(Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday invited bids from state, local, and tribal governments for $4.6 billion in grants to implement climate action plans to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The competitive grants are funded under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and build upon plans developed using $250 million of funding already allocated by the EPA as part of the same program.
“State and local action is vital to deliver on President Biden’s commitment to reduce climate pollution by 50-52% by 2030,” the EPA said in a statement.
The program will also help those most vulnerable to flooding, heat waves, wildfires and other destabilizing impacts of climate change, it added.
The funding helps advance the Biden administration’s so-called Justice40 program, which aims to direct 40% of the benefits of federal investments in clean energy to communities that are overburdened by pollution.
The grants will be awarded in two tranches – one general competition will award 30 to 115 grants ranging between $2 million and $500 million, and another competition specifically for Tribes and territories will award 25 to 100 grants ranging between $1 million and $25 million.
An EPA report last week showed the U.S. economy is on track to emit between 35% and 43% less carbon dioxide by 2030 from 2005 levels as a consequence of the IRA, which provides billions of dollars in tax credits to help consumers buy electric vehicles and companies produce renewable energy.
(Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
