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.
To help applicants, EPN has created a suggested 6-step application process for Track I and Track II—including a suggested timeline—for this opportunity:
Suggested 6-Step Community Change Grant Track I Application Process
Suggested 6-Step Community Change Grant Track II Application Process
*Special thanks to Jaimie Lewis and staff at Anese & Associates for creating elements of the Track I Checklist, including Track I templates and samples for the Project Narrative, Partnership Agreement, Project Area Map, Community Engagement and Collaborative Governance plan, Community Strength Plan, Readiness Approach, and Compliance Plan, as well as the Track II sample Project Narrative. Thanks also to the Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP) in partnership with GrantScribes for their Federal Grant Readiness Checklist and Decision Tree. The Resources also include links to publicly available tools, webinars, information, and instructions from EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.