Author: CEQ Engagement Staff   Published: 11/2/2024     WHCEQ

Greetings!

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS

Earlier this week, President Biden announced a $3 billion investment from his Inflation Reduction Act to improve and electrify port infrastructure, support an estimated 40,000 good-paying and union jobs, reduce pollution, and combat the climate crisis. This funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Ports Program will go to 55 selectees across 27 states and territories, including the Port of Baltimore where the President made the announcement.

 President Biden announces a $3 billion investment from his Inflation Reduction Act to improve and electrify port infrastructure, support an estimated 40,000 good-paying and union jobs, reduce pollution, and combat the climate crisis on October 29, 2024.

While a major economic driver, our nation’s ports are a major source of pollution for workers and surrounding communities. Communities living near ports and other transportation corridors are exposed to toxic pollution which can cause respiratory and cardiovascular harm, especially in children. The Clean Ports program will improve air quality at ports across the country by installing clean, zero-emission freight and ferry technologies along with associated infrastructure, eliminating more than 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution over the first ten years of implementation, equivalent to 391,220 homes’ energy use for one year. The Clean Ports program advances the President’s Justice40 Initiative and aligns with the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal for a zero-emission freight sector. Read more here and here.

President Biden outlines his record of transformative investment in Indian Country at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona on October 25, 2024.

Last week the President traveled to Gila River Indian Community in Arizona to issue a historic federal apology for the Indian Boarding School era. President Biden and Vice President Harris have taken historic actions to support Indian Country through executive actions, historic investments, and strengthening government-to-government relationships. This includes making honoring Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples central to our conservation agenda, including by restoring and designating multiple new national monuments that honor Tribal Nations by protecting sacred ancestral places and their historically and scientifically important features.

Recent Biden-Harris Administration announcements:

• In the month following Hurricane Helene, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved over $2.1 billion in federal assistance for those affected by Hurricane Helene, as well as Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida shortly after Helene. This includes over $1 billion in assistance for individuals and families to help pay for housing repairs, personal property replacement, and other recovery efforts. To date, the Administration has also approved over $1.1 billion in Public Assistance funding to support local and state governments. This funding is primarily being used to support debris removal, as well to pay for emergency protective measures like surging first responders and providing shelter, food, and water during and after the storms.
• The Department of Energy (DOE) announced that Colorado launched its first phase of the federal Home Energy Rebate programs, supported by the Inflation Reduction Act and covered by the Justice40 Initiative, to lower energy bills by lowering costs for energy efficiency improvements. Michigan also launched a pilot of its federal Home Energy Rebate programs in two regions of the state.
• The U.S. Department of the Treasury (UST) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released final rules for the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit. The Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit helps to level the playing field for U.S. companies to onshore production of critical clean energy technologies like solar and wind components, batteries and energy storage, and critical minerals. The final rules will expand America’s clean energy manufacturing base, create good-paying jobs, strengthen the nation’s energy security, and build the reliable and responsible supply chains needed to meet U.S. climate goals.
• EPA announced $3.6 billion in new funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and covered by the Justice40 Initiative, to upgrade water infrastructure and keep communities safe. Combined with $2.6 billion announced earlier this month, this $6.2 billion in investments for Fiscal Year 2025 will help communities across the country upgrade water infrastructure that is essential to safely managing wastewater, protecting local freshwater resources, and delivering safe drinking water to homes, schools, and businesses.
• EPA also finalized a rule to strengthen requirements for the removal of lead paint dust in pre-1978 housing and childcare facilities. The rule will help protect people in communities across the country from lead exposure and is expected to reduce the lead exposures of up to nearly 1.2 million people every year, of which 178,000 to 326,000 are children under the age of six.
• The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) completed its sixth offshore wind lease sale by offering areas in the Gulf of Maine – the first commercial sale for floating offshore wind on the Atlantic Coast. Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, DOI has approved more than 15 gigawatts of clean energy from offshore wind projects — enough to power over 5 million homes.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced nearly $2.5 billion in financing for Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and selected six rural electric cooperatives to move forward in the awards process for nearly $1 billion in funding through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program, a Justice40 covered program. This investment in rural co-ops will create good-paying jobs and make energy more affordable for families in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
• USDA announced a historic $1.5 billion for 92 partner-driven conservation projects through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), a partner-driven approach to conservation that funds solutions to natural resource challenges on agricultural land. Selected RCPP projects will help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners adopt and expand voluntary, locally led conservation strategies to enhance natural resources while tackling the climate crisis. RCPP is a Justice40 covered program.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), released nearly $3.7 billion in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding to help households with their home energy costs. The funding will help ensure households across the country have the support they need to maintain safe and healthy indoor temperatures, especially as the winter season approaches. ACF also officially launched the LIHEAP eligibility tool, which allows households across the country to quickly identify if they might be eligible. LIHEAP is a Justice40 covered program.
• DOE announced nearly $2 billion for 38 projects in 42 states that will protect the U.S. power grid against growing threats of extreme weather, lower costs for communities, and increase grid capacity to meet load growth stemming from an increase in manufacturing, data centers, and electrification. The funding announced advances the Justice40 Initiative.
• DOE announced nearly $473.6 million for 49 states, 5 territories, 254 Tribal Nations, and the District of Columbia to modernize the electric grid to reduce the impacts of extreme weather events while also ensuring the reliability of the power sector. The funding announced advances the Justice40 Initiative.
• DOE announced $428 million for 14 projects to accelerate domestic clean energy manufacturing in 15 coal communities across the United States. The projects, led by small- and medium-businesses in communities with de-commissioned coal facilities, were selected to address critical energy supply chain vulnerabilities.
• USDA announced more than $265 million to conserve nearly 335,000 acres of ecologically and economically significant forestlands across the nation that support rural economies, in partnership with states across the country, through the Forest Legacy Program.
• USDA announced an investment of more than $265 million to conserve nearly 335,000 acres of ecologically and economically significant forestlands across the nation, in partnership with states across the country. The Forest Service will fund 21 projects in 17 states to conserve working forests that support rural economies.
• DOI announced more than $244 million from to address dangerous and polluting abandoned mine lands, create good-paying, family-sustaining jobs, and catalyze economic opportunity in coal communities across Pennsylvania. This is the largest annual state allocation under the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program, a Justice40 covered program, and is funded from the once-in-a-generation investment of $11.3 billion in AML funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
• DOE announced $149.87 million for 67 energy conservation and clean energy projects at federal facilities across 28 U.S. states and territories and six international locations. The selected projects will advance the adoption of cleaner, more cost-effective technologies to reduce pollution, improve air quality, create good-paying jobs, and slash the federal government’s carbon footprint.
• EPA announced selections totaling nearly $125 million under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) National Grants Program, a Justice40 covered program, which will incentivize and accelerate the upgrade or retirement of older diesel engines to cleaner and zero-emission solutions, leading to significant emission reductions and air quality and public health benefits.

