Opportunities for Funding

Grant Overview
The Thriving Communities Grantmaker Program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, signifies a crucial step towards advancing climate and environmental priorities. Our approach involves a strategic alliance of experienced community-based grant-makers with extensive networks in the region. By leveraging the collective expertise of our partners, including SEE’s proficiency in managing government grants and contracts, we seek to streamline the distribution process and maximize the impact of environmental justice initiatives.

Region 9 Eligible Areas
Arizona
California
Hawaii
Nevada
The Pacific Islands of Guam, American Samoa, and CNMI
148 Tribal Nations

Eligible Subrecipients
Nonprofit organizations, community-based and grassroots nonprofit organizations
Tribal governments (both federally recognized and state-recognized) and intertribal consortia
Local governments
Institutions of higher education
Native American Organizations

Ineligible Subrecipients
Individuals
For-profit businesses
State governments

Allowable Activities
Air quality and asthma
Fence line air quality monitoring
Monitoring of effluent discharges from industrial facilities
Water quality and sampling
Small cleanup projects
Improving food access to reduce vehicle miles traveled
Stormwater issues and green infrastructure
Lead and asbestos contamination
Pesticides and other toxic substances
Healthy homes that are energy/water use efficient and not subject to indoor air pollution
Illegal dumping activities, such as education, outreach, and small-scale clean-ups
Emergency preparedness and disaster resiliency
Environmental job training for occupations that reduce greenhouse gases and other air pollutants
Environmental justice training for youth
Please note this list is intended for example purposes.

Disadvantaged Communities
The Project must benefit people in disadvantaged communities as defined by the Inflation Reduction Act Disadvantaged Communities Mapping tool or other Environmental Justice Mapping resources below.
Disadvantaged Area
Areas identified as Disadvantaged and above the 90th percentile in the following categories:
Climate Change
Energy
Health
Housing, Legacy Pollution
Transportation
Water and Wastewater
Workforce Development

Environmentally Burdened
Areas at or above the 80th percentile in one or more Environmental Justice Index indicators in the following categories:
Particulate Matter 2.5
Ozone
Diesel particulate
Air Toxics Cancer Risk
Air Toxics Respiratory HI
Traffic Proximity
Lead Paint
Superfund Proximity
RMP Facility Proximity
Hazardous Waste Proximity
Underground Storage Tanks
Wastewater Discharge

Rural Community
Defined as:
Non-metropolitan counties
Outlying metropolitan counties with no population from an urban area of 50,000 or more people

Indigenous/Tribal Land
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides the Tribal Directory Assessment Tool (TDAT) with the ability to:
Link tribes’ geographic areas of current and ancestral interest down to the county level
Perform a variety of queries related to tribes

Quality Assurance
The success of an environmental program or project depends on the quality of the environmental data collected and used in decision-making which will depend significantly on the adequacy of the quality assurance project plan and how it is carried out. EPA Region 9 requires that a systematic process be used wherever possible and appropriate to plan all environmental data generation activities.

Quality Assurance Project Planning (QAPP)
To facilitate the development of objectives, the EPA has developed guidelines to help state and Tribal governments develop Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs) for documenting the type and quality of data needed for environmental decisions and the methods for collecting and assessing those data.

To find more information on the QAPP, please visit the EPA website.

Tier One will consist of grants for $150,000 for assessment, Tier Two will consist of grants for $250,000 for planning, and Tier Three will consist of grants for $350,000 (2 years) for project development. In addition, $75,000 will be available for capacity-constrained community-based organizations through a non-competitive process under Tier One. Each Grantmaker will design and implement a distribution program best suited for their region and communities.

Tier One Assessment Projects up to $150,000 (1 year)
Research (incidental to the project design)
Sampling
Testing
Monitoring
Investigations
Surveys and Studies
Public Education

Tier Two Planning Projects up to $250,000 (1-2 years)
Planning
Partnership-building
Public outreach and education
Coordination with community stakeholders to address environmental issues
Training activities for community organizations and community members
Projects and activities to spur community involvement (e.g., cleanups of vacant lots)
Smaller land purchases and acquisitions that require less than half of the total amount of subgrant funding

Tier Three Development of Projects up to $350,000 (2 years)
Project Development
Blueprints for construction or cleanup projects, schematics, and technical development
Work to get permits in place directly related to an environmental project
Smaller land purchases and acquisitions that require less than half of the total amount of subgrant funding
Implementation of project plans
Public outreach and education

A limited number of $75,000 non-competitive fixed-amount subawards will be available for severely capacity-constrained CBOs to access.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committed to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime and paving the way together to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. To achieve that vision, we are deepening our focus on dismantling structural racism, one of the biggest barriers to health in America. Racism and injustice have become embedded in many structures of American society, including the delivery and financing systems that support medical care, public health programs, and social services.

