Event Date
The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Environmental Justice (EJ) Small Grants Program offers funding opportunities to assist eligible organizations to address environmental justice issues in areas disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and hazards.
Grants are awarded on a competitive basis for projects that are based in communities with the most significant exposure to pollution. Grants are awarded for the following statutory purposes as defined in Public Resources Code Section 71116:
- Distribution of information to help resolve environmental problems;
- Identification of improvements in communication and coordination between stakeholders and CalEPA, and its Boards, Departments, and Office (BDOs), in order to address the most significant exposure(s) to pollution;
- Improvement of community or tribal government understanding about environmental issues that affect its community or tribal government;
- Promotion of community or tribal government involvement in the decision-making process that affects the environment of the community/tribal government; and
- Enhancement of community/tribal government understanding of environmental information systems and environmental information.
CalEPA will prioritize projects that increase participation in environmental decision-making, that promote community resilience, and support local capacity to respond to environmental and health challenges. Community resilience is the sustained ability of a community to respond, adapt, recover, and grow from adverse situations. Grant applicants have been asked to demonstrate in their applications how their projects would increase and improve community resilience by the address one or more of the following:
- Improve Access To Safe and Clean Water
- Mitigate, Respond, and Adapt to Climate Change Impacts through Community Led Solutions.
- Promote Pollution Prevention and Resource Conservation
- Reduce Exposure To Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals
- Build Community Capacity and Strengthen Community Collaborations with Schools and Local Government to Address Cumulative Pollution Impacts and to Uplift Community Knowledge.
More details here.