Keep reading for more updates from the Biden-Harris Administration. If you were forwarded this email, or are not on our list yet, please visit our sign up page.

Read the President’s full remarks here.

SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

President Biden @POTUS / X

“My apology for what took place during the Indian Boarding School era is only one step forward from the shadows of the past. That’s why I’ve been committed to working with Indigenous communities across the country to write a new and better chapter in our history” [X Post, 10/25/24]

The White House (@WhiteHouse) / X

“Under President Biden, we’re making some of the most significant investments in Native communities ever in American history. Our Administration is committed to delivering for Tribal Nations and working with them to write a new and better chapter in our history” [X Post, 10/25/24]

Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) / X

“Our Administration is delivering on the most ambitious climate agenda in our country’s history. This work to tackle the climate crisis is creating jobs, bolstering American industry, and building a cleaner, healthier world” [X Post, 10/23/24]

Chair Brenda Mallory, Council on Environmental Quality (@BrendaMallory46) /X

“I am honored to represent the U.S. at #COP16 in Cali, Colombia and share the progress we’ve made implementing President Biden’s national conservation goal. International partnerships are key to building on this progress and protecting #biodiversity.” [X Post, 10/29/24]

Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Department of Energy (@SecGranholm) /X

“Over the past four years, the Program has lifted the lives of over 238,000 people across the country—making their homes safer, more comfortable and energy efficient. Contact your local Weatherization Assistance Program Administrator to see if you qualify: How to Apply for Weatherization Assistance | Department of Energy” [X Post, 10/30/24]

Secretary Deb Haaland, Department of the Interior (@SecDebHaaland) / X

“In Pennsylvania, we’re investing $244 million to clean up a mess the mining industry left behind. Communities deserve lands and waters free from the damage and dangers of these abandoned sites — and the new jobs these efforts are creating” [X Post, 10/24/24]

Secretary Tom Vilsack, Department of Agriculture (@SecVilsack) / X

“From day one, we have understood that farmers and rural communities are the backbone of our economy. Last week, USDA invested more than $3 billion to boost America’s energy security and increase access to affordable clean energy nationwide.” [X Post, 10/28/24]

Administrator Michael Regan, Environmental Protection Agency (@EPAMichael Regan) / X

“@POTUS & @VP made it clear that addressing climate change was not just an environmental issue, but a matter of justice and fairness for vulnerable communities. Today’s investment will protect our port communities and solidify our commitment to not just words, but action.” [X Post, 10/29/24]

Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Department of Transportation (@SecretaryPete) /X

