LENEXA, Kan. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced two listening sessions to collect input on the development of a new grant opportunity made possible by the $100 million investment in the agency’s Pollution Prevention (P2) program from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The new grant opportunity will encourage businesses that are working in, or working with, underserved or overburdened communities to adopt P2 practices in a way that advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s bold environmental agenda.
The P2 program also delivers on President Biden’s Justice40 commitments to deliver 40% of benefits from climate, clean energy and pollution reduction investments, including from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to underserved or overburdened communities.
“Pollution prevention is about stopping pollution before it even starts and it can make a big impact in the communities that are disproportionately affected by chemical and other kinds of pollution,” said EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention Jennie Romer. “Getting public input on this new grant opportunity will help shape the future of this grant and ensure that it benefits communities with environmental justice concerns by providing businesses with information, training and tools that help them adopt P2 practices.”
A listening session on Sept. 21 will seek input from Tribes on this new grant opportunity. Another session on Sept. 29 is for all potential applicants and stakeholders. For both listening sessions, EPA is interested in understanding how these grants can be most accessible and useful to applicants. EPA will also seek additional insight into how funded projects can help businesses adopt P2 approaches to address environmental problems in underserved/overburdened communities. Additionally, the agency is also interested in feedback on which projects would best support the grant’s goals and which barriers exist to potential applicants and what can be done to minimize those barriers.
Eligible applicants include U.S. states, Tribes, territories, or entities of these governments such as colleges and universities. Eligible applicants may also partner with interested stakeholders. Matching funds will not be required for these grants, making this funding opportunity more accessible to underserved or overburdened communities. The funding cycle for the new grant opportunity announced today would run in the off years of the traditional P2 grants.
Last month, EPA announced a new P2 grant opportunity also made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law focused on encouraging products, purchasing, and/or supply chains that are safer, more sustainable, and environmentally preferable. This new opportunity announced in July along with the one announced today are in addition to the P2 grant opportunities announced earlier this year for states and Tribes to develop and provide businesses with information, training, and tools to help them adopt P2 practices. These included a new P2 grant opportunity of approximately $14 million funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which built upon the traditional P2 grants program that has been administered by the agency for over 25 years. EPA anticipates announcing the awardees for these opportunities in the coming weeks.
Register for the listening sessions using the following links:
- Register for the Sept. 21 listening session for tribes and intertribal consortia: 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. CDT
- Register for the Sept. 29 listening session for other potential applicants and stakeholders: 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. CDT
Written feedback on this new grant opportunity will also be accepted through October 28, 2022, at: P2-EJ-Grants@epa.gov.
Read more about P2 and the P2 Grant Program.