$1.2M in Grants for Environmental Justice Projects

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting applications for the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program through January 31, 2017.

Up to $30 million per project is available to incorporated non-profit organizations and their partners to address environmental and public health issues within affected communities. The purpose of the grants are to help communities conduct outreach and then build capacity for self-sustaining initiatives that address exposures to environmental harms and risks.

In 2013, Groundwork New Orleans received an environmental justice grant for the Green Slice Water Catchment Project, which focused on reducing water pollution in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood of the city. The project team and partners conducted community meetings about low-impact design strategies that filter contaminants from stormwater, interviewed residents and leveraged youth and community support to install the water catchment system.

While New Orleans has received major sources of federal funding to implement greener stormwater management installations throughout the city, the Lower Ninth’s environmental justice grant-funded stormwater system absorbs flood waters, which reduces flows into the municipal stormwater system and decreases risks of minor flooding disasters right in these urban neighborhoods.

For the 2017 grant round, EPA is placing special emphasis on proposals to underrepresented states and territories, where three or fewer environmental justice grants have been awarded over the last five years, and new grantees.

Learn more about the opportunity and read about sample projects on EPA’s website.

Read grant announcement materials and apply on Grants.gov.