EPA Announces a $2.5 Million to Fund Climate and Environmental Community Action Grant as Part of Investing in America Agenda

EPA Announces a $2.5 Million to Fund Climate and Environmental Community Action Grant as Part of Investing in America Agenda

EPA's Office of Public Engagement and Environmental Education announces new grant opportunity aimed at supporting Institutions of Higher Education and Communities take climate and environmental action

December 17, 2024

WASHINGTON - Today, December 17, the Biden-Harris Administration announced approximately $2.5 million in funding available to support communities and their partners in higher education work together to advance community-driven projects, strengthen climate resilience and build capacity for communities to tackle environmental and climate challenges. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's UPLIFT Climate and Environmental Community Action Grant will advance collaborative effort to achieve a healthier, safer, and more prosperous future for all. These funds, part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, are made possible by the President's Inflation Reduction Act-the biggest-ever investment in clean energy and climate action.

"Throughout my tenure, I've heard from college students, university administrators, and advocates about the importance of partnership between Historically Black Colleges and Universities and communities," said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. "Today, thanks to President Biden's commitment, we are making important funding available to help strengthen these critical partnerships. Together, we're working to build healthy, resilient, and thriving communities for current and future generations."

The UPLIFT Climate and Environmental Community Action Grant (UPLIFT Grant) will deliver on President Biden's historic commitment to advance equity and justice, including his Justice40 Initiative. The UPLIFT Grant will deliver significant benefits to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

The activities to be performed under the grants are expected to 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.
• Workforce development that supports the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants.
• Facilitating the engagement of disadvantaged communities in state and federal advisory groups, workshops, rulemakings, and other public processes.

​The UPLIFT Climate and Environmental Community Action Grant Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), administered through the Office of Public Engagement and Environmental Education (OPEEE), will close on February 25, 2025. EPA encourages applicants to apply as early as possible.

EPA encourages applicants to engage with a Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC) if they require support in developing their application.

Read the UPLIFT Climate and Environmental Community Action NOFO.

OPEEE will also host an informational webinar while the NOFO is open on January 09, 2025. This webinar will address questions about the NOFO. More information on the upcoming webinar can be found on EPA's UPLIFT Grant Program webpage.

For up-to-date information about the NOFO, including information on the webinars, email [email protected].

Background

The UPLIFT Grant program ("UPLIFT") offers an unprecedented opportunity to build the capacity of institutions of higher education (IHEs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) who work with disadvantaged communities and support their work creating healthy, climate resilient, and thriving communities for generations to come.

IHEs have access to levels of capacity including research, data, information technology, and academic expertise not often accessible to disadvantaged communities. As a result, IHEs, especially those who serve as anchor institution in disadvantaged communities, play a critical role partnering with CBOs and communities based on a mutual interest to address the environmental issues that impact both communities, such as poor air quality, poor water quality, crumbling infrastructure, and impacts from extreme weather events such as flooding, wildfires, and extreme heat.

Anchor institutions have a history of building out community from their campuses by affirmatively engaging with neighborhood residents to advance community development projects addressing residents' interests and needs, including lack of understanding of environmental and health harms or risks, lack of services, such as, transportation, housing, etc.

For example, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have become anchor institutions in communities across 19 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, serving many different types of communities including low-income students, and the residents of the rural and urban communities where they are located. Over the decades since their establishment, HBCUs have supported their surrounding communities providing employment and educational opportunities, investing in community projects, and serving the community during critical times such as serving as cooling centers during times of extreme heat. With most HBCUs located in or nearby disadvantaged communities, these institutions have learned about the unique experiences of these disadvantaged communities and have invested time, resources, and expertise to support these communities advance on their journeys towards creating healthy, climate resilient, and thriving communities for generations to come.

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