(AGENPARL) – mer 20 dicembre 2023 Issued: Dec 20, 2023 (11:25am EST)
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Biden-Harris Administration Selects Fordham University to Receive $50 Million
to Fund Environmental Justice Projects Across EPA Region 2 as Part of
Investing in America Agenda
As an environmental justice Grantmaker, Fordham University will help reduce
barriers to federal funds and issue thousands of environmental justice grants
over the next three years
Contact: Iris M. Crawford, (212) 637-4360
NEW YORK (Dec. 20, 2023) – Today, as part of President Biden’s Investing
in America agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the selection of
Fordham University to serve as a Regional Grantmaker that will receive $50
Million under EPA’s Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking
program (EJ TCGM). This new grant program, while making it easier for small
community-based organizations to access federal environmental justice funding,
responds to community feedback on the need to reduce barriers to federal funds
and improve the efficiency of the awards process to ensure communities that
have long faced underinvestment can access the benefits of the largest climate
investment in history. Communities will be able to apply to Fordham University
for a subgrant to fund a range of different environmental project activities,
including (but not limited to) small local clean ups, local emergency
preparedness and disaster resiliency programs, environmental workforce
development programs for local jobs reducing greenhouse gas emissions, air
quality and asthma related projects, healthy homes programs, and projects
addressing illegal dumping. EPA Region 2 covers New Jersey, New York, Puerto
Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and eight federally recognized Indian Nations.
“For years, community advocates have been calling for federal support and
resources to help address our country’s most pressing environmental justice
concerns,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Thanks to President
Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, we’re responding to these
calls by removing barriers that have traditionally held communities and
applicants back from accessing these historic investments in America.
Together, in partnership with these Grantmakers, we are taking a giant step
toward a future where every person in America has equal opportunity to breathe
clean air, drink clean water, and live a healthy, productive life.”
“As a Grantmaker, Fordham University will help the EPA advance our joint
commitment to undo the past harms of environmental injustice,” said EPA
Region 2 Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “This will be the start of a fruitful
relationship that will build upon both EPA’s priority to addressing climate
justice and Fordham’s promise of equity and environmental stewardship.
Fordham University will work with partners such as the New York Immigration
Coalition, New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, ConPRmetidos, Community
Foundation Virgin Islands and Business Initiative Corporation of New York, to
implement an intersectional approach to place frontline environmental justice
communities in positions of power through participatory community-led
governance. As the regional Grantmaker, Fordham University will provide grants
to community-based organizations, groups, and other institutions and groups
who historically have not had the capacity to apply for and receive federal
funding for climate projects.
“Fordham believes in the power of community-driven solutions to climate change
to capture the insights and ingenuity of the people on the front lines of
global warming. Fordham works to find the answers to the most urgent and
complicated of problems, and it does so by centering human impact and
environmental justice. Fordham is proud to launch the Flourishing in Community
Grantmaker Initiative, building on 182 years of deep engagement with the Bronx
and expanding our regional and global reach through New York, New Jersey,
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” said Fordham University President
Tania Tetlow.
“We’re incredibly honored and energized for the work ahead with our
statutory partners. It’s a collaborative effort and it’s a tremendous
opportunity for us to employ Fordham’s infrastructure, award these
sub-grants, and do this on-the-ground environmental work,” said Julie
Gafney, Assistant Vice President for Strategic Mission Initiatives at Fordham
University.
“Today’s announcement from EPA regarding grant money for grassroots
environmental justice groups showcases exactly why I fought so hard for the
Inflation Reduction Act,” said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E.
Schumer. “This $600 million for 11 regional grantmakers, including $50
million for our own Fordham University, that is distributed to community-based
non-profits fighting on the frontlines of climate change, is the kind of
program that can help our disadvantaged communities truly flourish. I am proud
of Fordham University and I’m so excited to see how the vibrant network of
New York and Puerto Rican grassroots environmental justice organizations
leverage this federal funding. I remain laser-focused on implementation of the
IRA so that we can ensure it lives up to its transformative potential to clean
our air and combat climate change.”
