Federal Funding Opportunities and Guidance – January 13, 2025

Please share this information widely! And please sign up to receive these updates in your inbox every 2 weeks or so.

Below, you will find:

• Grant Award Resources and Support
• Grant Opportunities
• Trainings and Office Hours
• Job Opportunity at Anthropocene Alliance

Grant Award Resources and Support

1) EPN’s Federal Funding Landscape Under Trump 2.0 — How to Prepare

Recognizing the vulnerability of federal funding under the new administration, EPN’s Michelle Roos wrote a short piece on what can be done right now to prepare for what’s to come for the Environmental Defense Fund’s Frontline Resource Institute, providing strategies on how individuals and organizations can prepare for the Trump administration and how federal funding for frontline communities may be impacted. Among other things, Federal Funding Landscape Under Trump 2.0 — How to Prepare provides a short list of things that can be done now to prepare for what’s to come, including:

1. Sign up to receive EPN’s bimonthly Federal Funding Opportunities & Guidance emails. In partnership with Communities First, Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), Natural Resources Defense Council, and others, we will be rolling out numerous resources and support systems in the new year, and this is the best way to stay in touch.
2. If you have been selected for funding from EPA but you have not received your final award, or if you are unsure of your status, please reach out ASAP. We have retained the services of a private consulting firm to help you get your award before inauguration.
3. If you have legal questions right now about your federal award, please fill out L4GG’s fund protection clinic intake form.
4. Join any number of EPN’s office hours, including:
   1. Biweekly learning sessions for recipients of Community Change Grants
   2. SAM.gov office hours to get your Unique Entity ID
   3. Monthly meetings for recipients of Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities grants
5. Use L4GG’s Clean Energy Tax Navigator to get free guidance (including 1:1 pro bono assistance available for communities on the back-end) on how to access tax credits.
6. Keep going! EPN staff can help folks apply for $75,000-$350,000 in grants via the Thriving Communities Grantmakers program. Get connected to EPN’s regional staff by filling out EPN’s intake form.

As Michelle notes, while we don’t know exactly what will happen in the future, we do know that EPN is not going anywhere, and we are here to see that you realize your goals for your communities.

2) Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) and EPN’s Best Practice Guide

L4GG and EPN created a Best Practice Guide for EPA grant awardees that provides four steps to begin preparing your organization’s documents and implementing best practices to ensure programmatic and financial compliance. The steps include;

• Get Connected & Stay Informed!

• Best Practices: Terms and Conditions

• Best Practices: Document Management and Financial Information

• Communications

3) EPN’s Pro Bono Pre-Award Support for EPA Grantees

As a reminder, if you have been selected for an EPA grant, but have not received your final award, EPA is not obligated to grant you the funding. Please reach out to us ASAP to get the help you need to get your final award:

– We offer pro bono 1:1 support: please email epa-support@trccompanies.com 

– We have created specific resources for selectees of:
* Climate Pollution Reduction Implementation Grants (CPRG Implementation)
* Community Change Grants (CCG), and
* Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s Solar for All (SFA).

– We have also created general “pre-award” resources for any grant program.

4) EPN’s Community Change Grants Awardee 1:1 Support and Group Learning Sessions 

If you have been selected for a Community Change Grant (CCG), please visit our CCG web page asap! Here you will find information on scheduling 1:1 support and written resources to help you obtain and manage your full EPA award.

In addition, EPN is hosting biweekly Group Learning Sessions where you can ask questions, connect with other selectees, and exchange lessons learned. The learning sessions take place every two weeks on Thursdays from 2-3 pm ET. If your entity has been selected for a CCG award and would like to join these sessions, please reach out to genesis.sanchez@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org.

5) EPN’s Air Monitoring Network 

EPA’s Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities grants create a significant opportunity to advance community air monitoring, and EPN is helping to advance this emerging field through its Community Air Monitoring Network.The network is a space where grantees can interact with one another, leverage each other’s experiences and connections, and connect with pro bono experts on air monitoring and EPA grants management. 

