The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking applications for its Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program to support community-based organizations in their efforts to collaborate and partner with local stakeholder groups (e.g., local businesses and industry, local government, medical service providers, and academia) as they develop community-driven solutions that address environmental and/or public health issues for underserved communities.

The long-term goals of the EJCPS Program are to help build the capacity of communities with environmental justice concerns and to create self-sustaining, community-based partnerships that will continue to improve local environments in the future.

Funding Information

• The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is approximately $3,200,000.
• EPA anticipates awarding a total of twenty cooperative agreements of approximately $160,000 each within the 10 EPA Regions, subject to availability of funds, the quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations.

Types of Projects

• Air Quality & Asthma
• Water Quality & Sampling
• Food Access to reduce vehicle travel and fuel emissions
• Stormwater Issues & Green Infrastructure
• Lead contamination
• Pesticides and other Toxic Substances
• Healthy Homes
• Illegal Dumping
• Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Resiliency
• Environmental Job Training
• Youth Development through Environmental Education

Qualified Environmental Statutes

The EJCPS Program is designed to address multi-statute environmental and/or public health issues. For this reason, each project must include activities related to at least one of the following federal environmental statutes. Failure to clearly and conclusively identify and cite at least one of the federal statutes in work plan may result in project not being considered for award.

• Clean Air Act
• Clean Water Act
• Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
• Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act
• Safe Drinking Water Act
• Solid Waste Disposal Act
• Toxic Substances Control Act

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible Entities based on CFDA. In accordance with Assistance Listing 66.306 an eligible applicant must be one of the following:

• incorporated non-profit organizations—including, but not limited to, community based organizations, grassroots organizations, environmental justice networks, faith-based organizations and those affiliated with religious institutions;
• US Territories
• Tribal governments, must be either federally-recognized or state-recognized – including Alaska Native Villages; or
• Tribal organizations.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.