EPA Rolls Out $2 Billion Package for Environmental Justice

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a $2 billion funding package to help clean up pollution and deploy clean energy in disadvantaged communities, a rollout the EPA called the single biggest investment in environmental justice history.

It’s the White House’s latest effort to transform long-neglected areas into healthy and resilient communities, a priority President Joe Biden has repeatedly stressed, including in a recent executive order.

The money, appropriated in last year’s climate bill, will be sent out in grants to fund climate resiliency and adaptation, mitigating climate and health risks from urban heat islands and wildfires, and community-led air and other types of monitoring.

The funding can also be used for low- and zero-emission technologies, workforce development, reducing indoor toxics, and increased engagement from disadvantaged communities in government advisory groups and rulemaking.

The Biden administration’s strategy is to address multiple, overlapping problems in environmental justice communities, rather than the historic approach of tackling them “one small grant at a time,” John Podesta, the president’s senior adviser on clean energy, told reporters.

Applications will be considered under two separate tracks. The Environmental Protection Agency will send out $1.96 billion for 150 community-driven investment projects, and another $40 million for 20 projects that spur engagement for equitable governance, agency head Michael Regan said.

The EPA has also identified five targeted investment areas to ensure communities with unique needs can compete for the funding. The five areas are tribal communities, Indian tribes in Alaska, US territories, disadvantaged unincorporated communities, and Southern border communities.