EPA Scales Up Environmental Equity Grants Flush With Big Funding

The EPA is grappling with how to award $50 million in use-it-or-lose-it grant funding over the next 15 months to help marginalized communities bearing the brunt of pollution, agency officials told an advisory panel during a two-day meeting ending Thursday.

The $50 million is a significant boost for the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental justice grants, which in previous years barely topped $1 million, officials said.

But the funding infusion comes with some strings: EPA now must scale up its grant program and then award all of the new money before the next fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, 2023, a ...