Approximately $100 million has been made available through President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act for environmental justice grants that will help projects in communities that are stricken with pollution and underserved.
According to a Jan. 10 Environmental Protection Agency news release, the funding is the most most ever offered for environmental justice grant funds. EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said Biden pledged to prioritize environmental justice and equity, and the EPA is a vital part of this mission.
“Since day one, President Biden pledged to prioritize environmental justice and equity for all, and EPA is at the heart of delivering on that mission,” Regan said in the release. “Last year, we announced EPA’s first-ever national program office dedicated to advancing environmental justice, memorializing our commitment to this critical work.”
Regan said he was proud to announced the unprecedented funding, noting how much it will help communities in need, according to the release.
“This is a key step that will help build strong partnerships with communities across the country and move us closer to realizing a more just and equitable future for all,” Regan said in the release.
The grant programs are a key part of Biden's Justice40 Initiative, as well as the executive order regarding tackling the climate crisis, the release reported. This executive order makes it so 40% of benefits of various federal investments go to overburdened communities with negative health and environmental impacts.
“This call for applications ensures money can flow directly to communities that need it most by splitting the funding between community based non-profits as well as the states, localities, Tribes and territories that usually receive federal grants,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in the release. “Helping these non-profits who know their communities better than anyone was central to my mission when fighting for environmental justice priorities in the Inflation Reduction Act, and this is only the beginning. I will continue to fight for environmental justice and working with communities across New York to get this money where it is needed most.”
Senator Tammy Duckworth is the co-founder of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, and she said she was proud of the funding that will help communities that have been ignored for too long, according to the release. She said clean air and water is not only an environmental issue, but also one that involves health, safety, systemic racism and discrimination in low income areas.
“Every American deserves access to clean air and water — no matter their zip code, the color of their skin or the size of their paycheck,” Duckworth said, according to the release.