“The Biden-Harris administration made a promise to reconnect communities and repair our nation’s infrastructure. Today, with the groundbreaking of the Gulf Coast Rail project, we’re restoring passenger rail service between New Orleans and Mobile—for the first time since 2005.” [X Post, 10/22/24]

NEWS CLIP HIGHLIGHTS

• The Washington Post: ‘I formally apologize’: Biden condemns U.S. Indian boarding schools
• New York Times: E.P.A. Toughens Requirements to Remove Lead Paint Dust Around Children
• The Associated Press: Biden announces $3B to reduce carbon emissions at US ports, ‘the linchpin to America’s supply chain’
• PBS News: States work to track down and cap dangerous methane leaks from abandoned oil and gas wells
• The Wall Street Journal: Churches Look Skyward for Energy Savings

Applications and Funding Opportunities

President Biden’s American Climate Corps

o Summary: American Climate Corps members will gain the skills necessary to access good-paying jobs that are aligned with high-quality employment opportunities after they complete their paid training or service program.

o Link: https://climatecorps.gov

o Deadline: Varies based on position

U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS): Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program under Section 48(e)

o Summary: Applications are still open for the 2024 Program Year of the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program for projects located on Indian Lands (Category 2). This program was established by the Inflation Reduction Act to promote cost-saving clean energy investments in low-income communities, on Indian land, as part of affordable housing developments, and benefitting low-income households.

o Link: https://www.energy.gov/justice/low-income-communities-bonus-credit-program

o  Deadline: Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis for projects located on Indian Lands (Category 2) until November 12, 2024 at 11:59 PM ET.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: Study on Safety, Societal Considerations, and Impacts of Carbon Management: Call for Expert Nominations

o  Summary: Federal agencies and industry are currently making large investments in carbon management (CM) technologies and infrastructure, which aim to address climate change by capturing, transporting, converting, and sequestering carbon dioxide. At the request of the DOE, this study will assess the safety, societal considerations, and environmental and health impacts associated with implementing CM at scale. The committee will examine engineered CM technologies and their risks and benefits, document and address impacts on host, neighboring, and affected communities, and suggest approaches to reduce harm and increase benefits. The DOE is inviting the public to submit suggestions for experts to participate in this activity.

o  Link: Safety, Societal Considerations, and Impacts of Carbon Management: Call for Experts

o  Deadline: November 4, 2024

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Community Change Grants Program

o  Summary: EPA’s new Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) has announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for approximately $2 billion dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input. They are designed to deliver on the transformative potential of the Inflation Reduction Act for communities most adversely and disproportionately impacted by climate change, legacy pollution, and historical disinvestments. On August 6, 2024, EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights published an updated version of the NOFO for the Community Change Grants Program. This new version, known as Modification No. 3, replaces the previous versions of the NOFO.

o  Link: https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/inflation-reduction-act-community-change-grants-program

o  Deadline: November 21, 2024 at 11:59 PM ET

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Pesticides Safety Grants Technical Assistance Program

o  Summary: EPA is soliciting applications for a cooperative agreement of up to $1.47 million to provide technical assistance with grants administration and compliance for grantees of the Farmworker Training and Education Program for Pesticide Safety and Pesticides Health Care Initiative agreements described above. This Grants Technical Assistance agreement will ensure that grantees have the support and resources necessary to manage EPA cooperative agreements. The grantee will also create resources to help organizations with the application process and preparing applications for pesticide worker safety cooperative agreements in the future. The technical assistance agreement will also be five years to align with the project periods for the agreements it will support.

o  Link: Grant Technical Assistance Program | US EPA

o  Deadline: December 5, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

U.S. Department of Agriculture (Forest Service): Wood Innovations Program

o Summary: The funding, made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, is available through the Forest Service’s three key grant programs to support the forest products economy: Wood Innovations Grant, Community Wood Grant, and Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Grant Programs. The agency is seeking proposals that support innovative uses of sustainably sourced wood in construction, as a renewable energy source, and in manufactured and processed products. These programs also provide direct support to expand and retrofit wood energy systems and wood products manufacturing facilities nationwide. The Forest Service is requesting proposals from eligible entities in the private, non-profit, and government sectors including tribes, local and state governments, businesses and for-profit entities, institutions of higher education, as well as public utility, fire, conservation, and school districts, among others.

o Link: Wood Innovations | US Forest Service (usda.gov)

o Deadlines:

• Wood Innovations Grant Program: December 11, 2024
• Community Wood Grant Program: December 18, 2024
• Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Grant Program: December 18, 2024

