Published: February 22, 2023 |

EPA expects to release notice of funding opportunities for these competitions in early summer 2023.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released initial guidance on the design of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) program, created by the Inflation Reduction Act. EPA published two Federal assistance listings outlining key parameters of the grant competitions that will ultimately award nearly $27 billion to leverage private capital for clean energy and clean air investments across the country. Federal assistance listings are the first public notice requirement to implement a federal grant program.

The initial program design guidance follows a stakeholder engagement effort with input collected from state, local and Tribal governments, community financing institutions, environmental justice organizations, industry groups, and labor and environmental finance experts.

“The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will unlock historic investments to combat the climate crisis and deliver results for the American people, especially those who have too often been left behind. The initial program design announced today will ensure the fund fulfills its mandate to deliver benefits to all in a transparent and inclusive fashion,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.

“With $27 billion from President Biden’s investments in America, this program will mobilize billions more in private capital to reduce pollution and improve public health, all while lowering energy costs, increasing energy security, creating good-paying jobs and boosting economic prosperity in communities across the country,” added Regan.

“The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is one of President Biden’s generational investments to build an equitable clean energy economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” said Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation John Podesta.

EPA will hold two competitions to distribute grant funding under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund:

• $20 billion General and Low-Income Assistance Competition
EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will include a nearly $20 billion General and Low-Income Assistance Competition to award competitive grants to eligible nonprofit entities that will collaborate with community financing institutions like green banks, community development financial institutions, credit unions, housing finance agencies and others. Together, these entities will leverage public dollars with private capital to invest in projects that reduce pollution and lower energy costs for families, particularly those in the low-income and disadvantaged communities that have had unequal access to private capital for far too long. Awardees will also facilitate technical assistance and capacity building to strengthen the community-based organizations, small businesses, workers, and suppliers required to accelerate the transition to an equitable net-zero economy and catalyze the jobs of the future. EPA expects to make between 2 and 15 grants under this competition.

• $7 billion Zero-Emissions Technology Fund Competition
Under the $7 billion Zero-Emissions Technology Fund Competition, EPA will award competitive grants to states, Tribes, municipalities, and eligible nonprofit entities to enable the deployment of residential rooftop solar, community solar and associated storage and upgrades in low-income and disadvantaged communities. This competition will ensure all families benefit from clean, affordable energy options. EPA expects to award up to 60 grants under this competition.

EPA also launched a national community roundtable series to continue a robust and inclusive engagement effort, focused on introducing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to communities across the country and learning about community-level solutions that the fund can support.

“When we delivered the Inflation Reduction Act last year, we promised the largest investment in climate and clean energy ever made in our history. A giant leap forward for bringing clean energy to communities who are too often left behind, the Green House Gas Reduction Fund is one of the concrete actions taken as a direct result of the Inflation Reduction Act to make access to reliable and clean solar power easier for millions of Americans,” said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“For years, we’ve fought to take the idea of a national climate bank from a vision to a reality. With today’s action from the EPA, we’re one step closer: I applaud the EPA for moving forward in their efforts to capitalize the national climate bank network that we worked to create within the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen.

EPA is moving expeditiously to develop these two grant competitions, utilizing the established technical expertise of agency officials in EPA and across the US government, to invest public funding transparently and inclusively and deliver significant investments in the American people. EPA expects to release notice of funding opportunities for these competitions in early summer 2023.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

EPA initiated the program design process last October with a call for public input that resulted in nearly 400 detailed responses, hundreds of attendees at two public townhalls delivering over four hours of public comments, nearly two dozen targeted stakeholder meetings with state, local and Tribal governments, community financing institutions, environmental justice organizations, industry groups, labor organizations, and environmental finance experts.

Stakeholders submitted thousands of pages of comments during the process with diverse perspectives on how to implement the program. Records of the responses EPA received during the stakeholder engagement process can be viewed in the docket at regulations.gov. EPA will continue to assess feedback received by stakeholders to inform the design of the grant competitions.

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