Communities in Maryland will soon be eligible for $50 million in environmental justice grants meant to address environmental and climate concerns.
This past December, the EPA announced $600 million will be invested nationally in environmental justice grants meant to address environmental and climate concerns. EPA Region 3, which includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and 7 federally recognized tribes, will receive $50 million of those funds. The Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI), a Baltimore-based nonprofit, was selected as one of the 11 Grantmakers nationally and will be the organization responsible for issuing subgrants within Region 3.
When asked by Floodlight about the nonprofit’s rollout of the grant, Ruth Ann Norton, chief executive officer for GHHI, said,
“We will have a large number of listening sessions; we will have a very open and transparent grant process. We anticipate a very wide range of issues from air issues, air monitoring issues, water issues and housing issues.”
The Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking program is designed to make it easier for small community-based organizations to access federal environmental justice funding, respond to community feedback about 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 a Grantmaker (i.e. GHHI) 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, fenceline air quality and asthma-related projects, healthy homes programs, and projects addressing illegal dumping.
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 non-competitive process under Tier One. Each Grantmaker will design and implement a distribution program best suited for their region and communities.
Read more about the EPA’s Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking program.