Benefits of this inclusive and collaborative learning network include: 

1. Peer-to-peer learning – Helping communities work on shared challenges together
2. Involvement of needed expertise – Connecting grantees to relevant pro bono experts that can contribute to project success
3. Moving data to action – Assisting communities in project design and execution so results get used in policies and programs to improve local air quality (often by working with Federal, state, Tribal, and local government agencies)
4. Analysis of lessons learned – Reviewing project successes and failures to inform future monitoring projects and help EPA support such efforts in the future

If you would like to join our monthly air monitoring grant support calls, please fill out this brief form. And to learn more about our pro bono capacity-building technical assistance, please inquire here.

6) L4GG’s Fund Protection Clinic

L4GG is dedicated to ensuring that grantees and subawardees of federal programs through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) are protected from threats to their funds from the second Trump administration. If you have a legal question about how to protect your funding, please fill out this form, and L4GG will provide support to grantees and subawardees as resources allow. While they endeavor to help everyone who fills out the form, they cannot guarantee you will receive legal services or that you will receive an answer within a specified timeframe. For questions, please contact Nicole Chavez at nicole@l4gg.org.

Grant Opportunities

7) EPN Thriving Communities Grantmaking (Grantmakers) Program 

EPA-funded Grantmakers across the country will be subgranting over $500 million in $75k-350k subawards to thousands of community-based nonprofits and others for assessment, planning, and project development activities. Many Grantmakers have released their Requests for Proposals, and EPN is tracking these on our website.

Please utilize EPN’s Step-by-Step Guide to Applying to the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmakers Program to begin to pull together your application. And even if your regional or national Grantmaker hasn’t released their applications, we recommend that you start using EPN’s Step-by-Step Guide to acquire your Unique Entity ID on SAM.gov, identify the geographic area of your proposed project, and think through your potential proposal. Our Guide also includes:

• Two AI modules (created by GrantGenie with funding from EPN) to assist applicants in creating draft language for their proposals. In addition, to help applicants use the tools, we are hosting Grantmakers AI Office Hours every two weeks on Tuesday from 1-2pm ET. Register here!
• A Budgets for Beginners Worksheet and Budgets for Beginners Presentation:Whether you have limited experience with budget development or are developing a budget for the first time, EPN has created these resources to walk you step by step through the process. After completing this worksheet, you will have developed a budget for your project that is organized by common budget categories used by federal agencies.

To request 1:1 assistance from EPN to apply for this opportunity, please fill out this form. 

8) The Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) Municipal Investment Fund 

CGC announced the launch of the Municipal Investment Fund (MIF) Request for Proposals (RFP) process with ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability USA (ICLEI USA). The fund is an opportunity for ten communities to become the focus of concentrated investment and local economic development activities and be the recipients of up to $2 million in grants.

• Phase 1: Become a qualified community. CGC and ICLEI USA will select up to 104 communities, two communities from every state, as well as up to four Tribes, the District of Columbia, or local governments in federal territories. Qualified communities will receive up to $250,000 in market-building grants and technical support from ICLEI USA to develop public-private partnership plans that can finance NCIF-qualified projects. Interested communities will be asked to submit a short proposal to ICLEI USA by February 5, 2025.Visit ICLEI USA’s application page to submit your proposal by February 5, 2025. Qualified communities receive market-building grant funding and technical assistance. Qualifying communities must meet the following criteria:
  • Population Size: Communities must have a population between 10,000-750,000 residents. Tribes are exempt from this requirement.
  • LIDAC Designation: Applications must include at least one census tract designated as a Low-Income and Disadvantaged Community (LIDAC) as defined by the White House Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool or an equivalent definition.
  • Whole Community Approach: Ability to pull together a coalition that can include entities such as community organizations, labor, businesses, utilities, renewable energy developers, and state and local lenders.
• Phase 2: Congratulations, you’re a qualified community! You’ve submitted an application and have been selected as a qualified community. All 100+ participating communities will receive market-building grants and technical assistance from ICLEI USA to develop public-private partnership plans that can be submitted to CGC in June. CGC will choose up to 10 public-private partnership plans to support through the Municipal Investment Fund.
• Announcement: CGC announces ten communities to become part of the inaugural Municipal Investment Fund cohort in August 2025. The inaugural cohort will receive up to $2 million in pre-development and additional market-building grants and become the focus of CGC’s direct investment opportunities. CGC plans to select up to 10 communities annually for the next decade, ensuring ongoing support for transformative investment and local economic development.

