(AGENPARL) – ven 13 dicembre 2024 Issued: Dec 13, 2024 (9:04am EST)
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EPA Announces Total of Nearly $23M in Environmental and Climate Justice
Community Change Grants to Two Rural Projects in Kansas and Missouri
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7 – 11201 Renner Blvd., Lenexa,
KS 66219
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations
Curators of the University of Missouri selected for $20 million for work in
Chariton County, Missouri
Healthy Bourbon County Action Team selected for $2.9 million for work in
Bourbon, Crawford, Cowley, and Mitchell counties in Kansas
LENEXA, KAN. (DEC. 13, 2024) –The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
announced it has selected 105 applications for the Community Change Grants
Program (CCGP), totaling nearly $1.6 billion in awards to advance local,
on-the-ground projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate
resilience, and build community capacity.
The funding announced today represents the latest round of applications that
have been selected on a rolling basis since the program launched in November
2023. Made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the CCGP
is the single largest investment in environmental and climate justice in
history.
EPA previously announced 21 selectees in July 2024. Today’s announcement
adds 84 new selectees, bringing the total number to 105. Two Region 7
organizations are among today’s selectees.
“On day one of his administration, President Biden promised to target
investments to communities that for too long have been shut out of federal
funding,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Today, thanks to
President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, EPA is delivering on that
promise. These selections will create jobs, improve public health, and uplift
community efforts in all corners of this country, regardless of geography or
background.”
“These grants are more than financial support – they are truly investments
in people and communities,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister.
“These historic Community Change Grants will have far-reaching and
long-lasting health and environmental improvements.”
Among the wide range of public health and environmental benefits that the
Community Change Grants will support, examples within EPA Region 7 include:
Curators of the University of Missouri, $20 million: In Missouri’s Chariton
County, the city of Brunswick, located near the Missouri River, faces frequent
flooding events. This project will enhance the community’s flood resilience
by developing 10 rain gardens and three acres of water retention ponds. The
selectee will also work with the community to plant 500 acres of pecan trees
on cleared lands. The project will make vulnerable roadways more resilient by
rebuilding them with sustainable asphalt mixtures and upgrading the road
drainage design. The selectee will remodel the Old City Hall into a community
resilience hub, which will fulfill vital roles as an emergency shelter,
resource center, training facility, and historical preservation site. In
addition, the project team will offer extension assistance to the local
farming community to enhance crop productivity, land-use efficiency, and soil
health.
Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, $2.9 million: This project is focused on
Bourbon, Crawford, Cowley, and Mitchell counties in Kansas, each of which
participated in the Communities Organizing to Promote Equity initiative,
funded through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and
administered through the University of Kansas Medical Center. As part of the
program, each county formed a Local Health Equity Action Team (LHEAT) composed
of community health workers, health care providers, representatives of
nonprofit organizations, churches, government officials, and residents with
lived experience. The project will build on this foundation to support the
LHEATs’ work to engage local and state governments on key issues, including
lead-based paint, air and water pollution, transportation access, and more.
See the full listing of the 105 selections receiving a CCGP grant. Learn more
about the CCGP.
Of the 105 total selections, 32 are for Target Investment Areas, totaling $600
million. Target Investment Area funding is intended to ensure that CCGP
funding is directed toward disadvantaged communities with unique
circumstances, geography, and needs. This includes approximately $150 million
for Alaska Native communities and organizations.
Background
Applications to the Community Change Grants Program, administered through
EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, closed on
Nov. 21, 2024. The Agency received approximately 2,700 applications, totaling
over $40 billion in requested funds and over 2,495 requests for technical
assistance.
The CCGP addresses the diverse and unique needs of disadvantaged communities
Reducing and preventing air, water, and soil pollution.
Building resilient infrastructure to extreme weather events.
Bolstering workforce development.
EPA is on track to obligate the majority of selected Community Change Grants
by January 2025. 
Given the overwhelming number of applications still under review and the
limited amount of remaining funds available, EPA’s work to evaluate the
remaining applicants will need to continue beyond the end of the Biden-Harris
administration. To ensure that all applications are given fair consideration,
EPA will not make any additional selections until all these applications are
evaluated according to the processes described in the Notice of Funding
Opportunity issued in November 2023.
Learn more about environmental justice at EPA.
# # #
Learn more about EPA Region 7
Visit the Region 7 Media page
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