Recognizing the urgency to address Greenhouse Gas (GHG) pollution contributing to climate change, the Biden-Harris Administration and Congress established the $5 billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. EPA takes seriously its responsibility to protect human health and the environment as the United States faces the increasingly harmful impacts of climate change. Across the country, communities are experiencing more deadly wildfires and storm surges, more extreme drought and water scarcity, and dangerous levels of flooding, among other impacts. The Fourth National Climate Assessment found that intense extreme weather and climate-related events, as well as changes in average climate conditions, are expected to continue to damage infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems that provide essential benefits to communities. If left unchecked, future climate change is expected to further disrupt many areas of life and exacerbate existing challenges to prosperity posed by aging and deteriorating infrastructure, stressed ecosystems, and long-standing inequalities. However, with this challenge comes an opportunity to invest in a cleaner economy that will spur innovation and economic growth while building more equitable, resilient communities.

Accordingly, the CPRG tribes and territories competition for implementation grants is designed to enable tribes and territories to achieve the following goals:

1. Implement ambitious measures that will achieve significant cumulative GHG reductions by 2030 and beyond;
2. Pursue measures that will achieve substantial community benefits (such as reduction of criteria air pollutants (CAPs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs));
3. Complement other funding sources to maximize these GHG reductions and community benefits; and,
4. Pursue innovative policies and programs that are replicable and can be “scaled up” across multiple jurisdictions.

The CPRG tribes and territories competition is also designed to incentivize eligible applicants to apply for funding together as a coalition to implement GHG reduction measures regionally, across multiple municipalities, state boundaries, or even state and tribal boundaries.

A separate funding opportunity, EPA-R-OAR-CPRGI-23-07, announces the availability of approximately $4.3 billion for a general competition open to states, municipalities, air pollution control agencies, tribes, and territories for CPRG implementation grants. Tribes and territories interested in the general competition should seek the CPRG implementation grant “general competition” funding opportunity for more information.