Home EPA selects Virginia to receive $150M for community-driven solutions to climate change
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EPA selects Virginia to receive $150M for community-driven solutions to climate change

Rebecca Barnabi
climate change protest
(© DisobeyArt – stock.adobe.com)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the general competition selection of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to receive approximately $150 million through two Climate Pollution Reduction Grants.

Today’s announcement is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda. Communities will receive federal funding to implement community-driven solutions that tackle the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, advance environmental justice and accelerate America’s clean energy transition.

“President Biden believes in the power of community-driven solutions to fight climate change, protect public health, and grow our economy. Thanks to his leadership, the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program will deliver unprecedented resources to states, local governments, and Tribes to fund the solutions that work best in their communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Selected recipients have put forward ambitious plans to advance sustainable agriculture, deploy clean industrial technologies, cut emissions and energy costs in homes and commercial buildings, and provide cost- and energy-efficient heating and cooling to communities, creating economic and workforce development opportunities along the way.”

The Virginia DEQ’s selected application, submitted as a coalition with Virginia Energy, will receive more than $99 million through a competitive grant program for projects that will capture and convert or reuse methane emissions from coal mines and landfills. The selected application will also establish a partnership with other state agencies to fund a competitive grant program for food rescue and composting programs at agencies, colleges and university campuses across the Commonwealth.

“Investments such as this are paramount to ensuring communities across the region who are impacted the most have access to reduced climate and air pollution,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “We need our partners to help us in tackling climate challenges. The work of these organizations will allow them to take the steps to ensure better quality air for future generations.”

The Virginia DEQ will also serve as a coalition member in another selected application led by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The coalition is set to receive more than $420 million, with approximately $50 million allocated for Virginia DEQ to reduce GHG emissions through carbon sequestration projects on natural and working lands, including coastal wetlands, peatlands and forests.

“I’m thrilled Virginia is receiving this nearly $100 million grant to reduce air pollution throughout the Commonwealth, including through a proposed project that will reduce methane emissions at coal mines and landfills,” said U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. “In addition, I’m excited Virginia will serve as a coalition member in a multi-state regional application that was selected to receive more than $420 million to fund projects designed to reduce carbon emissions through natural climate solutions on natural and working lands, forested lands, wetlands, and coastal habitats.”

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said that reducing methane emissions is critical for Virginians to have clean air and protect communities from climate change.

“I’m glad this federal funding is headed to Virginia to reduce pollution, improve air quality and protect our beautiful Commonwealth,” Kaine said.

U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia is the only Virginian on the House Agriculture Committee and also a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.

She said that passage of the Inflation Reduction Act made today’s grant announcement possible.

“I’m focused on building a healthier environment for the next generation through voluntary conservation programs and responsible land management. This significant investment will further empower our Commonwealth to responsibly address climate change, and I look forward to seeing the on-the-ground impact of these federal dollars in Virginia,” Spanberger said.

EPA made its selections through a rigorous grants competition that was designed to be fair and impartial. The Agency reviewed nearly 300 applications that were submitted by entities from across the country and requested a total of nearly $33 billion in funding.

The 25 selected applications from states, a Tribe, local governments, and coalitions of the entities will receive federal funding to implement local and regional solutions. Many of the projects can be expanded and provide examples that other states, local governments, Tribes and even businesses can replicate in their work to tackle the climate crisis.

Together, the selected projects will implement ambitious climate pollution reduction measures designed by states, Tribes and local governments that will achieve significant cumulative GHG reductions by 2030 and beyond.

When estimates provided by all selected applicants are combined, the proposed projects would reduce greenhouse gas pollution by as much as 971 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2050, roughly the emissions from 5 million average homes’ energy use each year for over 25 years.

EPA expects to announce up to an additional $300 million in selections under the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program for Tribes, Tribal consortia, and territories later this summer.

State, Tribal and local action is vital to deliver on President Joe Biden’s commitment to reduce climate pollution by more than 50 percent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions no later than 2050. The innovative measures contained in the selected applications, developed with input from local communities, are expected to achieve substantial public health benefits such as reducing exposure to extreme heat, improving air quality, reducing energy burden for lower income Americans, improving climate resilience, and providing workforce and economic development opportunities, particularly in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants advance President Biden’s historic Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure 40% of the overall benefits of certain climate, clean energy, and other federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

The grants will fund projects supporting the deployment of technologies and programs to reduce greenhouse gases and other harmful pollution across the country and build the infrastructure, housing, industry, and competitive economy needed for a clean energy future.

The grants will also help businesses capitalize on new opportunities, spur economic growth and job creation in new and growing industries, and support development of training programs to prepare workers. EPA expects to award the funds later this year, once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.

Many of the proposed projects contained in the selected applications announced today, as well as the $250 million in planning grant funding that EPA is providing under the CPRG program for development of Climate Action Plans by state, local, and Tribal governments across the country, will complement the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic federal actions and national climate strategies across sectors. They include: the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, the Administration’s efforts to achieve 100 percent clean electricity by 2035 and make zero emissions construction common practice by 2030, the Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap, the U.S. Buildings Decarbonization Blueprint, the Administration’s climate-smart agriculture efforts and Nature Based Solutions Roadmap and the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, the National Climate Resilience Framework.

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.

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