Climate Showcase Communities Grant Program

 

Public Law 111-8 authorizes EPA to award competitive grants to communities to develop plans and demonstrate and implement projects which reduce greenhouse gas emissions. EPA will implement this grant authority by awarding grants to local and tribal governments for Planning, Demonstrations, and Implementation Projects designed to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Such projects should include a plan for measuring documentable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and exhibit the capacity for replication. Grant activities should aim to: 1) reduce emissions of greenhouse gases; 2) build capacity within local and tribal agencies to address greenhouse gas emissions within their communities; 3) create meaningful and sustainable programs and management systems to achieve ongoing reductions; 4) link climate change initiatives with broader environmental, economic, and social concerns; 5) build and leverage partnerships across multiple stakeholder groups that facilitate front-end participation by communities impacted by climate change; and 6) create models of success that can be replicated across the nation.

Projects should also focus on addressing environmental justice (EJ) concerns in communities. EJ is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2010: The Climate Showcase Communities Grant Program will support robust local and tribal initiatives that demonstrate potential for documentable reductions; integrate funded activities within a broader framework for climate management; leverage funding from other sources; contain clear mechanisms to share results and lessons learned within and outside of the community; and encourage economic, social, health and environmental co-benefits (e.g. green job creation, improve transit access for disadvantaged communities, public health improvements, reduce stormwater runoff, or reduction of co-pollutants produced concurrent with greenhouse gases).


In addition, the Climate Showcase Communities Grant Program seeks to support program focus areas that span a range of local and tribal government attributes (including geographic location, demographic makeup, community size, economic circumstances, and level of previous climate change activity) and a range of project areas. Funding will be available for applicants who address greenhouse gas mitigation in one or more of the following priority areas: 1) energy use in municipal operations (including energy, water, and wastewater utilities); 2) energy use in residential, commercial, and/or industrial buildings; 3) transportation planning or vehicle miles traveled reduction programs; 4) land use planning; 5) solid waste management; 6) heat island management; 7) energy generation activities; and, (8) other innovative activities which generate measurable reductions of greenhouse gases.

Deleted 01/15/2013 (Archived.) 66.041 Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Office: Office of Air and Radiation Project Grants Fiscal Year 2010: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2011: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2012: No Current Data Available FY 2009 Appropriations Act, Public Law 111-8; FY 2010 Appropriations Act, Public Law 111-117. Local governments - a county, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority (including any public and Indian housing agency) school district, special district, intrastate district, council of governments, any other regional or interstate government entity, or any agency or instrumentality of a local government. Federally recognized Indian tribal governments - the governing body or a governmental agency of any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community (including Native villages) certified by the Secretary of the Interior as eligible for the special programs and services provided by him through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Intertribal Consortia - a partnership between two or more Tribes that is authorized by the governing bodies of those Tribes to apply for and receive assistance under this program. Intertribal Consortia are eligible to receive grants under this program only if the Consortium demonstrates that all members of the Consortium meet the eligibility requirements for the grant and authorize the Consortium to apply for and receive assistance by submitted to EPA documentation of (1) the existence of the partnership between Indian Tribal governments, and (2) Authorization of the Consortium by all its members to apply for and receive the grant(s) for which the Consortium has applied.

