Environment: Grant Opportunity: EPA Community Change Grant.

 

Inflation Reduction Act Community Change Grants Program

NOW OPEN!

EPA’s new Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) has announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity for approximately $2 billion dollars in Inflation Reduction Act funds in environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input. They are designed to deliver on the transformative potential of the IRA for communities most adversely and disproportionately impacted by climate change, legacy pollution, and historical disinvestments.

On this page:

• Is My Organization Eligible
• Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
• Technical Assistance and Resources
• Engagement Opportunities

Is My Organization Eligible?

The entities eligible to apply under this NOFO are:

• A partnership between two community-based non-profit organizations (CBOs). 
• A partnership between a CBO and one of the following: 
  • a Federally-Recognized Tribe
  • a local government
  • an institution of higher education.  

Other organizations and entities may be able to participate and be involved in the Community Change Grants projects as collaborating subrecipients and/or procurement contractors selected in compliance with competition requirements. 

See Frequently Asked Questions under ‘Resources’ below for more information on CBOs, local governments, and Federally-Recognized Tribes. Further details about applicant eligibility and partnership requirements are outlined in the NOFO. 

NOW OPEN - Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)

The Community Change Grants NOFO is NOW OPEN!  Deadline to apply is November 21, 2024.

EPA is accepting applications on a rolling basis for $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding available to support community-driven projects that build capacity for communities to tackle environmental and climate justice challenges, strengthen their climate resilience, and advance clean energy.

Read the announcement for the NOFO

This competition is being launched in order to meet the goals and objectives of two Executive Orders (EO 14008 and EO 13985) issued by the Biden Administration that demonstrate the EPA’s and Administration’s commitment to achieving environmental justice and embedding environmental justice into Agency programs. 

 The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act created the Environmental and Climate Justice grant program in section 138 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and provided EPA with $2.8 billion in grant funding for the program for projects to benefit communities with environmental justice concerns, and $200 million for technical assistance in direct response to feedback from communities and environmental justice leaders who have long called for capacity building support for communities and their partners as they work to access critical federal resources.

View the Community Change Grants Notice of Funding Opportunity (pdf) (1.28 MB)

To apply for this opportunity, view the RFA on Grants.gov.  Applications packages must be submitted on or before November 21, 2024 at 11:59 PM (Eastern Time).

For more information, please contact CCGP@epa.gov.

Technical Assistance and Resources

Technical Assistance

Technical Assistance (TA) assists eligible applicants to apply for and use EPA grant funding. Through EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), eligible entities can receive TA in all stages of the Community Change Grants. This includes application support, capacity building, project planning, and more. There are two TA programs for the Community Change Grants:

• Community Change Technical Assistance (CCTA)
• Community Change Equitable Resilience Technical Assistance (CCER TA)

Learn more about TA for the Community Change Grants

Resources

• Frequently Asked Questions - Community Change Grants (pdf) (272.94 KB)
• Informational Video on the Environmental and Climate Justice Communities Grants Program
• EPA Funding Announcements from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act
• Learn about EPA and the Inflation Reduction Act
• Inflation Reduction Act Guidebook
• EPA and Environmental Justice
• EPA and Climate Equity
• Environmental Justice Grants and Technical Assistance
• How to search Grants.gov for available funding opportunities
• Interim General Budget Development Guidance for Applicants and Recipients of EPA Financial Assistance

Engagement Opportunities

OEJECR will also host multiple informational webinars while the NOFO is open, with the first being held on December 7, 2023. These webinars will address questions, and some may facilitate the formation of partnerships and information sharing.

Register for the December 7, 2023 Webinar

Registration information for upcoming webinars is sent out through the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR) Listserv. To subscribe to the OEJECR Listserv, send a blank email to: join-epa-ej@lists.epa.gov. They are also announced on X at @EPAEnvJustice.

These are part of a series of webinars on the Community Change Grants and the Environmental and Climate Justice Grants Program. To learn more, visit Inflation Reduction Act Environmental and Climate Justice Program.

Indirect Costs Limitations Webinars 

EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights held two outreach webinars to provide information related to the Indirect Costs Limitation for the Community Change Grants under the Environmental and Climate Justice grants program.

Limiting indirect costs under the Community Change Grants  will promote the program’s transformative goals  by maximizing the amount of funding allocated to project implementation and place-based programming. This limitation will minimize funding being charged to indirect costs that provide minimal contributions and/or have little to no relation to the work on the ground in the disadvantaged communities.  

To learn more about the indirect costs limitations for the grants, please see the recording and presentation slides from a free webinar below: 

Thursday, October 19, 2023, 2:00 - 2:30 PM ET 

• Link to Recording (Passcode: 91869331)
• View Presentation Slides (pdf) (829.4 KB)

This limitation will extend to direct recipients of grants and cooperative agreements under the program, as well as to Subrecipients as defined in 2 CFR 200.1. Therefore, both direct recipients and subrecipients under the program may charge up to 20% of their respective award or subaward (i.e., 20% of the direct award (if they are the Pass-through entity) or 20% of the total subaward (if they are a subrecipient). 

Due to the sovereign status of Indian tribes that meet the Federal recognition requirement in section 302(r) of the Clean Air Act, and the unique burdens placed on these entities due to the composition of their tax base where chargeable indirect costs can be an essential financing component for the Tribe, EPA is exempting Indian tribes and Intertribal consortia comprised of eligible Indian tribes from this 20% indirect costs limitation provide the Intertribal consortia meets the requirements of 40 CFR 33.504(a) and (c).