The federal government’s recent investment in the nation’s infrastructure with a climate and clean energy focus is truly historic and unprecedented.
The bipartisan Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act allocates $1.2 trillion towards infrastructure improvements with funding allocated toward clean water, public transportation, electric vehicles, clean energy, broadband access, and climate resilience. The Inflation Reduction Act also invests $783 billion specifically in climate and energy initiatives.
Through these once-in-a-generation investments, the federal government has greatly expanded its commitment to climate action and clean energy deployment.
Funding from both the IIJA and IRA is intended to flow from the federal government to local communities to target local challenges. About 60% of funds will be distributed through a formula, where state and local governments automatically qualify. The rest will also be delivered through competitive grant applications where communities compete for limited resources.
While having access to this competitive funding is potentially transformative for local communities, federal funding is traditionally difficult to navigate for capacity-limited communities. That trend appears no different for funding available through IIJA and IRA.
Many local governments, especially small- and medium-sized communities, face long-standing challenges in accessing federal funding, and struggle to keep up with dozens of new funding opportunities being announced each week. With limited in-house grant writing expertise, smaller governments have challenges with vetting new grant opportunities, as well as with applying for grants that match their priorities.
Additionally, lengthy grant documents are laden with technical jargon. Staff limitations make it difficult to prepare competitive applications on short timelines, which can tilt the competitive landscape in favor of larger and more well-resourced cities.
While these challenges aren’t new, the amount and pace of new federal funding opportunities shine a bright light on the imbalance. Communities have an opportunity to readily take advantage of this historic investment.
Thankfully, many organizations that serve local governments are well-aware of these challenges, and have begun developing programs that are working to bridge the gap, providing much-needed support for smaller communities to participate and get their fair share.
For example, Power a Clean Future Ohio is a nonprofit organization supported by a diverse coalition of organizations and experts working with 44 cities and counties across Ohio to advance their climate, sustainability, and clean energy goals.
In early 2022, PCFO recognized an opportunity to bring federal dollars to Ohio and to jumpstart sustainability project implementation, launching the Infrastructure Grant Assistance Program.
IGAP provides hands-on technical support to communities, offering grant webinars, roundtable discussions, and one-on-one application support—all at no cost to PCFO communities. The program also creates grant snapshots, condensing long notice of funding opportunity documents into short summaries that provide local governments the information they need to act quickly.
Another organization offering pro-bono support to local governments is the Environmental Protection Network. Leveraging over 550 former Environmental Protection Agency staff and political appointees, EPN plays a key role in helping communities apply for EPA funding opportunities.
Earlier this year, EPN developed comprehensive resources for communities applying for the Environmental Justice Government-to-Government program, outlining a five-step process for applying, launching a partner survey to encourage teaming, and providing an easy-to-use application template.
These resources fill a critical need for smaller communities, providing personalized guidance and capacity to help overburdened staff apply for and win grants. Building pathways for smaller, diverse communities to access federal funding is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving a clean energy future. It also helps ensure the transition is equitable and benefits communities most in need.
While these two organizations are making headway in supporting local governments, there are specific ways federal agencies can also make the process easier and more streamlined for communities.
Prior to application release, agencies can engage local government officials to communicate what pre-application steps are required beyond website registration, such as partnership formation, project planning activities, and matching fund identification. Agencies can also reduce the technical jargon and length of grant documents.
These grant improvements combined with support from organizational partners can significantly change the grant landscape for small communities. This year, the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program provided templates to create an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy, a necessary plan to access grant funds.
Additionally, DOE provided “blueprint projects” for grants and a “voucher option” to lower administrative burdens for small and mid-sized government agencies. Alongside these improvements, PCFO held an EECBG webinar with peer-to-peer engagement, educating communities on the program’s requirements, the application process, and milestones to help cities prioritize projects for EECBG funds.
In a time when transformative change on climate and clean energy is both essential and being actively funded, we have an opportunity to institutionalize the improvements needed to ensure that federal grants are most effective and equitably distributed throughout the country. To achieve these climate and equity goals, we must support action not just in our most populous cities but in smaller cities too.
Federal funding can and should be one catalyst for climate action, allowing local governments to lay the foundation for an economically vibrant, clean energy future. With the help of forward-thinking organizations and with continued proactive federal funding and action, we can do just that.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.
Author Information
Melanie Nutter is the principal of Nutter Consulting, a firm providing urban sustainability and smart city strategy for cities, foundations, nonprofits and companies. She is former Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment and the former Deputy District Director for the House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Katherine Lee is a consulting manager at Nutter Consulting
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