Funding Available: Community Change Grants Program

By Kyle Simpson | Posted on March 18, 2024

Tags: Trends and News, Funding, Conservation

Fast Facts

Title & Opportunity Number: Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program (CCGP) - EPA-R-OEJECR-OCS-23-04

Funding Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Eligibility: Partnerships between two community-based non-profit organizations (CBOs) OR partnerships between a CBO and a federally recognized Tribe, a local government, or an institution of higher education.

Funds Available: $2 billion

Application Deadline: November 21, 2024; applications approved on a rolling basis

Why: Disadvantaged communities throughout the U.S. are experiencing the adverse impacts of climate change and may struggle disproportionately to fund community-driven investments to build resilience and mitigate against current and future climate risks. This program provides match-free funding for local stakeholders – including park and recreation entities through implementation of nature-based solutions to mitigate urban heat islands and flood risks – to address local climate, environmental justice, and pollution reduction challenges.

Grant Summary

As part of the landmark climate legislation passed in August 2022 – the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – Congress created many new streams of federal funding for environmental justice priorities. These programs are intended to mitigate the impacts of climate change with a focus on investment in disadvantaged communities that have traditionally been left behind by federal initiatives.

One such program under this suite of new environmental justice authorities – the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Community Change Grant Program – was announced and opened for applications in late 2023. The program will award roughly $2 billion in project funding for projects that provide meaningful improvements to the environmental, climate, and resilience conditions affecting disadvantaged communities.

EPA anticipates awarding roughly 150 awards of between $10-20 million each under the program. Of the overall $2 billion available, EPA will allocate roughly $650 million towards projects benefiting its identified Target Investment Areas (TIA), which include Tribes, territories, disadvantaged unincorporated communities, and U.S.-southern border communities. The remainder of funding will be available to projects benefiting communities as identified on EPA’s IRA Disadvantaged Communities Map.

For local park and recreation entities to be eligible, they must submit their application jointly with a Community-Based Non-Profit Organization (CBO) – defined by EPA as any organization that is not organized for profit and operates primarily to provide benefits in the public interest.

A high-level list of eligible activities is below, and more in-depth descriptions and examples of the kinds of projects EPA is aiming to fund can be found within the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) document – specifically under Section I.(G) and Appendices C and D. Specific examples provided by EPA include creation or enhancement of public parks with demonstrable environmental benefits, green stormwater infrastructure projects, and tree planting efforts.

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.

This funding opportunity is open for applications through November 21, 2024, and EPA is accepting applications on a rolling basis. If you are interested in applying but need further assistance, EPA has created a technical assistance portal specifically for this program where potential applicants can fill out a form and receive assistance with preparing an application.

For more basic questions related to the eligibility of a potential project, EPA is responding to inquiries submitted to the following inbox: CCGP@epa.gov. EPA has also recorded a webinar with in-depth details and Q&A about the funding opportunity and is planning to publish a Frequently Asked Questions webpage early in 2024.