Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program

The objective of this program is to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to support environmental and climate justice efforts under Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 138 which was added to the CAA by the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. EPA's

To achieve the objectives of this program to benefit disadvantaged communities, awards under this listing, which may be grants or cooperative agreements as appropriate, will be for projects for community-led air and other pollution monitoring, prevention, and remediation, and investments in low- and zero-emission and resilient technologies and related infrastructure and workforce development that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants; mitigating climate and health risks from urban heat islands, extreme heat, wood heater emissions, and wildfire events; climate resiliency and adaptation; reducing indoor toxics and indoor air pollution; or facilitating engagement of disadvantaged communities in State and Federal advisory groups, workshops, rulemakings, and other public processes.

Eligible applicants include 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. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy.

Disadvantaged communities, underserved communities, and similarly situated communities.

Nonprofit private agencies, institutions, and organizations may be required to provide documentation of their organizational status upon application.

Grants and cooperative agreements are available to support recipients' allowable direct costs incident to approved cooperative agreements plus allowable indirect costs, in accordance with established EPA policies and regulations. 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).

The term of the grant or cooperative agreement shall be determined at the time of grant award but may not exceed three years as provided in the Clean Air Act, Section 138(b)(1).

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). Regarding pre-application assistance with respect to NOFOs under this assistance listing, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the competitive announcement. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed in the competitive announcement.

Applicants, except in limited circumstances approved by the Agency, must submit all initial applications for funding through Grants.gov.

The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this assistance listing will be described in the competitive announcement.

For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the NOFO. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. For non-competitive awards that may be 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.

For competitive awards, deadlines will be specified in the competitive announcement. For this round, the NOFO opened on November 21, 2023 and will close a year later on November, 21, 2024.

From 60 to 120 days.

Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005).