A quick TL;DR on the EPA Environmental Justice Grants currently out..first, check out these great resources that the @opengrants_io team was able to collaborate on:
https://www.environmentalprotectionnetwork.org/ejcps-app-process/
https://www.environmentalprotectionnetwork.org/ejg2g-app-process/
“Environmental justice”, which is the common theme of these grants, is defined bythe EPA as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies
Fair treatment means that no one group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations
Meaningful Involvement means that:
• People have an opportunity to participate in decisions about activities that may affect their
environment and/or health;
• The public's contribution can influence the regulatory agency's decision;
• Community concerns will be considered in the decision-making process; and
• Decision makers will seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected.
EJCPS Cooperative Agreement Program
EJCPS Template
EJCPS Project Management & Evaluation Worksheet
EJCPS Application Instructions
https://www.environmentalprotectionnetwork.org/ejcps-app-process/
EPA is issuing this solicitation to request applications for projects supporting community-based nonprofit organizations (CBOs) in their efforts to collaborate and partner with other stakeholders
(e.g., local businesses and industry, local government, medical service providers, academia, etc.) to develop solutions that will significantly address environmental and/or public health issue(s) in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms and risks.
Collaborative problem solving builds upon existing community understanding to establish and maintain partnerships capable of producing meaningful environmental and/or public health results.
Collaborative problem-solving also involves developing a well-designed strategic plan with a
built-in evaluation component to measure and achieve results on local environmental and/or public health issues and to sustain the partnerships.
The CPS Model and its seven elements can be viewed as a “toolbox” filled with different tools that can be used as needed. The seven elements are as follows:
Issue Identification, Visioning, and Strategic Goal-Setting;
Community Capacity-Building and Leadership Development;
Development of Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships and Leveraging of Resources;
Consensus Building and Dispute Resolution;
Constructive Engagement with Other Stakeholders;
Sound Management and Implementation; and
Evaluation
EPA will give special consideration to projects focusing on Climate Change, Disaster Resiliency, and/or Emergency Preparedness, Rural Areas and Health Impact Assessment.
Types of projects the EJCPS program has funded in the past and would be eligible to be funded under this competition with CAA 138 IRA funding, include, but are not limited to, the following:
Air quality & asthma
Water quality and sampling
Food access to reduce vehicle travel and fuel emissions
Stormwater issues and green infrastructure
Lead contamination
Pesticides and other toxic substances
Healthy homes
Illegal dumping
Emergency preparedness and disaster resiliency
Environmental job training
EJG2G Application Instructions
https://www.environmentalprotectionnetwork.org/ejg2g-app-process/
Projects submitted under this funding opportunity should support the EJG2G program goals detailed below:
Achieve measurable and meaningful environmental and/or public health results in communities;
Build broad and robust, results-oriented partnerships, particularly with community based nonprofit organizations (CBOs) within disproportionately impacted areas;
Pilot activities in specific communities that create models, which can be expanded or replicated in other geographic areas; and
Strengthen the development and implementation of specific approaches to achieve environmental justice.
The purpose of the EJG2G program is to support and/or create model state, tribal, local, and
territorial government activities that lead to measurable environmental or public health results in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms and risks.
These models should leverage or utilize existing resources or assets of state, tribal, local, and territorial agencies to develop key tools and processes that integrate environmental justice considerations into all levels of government and government programs.
EPA will give special consideration to projects focusing on Climate Change, Disaster Resiliency, and/or Emergency Preparedness, Rural Areas and Health Impact Assessment.