For certain competitive funding opportunities under this CFDA description, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy. Local Governments and Federally-recognized Indian Tribes, Intertribal Consortia, General Public. Costs will be determined in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-87, found in 2CFR 225, for State, Local, and Indian Tribal Governments. Applicants may be requested to demonstrate they have appropriate background, academic training, experience in the field, and necessary equipment to carry out projects. EPA may ask applicants or principle investigators to provide curriculum vitae and relevant publications. OMB Circular No. A-87 applies to this program. Regarding pre-application/pre-proposal assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this program description, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application/pre-proposal assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the competitive announcement. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts" or see Appendix IV of the Catalog. For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications, proposals and/or submissions in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the announcement of the competitive funding opportunity. Competition will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. OMB Circular No. A-102 applies to this program. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-110. In addition, EPA requires final applications to be made on Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance. Requests for application kits must be submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency, Grants and Interagency Agreements Management Division, 3903R, Washington, DC 20460. Standard Form 424 is also available for download at EPA's Office of Grants and Debarment (OGD) web site, http://www.epa.gov/ogd/AppKit/application.htm, from www.grants.gov, or from EPA Regional Collaborative assistance agreement websites. Applicants may be able to use http://www.grants.gov to electronically apply for certain grant opportunities under this CFDA. For competitive awards, EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, other Headquarters Program Offices, and/or the 10 EPA Regions will review and evaluate applications, proposals, and/or submissions in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the competitive announcement. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines. Approximately 180 days. Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005). Copies of these procedures may also be requested by contacting the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts." Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 40 CFR 30.63 or 40 CFR 31.70, as applicable. EPA intends to fully fund projects with the initial award, but reserves the right to incrementally fund projects as appropriate. The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this CFDA description will be described in the competitive announcement. EPA will implement this grant authority by awarding grants to local and tribal governments for Planning, Demonstrations, and Implementation Projects designed to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: http://geodata.epa.gov.

Grant recipients and sub-recipients are encouraged to adopt and enforce policies that ban text messaging while driving company-owned or -rented vehicles or government-owned vehicles, or while driving privately-owned vehicles when on official government business or when performing any work for or on behalf of the government. Grant recipients and sub-recipients are encouraged to conduct initiatives of the type described in section 3(a) of the Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging While Driving Executive Order that was signed on October 1, 2009. Grantees are required to submit program reports in accordance with Agency policy and the Monitoring and Reporting Program Performance requirements stated in Federal Grant Regulations 40 CFR Part 31 and OMB Circular No.A-102. Grantees are required to submit financial reports in accordance with Agency policy and the Financial Reporting and Financial Management Systems requirements stated in Federal Grant Regulations 40 CFR Part 31 and OMB Circular No.A-102. Grantees are required to submit progress reports in accordance with Agency policy and the Monitoring and Reporting Program Performance requirements stated in Federal Grant Regulations 40 CFR Part 31 and OMB Circular No.A-102. No expenditure reports are required. Grantees are required to perform performance monitoring in accordance with Agency policy and requirements stated in Federal Grant Regulations 40 CFR Part 31 and OMB Circular No.A-102. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject to inspections and audits by the Comptroller General of the United States, the EPA Office of Inspector General, other EPA staff, or any authorized representative of the Federal government. Reviews by the EPA Project Officer and the Grants Specialist may occur each year. Recipients must keep financial records, including all documents supporting entries on accounting records and to substantiate changes in grants available to personnel authorized to examine EPA recipients' grants and cooperative agreements records. Recipients must maintain all records until 3 years from the date of submission of final expenditure reports. If questions, such as those raised as a result of audits remain following the 3-year period, recipients must retain records until the matter is completely resolved. This program has no statutory formula.
Matching Requirements: The match required for this program is set at 50% with the exception of tribal governments who are exempt from matching requirements. This program does not have a statutory formula, but EPA may allocate 5% of the funds to tribal governments.
This program does not have MOE requirements. The grants and/or cooperative agreements funded under the Climate Showcase Communities Grant Program will have up to a five-year project period. However EPA will negotiate the project period with each applicant based on project requirements. It is anticipated that most Climate Showcase Community awards will be for 24 to 36 months. FY 2009 is the first year of funding for this Program. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: lump sum. See Regional Agency Offices. EPA encourages potential applicants to communicate with the appropriate EPA Regional Office listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog. Andrea Denny, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Mail Code: 6202J, Washington, District of Columbia 20460 Email: denny.andrea@epa.gov Phone: (202) 343-9268. http://www.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/local/showcase/index.html 68-0103-0-1-304. (Project Grants) FY 09 $10,000,000; FY 10 $10,000,000; FY 11 $0 There is no minimum amount of assistance. EPA anticipates awarding grants ranging in value from $100,000 to $500,000 with an average award of $400,000. Local Communities Climate Change Initiative grants and cooperative agreements are subject to EPA's General Grant Regulations (40 CFR Part 31) and OMB Circular No.A-102. Fiscal Year 2010: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2011: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2012: No Current Data Available