EPA Announces $4.3 Billion in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants in Pittsburgh; Pennsylvania Receives $396 Million

Update provided by Gmerek Government Relations

Today (7.22.24), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Michael Regan, was in Pittsburgh to announce $4.3 billion in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants that will be awarded to support projects in 30 states.

EPA Administrator Regan was joined by Governor Josh Shapiro and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato at the announcement as Pennsylvania will receive $396 million to support Pennsylvania's proposed Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (RISE PA) program. The grant recipients and their programs must achieve the following goals:

1. Implement measures that will achieve significant cumulative GHG reductions by 2030 and beyond.
2. Pursue measures that will achieve substantial community benefits, such as reduction of criteria air pollutants (CAP) and hazardous air pollutants (HAP), particularly in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
3. Complement other funding sources to maximize these GHG reductions and community benefits.
4. Pursue innovative policies and programs that are replicable and can be scaled up across multiple jurisdictions.

The goal of RISE PA is to reduce the total industrial sector emissions by 5%.

RISE PA, as proposed, would supplement any other incentives that entities have received through the Internal Revenue Service's Advanced Energy Project Credit Allocation Program (Allocation Program) under section 48C(e) of the Internal Revenue Code. Applicants must submit a Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Projects plan meeting the following criteria.

1. Re-equips any industrial or manufacturing operation.
   1. The term manufacturing facility means a facility that makes or processes raw materials into finished products (or accomplishes any intermediate stage in that process) facility, including but not limited to energy-intensive manufacturing sectors, such as cement, iron and steel, aluminum, chemicals, and other sectors, with equipment designed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 0.02 MMTCO₂e through the installation of one or more of the following:
      1. Low- or zero-carbon process heat systems: Examples of eligible equipment include electric heat pumps, combined heat and power (CHP) systems, thermal storage technologies, and other heating systems based on electricity, clean hydrogen, biomass, or waste heat recovery.
      2. CCUS systems: Examples of eligible equipment include carbon capture equipment necessary to compress, treat, process, liquefy, pump, or perform some other physical action to capture carbon oxides and specialized equipment and materials needed for the transport and storage of carbon oxides. Additional examples include equipment to convert carbon oxides through mineralization, thermochemical electrochemical, photochemical, plasma-assisted, or other catalytic process approaches to carbon-based products such as synthetic fuels, chemicals, solid carbon products, and inorganic materials.
      3. Energy efficiency and reduction in waste from industrial processes: Examples of eligible equipment include technologies that reduce direct fuel use, electricity use, or waste in industrial applications, such as industrial heat pumps, CHP systems, insulation, sensors, controls, advanced recycling approaches, smart energy management, and similar advanced efficiency technologies.
      4. Other industrial technology designed to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions, as determined by the Department: Examples of other eligible industrial technologies include electrification of direct fuel use processes, adoption of renewable or low-emissions fuels and feedstocks, and other equipment replacement or process redesigns that reduce process- or fuel-related emissions or otherwise contribute to reducing GHG emissions by at least 0.02 MMTCO₂
   2. Meets the prevailing wage requirement by ensuring that any laborers and mechanics employed by the project owner or any contractor or subcontractor in the re-equipping of a manufacturing or industrial facility that is part of a qualifying advanced energy project are paid wages at rates not less than the prevailing rates for construction, alteration or repair of a similar character in the locality in which this project is located as most recently determined by the Secretary of the United States Department of Labor.
   3. Meets the apprenticeship requirements by ensuring that not less than 10%, 12.5%, or 15% (depending on the beginning of construction date) of the total labor hours for the construction, alteration, or repair work must be performed by qualified apprentices.

Pennsylvania's RISE PA program has been a concept under development by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) since it received a $3 million planning grant to develop a plan focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the industrial sector, which Pennsylvania's Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report identifies as the highest GHG emitting sector in Pennsylvania. Final details of the program have not been released as program approval was contingent on receiving federal funding to support the initiative.

Link to Press Release: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $4.3 Billion in Grants for Community-Driven Solutions to Cut Climate Pollution Across America | US EPA

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