Please see our past updates if you weren’t getting them, and please take a moment to register for our new webinar series!
Join us this Thursday, July 9, for EPN and L4GG’s OMB Comment Writing Office Hour
– Register here for L4GG and EPN’s comment-writing office hour on OMB’s proposed changes to 2 CFR 200, Thursday, July 9, at 4pm eastern. We will help you draft, refine, or troubleshoot your comments. See our fact sheet and Union of Concerned Scientists‘ comment guide about the proposed changes. Comments are due July 13th and may be submitted at www.regulations.gov under docket OMB-2026-0034.
– CANCELLED: EPN and L4GG’s Webinar and Office Hour on July 8 from 12:30–2pm eastern has been cancelled.
Join us on Wednesday, August 8, for an overview of EPN and L4GG’s Technical and Legal Assistance and Resources
– Please Register here for a presentation on EPN’s Funding Bulletin and technical assistance and L4GG’s financing resources and assistance on August 8 from 1-2pm eastern. And register here to join L4GG’s next Federal Grantee Office Hours for Updates on Ongoing Federal Grant Terminations, Litigation, and Compliance on Wednesday, August 8, from 12:30-1pm eastern.
Philanthropic and Federal Funding Opportunities
EPN and L4GG Resources to Help You Find Funding and Financing
– Check out EPN’s latest Funding Bulletin, a resource guide to funding opportunities—including philanthropic, state, and local funding and use EPN’s Technical Assistance Request Form to request 1:1 funding discovery support or other technical assistance.
– You can also access L4GG’s Sprint Hub for direct legal support for all types of green finance needs for community projects. L4GG will work with you to identify potential investors or mission-driven lenders, including Green Banks and CDFIs, to close any funding gap. In addition, L4GG’s Green Finance Team can help you navigate the complex world of alternative funding sources. Get direct pro bono assistance for your project here!
2027 Lipman Family Prize
Applications for the 2027 Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize are open from July 1–31, 2026. Administered by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the Lipman Family Prize recognizes nonprofit organizations that are developing innovative, impactful, and transferable solutions to significant social, economic, and environmental challenges. This year, one nonprofit will receive a $300,000 unrestricted grand prize, while two additional organizations will each receive $150,000 in unrestricted funding. Winning organizations also gain access to select tuition-free executive education opportunities through the University of Pennsylvania to help strengthen leadership and organizational capacity. The Prize recognizes organizations that demonstrate exceptional leadership, measurable impact, innovation, and transferability, with an emphasis on models that can inspire and inform the broader social sector. Learn more and apply here.
2027 Young Climate Leaders of Color Cohort Applications Are Open
The 2027 Young Climate Leaders of Color (YCLC) program is now accepting applications. This year-long leadership opportunity supports young people ages 18–28 who are driving climate justice through community organizing, arts and culture, music, policy advocacy, restorative connections to the Earth, and other innovative approaches to creating change. Up to 20 participants will be selected to join the national cohort, with each receiving a $5,000 stipend to support their participation and, where appropriate, the implementation of their projects. Cohort members will also receive mentorship, project support, monthly training and learning opportunities, and the chance to connect with a growing national network of young climate leaders committed to advancing equitable, community-driven solutions. Applications close on July 31 at 11:59pm Pacific. Learn more and apply here.
EPA $30 Million Innovation Challenge
EPA is seeking public input on a proposed national innovation challenge that would award up to $30 million in prize funding to support the development of practical, cost-effective alternatives to chemical crop desiccation—the use of pesticides to dry crops before harvest. The agency is looking for ideas that can help reduce reliance on conventional chemical desiccants while maintaining crop quality, harvest readiness, and operational efficiency.
EPA is inviting feedback from a broad range of stakeholders, including growers, researchers, public health professionals, environmental organizations, Tribes, state and local agencies, equipment manufacturers, and others. The agency is particularly interested in input on potential alternatives, barriers to adoption, research needs, and how the challenge should be designed and evaluated. Public comments will help shape the scope, eligibility, evaluation criteria, and implementation of the challenge. Read the pre-publication RFI (pdf), and submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at Regulations.gov (Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPP-2026-3862).
Webinars and Workshops
Climate Ready: Responsible AI Use for Mission-Driven Work
Join Climate Ready TOMORROW, July 7, at 1pm eastern for a virtual training: Responsible AI Use for Mission-Driven Work. As AI tools become increasingly common in nonprofit and advocacy work, this session will explore how AI platforms handle data, what information should never be shared, and practical steps organizations can take to use AI responsibly while protecting sensitive information. The training is designed for program and operations staff, communications teams, organizational leaders, and anyone managing email accounts or confidential data. Register for the session here.
Direct Pay/Elective Pay Office Hours Session
We Build Progress and Lawyers for Good Government are hosting an upcoming Direct Pay/Elective Pay Office Hours session this Thursday, July 9, at 1pm eastern. This session will provide community-based organizations; local, state, and Tribal governments; schools; houses of worship; nonprofits; and other stakeholders a space to ask clarifying questions about clean energy tax credits and eligible projects, including wind, solar, geothermal, electric vehicles, and EV charging infrastructure. The office hours are designed to be practical and accessible, helping participants better understand how Direct Pay/Elective Pay works and how it may apply to their projects. Those new to the topic are encouraged to review a brief 5-minute overview and FAQ page here in advance. Please note that these sessions are educational only and do not constitute legal or tax advice. RSVP here.
Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services Workshops
Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services is a nonprofit environmental law organization that expands access to environmental justice by providing legal services regardless of income. The organization offers legal counsel, litigation support, nonprofit consulting, and community planning and outreach to individuals, community groups, and nonprofits navigating environmental law and policy. Fair Shake also hosts a monthly legal advocacy workshop series (held every third week of the month) focused on building practical law and public policy skills.
