Section II.C.2 of the NOFO states that: “Under this NOFO, Lead Applicants, as defined in Section III.A, may submit a maximum of two eligible applications and receive up to two awards if they demonstrate their capacity and capabilities to effectively perform, manage, oversee, and complete both awards within the three-year grant period of performance. The two applications may be either two Track I applications or two Track II applications, or one of each. Lead Applicants who submit more than two total eligible applications will be asked to withdraw the excess one(s). EPA will not review more than two eligible applications from any one Lead Applicant.”
Yes. As stated in Sections II.C and III.D.15 of the NOFO, Lead Applicants can only submit up to two applications under the NOFO. Further, as stated in Section III.D.15, notwithstanding this limitation, a Lead Applicant may be a Statutory Partner or Collaborating Entity on other applications. There is no limit on how many applications an entity can be a Collaborating Entity on as long as the NOFO requirements are met, and all applications are evaluated based on the criteria in Section V of the NOFO.
Further information about the Community Change Grants will be in the NOFO once it is released. In the interim, please contact CCGP@epa.gov with any additional questions.
All applicants must have an active SAM.gov and Grants.gov registration to apply for a grant under the Community Change Grants. You should register in these systems now if you think you may apply for a Federal grant.
The process can take a month or more for new registrants. Information about how to register
Yes, in addition to broad technical assistance that can be provided by the EPA Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (EJ TCTACs) network, there will be dedicated technical assistance available to help applicants apply for, manage, implement, and report on Community Change Grants projects. Further details will be outlined in the NOFO.
Awards under the Community Change Grants are limited by statute to three years in duration. Therefore, Community Change Grants proposals must be designed to be performed and completed within three years from award date. No project extensions will be considered or granted beyond the three years due to statutory requirements.
The Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) is a tool used to identify disadvantaged communities in furtherance of the Justice40 Initiative from EO14008. EPA’s EJScreen is an environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides demographic and environmental information at a fine geographic resolution across the United States. These tools are used to help ensure that projects benefit disadvantaged communities.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) requires funding under this program “benefit disadvantaged communities, as defined by the [EPA] Administrator.” Disadvantaged communities may be geographically and/or non-geographically defined.
Geographically defined disadvantaged communities under the Community Change Grants will be identified as any community that meets at least one of the following characteristics:
- Identified as disadvantaged by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST)
- Any census block group that is at or above the 90th percentile for any of EJScreen’s Supplemental Indexes when compared to the nation or state; and/or
- Any geographic area within Tribal lands as included in EJScreen (1)
Examples of non-geographically defined communities include migrant farmworker communities. EPA’s Community Change Grants NOFO will contain additional clarifying information and guidance on what constitutes geographically and non-geographically disadvantaged communities.
(1) The Tribal Lands category in EJScreen to use for this purpose includes Alaska Native Allotments (EPA Metadata Record), Alaska Native Villages (EPA Metadata Record), American Indian Reservations (EPA Metadata Record), American Indian Off-reservation Trust Lands (EPA Metadata Record), Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Areas (EPA Metadata Record).
The activities to be performed under the grants may generally fall under the following categories:
- Climate resiliency and adaptation
- Mitigating climate and health risks from urban heat islands, extreme heat, wood heater emissions, and wildfire events
- Community-led air and other (including water and waste) pollution monitoring, prevention, and remediation
- Investments in low- and zero-emission and resilient technologies and related infrastructure
- Workforce development that supports the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants
- Reducing indoor toxics and indoor air pollution
- Facilitating the engagement of disadvantaged communities in State and Federal advisory groups, workshops, rulemakings, and other public processes
EPA will further clarify eligible and ineligible projects, and other project specific requirements, in the NOFO.
For the purposes of eligibility for grants authorized by Section 138 of the CAA, EPA uses the definition of “Indian Tribe” in Section 302(r) of the CAA which provides that the term “...means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village, which is Federally recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.” Note that this definition does not include Alaskan Native Corporations or State-recognized tribes.