In 2022, the Biden-Harris administration championed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which committed nearly $2 billion to disadvantaged communities to address environmental and climate justice challenges through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity.
This new program, called the Community Change Grants (CCG) program, is designed to deliver on the transformative potential of the IRA for the communities most adversely and disproportionately impacted by climate change, legacy pollution, and historical disinvestments, including:
- Tribes in Alaska: $150 million for projects benefitting Indian Tribes in Alaska including funds for cleanup of contaminated lands.
- Tribes: $300 million for projects benefiting Tribal communities in the other states.
- Territories: $50 million for projects benefitting disadvantaged communities in the United States’ territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
- Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities: $50 million for projects benefiting small and rural areas that lack fixed, legally determined geographic boundaries, such as Colonias.
- U.S.-Southern Border Communities: Consistent with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) longstanding commitment to addressing transborder pollution challenges, $100 million for projects benefitting non-Tribal disadvantaged communities within 100 kilometers north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Included in the IRA was an additional $200 million to provide Technical Assistance (TA) to applicants.
Because of this dedicated funding stream for TA, applicants and potential awardees received this support at NO COST TO THEM.
Through funding in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contracted with EnDyna to deliver Technical Assistance (TA) under the Community Change TA Program to eligible applicants. EnDyna lead a team of companies committed to providing expertise and resources to communities in need, free of charge, throughout this process:
- Abt Global
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Community and College Partners Program (C2P2)
- Finn Partners
- Greene Street Communications
- Guidehouse
- HBCU-Environmental Justice Technology Team (HEJTT)
- ICMA
- Jacobs Engineering
- Kauffman & Associates (KAI)
- Metropolitan Group
- Michael D. Baker
- Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International
- Rural Community Assistance Corp (RCAC)
- The Scientific Consulting Group (SCG)
- Writing for Green
While the EPA and EnDyna communicate frequently, EnDyna and its partners are not U.S. Government employees.