c/EPA
OFFICE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
United States	Office of Enforcement and November 2010
Environmental Protection Agency Compliance Assurance
Office of Environmental Justice	(2201 A)
http://epa.gov/environmentaliustice/arants/ei-smarants.html
Environmental Justice
Small Grants Program
FACT SHEET
Background/ Objective
The EPA's Office of Environmental Justice established
the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program (EJ
Small Grants) in 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.
The long-term goal of the EJ Small Grants Program is
to help affected communities create self-sustaining,
community-based partnerships that will continue to
improve local environments in the future.
Below is a summary of the number of grants and total
program funding for every year since 1994.
Year
Total Funding
Number of grants
1994
$500,000
61
1995
$3,000,000
170
1996
$2,800,000
152
1997
$2,700,000
139
1998
$2,500,000
134
1999
$1,490,000
95
2000
$899,000
61
2001
$1,300,000
88
2002
$1,113,000
74
2003
$930,000
55
2004
$423,545
17
2005
$625,000
25
2006-2007
$1,000,000
20
2008-2009
$800,000
40
2010
$1,900,000
76
through dozens of local projects. Past projects have
addressed a variety of issues, including:
¦	Identifying air pollutants from truck emissions and
other sources at Port Newark in New Brunswick;
¦	New Jersey; educating youth about the harmful
effects of toxic substances such as asbestos and
lead paint in Chicago, Illinois;
¦	Educating Albuquerque, New Mexico residents and
businesses on ways to properly dispose of
hazardous waste;
¦	Conducting residential energy efficiency workshops,
training in Kansas City, Missouri for Spanish
speaking communities; and
¦	Ensuring that local people in Barrow, Alaska have a
voice in the decision making on oil and gas
development projects in their village and the
adjacent offshore area.
FY 2010 Focus
This year's grants will continue to aid community
projects and will support EPA Administrator Lisa
Jackson's top five priorities:
¦	Improving air quality;
¦	Managing chemical risks;
¦	Cleaning up hazardous-waste disposal sites;
¦	Reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and
¦	Protecting America's water.
In addition to the traditional criteria, EPA encouraged
applications focused on addressing the disproportionate
impacts of climate change in communities by
emphasizing climate equity, energy efficiency,
renewable energy, local green economy, and green jobs
capacity building.
We anticipate announcing the FY2011 EJ Small Grant
request for proposals solicitation in Winter 2010 (see
pg. 2 for eligibility requirements).	
The program has supported a diverse group of
community-based recipients from all over the nation,
working to create healthy, sustainable communities
Eligible Applicants
An eligible applicant MUST BE:
(1) incorporated non-profit organization as designated by
the Internal Revenue Service;
(2) a non-profit organization, recognized by the state,

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territory, commonwealth, or tribe in which it is located;
For More Information
(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.
* 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.
More information about the EJ Small Grants Program
and summaries of recent grantee projects is available at:
http://epa.gov/environmentaliustice/qrants/ei-
smqrants.html
EPA's Commitment to Environmental
Justice
" We must take special pains to connect with
those who have been historically
underrepresented in EPA decision-making,
including the disenfranchised in our cities
and rural areas, communities of color, native
Americans, people disproportionately
impacted by pollution, and small businesses,
cities, and towns working to meet their
environmental responsibilities. Like all
Americans, they deserve an EPA with an
open mind, a big heart and a willingness to
listen...As we meet these challenges, we
must be sensitive to the burdens pollution
has placed on vulnerable subpopulations,
including children, the elderly, the poor and
all others who are at particular risk to threats
to health and the environment. We must
seek their full partnership in the greater aim
of identifying and eliminating the sources of
pollution in their neighborhoods, schools and
homes."
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson

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