EPA Press Office:
States, Tribes and metro areas in Region 8 submit climate action plans under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act
Entities in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming among recipients of $5B Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Program
Contact: Virva Aryan (aryan.virva@epa.gov)
DENVER (March 13, 2024)– On March 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a record 45 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and dozens of Metropolitan Statistical Areas have now developed climate action plans through investments made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The planning process is supported by EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, which offers a unique opportunity to help state and local governments develop strategies to reduce harmful pollution and address environmental justice concerns, while building the infrastructure, industry, and competitive economy for a clean energy future. Together, over 96% of the U.S. population is covered by these plans.
Grantees in EPA’s Region 8 include:
States
Colorado
Colorado Energy Office: Plan Preview
Contact: Ari Rosenblum (ari.rosenblum@state.co.us), Dominique Gomez (dominique.gomez@state.co.us); Ida Mae Isaac (idamae.isaac@state.co.us);
Montana
Montana Department of Enviromental Quality: Plan Preview
Contact: Moira Davin (moira.davin@mt.gov) ; Rebecca Harbage (rharbage@mt.gov)
North Dakota
North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality: Plan Preview
Contact: Jennifer Skjod (jSkjod@nd.gov)
Utah
Utah Department of Environmental Quality: Plan Preview
Contact: Glade Sowards (gladesowards@utah.gov), Ashley Sumner (ssumner@utah.gov)
Metropolitan Areas / Local Governments
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metro Area
Denver Regional Council of Governments: Plan Preview
Contact: Robert Spotts (RSpotts@drcog.org); Maddy Nesbit (mnesbit@drcog.org)
Rapid City, SD Metro Area
City of Rapid City: Plan Preview
Contact: Lysann Zeller (Lysann.Zeller@rcgov.org); Jamie Toennies (Jamie.Toennies@rcgov.org)
Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area
Salt Lake City Department of Sustainability: Plan Preview
Contact: Christopher Thomas (Christopher.Thomas@slcgov.com); Sophia Nicholas (Sophia.Nicholas@slcgov.com)
Cheyenne, WY Metro Area
City of Cheyenne: Plan Preview
Contact: Renee Smith (rsmith@cheyennecity.org)
Tribal Nations
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation
Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation
“Mitigating the impacts of climate change is a priority of Region 8 communities, and this is evidenced by the number of climate action plans submitted from across our region,” said Regional Administrator KC Becker. “These ambitious initiatives--designed to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions--reinforce our commitment and progress towards building healthy, thriving communities for our children and future generations.”
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program created under the Inflation Reduction Act — the largest climate investment in history — is enabling community-driven solutions to the climate crisis and helping accelerate America’s clean energy transition. The program is covered under President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
In 2023, under the first phase of the $5 billion program, EPA made a total of $250 million in grants available to 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 80 MSAs, four territories, and over 200 Tribes and Tribal consortia to develop ambitious climate action plans that address greenhouse gas emissions across their communities and economies.
As part of the deliverables due under the initial $250 million planning phase of the program, grantees were provided resources to develop and submit Priority Climate Action Plans focused on high-priority, implementation-ready actions to reduce GHG emissions that were due for states and large metropolitan areas on March 1. Although Tribal and territory PCAPs are due April 1, EPA has already received 19 plans from Tribes.
Each grantee can align the measures selected for the PCAP with their jurisdiction’s unique priorities and interests while prioritizing measures that can benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities. For many states and metro areas, PCAPs are their first climate action plans. For others, the PCAPs build on existing climate action plans and work undertaken over many years.
In addition to addressing climate pollution, these grants can also support efforts to:
Help businesses capitalize on new opportunities, spur economic growth and create jobs by supporting new industries, and developing training programs to prepare workers.
Ensure communities, particularly low-income and disadvantaged communities, have a seat at the table, help define solutions, and benefit from their implementation.
Gain substantial public health co-benefits through the simultaneous reduction of criteria.
The submitted PCAPs lay the groundwork for the second phase of the CPRG program: $4.6 billion in competitive implementation grants that planning grant recipients and other eligible entities can use to fund GHG reduction measures contained within the PCAPs. PCAPs also help prepare states and metro areas for accessing a broader set of funding opportunities, including other programs under the Investing in America agenda.
All planning grant recipients will also develop Comprehensive Climate Action Plans (due in the second half of 2025 for most grantees), which will include a broader suite of GHG reduction measures from all key emitting sectors – electric power, transportation, commercial and residential buildings, industry, agriculture/natural and working lands, and waste and materials management. The comprehensive plans will also contain GHG emissions projections and reduction targets, air quality and health benefits information, and workforce planning assessments. EPA is committed to providing grant recipients with technical support, tools, and other resources throughout the planning process.
Together, the CPRG planning grants and competitive implementation funding will support the deployment of technologies to reduce GHG emissions and other harmful pollution across the country, facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy, and advance environmental justice by prioritizing benefits to communities.
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