Effective solutions to systemic racism require medical care organizations working in partnership with public health and social services systems. RWJF’s Systems for Action (S4A) signature research program since 2015 supports research studies. The studies test novel ideas for aligning delivery and financing systems across sectors in ways that address the health and social needs of people experiencing health inequities.

This 2025 call for proposals (CFP) will provide funding for a new cohort of community-led pilot studies to produce new, actionable evidence about how to help medical, social, and public health systems work together to address forms of systemic racism. This CFP focuses specifically on systems alignment (SA) interventions that have the potential to dismantle or disrupt the health effects of systemic racism and to positively affect the health and wellbeing of communities that experience systemic racism. S4A prioritizes SA interventions that, if successful, can be rapidly replicated and spread to many communities and contexts across the U.S. in order to achieve broad national impact.

The Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants program (NAE) assists eligible
Native Communities in sustaining and improving library services with their communities. As
information needs change, Tribal libraries must be able to serve as knowledge and resource
centers to benefit their users and the wellness of their communities. The NAE program
supports Native Communities across the country to address their individual information
needs and priorities.

NAE projects may involve, but are not limited to, activities such as:
• educational programming for all ages;
• oral history collection and documentation;
• digital media and technology enhancements;
• institutional planning and policy development;
• professional training, internships, and mentorships;
• supporting and engaging with cultural practitioners and scholars;
• research and development of language and cultural material and tools;
• digitization and digital preservation, and
• furnishing of library spaces for staff and public, within existing constructed spaces
(please note that IMLS funds are not allowed for construction).

The Native American Basic Grants (NAB) program assists eligible Native Communities in
establishing, sustaining, and improving library services and operations with their
communities. As information needs change, Tribal libraries must be able to serve as
knowledge and resource centers to benefit their users and the wellness of their
communities. The NAB program supports Native Communities across the country to address their individual information needs and priorities.

The purpose of the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) program is to support collaborative improvement and innovation networks to improve access to and delivery of maternity and obstetrics care in rural areas.

The purpose of this Rural Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) Planning and Development program is to improve health care in rural areas, including expanding access to medical care and long-term services, for rural aging populations by expanding PACE programs into rural areas.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces a notice of funding opportunity, subject to appropriation, of up to $10 million in competitive grants to assist communities with extremely high energy costs. The grant funds may be used to acquire, construct, or improve energy generation, transmission, or distribution facilities serving communities where the average annual residential expenditure for home energy exceeds 275% of the national average. Eligible projects also include on-grid and off-grid renewable energy projects and the implementation of energy efficiency and energy conservation projects for eligible communities. Projects cannot be for the primary benefit of a single household or business. Grant funds may not be used for the preparation of the grant application, operating costs, or for the purchase of any equipment, structures, or real estate not directly associated with the provision of community energy services.

The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) is administering the
Environmental Justice Action Grants Program (Program) to provide grant funding to
a wide variety of projects. The Legislature has directed CalEPA to use that money
for grants to support tribes, community-based organizations, and residents to
engage in:

1. emergency preparedness,
2. public health protection,
3. environmental and climate decision-making, and
4. coordinated enforcement efforts affecting their communities.

In addition, the Legislature has set specific deadlines for encumbrance and
liquidation. CalEPA administers this program as part of its overall mission to restore,
protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality,
and economic vitality

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program makes federal funds available to states, U.S. territories, federally recognized tribal governments , and local governments for hazard mitigation activities. It does so recognizing the growing hazards associated with climate change , and the need for natural hazard risk mitigation activities that promote climate adaptation and resilience with respect to those hazards. These include both acute extreme weather events and chronic stressors which have been observed and are expected to increase in intensity and frequency in the future. The BRIC program’s guiding principles include supporting communities through capability and capacity-building; encouraging and enabling innovation, including multi-hazard resilience or nature-based solutions including the use of native plants; promoting partnerships; enabling large, systems-based projects; maintaining flexibility; and providing consistency. Through these efforts communities are able to better understand disaster risk and vulnerabilities, conduct community-driven resilience, hazard mitigation planning, and design transformational projects and programs.

