Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $23 Million to La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians to Cut Climate Pollution, Accelerate Clean Energy Transition

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $23 Million to La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians to Cut Climate Pollution, Accelerate Clean Energy Transition

Funded by the Biden-Harris Administration's Investing in America Agenda, EPA announces 34 selected Tribal and territory applications through the competitive Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program

September 5, 2024

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the selection of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, in partnership with the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, for a $22,829,169 Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, as part of the Administration's Investing in America agenda. The Tribes are located within California.

Project Description:

• The La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians' and the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians' project aims to improve communities' air quality, decrease utility and water costs, increase stable solar energy, and increase water conservation. The project will achieve this by transitioning the Tribes' fleet vehicles to battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles and installing electric vehicle charging stations. The effort will also include construction of solar microgrids with battery storage and installation of efficient heat pump systems and water heaters at several hundred Tribal residences.

"The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants being unveiled today will deliver unprecedented resources to Tribes here in California for local solutions that can provide national examples for how to transition off fossil fuels," said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. "These investments, which deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration's Justice40 Initiative, will create jobs and reduce the emissions fueling climate change."

"California Tribes are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, developing their own solutions to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, improve air quality, and bolster climate resilience," said U.S. Senator Alex Padilla. "I'm grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration for providing tens of millions in direct federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians and the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians to support their sovereignty and locally led solutions."

This grant is one of just 34 highly competitive applications the EPA selected to fund projects across 31 Tribal Nations, 2 Tribal consortia, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands to implement community-driven solutions to tackle the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, advance environmental justice, and accelerate the clean energy transition.

Thanks to funding from the Biden-Harris Administration's historic Inflation Reduction Act, these grants will support the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction measures identified by Tribal and territorial communities. When estimates provided by all selected applicants are combined, the proposed projects will reduce harmful greenhouse gas pollution by over 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050 - equivalent to the carbon dioxide emitted from nearly 1.4 million homes' electricity use for one year.

Today's announcement marks the latest investment under this first-of-its-kind, nearly $5 billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program. In July, the EPA announced $4.3 billion for CPRG Implementation Grants General Competition selected applicants. In 2023, the EPA provided $250 million in planning grants, which served as the basis for greenhouse gas reduction measures proposed in the CPRG implementation grant applications.

The selected applications will target greenhouse gas pollution from six sectors of the economy with a focus on the transportation, electric power, and commercial and residential buildings sectors while spurring workforce development and job creation in Indian Country and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Today's announcement and ongoing CPRG technical support for planning grant recipients are consistent with President Biden's Executive Order 14112 on Reforming Federal Funding and Support for Tribal Nations to Better Embrace Our Trust Responsibilities and Promote the Next Era of Tribal Self-Determination. The Executive Order demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration's respect for Tribal sovereignty and commitment to ushering in the next era of Tribal self-determination by directing agencies to reform federal programs for greater Tribal Nations autonomy over how Tribes can invest federal funding. The Executive Order directs agencies to make federal funding less burdensome and more accessible for Tribal Nations.

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program is also advancing President Biden's Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure 40% of the overall benefits of specific climate, clean energy, and other federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. 

EPA made its Tribes and Territories Competition selections after reviewing 110 applications that requested more than $1.3 billion in funding. The agency expects to award funds under both the Tribes and Territories Competition and the General Competition later this year once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.

See the complete list of selected applications here, and learn about the CPRG program here.

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