The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program provides financial assistance to organizations working to address local environmental or public health issues in their communities.  The program assists recipients in building collaborative partnerships with other stakeholders (e.g., local businesses and industry, local government, medical service providers, academia, etc.) to develop solutions to environmental or public health issue(s) at the community level.

Eligible Uses

Projects should develop solutions that will significantly address environmental and/or public health issue(s) in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms and risks. The EPA strongly encourages the use of EPA’s EJSCREEN tool (or other EJ- based mapping tool) to help you characterize and describe your target community. Projects can include, but are not limited to:

  • Mitigation and/or monitoring of sources of pollution
  • Environmental Justice partnership building that engages disadvantaged communities in Local, State and Federal public processes, such as advisory groups, workshops, and rulemakings 
  • Community revitalization planning in support of climate resiliency and adaptation
  • Development of disaster preparedness plans 
  • Community revitalization planning addressing local pollution through green infrastructure

Eligible Recipients

A community-based nonprofit organization or a partnership of community-based nonprofit organizations are eligible for funding.

Approx Annual Funding Amount

The IRA funded the EJCPS program at $30 million:

  • $25 million available for community-based nonprofit organization (CBOs) and CBO partnerships
  • $5 million available for small CBOs

Cost Share Requirements

There is no cost share required.

Application Cycle

Applications are due in April.

Contact

For more information, please contact Jacob Burney

Other Info

This program is covered under the Justice40 Initiative.