Awards made under this funding opportunity are funded, in whole or in part, by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The BIL is a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure, which will grow a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable economy by enhancing U.S. competitiveness. The BIL appropriates billions of dollars to FEMA to promote resilient infrastructure, respond to the impacts of climate change, and equip our nation with the resources to combat its most pressing threats. In doing so, FEMA encourages investmen of these funds toward projects that are implemented using Good Jobs Principles to expand the availability of good, family-sustaining jobs with the free and fair opportunity to join a union for all Americans. FEMA recommends applicants design projects that are aligned with The Good Jobs Prinicples, a description of the elements of a Good Job that has informed the investment of billions of dollars through the Biden-Harris Administration's Invest in America Agenda.

FEMA will provide financial assistance to eligible BRIC applicants for the following activities:

• Capability and Capacity-Building activities – activities that enhance the knowledge, skills, and expertise of the current workforce to expand or improve the administration of mitigation assistance. This includes activities in the following sub-categories: building codes, partnerships, project scoping, hazard mitigation planning and planning-related activities, and other activities;

• Hazard Mitigation Projects – cost-effective mitigation projects designed to increase resilience and public safety; reduce injuries and loss of life; and reduce damage and destruction to property, critical services, facilities, and infrastructure (including natural systems) from a multitude of natural hazards, including drought, wildfire, earthquakes, extreme heat, and the effects of climate change; and

• Management Costs – financial assistance to reimburse the recipient and subrecipient for eligible and reasonable indirect costs, direct administrative costs, and other administrative expenses associated with a specific mitigation measure or project.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Headquarters Aquatic Resources Program protects and restores riparian and wetland areas, aquatic habitats, and water resources to provide functioning ecosystems for a combination of balanced and diverse uses including fish and wildlife, and for the long-term needs of future generations. Policy guidance for the Program ensures that public land management based on multiple use and sustained yield provides healthy and productive riparian, wetland, and aquatic habitat, achieves land health standards, and considers society’s long-term needs for healthy watersheds. The issues the Program addresses are diverse and include restoration, habitat fragmentation and degradation, drought resiliency, water availability, and aquatic invasive species. Program staff provide professional expertise and policy guidance to BLM managers, Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments, and non-governmental partners on these issues, and implement the best management practices to minimize or avoid impacts to water resources, riparian and wetland areas, and aquatic habitats on public lands. This program supports projects funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Section 40804 (b) Ecosystem Restoration. This program also supports projects funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Sections 50221 Resilience, 50222 Ecosystems Restoration and 50303 DOI.The BLM Headquarters Aquatic Resources Program’s core functions include:Ecosystem Structure and Function: Protect and restore the physical and ecological processes of functioning riparian and wetland areas, aquatic habitats, and water resources.Water Quality: Protect and restore the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of surface water and groundwater.Water Availability: Ensure that water is legally and physically available for beneficial uses, including protection and restoration actions.Riparian, Wetland, and Aquatic Habitat: Proactively protect and restore riparian, wetland, and aquatic habitats to ensure the presence, abundance, and diversity of healthy, self-sustaining, and desirable riparian, wetland, and aquatic species and other wildlife and plant populations that depend upon these habitats, including special status species.Decision Support: Inventory, assess, and monitor aquatic resources to inform our understanding of condition and trend, guide the BLM’s management activities, and assess regulatory compliance.Environmental Compliance: Ensure full compliance with applicable federal law, Executive Orders, regulations, and policy and with state law to the extent consistent with federal law.Internal & External Involvement: Consult, coordinate, cooperate, and collaborate with federal, state, tribal, and local governments and other programs, partners, and communities, to foster adaptive approaches to protection and restoration and implement education and outreach programs.The BLM Headquarters Aquatic Resources Program continues to advance the Department of the Interior's priorities to address the climate crisis, restore balance on public lands and waters, advance environmental justice, and invest in a clean energy future. The BLM Headquarters Aquatic Resources Program has an opportunity to work with partner organizations to assist with:Contributing to the above-described Program core functions.Combating climate change and habitat loss impacts to aquatic resources.Restoring and connecting degraded aquatic resources.Increasing ecosystem resistance, resilience, and adaptability to drought, wildfires, and floods.Determining acceptable levels of hydrologic and ecological change given BLM management objectives.Advancing inventory, assessment, and monitoring activities and tools.Preventing the establishment and spread of invasive species.Increasing public knowledge of aquatic habitats on BLM managed lands, including with a targeted focus on communities of color, low-income families, and rural and indigenous communities.