The Environmental Protection Agency is soliciting feedback from communities and their partners on the design and focus of projects that should be awarded under the Environmental and Climate Justice program.
The request for information precedes a notice of funding opportunity that EPA intends to launch in the summer, leveraging $2 billion in ECJ program grants, the agency said Thursday.
The Inflation Reduction Act provides EPA with $3 billion in funding for ECJ projects. To maximize the program’s benefits, the agency is seeking information on the best approaches to its design, grantee eligibility, application process, technical assistance and reporting oversight.
“EPA is committed to using Inflation Reduction Act funding to make significant investments in the health, equity, and resilience of all communities and to address past, current, and future environmental and climate justice challenges,” said Marianne Engelman-Lado, acting principal deputy assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. “This Request for Information allows us to hear from communities and their partners on how our grant programs can work better for the communities that need this support the most.”
EPA will accept public input on the ECJ program until March 17.