NEMWI Releases Updated Great Lakes and Water Legislative Tracker

The U.S. House of Representatives has taken further action on two major bills related to Great Lakes and water policy during the past month, as is reflected in NEMWI's latest Great Lakes and Water Legislative Tracker, updated to April 4, 2024.  The bills making some progress include the Great Lakes Mapping Act, and the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2023 (HABHRCA).

With the Great Lakes Mapping Act, on March 21 the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries held a hearing on the proposed bill, introduced by Great Lakes Task Force member Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) and GLTF Co-Chair Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI). The bill would authorize $200 million to perform high resolution mapping of the Great Lakes – the first of its kind – which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would be responsible for conducting. The next step is for the bill to be marked up by the committee.

HABHRCA, sponsored by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and GLTF Co-Chair Rep. David Joyce (R-OH), also made some progress in the U.S. House. The bill would authorize funding at $27.5 million per year, $7.5 million more than the current authorization. On March 12, the bill was marked up and advanced out of the Natural Resources Committee, which follows a similar action taken by the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee in November of last year (the bill has shared jurisdiction between the two committees).

View these bills and more in NEMWI’s Great Lakes and Water Legislative Tracker here.

Reported by NEMWI Intern Aiden Meyer, Nazareth University

EPA Announces $20 Billion in Clean Energy Grants

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday announced a total of $20 billion in grants under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) that will finance clean energy projects, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The GGRF is a $27 billion program in all, and was enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. It is comprised of three programs, two of which – the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator ($6 billion) and the National Clean Investment Fund ($14 billion) – were the subjects of Thursday’s announcement. Grants totaling $7 billion for the third program, Solar for All, are expected later this year.

The initial grantees – eight in total – are large organizations and coalitions that will create a national clean financing network in order to fund tens of thousands of projects for sub-grantees over the coming years. The recipients have three main mandates with this funding: First, to reduce or avoid 40 million tons of climate pollution annually, by funding clean energy projects. Second, to leverage private investment of at least $7 per every dollar granted; the EPA estimates that total public and private investment will reach $150 billion and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. And finally, over 70% of the funds will go to low-income and disadvantaged communities, 20% to rural communities, and 7% to tribal communities. All of the funds granted under the Clean Communities Accelerator must be directed to low-income and disadvantaged communities.

The National Clean Investment Fund is primarily focused on establishing national clean financing institutions. It seeks to work with the private sector to mobilize capital for clean energy projects at scale. The three organizations receiving this funding are Climate United Fund, which received $6.97 billion, Coalition for Green Capital, which received $5 billion, and Power Forward Communities, which received $2 billion.

The Clean Communities Investment Accelerator is meant to establish hubs to provide funding and technical assistance to community lenders in low income and disadvantaged communities, with 100% of funding going toward these communities. These hubs are focused on building the capacity of community lenders so they can continue financing projects for years to come. Various awards are available to these community lenders for capitalization funding and technical assistance. The five organizations funded by this program are Opportunity Finance Network with $2.29 billion, Inclusiv with $1.87 billion, Justice Climate Fund with $940 million, Appalachian Community Capital with $500 million, and Native CDFI Network with $400 million.

For more information on specific grantees, visit the EPA’s website here.

For more information on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, read NEMWI’s recent report here.

Reported by NEMWI Intern Owen Macdonald, Gettysburg College.

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