice, climate, public health, and environmental protection efforts impacting communities. • Projects where communities collaborate with EPA to ensure transparent and meaningful community participation in the development of a community-driven approach to addressing environmental justice, climate and public health challenges and environmental/pollution impacts • As appropriate, supporting disadvantaged community members of a Federal Advisory committee or similar State body to ensure early community input and representation on actions to identify and/or address environmental justice issues • Organizing and convening workgroups/public engagement meetings to solicit ideas on addressing environmental and climate justice challenges and public health and pollution impacts • Supporting participation in interviews with contractors and other organizations and helping to organize local/resident public engagement sessions to gather local environmental, climate and public health information • Community engagement and capacity-building efforts including organizing feedback sessions, facilitating participation in relevant forums/meetings, organizing community visits and tours related to environmental justice activities, community training/mentoring activities, on the ground activities, and disseminating relevant environmental information to communities • Community reporting and data gathering and analysis activities • Identifying local language needs to ensure broad public understanding of environmental justice issues and information • Identifying, engaging, and supporting local and/or regional community organizations to participate in efforts to better understand the cumulative environmental, pollution and public health impacts of an issue or challenge and participating in local, state, regional and/or national environmental justice councils or other coalitions to ensure disadvantaged community voices are represented • Coordinating services and/or incentives including participant support costs to ensure broad local resident participation to identify, address, and engage in environmental justice issues; • Projects to continue, enhance, improve, and strengthen ongoing or existing community-based projects that address environmental justice challenges that absent EPA funding would be jeopardized or not be as effective or efficient • Working with states and other appropriate jurisdictions to mobilize short-term on-site distribution and logistical support of state (or other jurisdictions) sponsored resources to ensure timely and efficient delivery of climate change mitigation, pollution prevention, and environmental justice support to community residents • Working with state agencies, cities, and other jurisdictions on short, medium, and/or long-term solutions to address community health issues stemming from environmental pollution • Developing reports on damage to community assets and infrastructure (e.g., water, sewer, natural, electricity, gas) impacted by severe storms and other weather-related events • Community driven research, including citizen science, to identify and evaluate risks to human health stemming from hazardous substances in the environment • Delivering reports on data collected on impacted ecosystems (e.g., terrestrial and aquatic species) including impacted water bodies after severe storms • Providing recommendations/lessons learned for emergency recovery in vulnerable communities impacted by storms and other extreme weather-related events stemming from climate change.

Eligible applicants include state and local governments and the Freely Associated States. Please note, however, that for awards funded using Clean Air Act (CAA) 138 authority, eligible entities are a partnership between an Indian tribe, a local government or an institution of higher education and a community-based nonprofit organization; a community-based nonprofit organization; a partnership of community-based nonprofit organizations.

Moderate Income, Low Income, Other Urban, Rural, Anyone/general public

Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: Geospatial Resources at EPA (https://www.epa.gov/geospatial).This program makes Federal awards on a discretionary basis. A discretionary award means an award in which the Federal awarding agency, in keeping with specific statutory authority that enables the agency to exercise judgement ("discretion"), selects the recipient and/or the amount of Federal funding awarded through a competitive process or based on merit of proposals. A discretionary award may be selected on a non-competitive basis, as appropriate. For further information, please contact the Headquarters or regional office.

The term of the grant or cooperative agreement shall be determined at the time of grant award.

EPA financial assistance programs and activities subject to intergovernmental review that are subject to review under State single point of contact procedures are identified at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-financial-assistance-programs-subject-executive-order-12372-and-section-204. Applicants for programs or activities subject to Intergovernmental Review that are not subject to State single point of contact review must provide directly affected State, areawide, regional, and local entities at least 60 days to review their application following notification by EPA that the application has been selected for funding as provided by 40 CFR 29.8(a) and (c).

Selections will be based on the merit review process established for this program.

For awards made under this assistance listing, EPA will conduct an administrative evaluation to determine the adequacy of the application in relation to grant regulations and a technical and program evaluation to determine the merit and relevance of the project. The Agency will then advise the applicant if funding is being considered. A final work plan will then be negotiated with the applicant.

Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 2 CFR 1500 Subpart E, as applicable.