“EPA’s Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking program is a
vital new program that will advance environmental justice and help communities
disproportionately impacted by climate change, pollution, and other
environmental stressors,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “I am thrilled
to see that Fordham University has been selected as the Grantmaker for EPA
Region 2, which will allow organizations in New York, other communities within
the Region and Puerto Rico to apply for funds to support a range of different
environmental project activities that will help the communities most in need.
I am proud to have worked with and supported Fordham University to help secure
its selection as a Grantmaker and look forward to seeing communities that have
long faced underinvestment gain access to federal environmental justice
funding.”
“As we face the monumental challenges of environmental justice, which
disproportionately affect underserved communities like ours in the Bronx and
our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, it is
critical that the federal government take big steps and invest the proper
resources to prepare us for the future. Today’s announcement from the EPA
that Fordham will receive millions of dollars in federal funds demonstrates
the historic nature of the Inflation Reduction Act and the importance of never
stopping our work fighting for the Bronx. Without a clean and healthy
environment to grow up in, our children will never be able to achieve the true
promise of this great nation,” said U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres
(NY-15). 
EPA Grantmakers will work in collaboration with EPA’s Office of
Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights to issue subgrants to
community-based nonprofit organizations and other eligible organizations
representing disadvantaged communities. As a Grantmaker, Fordham University
will design comprehensive application and submission processes, award
environmental justice subgrants, implement tracking and reporting systems, and
provide resources and support to communities. The subgrants are expected to
become available by summer of 2024.
In addition, EPA has selected, the Institute for Sustainable Communities to
receive $50 million as a National Environmental Justice Thriving Communities
Grantmaker to provide additional support, coordination, and oversight to the
subgrantees, applicants, and the Regional Grantmakers across the eastern part
of the country. Institute for Sustainable Communities will provide
equity-centered coordination services to regional Grantmakers. They will
develop a Grantmaker website and host a visualization hub with public-facing
grantmaking information, data tracking and other evaluation tools for regional
Grantmakers.
Grantmakers are expected to begin opening competitions and awarding subgrants
by summer 2024. Community-based nonprofit organizations and other eligible
organizations seeking subgrant funding will be able to apply for subgrants
through three concurrent tiers offered by the Grantmakers. Tier One will
consist of grants for $150,000 for assessment, Tier Two will consist of grants
for $250,000 for planning, and Tier Three will consist of grants for $350,000
for project development. In addition, $75,000 will be available for
capacity-constrained community-based organizations through a noncompetitive
process under Tier One. Each Grantmaker will design and implement a
distribution program best suited for their region and communities.
The Grantmakers program is part of the Federal Interagency Thriving
Communities Network and delivers on the Biden-Harris
Administration’s Justice40 Initiative which set the goal that 40% of the
overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged
communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by
pollution. Grantmakers will work in collaboration with the Environmental
Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) to
create a robust support network to assist eligible entities when applying.
Learn more about the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmakers.
Background
From day one of their administration, President Biden and Vice President
Harris have made achieving environmental justice a top priority. In August
2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, creating
the largest investment in environmental and climate justice in U.S. history.
EPA received $3 billion in total to award grants and fund related technical
assistance to benefit disadvantaged communities. 
EPA has since launched and expanded innovative programs such as using $177
million for the creation of 16 EJ TCTACs in partnership with the U.S.
Department of Energy to remove barriers to federal resources and help
communities pursue funding opportunities like those made available through
President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda.
EPA announced nearly $128 million to fund 186 projects across the country that
advance environmental justice as part of President Biden’s Investing in
America agenda. The organizations, which EPA has selected through its
Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Cooperative Agreement and
Environmental Justice Government-to-Government programs, will use the funds to
ensure disadvantaged communities that have historically suffered from
underinvestment have access to clean air and water and climate resilience
solutions in alignment with the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40
Initiative.
EPA also announced Community Change Grants which is approximately $2 billion
in funding available to support community-driven projects that deploy clean
energy, strengthen climate resilience, and build capacity for communities to
tackle environmental and climate justice challenges last month.
Learn more about environmental justice at EPA.
For up-to-date information on when subgrants will be available, subscribe to
the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights’ listserv by