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Greetings Dear Reader,
I first became meaningfully aware of the connections between disasters and inequitable displacement during middle school while living on the Gulf Coast. Hurricanes Danny, Elana and Juan — just weeks apart in 1985 — brought storm surges, floods, strong gusts and tornados. The damages extended from the coastline deep to inland communities. While massive evacuations saved lives, not everyone was able to return. In the aftermath of these disasters, I noticed the patchwork on the landscape where some families and small businesses were able to rebuild and others were not. I recall classmates whose seats remained vacant when school reopened and church parishioners whose emergency visits with far-flung relatives became permanently extended. In addition to the economic impacts, the personal losses and displacements within the community were felt for many years after 1985, as the storms kept coming.
As the frequency of storms and climate related disasters affect the livability of certain regions of the country, the movement of people — particularly to urban areas — is anticipated to increase dramatically. Yet most of these cities were not designed and built for today’s challenges. These challenges present us with an opportunity to develop more equitably and to provide greater accessibility and safer environments for more people by design. For example, effective planning can incorporate flood prevention measures, create a city grid that is better protected from wildfires, implement decarbonization strategies for affordable housing, sustain critical natural and cultural resources, and manage water and energy access equitably.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act have made critical funding accessible for communities to begin assessing their needs and implementing plans to prepare equitably for tomorrow’s climate realities. For instance, EPA’s Community Change Grants, authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act, issued the first tranche of awards — $325 million of nearly $2 billion in allocated funds — to help disadvantaged communities tackle environmental and climate injustices by reducing pollution, increasing community resilience and building capacity. You can see more about this in the Celebrations section below. Don’t forget the final Community Change Grants deadline is November 21, 2024.
Right now, the Office of Community Revitalization is offering community planning and networking opportunities that further support EPA’s strategic goals. The Recreation Economy for Rural Communities program, which provides free-of-charge planning assistance, is accepting applications through October 16, 2024. Another opportunity is the Sustainable Communities Accelerator Network, a new peer learning cohort EPA is coordinating with the Smart Growth Network. Applications for local leaders will be opening soon! For more, see the Funding Opportunities section below.
We can prepare our communities to be safer, greener and more resilient through equitable development that is responsive to climate-driven changes in population. With these planning, capacity-building and equitable infrastructure investments we hope to reduce the tragic personal and community-level disruption of disasters.
Best Regards,
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Nigel A. Fields
Director, Office of Community Revitalization
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Rethinking Highways for Healthy Communities
The Rethinking Highways for Healthy Communities pilot planning assistance program brings together communities historically divided by highway and transportation infrastructure, with an initial focus on Albany, New York, and Spokane, Washington. Through a collaborative process, stakeholders work together to identify strategies for equitable land use redevelopment, restored access to nature and overall community wellness.
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Photo: EPA joined members of the Reimagine Albany team, the Albany Riverfront Collaborative and New York State Department of Transportation officials for a tour of the I-787 corridor in July 2024. The tour was an opportunity to discuss proposed design concepts for the future of I-787 and their environmental and land use implications for surrounding neighborhoods. | |
Policy for the Planet
EPA Associate Administrator for Policy, Vicki Arroyo, was recently featured on an episode of the Empathy Affect podcast! Vicki has been working on climate change for over 25 years, but it's more than just a job. As a native New Orleanian, her family’s losses and experiences with major hurricanes have informed her work on climate resilience.
Listen to the episode to hear more from Vicki on how the Office of Policy – including the Office of Community Revitalization – has been hard at work taking new steps to strengthen climate adaptation, resilience and emission reductions.
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September 2024 Quarterly Discussion
Wednesday, September 18, 2024 | 2:30 PM ET
EPA and the National Endowment for the Arts invite you to join us in Washington, DC on Wednesday, September 18 at 2:30 PM for the Smart Growth Network’s September 2024 Quarterly Discussion on the theme, Applying Smart Growth Principles in Rural Communities.
Participants will hear from experts, ask questions and participate in breakout groups guided by discussion questions. SGN members are also invited to share briefly about their own work related to rural communities and smart growth. A networking happy hour will follow the main program.
Host: National Endowment for the Arts
Where: Constitution Center, 400 7th St. SW, Washington D.C.
RSVP Deadline: Wednesday, September 13, 2024
Please RSVP to attend.
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Building Blocks Technical Assistance Workshop
Earlier this summer, OCR hosted a technical assistance workshop in Palouse, Washington, facilitated by OCR’s Chip Gurkin, Margaret Olson from EPA Region 10 and EPA contractors. The community spirit in Palouse is one thing that makes it a great place to live. Our Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities team convened residents and federal and state partners to address affordable housing, historic preservation, downtown revitalization, and water infrastructure. The team also supported the community in developing next steps to enhance the livability and sustainability of Palouse.
