The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as other federal government agencies/departments as part of a government-wide effort, are working to address environmental, public health, and energy challenges affecting communities, and specifically those adversely and disproportionately affected by environmental, climate, and human health harms and risks. This includes communities historically underserved and adversely impacted by persistent poverty, inequality, and lack of funding/resources.
In furtherance of this effort, this RFA is being issued to support Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity And Support For Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government, issued on January 20, 2021, which expressed Administration policy that the federal government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.
This RFA also supports Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, issued on January 27, 2021, which deepened the Administration’s commitment to advancing environmental justice by creating the Justice40 Initiative. The Justice40 Initiative establishes a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments—including those in climate change; clean energy and energy efficiency; clean transit; affordable and sustainable housing; training and workforce development; the remediation and reduction of legacy pollution; and the development of critical clean water infrastructure—flow to disadvantaged communities. Increased technical assistance and community engagement of disadvantaged communities was included as a benefit under Justice40 per the Interim Implementation Guidance for the Justice40 Initiative (M-21-28).
“Environmental justice” as defined by the EPA 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. Fair treatment means that no one group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal environmental programs and policies.
“Energy justice” as defined by the Department of Energy (DOE or Department) is “the goal of achieving equity in both the social and economic participation in the energy system, while also remediating social, economic, and health burdens on those disproportionately harmed by the energy system” (Initiative for Energy Justice, 2019). At its core, energy justice applies the basic principles of civil rights to the climate space1 .
The mission of the EPA is to protect human health and the environment for all people with an emphasis on assisting those communities adversely and disproportionately affected by environmental, climate, and human health harms and risks. EPA, as illustrated by the funding provided under the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act (IIJA) and annual appropriations, intends to make significant investments in the health, equity, and resilience of these, and all communities, to address past, current, and future environmental health and justice challenges. To maximize these significant investments, new and innovative strategies and approaches for issues such as community engagement and participation in environmental programs, equitable distribution of financial resources, capacity-building and outreach, and technical assistance and training to enhance access to financial assistance2 opportunities and promote effective grants management and performance, are necessary especially for underserved communities that have, and continue to be, plagued by environmental pollution and health, and environmental justice, challenges.
The awards under this RFA will be for the establishment and maintenance of EJ TCTAC’s, with a physical location or a virtual/technological presence, providing the technical assistance, training, and other eligible forms of support summarized above (the Eligible Services), and more fully described below. Consistent with the objectives of this RFA, applicants should describe in their applications and workplan (See Section IV), and will be evaluated based on, the type of Eligible Services they will provide, how they will do so, and how program participants, and especially underserved communities and rural and remote communities, will be made aware of, and can access, the Eligible Services.
Multiple Applications: Applicants can submit up to three applications under this RFA so long as each one describes the geographic coverage of the proposed EJ TCTAC, is separately submitted through Grants.gov, and is for a different geographic area(s) (e.g., an applicant cannot submit three applications for geographic area 1). Interested applicants from within Duke should contact fundopps@duke.edu as early as possible.
Deadline: October 4, 2022
The proposed research should be as responsive as possible in addressing and integrating all three research questions described below into one comprehensive and holistic environmental health research project. Applicants are strongly encouraged to engage, partner, and collaborate with underserved community(ies) in addressing each research question.
(1) What may be the most influential community-, population- or lifestage-specific vulnerabilities caused by ongoing climate change that would elevate exposure to pollutants or contaminants and further exacerbate the health effects from exposure to pollutants or 15 contaminants in underserved communities?
(2) What are the cumulative health impacts of climate change related stressors on vulnerable groups or susceptible lifestages in underserved communities?
(3) How can community-based scientific research results be translated and/or applied to provide effective solutions to reduce climate change impacts on human health in underserved communities?
EPA has limited eligibility for this funding opportunity under Assistance Listing 66.309 to the following eligible entities as permitted by the applicant eligibility section of the listing which allows EPA to limit eligibility to a subset of eligible applicants:
• Public and private universities and colleges
• Public and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes institutions of higher education such as community colleges, and philanthropic organizations),
• Intertribal Consortia - a coalition between two or more Indian tribal governments authorized by the governing bodies of those tribes to apply for and receive assistance and participate in self-governance.
Multiple Applications: Applicants can submit up to three applications under this RFA so long as each one describes the geographic coverage of the proposed EJ TCTAC, is separately submitted through Grants.gov, and is for a different geographic area(s) (e.g., an applicant cannot submit three applications for geographic area 1). If an applicant submits more than 3 applications, EPA staff will contact the applicant to identify which 3 applications EPA will consider. Notwithstanding the above, an applicant may be a partner on another application from another eligible organization.
EPA intends to award between 5-10 cooperative agreements under this RFA for approximately $6,000,000 each.
