Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Clean Communities Investment Accelerator

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 curre

The Clean Communities Investment Accelerator provided grants to 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.

"Eligible recipients," as that term is defined in Clean Air Act Section 134(c)(1), are eligible for grants from this competition. Section 134(c)(1) defines "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. Specific criteria EPA used to determine eligibility for funding under this program was provided in the NOFO. Information on applicant eligibility is also available to view on the Frequent Questions about the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator web page (https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund/frequent-questions-about-clean-communities-investment-accelerator#eligible).

This program will have widespread benefits to residents of the United States in communities across the country through the deployment of projects that reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution.

Required documentation was described in the NOFO.

Please refer to the Frequent Questions about the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator web page (https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund/frequent-questions-about-clean-communities-investment-accelerator#fin-assist) for information on how assistance may be used under this program, or if there are any funding use restrictions. EPA has developed a set of terms and conditions for this program to provide detailed requirements on allowable uses of funds. 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 generally may be selected on a non-competitive basis, as appropriate but for this program competition is required by statute. For further information, please contact the Headquarters or regional office.

Grant agreements began in 2024 and extend through 2030.

Regarding pre-application assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities 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 NOFO. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed in the NOFO.

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 were described in the NOFO.

EPA will reviewed and evaluated applications in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the NOFO. The competition was conducted in accordance with EPA's Policy for the Competition of Assistance Agreements (https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57005a1-epas-policy-competition-assistance-agreements).

The deadline for submission of applications, anticipated selections and anticipated award dates were communicated in the NOFO.

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). Copies of these procedures may also be found at: https://www.epa.gov/grants/grant-competition-dispute-resolution-procedures. Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 2 CFR 1500 Subpart E - Disputes, as applicable.