EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) will invest approximately $2 billion dollars in Inflation Reduction Act funds in environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to respond to environmental and climate justice challenges.
If you are interested in applying for these funds or assisting others who are applying, here are some important first steps to take and resources to utilize:
Resources from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Read the Summary of the Community Change Grants Opportunity and/or watch this overview webinar on the grant to assess whether this is a good fit for your organization and worth pursuing.
- If you’re serious about applying, read the full Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
- While you’re considering applying and have questions, consult the Community Change Grants FAQs often.
- Request free Technical Assistance from EPA via EPA’s Community Change Technical Assistance (CCTA), which includes application support, project planning and development, outreach and engagement, and general capacity building.
- Watch the relevant EPA past webinars on the Change Grants. If you’re gathering basic information, watch them from oldest to most recent, starting with the overview webinar on January 30th.
Resources from the Environmental Protection Network (EPN), a nonprofit organization
- Watch EPN’s Community Change Grants overview, and access the slides here.
- Read through EPN’s step-by-step Community Change Grant Application Guides for Track I and Track II, which, among other things, include links to:
- Checklists with a suggested timeline to help you divvy up sections among partners, track your work, and mark sections as complete
- A Potential Partner and Assistance Survey (and list of potential partners)
- Executive Summary Templates
- Project Narrative Templates
- Project Narrative Samples
- Other Templates and Samples
- Evaluation Criteria
- Checklists with a suggested timeline to help you divvy up sections among partners, track your work, and mark sections as complete
- Join EPN staff for SAM.gov office hours. As a reminder, federal funding applicants must have an active SAM.gov and Grants.gov registration in order to apply. EPN holds office hours every two weeks on Wednesdays from 2pm-3pm eastern, where staff will help you begin, continue, or finish up your registration process.
- Reach out to EPN with questions or for assistance with your application from our staff and network of 650+ EPA alumni volunteers across the country.