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Press release from EPA

BOSTON – EPA is making grant money available for New England communities to reduce environmental risks, protect and improve human health and improve the quality of life.  

EPA New England’s Healthy Communities Grant Program is currently accepting initial proposals for projects that will benefit one or more New England communities. EPA plans to award a total of approximately 10 cooperative agreements.  

Eligible applicants include state and local governments, public nonprofit institutions or organizations, private nonprofit institutions or organizations, quasi-public nonprofit institutions or organizations, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments, K-12 schools or school districts; and non-profit organizations (e.g. grassroots and/or community-based organizations).  

The Healthy Communities Grant Program will identify and fund projects that:
•    Target resources to benefit communities at risk (areas at risk from climate change impacts, environmental justice areas of potential concern, sensitive populations (e.g. children, elderly, tribes, urban/rural residents, and others at increased risk)).
•    Assess, understand, and reduce environmental and human health risks.
•    Increase collaboration through partnerships and community-based projects.
•    Build institutional and community capacity to understand and solve environmental and human health problems.
•    Advance emergency preparedness and ecosystem resilience.
•    Achieve measurable environmental and human health benefits.

Eligible projects under this program must be located in and/or directly benefit one or more of the “target investment areas” and identify how the proposed project will achieve measurable environmental and/or public health results in one or more of the five “target program areas.”

In 2016, “Target Investment Areas” include: 1) Areas at Risk from Climate Change Impacts, 2) Environmental Justice Areas of Potential Concern, 3) “Making a Visible Difference” communities, and/or 4) Sensitive Populations.

“Target Program Areas” include:  1) Clean, Green, and Healthy Schools; 2) Community and Water Resource Resilience; 3) Healthy Indoor Environments; 4) Healthy Outdoor Environments; and/or 5) Tribal Youth Environmental Programs. A description of these target areas can be found in the 2016 Application Guidance.

There is a two-step process for selecting proposals.  The program requires the submission of an Initial Project Summary as a first step; then applicants with the highest quality proposals will be invited to submit full proposals for consideration. The deadline to submit an Initial Project Summary is April 8, 2016.

To help answer questions from prospective applicants, the Healthy Communities Grant Program will host a conference call on March 23, 2016.  The information session is optional, but an RSVP is required to ensure participation.  A registration form can be found in the Application Guidance.

More information on EPA’s New England Healthy Community Grants: http://www.epa.gov/region1/eco/uep/hcgp.html