You can access all program resources on the CGC website:
– Municipal Investment Fund Slide Deck
– Municipal Investment Fund Fact Sheet
– Webinar Recording

9) Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) Program

The DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations’ (OCED) announced a new round of the  Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) Program. The program aims to fund community-driven projects that demonstrate clean energy systems, deliver measurable and sustained benefits to people who live in areas with fewer than 10,000 people, and build clean energy knowledge, capacity, and self-reliance throughout rural America.

This new funding opportunity is informed by feedback and data collected by OCED from applicants, rural communities, and other stakeholders, as well as from previous ERA Program funding rounds, including more than $450 million for 36 projects and 67 prize winners. The funding opportunity will include federal awards from $2 million to $50 million to help communities lead in developing tailored clean energy projects best suited for their unique needs. Eligible projects must address at least one of the following:

• Improving overall cost-effectiveness of energy generation, transmission, or distribution systems;
• Siting or upgrading transmission and distribution lines;
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy generation in rural or remote areas;
• Providing or modernizing electric generation facilities;
• Developing microgrids; or
• Increasing energy efficiency.

OCED plans to fund anywhere from 20-50 projects with a 5–50% minimum non-federal cost share per project. Eligible applicants include tribes and tribal organizations, state and local governmental entities, non-profit and for-profit entities, rural electric cooperatives, farming associations and cooperatives, labor unions, institutions of higher education, and both incorporated and unincorporated consortia.

Read the Notice of Funding Opportunity here. Concept papers are due by February 27, 2025, by 5pm ET, and full applications are due by August 28, 2025, by 5pm ET.

Trainings and Office Hours

10) Writing for Green’s FREE Grantwriting Training

Registration for Cohort 1 of Writing for Green’s free virtual grantwriting training is now open!

The 12-week grantwriting training, exclusive to organizations working with the TCTAC Network, includes a series of online learning modules designed to support applications for Thriving Communities grants, as well as special trainings and office hours. In each cohort, 25 participants will also be selected for coaching. You will need a referral from your regional TCTAC to be accepted into the program, so please contact them first. For more information, download the program one-pager, and register using this link. Registration for Cohort 1 closes January 24. Additional training cohorts will take place later in 2025. For more information, email ejtctac@sustain.org.

Writing for Green will also host two virtual informational sessions/Q&A about the program:

• January 16, 3 p.m. ET (Register)
• January 23, 3:30 p.m. ET (Register)

11) IRS Office Hours 

The IRS is offering office hours (through Microsoft Teams) to help entities with the pre-filing registration process on the IRA/CHIPS Pre-filing Registration Tool. Pre-filing registration is a required step for applicable entities and eligible taxpayers to take advantage of elective payment or transfer of credits available in the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act. Representatives from the IRS will be available to answer your pre-filing registration questions. 

Registration for office hours is open. Registration is required and can be completed by clicking on the links below.

Date	Time	Register
January 15, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
January 29, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
February 12, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
February 26, 2024	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
March 12, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
March 26, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
April 9, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
April 23, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
May 7, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
May 21, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
June 4, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
June 18, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
July 2, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register
July 16, 2025	1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time	Register

Job Opportunity

12) Executive Director of the Anthropocene Alliance

The Anthropocene Alliance (A2) is the nation’s largest coalition of frontline communities fighting for climate and environmental justice. A2 represents almost 400 member-communities in 55 US states and territories. By educating, organizing, and supporting grassroots leaders and their communities, A2 is at the forefront of the movement to stop the use of fossil fuels, restore threatened ecosystems, and establish an environmentally sustainable economic and social order.