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Photo: OCR's Chip Gurkin in Palouse, Washington, along with Margaret Olson from EPA Region 10 and meeting facilitator Amanda Poncy. | |
Funding and Technical Assistance Opportunities | |
Sustainable Communities Accelerator Network
OCR will soon be launching the Sustainable Communities Accelerator Network, a national peer learning program to support local leaders in implementing plans prioritizing sustainability. The program will bring together two-person teams from up to 30 communities. Each team will work towards the implementation of one specific local policy or action in their community during the course of the program. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!
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Recreation Economy for Rural Communities Planning Assistance
The Recreation Economy for Rural Communities program is now accepting applications! This program provides planning assistance to small towns and rural communities to help them boost their outdoor recreation economy and revitalize their main streets. The program is a partnership between EPA's Office of Community Revitalization, the USDA Forest Service, the Northern Border Regional Commission, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the Denali Commission.
Partner communities are encouraged to pursue activities that foster environmentally friendly community development and Main Street revitalization through the conservation and sustainable use of public or private forests or other natural resources, such as:
- Engaging in stewardship of outdoor recreation assets and mitigating and adapting to climate change and other environmental challenges.
- Ensuring local residents (including young people) have connections and opportunities related to nearby outdoor assets to foster community pride, good stewardship and local economic benefits.
A full list of potential activities is available on the RERC 2024 Application webpage.
Selected communities will work alongside federal agency partners and consultants to participate in a planning process that helps identify the community's vision, goals and actions they wish to take to boost outdoor recreation, revitalize their main streets and promote equitable access to the outdoors for residents and visitors alike.
Deadline to Apply: Wednesday, October 16, 2024 | 11:59 PM ET
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Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grant Application Resources
The FY 2025 Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Guidelines are now available on the MARC Grant Application Resources webpage. Grants offered by the Brownfields Program may be used to address sites contaminated by hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum) and petroleum.
Deadline to Apply: November 14, 2024
National Applicant Outreach Webinars: EPA will host two webinars, which will only cover the narrative/ranking criteria for FY 2025.
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Thursday, September 19, 2024 | 12 PM ET - This webinar will discuss narrative/ranking criteria for entities applying for Community-wide Assessment grants, Assessment Coalition grants, and Community-wide Assessment grants for states and tribes.
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Tuesday, September 24, 2024 | 12 PM ET - This webinar will discuss narrative/ranking criteria for entities applying for Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup grants.
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Department of the Interior - Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Award Program
The Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program provides competitive funding to federally recognized Tribes and Tribal organizations to build climate resilience capacity. This year, over $120 million will be made available across three funding categories:
1. Planning.
2. Implementation.
3. Relocation, Managed Retreat, Protect-in-Place Staff.
The Tribal Climate Resilience Awards may also be used to meet other federal and non-federal cost share/match requirements required by statute.
Deadline to Apply: Friday, October 18, 2024
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Community Change Grants
On July 25, 2024, EPA announced more than $325 million in funding to help disadvantaged communities tackle environmental and climate justice challenges through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience and build community capacity.
The Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program is the single largest investment in environmental and climate justice in history. This funding is the initial set of nearly $2 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act program, designed based on community input, to award grants on a rolling basis. Funding was awarded to 21 selected applicants.
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The Office of Community Revitalization is proudly providing specialized technical assistance supporting 60+ disaster-prone communities applying for Community Change Grants.
Deadline to Apply: Thursday, November 21, 2024
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New Grants Supporting Recreation Economies
Congratulations to the latest recipients of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable’s implementation grants for Recreation Economy for Rural Communities partners!
- Beverly, Ohio
- Claremont, New Hampshire
- Giles County, Virginia
- Haines, Alaska
- Poultney, Vermont
Many thanks to ORR for the continued support! More on the awardees and their great work here.
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One thing we love is the State of Maryland's month-long upcoming October campaign focusing on walking and walkability! October is National Pedestrian Safety Month, as designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration. In response, many communities choose to celebrate #Walktober.
Walking is Maryland's designated official exercise, and state leadership is working to provide Marylanders with accessible, equitable and sustainable options across the entire state, and to ensure transportation infrastructure investments connect all Marylanders to life’s opportunities.
Maryland's campaign includes five "walkinars" – webinars that are free and open to all, on the topics such as:
- National and state perspectives.
- Complete streets.
- Safe routes to school.
- Pedestrian access.
- Equity and reconnecting communities.
Find more information about all the walkinars and register.
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Like our new look?
We're updating some of our communications tools to keep you better informed.
Want to learn more?
Visit our new and improved website at epa.gov/smartgrowth.
Let's keep in touch!
We have plenty of upcoming news, so keep watching this space. If you received this email from a colleague, please subscribe so we can connect with you directly!
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