Biden-Harris Administration Announces Almost $3 Million in Arizona for Environmental Justice Projects as Part of Investing in America Agenda
Arizona projects announced as part of nationwide investments through EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Cooperative Agreement program, funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act
SAN FRANCISCO — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $2,961,064 for six projects across Arizona that advance environmental justice as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The organizations, which EPA has selected through its Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Cooperative Agreement and Environmental Justice Government-to-Government programs, will use the funds to ensure disadvantaged communities that have historically suffered from underinvestment have access to clean air and water and climate resilience solutions in alignment with the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 Initiative.
Thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in U.S. history—this funding is a part of the largest investment ever announced under these two longstanding EPA programs. This is the first in a series of environmental justice grant announcements the agency will announce before the end of the year.
“No President has invested more in environmental justice than President Biden, and under his leadership we’re removing longstanding barriers and meaningfully collaborating with communities to build a healthier future for all,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Together, these community-driven projects will improve the health, equity, and resilience of communities while setting a blueprint for local solutions that can be applied across the nation.”
“Too often, small, rural, and disadvantaged communities in Arizona get overlooked for projects that provide clean air and drinking water,” said Senator Mark Kelly. “With this investment, Flagstaff and Gila County will have more tools to protect our environment and improve quality of life for Arizonans.”
“I worked hard to shape this historic energy and climate law to ensure it meets Arizona's needs. Thanks to our work, we're proudly delivering more than $2 million to Arizona communities to invest in climate resilience — ensuring our state remains a safe and healthy place to call home for generations to come,” said Senator Kyrsten Sinema.
The grants announced today deliver on President Biden’s commitment to advance equity and justice throughout the United States. The two grant programs directly advance the President’s transformational Justice40 initiative to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving (EJCPS) Program
EPA’s EJCPS program provides financial assistance to eligible organizations working to address local environmental or public health issues in their communities. The program builds upon President Biden’s Executive Orders 13985 and 14008, creating a designation of funds exclusively for small nonprofit organizations, which are defined as having 5 or fewer full-time employees, thus ensuring that grant resources reach organizations of lower capacity that historically struggle to receive federal funding. Eleven of the organizations selected for EJCPS this year are small nonprofit organizations, receiving over $1.6 million in total.
EPA EJCPS grant selections in Arizona include the following:
- Amistades, Inc., in Tucson will receive $166,666 for a project to improve building community capacity in Tucson to address the critically increasing heat severity and its impact in disproportionately affected Latino-dominant communities.
- The Bisbee Science Exploration & Research Center in Bisbee will receive $150,000 for the center’s Community Environmental Field Station Design Project to reimagine eight unused acres at a decommissioned middle school located three miles from the U.S./Mexico border into an outdoor educational facility that is focused on education, environment, engagement and exercise.
- Rebuild Superior, Inc., in Superior will receive $150,000 for the Rebuild Superior Blight Reduction Program, which will increase the capacity of the Town of Superior to use its ‘clean and lien’ program for blight reduction.
- Red Feather Development Group in the Navajo Nation will receive $494,398 for the group’s Healthy Heating Education and Access Program, which was developed to reduce poor indoor air quality due to the use of coal and wood to heat homes with broad goals of reducing unnecessary loss of life, improving health, and building the resilience of Navajo and Hopi communities.
Environmental Justice Government-to-Government (EJG2G)
EPA’s EJG2G provides funding at the state, local, territorial, and Tribal level to support government activities in partnership with community-based organizations that lead to measurable environmental or public health impacts in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms.
EPA EJG2G grant selections in Arizona include the following:
- The City of Flagstaff will receive $1 million to create three “resilience hubs” that will serve marginalized populations with resources that meet community-identified needs, including increasing emergency preparedness through safe heating, cooling, and clean air centers, demonstrating and increasing awareness of zero-emissions technologies and expanding air quality data and improving health outcomes for those affected by wildfire smoke and dust.
- Gila County will receive $1 million to tackle blight in Gila and Eastern Pinal counties through a mining tax distribution study as well as using funds for non-hazardous cleanups, asbestos and lead surveys and abatements, demolition, public outreach and engagement and helping communities create a revolving fund to address blight and create a model program that can be replicated in other rural areas in Arizona.
Additional Background:
From day one of his administration, President Biden has made achieving environmental justice a top priority. And in August 2022, Congress passed, and President Biden signed, the Inflation Reduction Act into law, creating the largest investment in environmental and climate justice in U.S. history. EPA received $3 billion in appropriations to provide grants and technical assistance for activities advancing environmental and climate justice.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, EPA has launched and expanded innovative programs to provide more support than ever before to communities that unjustly bear the burdens of environmental harm and pollution. This includes the $177 million for the creation of 16 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) to remove barriers to federal resources and help communities pursue funding opportunities like those made available through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda. EPA has also launched and will award funds through the $550 million Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program before the end of 2023.
To learn more about environmental justice at EPA, visit: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice
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