On Thursday, July 16, from 12-1:30pm eastern, they will hold a Community Benefits Workshop. Learn how to bring community benefits, protections, and standards to your community through Community Benefit Agreements, Ordinances, and other policies. Please visit Fair Shake’s events page for the most current workshop information and to register.
Climate Ready: Beyond Compliance: Using Your 990 to Strengthen Fundraising and Financial Strategy
On Thursday, July 16, at 2pm eastern, join Climate Ready for Beyond Compliance: Using Your 990 to Strengthen Fundraising and Financial Strategy. The Form 990 is often viewed as a compliance requirement, but it is also a powerful tool for transparency, fundraising, and strategic planning. Join a practical conversation on how to interpret and use your 990 more effectively. The session will cover what funders look for, how financial decisions show up in the form, common red flags, and ways to use 990 data to strengthen organizational planning and long-term sustainability. Register here.
Screenings and Podcasts
VS. GOLIATH Virtual Screenings
This summer and fall, join one of four free virtual screenings of VS. GOLIATH, an award-winning documentary series from Tikkun Olam Productions and Fossil Free Media highlighting community leaders across the U.S. standing up to the fossil fuel industry and fighting for environmental justice. Screenings take place on the first Tuesday of each month at 8pm eastern from July through October and are followed by live Q&A conversations with featured activists and movement leaders.
Screening schedule:
July 7th — VS. GOLIATH: Cancer Alley
August 4 — VS. GOLIATH: Appalachia
September 1 — VS. GOLIATH: Greater Chaco
October 6 — VS. GOLIATH: Port Arthur
All events are free and open to the public. Learn more and Register here.
Anthropocene Alliance (A2) Podcast: In Times Like These
The second episode of A2’s In Times Like These Podcast is now available. This episode highlights how four communities—New Mexico Environmental Law Center; Young, Gifted & Green; Memphis Community Against Pollution; and Protect Our Aquifer—are organizing to address the environmental and public health impacts of proposed data centers in their communities. Through firsthand stories, the episode explores the challenges these communities face and the advocacy efforts underway to ensure local voices are heard in decisions about rapidly expanding infrastructure. In Times Like These is available on A2’s website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, Pandora, iHeart Radio, and Podcast Addict.
Resources
Power Building Toolkit for Rural Communities
The De Beaumont Foundation, a public health foundation that supports local and state-level initiatives through funding, research, and practical tools, recently released a new Community Power Building Toolkit for Rural Communities. The toolkit offers strategies, frameworks, and examples to help rural organizations strengthen community engagement, build local leadership, and advance community-driven solutions. Access the toolkit here.
Nonpartisan Climate Justice Field Guide
ClimateMax, a national table convened by Just Solutions, has released a new resource to help organizations strengthen nonpartisan voter and candidate engagement on climate and community priorities. The Call to Climate Justice: A Non-Partisan Field Guide to Connecting the Dots for Candidates & Voters includes practical tools, model questions, and messaging strategies to support issue-based conversations on topics such as energy affordability, climate resilience, public health, and more. Organizations interested in learning how to use the guide can also request a presentation or training for their staff or community by filling out this form.
Updates on Our Work
Please take a moment to check out EPN’s Bimonthly Newsletter: EPN In Action: April-May 2026.
National Policy Highlights:
– EPN submitted formal comments opposing EPA’s rollback of the 2024 mercury and arsenic discharge limits for unmanaged combustion residual leachate.
– EPN submitted formal comments on North Carolina’s proposed PFAS and 1,4-dioxane rules, supporting regulation but finding the proposals too limited in scope and lacking clear, enforceable discharge standards.
– EPN volunteer Stacey Yonce, former Chemical Engineer in the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, presented oral testimony at an EPA hearing about the EPA’s proposed changes to coal ash regulations.
– EPN submitted formal comments regarding EPA’s proposed rule to facilitate scrap tire pile cleanups, acknowledging that abandoned tire piles pose urgent public health and environmental hazards, like disease-carrying pests and toxic fires.
– EPN sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to reject the President’s FY2027 budget request for EPA and provide at least $12 billion in annual funding and, at a minimum, no less than FY2025 enacted levels.
– EPN submitted formal comments to EPA urging the agency to rescind its March 2026 proposed reconsideration of the 2024 Ethylene Oxide (EtO) emissions rule.
– EPN submitted formal comments to EPA opposing several proposed revisions to EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations, which aim to change prevention-focused elements of the 2024 Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention (SCCAP) rule.
Additional Updates:
– During May and June, EPN connected 80+ volunteers to 180 requests for technical assistance from frontline communities, nonprofit organizations, under-resourced government agencies, and others on issues from Superfund to flooding to data centers.
– EPN interviewed over 30 applicants for the Environmental Science Impact Fellowship, which will support 14 recently separated EPA scientists and engineers in continuing the valuable research they were doing while at EPA. The first cadre of fellows will start on July 14.
– EPN held in-person gatherings in DC, New York City, Anchorage, and Seattle.
– EPN continued to support current and recently separated EPA staff via its Civil Service Resilience Initiative, including a newly revamped job board, free Former Gov accounts, programming, helpful links and FAQs, and mentoring, including mentoring AFGE Local 704 (Chicago) union members.
– The DOE Alumni Network has officially reached over 1,000 members, formally launched a mentorship program and a new video series highlighting alumni stories and accomplishments called Trailblazers and Transformers, published 13 DOE alumni-written Substack articles, and released a Consultants Directory that features DOE alumni who are available for contract work.