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Writer's pictureThe San Juan Daily Star

$2 billion EPA program will provide for environmental justice in disadvantaged communities



Puerto Rico’s EPA chief Carmen Guerrero.

By John McPhaul


Local Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials are eager for Puerto Ricans to know the details of its new Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) which provides approximately $2 billion in environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges.


The funding is the largest single investment in environmental justice in history, funded by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).


“The funds are meant to serve historically underserved communities and communities that have historically not received federal funding,” said Puerto Rico’s EPA chief Carmen Guerrero. “There are a lot of opportunities that we want communities to take advantage of.”


In announcing the initiative last November, the Biden Administration said that the grants “are the single largest investment in environmental justice going directly to communities in history, and will advance collaborative efforts to achieve a healthier, safer and more prosperous future for all.”


These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input. They are designed to deliver on the transformative potential of the IRA for communities most adversely and disproportionately impacted by climate change, legacy pollution, and historical disinvestments, said the EPA.


The common theme of the investments is the ability of the communities to craft their projects specifically for their own needs, said Guerrero.


The EPA is taking applications through Nov. 21, 2024 for programs “designed to deliver on the transformative potential of the IRA to communities most adversely and disproportionately impacted by climate change , legacy pollution and historical disinvestments.”


While $50 million have specifically been earmarked to go to territories, the territories, including Puerto Rico, can still draw from the $2 billion pot as well, said Guerrero.


The grants are placed on two tracks one of $1 million to $3 million and another of $10 million to $20 million, she said.


Groups eligible for the investments are, “a partnership between two community-based non-profit organizations and a partnership between a community-based non-profit organization and one of the following: a Federally-Recognized tribe, a local government or an institution of higher education.”


“Technical assistance is available to help applicants through Aug. 16 of this year,” said Guerrero.


Last week EPA Administrator Michael Regan, announced the first hundreds of millions of dollars in grants.


The $325 million will support 21 projects for things such as urban forestry, weatherization of buildings, and training programs for electric vehicle technicians and welders.


Examples of applicants to date include a wastewater treatment and management system in rural Alabama, a holistic air quality and extreme heat mitigation program in San Diego, California and a heat and community resilience tree planting program in California’s San Gabriel Valley.

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