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Farmworker Training and Education Program for Pesticide Safety

o  Summary: EPA is soliciting applications from community-based farmworker nonprofit organizations with experience in training agricultural workers or pesticide handlers or developing educational materials for them to support training, materials development and outreach to farmworker communities on pesticide safety, as well as to help them understand their rights under the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard – a regulation that seeks to limit occupational pesticide exposure. The new program builds on decades of efforts by previous grantees while also including new measures to ensure projects are tailored to the need and culture of farmworker communities and in farmworkers’ native languages. EPA anticipates awarding two cooperative agreements to community-based farmworker organizations. A total of up to $6.3 million will be awarded to these five-year agreements beginning in 2025.

o  Link: Farmworker Training and Education Program for Pesticide Safety | US EPA

o  Deadline: December 19, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Pesticides Health Care Initiative

o  Summary: EPA is soliciting applications from nonprofit organizations with experience training health care providers who serve farmworker populations for a five-year cooperative agreement of up to $2.1 million to improve health care providers’ ability to prevent, recognize, treat, manage and report pesticide-related illness. This will be accomplished in part by strengthening health care providers’ consideration of nonmedical factors influencing the health of patients at high risk of pesticide illness – the conditions in which they are born, grow, work, live and age.

o  Link: Pesticides Health Care Initiative | US EPA

o  Deadline: December 19, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Agricultural Conservation Easement Program

o  Summary: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) for fiscal year 2025, which includes $472 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds for this year. ACEP protects the agricultural viability and related conservation values of eligible land by limiting nonagricultural uses which negatively affect agricultural uses and conservation values, protect grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring or conserving eligible grazing land, and protecting and restoring and enhancing wetlands on eligible land. Interested producers, landowners, and partners should apply by December 20, 2024 at their local NRCS office to be considered for the state-led funding cycle.

o  Link: Agricultural Conservation Easement Program | Natural Resources Conservation Service (usda.gov)

o  Deadline: December 20, 2024

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach Grant Program

o  Summary: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $75 million total from Fiscal Year 2022 to Fiscal Year 2026 for grants to fund a new Recycling Education and Outreach Grant Program. Applications for Round One of this opportunity opened in 2022, with selectees announced in 2023. The application period for Round Two of this funding opportunity is now open and closes on December 20, 2024. For this second round of funding, EPA is focusing on preventing the generation of wasted food and increasing its recycling through composting. The program provides $39 million to fund one cooperative agreement that includes developing and implementing a national consumer wasted food reduction campaign, expanding the market for and sales of compost, and increasing education and outreach to households on composting.

o  Link: https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/356422

o  Deadline: December 20, 2024

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant Program for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia and for Communities

o  Summary: The recycling funding for Tribes and intertribal consortia will provide approximately $20 million total in awards ranging from $100,000 to $1.5 million each. The recycling funding for communities will provide approximately $58 million total in awards ranging from $500,000 to $5 million each. This includes projects that will improve collection, transport, systems, and processes related to post-use materials that can be recovered, reused, recycled, repaired, refurbished, or composted.

o  Link:

• For Tribes and Intertribal Consortia: https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/356431
•  For Communities: https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/356430

o  Deadlines:

• For Communities: December 20, 2024
• For Tribes and Intertribal Consortia: March 14, 2025

NASA: Ecological Conservation Funding

o  Summary: The NASA Earth Science Division (ESD) seeks proposals for projects that apply Earth observations to improve or develop decision-making activities in ecological conservation and management. Any area of ecological conservation is welcome (e.g., invasive species, protected area management, fisheries or wildlife management, habitat restoration, ecosystem services, rewilding, biodiversity protection).

o  Link: https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?solId=%7b9E6792EF-EF8C-A83B-9A10-51A35953C999%7d&path=&method=init

o  Informational Webinars: Virtual meetings for potential proposers will occur

• Friday, November 15th from 1:00-3:00 PM ET
• Monday, January 13^th from 1:00-3:00 PM ET

o  Deadline:

• Notices of Intent Due: February 14, 2025
• Proposals Due: March 14, 2025

U.S. Department of Energy: Energy in Rural and Remote Areas (ERA) Program

o  Summary: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $1 billion total from Fiscal Year 2022 to Fiscal Year 2026 for grants to improve the resilience, reliability, and affordability of energy systems in communities across the country with 10,000 or fewer people. The ERA Program aims to fund community-driven energy projects that demonstrate new energy systems, deliver measurable benefits to customers, and build clean energy knowledge and capacity throughout rural America. DOE opened a Notice of Funding Opportunity for $400 million in October 2024. Concept papers are due by February 27, 2025, and full applications are due by August 28, 2025.

o More on the ERA Program: https://www.energy.gov/oced/era

o  Link: https://oced-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId346899e7-fdd4-4709-9b08-505580f676c9

o  Deadline: Concept papers are due by February 27, 2025, and full applications are due by August 28, 2025.