U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7 - 11201 Renner Blvd., Lenexa, KS 66219
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations
Biden-Harris Administration Launches Historic $20 Billion in Grant Competitions to Create National Clean Financing Network as Part of Investing in America Agenda
EPA seeking applications to two Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund competitions to advance clean technology projects in communities across the country
Contact Information: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)
LENEXA, KAN. (JULY 14, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched two Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) for $20 billion across two grant competitions under the historic $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, an Inflation Reduction Act program central to President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda and environmental justice goals. Together, these competitive grant opportunities will mobilize private capital into clean technology projects to create good-paying jobs and lower energy costs for American families, especially in low-income and disadvantaged communities, while cutting harmful pollution to protect people’s health and tackle the climate crisis. EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will join Vice President Kamala Harris today to announce the two grant competitions along with Senator Tom Carper (DE), Senator Ed Markey (MA), Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD), Congressman Frank Pallone (NJ-06), and Congressman David Trone (MD-06) at an event at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland, where they will receive a briefing from local climate leaders and deliver remarks.
“The President and I set ambitious goals to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050—the investments announced today move our nation towards achieving these goals and a cleaner, healthier future for generations to come,” said Vice President Kamala Harris. “Students, small business owners and community leaders with innovative ideas to reduce our emissions and accelerate our clean energy transition will now see their projects become reality, all while creating good-paying jobs and a clean energy economy that works for all.”
“Communities on the front lines of the climate crisis will be the first to reap the benefits of President Biden’s historic investments in the clean economy,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will spur private investment into clean technology projects and expand economic opportunity for communities that have been left behind, for families that want lower energy costs, and for workers who need good-paying jobs. This is what President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is all about.”
The $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund will provide grants to support two-to-three national clean financing institutions, enabling them to partner with the private sector to provide accessible, affordable financing for tens of thousands of clean technology projects nationwide. These national nonprofits will enable individuals, families, nonprofits, governments, small businesses, and others to access the capital they need to deploy a diverse suite of clean technology projects in their homes, businesses, and communities, which will reduce pollution while creating jobs, accelerating progress toward energy security, and lowering energy costs. And by mobilizing significant amounts of private capital, these national nonprofits will ensure that every dollar of public funds generates several times more in private investment. At least 40% of the funds from the National Clean Investment Fund will be dedicated to low-income and disadvantaged communities, including those that are rural communities, Tribal communities, communities with environmental justice concerns, energy communities, and persistent poverty counties.
The $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will provide grants to support two-to-seven hub nonprofit organizations, enabling them to provide funding and technical assistance to public, quasi-public, not-for-profit, and non-profit community lenders working in low-income and disadvantaged communities—supporting the goal that every community in the country has access to the capital they need to deploy clean technology projects. These hub nonprofits will enable hundreds of community lenders—such as community development financial institutions (including Native CDFIs), credit unions, green banks, housing finance agencies, and minority depository institutions—to finance clean technology projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities while also mobilizing private capital and building the enduring capacity of community lenders to finance these projects for years to come. 100% of the funds from the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will be dedicated to low-income and disadvantaged communities.
"By funding a national network of non-profit financing institutions that will deliver capital to tens of thousands of clean technology projects in local communities across the country, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will transform local economies and help us meet our climate goals,” said Senior Advisor and Acting Director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Jahi Wise. “Investments like this one will expand opportunities for the communities that have too often been left out and left behind.”
Today’s announcement builds on the $7 billion Solar for All competition EPA Administrator Regan launched on June 28, 2023 with Senator Bernie Sanders at an event in Vermont. That competition, also under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, will expand the number of low-income and disadvantaged communities primed for residential solar investment. Through Solar for All, EPA will award up to 60 grants to states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities, and eligible nonprofits to create and expand low-income solar programs that provide financial and technical assistance, such as workforce development, to enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from residential solar. The announcements today—culminating the President’s Investing in America tour—mark the remaining two NOFO announcements for this historic program.
Together, these three competitions under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will help meet the President’s climate goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50-52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030—and achieving net zero emissions by no later than 2050. They also help advance the President’s commitment to environmental justice and the Justice40 Initiative, which sets the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments in climate, clean energy, and other areas flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution–with at least $18.6 billion of the $27 billion across the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund dedicated to low-income and disadvantaged communities.
This investment was made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which is growing the American economy from the middle out and the bottom up – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over $500 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating good-paying jobs and building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
National Clean Investment Fund Eligibility and Application Information
The deadline to apply to this grant competition is October 12, 2023. EPA intends to make two-to-three awards under this competition. Applicants must be eligible nonprofits as defined in Section 134(c)(1) of the Clean Air Act and as further explained in the NOFO. Coalitions, led by an eligible nonprofit, are also eligible to apply to this competition. Additional details on eligibility can be found in Section III of the NOFO.
EPA has published the NOFO for this grant competition on grants.gov.
Clean Communities Investment Accelerator Eligibility and Application Information
The deadline to apply to this grant competition is October 12, 2023. EPA intends to make two-to-seven awards under this competition. Applicants must be eligible nonprofits as defined in Section 134(c)(1) of the Clean Air Act and as further explained in the NOFO. Coalitions, led by an eligible nonprofit, are also eligible to apply to this competition. Additional details on eligibility can be found in Section III of the NOFO.
EPA has published the NOFO for this grant competition on grants.gov.
Informational Webinars
EPA will host at least one public informational webinar for each competition to provide information on the grant competitions and the application processes. The details and registration links for each are below. The webinars will be recorded and posted on EPA’s GGRF webpage.
Tools and resources for prospective applicants, including webinar information and helpful templates, can be found on EPA’s GGRF webpage.
Additional Background
The President’s Inflation Reduction Act authorized the EPA to create and implement the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a historic $27 billion investment to combat the climate crisis by mobilizing financing and private capital for greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects in communities across the country. Together, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s National Clean Investment Fund, the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, and the Solar for All competitions will finance clean technology deployment nationally, finance clean technology deployment in low-income and disadvantaged communities while simultaneously building the capacity of community lenders that serve those communities, and spur adoption of clean distributed solar energy that lowers energy bills for millions of Americans in low-income and disadvantaged communities. Each of these competitions advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative while expanding good-paying job opportunities in domestic industries.
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