Central Pines Regional Council

Central Pines Regional Council, doing business as the North Carolina Association of Regional Councils of Government, operates as a U.S. local government entity and council of governments, functioning exclusively as a federal grant recipient rather than a federal contractor. The organization is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina and serves a seven-county region (Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Orange, and Wake counties).

Central Pines delivers regional planning, economic development strategy, environmental remediation, transportation safety and resilience, lead hazard mitigation, youth homelessness prevention, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure assessment services to federal agencies. The organization acts as prime recipient on grants and as sub-recipient on pass-through awards from state and local prime grantees. Recent representative prime grants include a $3.55 million Cooperative Agreement from the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (CFDA 81.086) awarded August 2024 to assess performance and safety of AC Level 2 and DC Fast Charging stations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico; a $1.58 million Project Grant from HUD's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (CFDA 14.900) awarded March 2026 to conduct lead-based paint hazard identification and control in low-income rental and owner-occupied housing across the seven-county region through March 2030; and a $507.3 thousand Project Grant from the Federal Highway Administration (CFDA 20.262) awarded March 2026 to develop transparent, data-driven transportation project prioritization methodologies for the Durham urban area through September 2028.

Customer concentration reflects a diversified mix of federal agencies. The top five funding agencies account for 69 percent of awards: the Economic Development Administration (7 awards), the Federal Highway Administration (6 awards), the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (5 awards), the Department of Energy (4 awards), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2 awards). Activity has remained modest and consistent — four to six awards annually over the past five years — with 26 awards (74 percent) held as prime recipient and 9 awards (26 percent) as sub-recipient. Four awards complete within the next twenty-four months. Recent sub-recipient work includes engagement on local government resilience projects under The Nature Conservancy and North Carolina Department of Transportation, and supportive services for older adults under the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.