The Fast-Track for Submitting a Community Change Grant

The November 21st deadline for the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant program (Community Change Grants) is quickly approaching. If you are a grassroots organization still considering applying, we put together a few resources to help you fast-track your application and meet the upcoming deadline. Please contact the Heartland Environmental Justice Center if you need technical support preparing and submitting your grant application (include “support on Community Change Grants” in your reason for reaching out).

Background on the EPA’s Community Change Grants

The Community Change Grants are funded by the Environmental Protection Agency to empower historically disadvantaged communities to access federal funding to address the challenges of climate change and increase resiliency. Community Change Grants will fund community-driven projects that address climate challenges and reduce pollution while strengthening communities through thoughtful implementation. The historic levels of support provided by these grants will enable communities and their partners to overcome long-standing environmental challenges and implement meaningful solutions to meet community needs now and for generations to come.

There are two tracks for interested applicants to pursue. Track I offers an unprecedented opportunity to reshape communities through significant funding dedicated to overcoming deep-rooted and historic environmental issues. Projects under Track I will significantly improve environmental, climate, pollution, and resilience conditions affecting disadvantaged communities. The EPA plans to award 150 of these grants in amounts ranging from $10 to 20 million. Through Track II of the Community Change Grants program, the EPA will direct more than $40 million to help communities and governments build the capacity to identify, evaluate, and fix environmental and climate injustices by giving disadvantaged communities a meaningful voice in government decision-making processes. Awards under Track II are expected to be $1-3 million each. EPA will award approximately $40 million for 20 Track II awards.

Resources to Kickstart Your Application Process

If you are in the process of developing or finalizing your project for Track I, use the workbook linked below as a tool to align your community priorities with climate action and pollution reduction strategies. This workbook is designed to help you identify your project, partners, and budget needs so that you have a firm grasp of your project before starting the application process. We recommend finalizing your project details before starting to work on the application development workbook.

As you move forward with your grant application, keep track of the tasks you must complete each week with our weekly action plan calendar. Based on where you are at in your proposal process, you can use this calendar to identify the tasks you still need to complete to meet the November 21 deadline. The calendar corresponds to sections outlined in the technical assistance workbooks. It also gives you a realistic idea of the steps and when they must be completed to get the application done. Embedded in the calendar are links to relevant resources and tools.