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United States Office of Enforcement and April 2008
Environmental Protection Agency Compliance Assurance
Office of Environmental Justice (2201 A)
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaliustice/grants/ei-smgrants.html
Environmental Justice
Small Grants Program
FACT SHEET
Background
The EPA's Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ)
established the Environmental Justice Small Grants
Program (EJSG) in fiscal year (FY) 1994. The purpose
of this grant program is to support and empower
communities that are working on local solutions to local
environmental and/or public health issues. Summaries
of all the EJSG projects funded in the past are available
on the OEJ website
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaliustice/gr
ants/ej smgrants.html. In FY 1994, the pilot program
started with only $500,000 and a limit of $10,000 per
award. Each region received $50,000 and funded a
total of 61 projects. Below is a summary of the number
of grants and total program funding for every year since
1995.
Project Focus
Year
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006-
2007
Total Funding
$3,000,000
$2,800,000
$2,700,000
$2,500,000
$1,490,000
$899,000
$1,300,000
$1,113,000
$930,000
$423,545
$625,000
$1,000,000
Number of grants
170
152
139
134
95
61
88
74
55
17
25
20
The new RFA period will be open from April 8, 2008
to 11:59 pm June 30, 2008.
The primary purposes of proposed projects should
be to develop a comprehensive understanding of
environmental and public health issues, identify
ways to address these issues at the local level, and
educate and empower the community. The long-term
goals of the EJSG Program are to help build the
capacity of the affected community and create self-
sustaining, community-based partnerships that will
continue to improve local environments in the future.
Eligible Applicants
An eligible applicant MUST BE one of the following
entities:
(1) a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization as designated by
the Internal Revenue Service;
(2) a non-profit organization, recognized by the state,
territory, commonwealth, or tribe in which it is located;
(3) a city, township, county government; OR
(4) a Native American tribal government (Federally
recognized
In addition, an eligible applicant must be able to
demonstrate that it has worked directly with, or provided
services to, the affected community. An "affected
community," for the purposes of this assistance
agreement program, is a community that is
disproportionately impacted by environmental harms and
risks and has a local environmental and/or public health
issue that is identified in the proposal.
The focus of this assistance agreement program is to
build the capacity of community-based organizations to
address environmental and/or public health issues at the
local level. Therefore, for this assistance agreement
program, the term "non-profit organization" EXCLUDES:
• colleges and universities;
hospitals;
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• state governments and their entities;
• quasi-governmental entities (e.g., water districts,
utilities)*;
• national-, multi-state-, or state-wide- organizations
with chapters;
• non-profit organizations that engage in lobbying
activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying
Disclosure Act of 1995; and
• those non-profit organizations which are excluded
from coverage under paragraph 5 of OMB Circular
A-122 (see OMB Circular A-122, paragraph 5 at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a122/a12
2 2004.html
* Generally, a quasi-governmental entity is one that: (1) has a close
association with the government agency, but is not considered a part
of the government agency; (2) was created by the government
agency but is exempt from certain legal and administrative
requirements imposed on government agencies; or (3) was not
created by the government agency but performs a public purpose and
is significantly supported financially by the government agency.
For More Information
If you would like more information about the EJ Small
Grants Program, please call the Office of
Environmental Justice's 24-hour hotline (1-800-962-
6215) or visit the website at:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaliustice/gr
ants/ej-cps-g rants.html
EPA's Commitment to Environmental
Justice
On November 4, 2005, United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen L.
Johnson issued a memorandum reaffirming EPA's
commitment to environmental justice for all people,
regardless of race, color, national origin, or income.
Environmental justice means not only protecting
human health and the environment for everyone, but
also ensuring that all people are treated fairly and are
given the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the
development, implementation, and enforcement of
environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
Because minority and/or low-income communities
frequently may be exposed disproportionately to
environmental harms and risks, EPA works to protect
these and other burdened communities from adverse
human health and environmental effects of its
programs, consistent with existing environmental and
civil rights laws and regulations, as well as through
the implementation of Executive Order 12898
("Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in
Minority Populations and/or Low-Income Populations,"
Feb. 11, 1994).
The memorandum identified eight national
environmental justice priorities and directed the
integration of environmental justice considerations
into EPA's planning and budgeting processes,
including into the Agency's Strategic Plan for Fiscal
Years 2006-2011. This cooperative agreement
program (Program) focuses on one of those eight
priorities, which is the use of collaborative problem-
solving to address local environmental and/or public
health issues. Each remaining priority involves a
specific issue, including: (1) reducing asthma attacks;
(2) reducing exposure to air toxics; (3) increasing
compliance with regulations; (4) reducing the
incidence of elevated blood lead levels; (5) ensuring
that fish and shellfish are safe to eat; (6) ensuring that
water is safe to drink; and (7) revitalizing
contaminated sites (please note that this Program
cannot be used to fund Brownfields projects).
EPA will continue to fully implement its programs,
policies, and activities to ensure that they do not
adversely affect populations with critical
environmental and/or public health issues, including
minority and/or low-income communities.
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