EPA Offers $5,000 to $50,000 Healthy Community Grants in New England; Deadline for One-Page Proposals is April 25, 2003

Release date: 04/04/2003

Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1008

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s New England Office today announced that grants of $5,000 to $50,000 are available for organizations in the six-state region through its new Healthy Communities Grant Program. The deadline for one-page project proposals is April 25.

The Healthy Communities Grant Program integrates nine EPA New England programs – covering such topics as compliance assistance and pollution prevention in schools, asthma, children’s environmental health, community air toxics, pesticides, smart growth and Urban Environmental Initiatives – working in partnership to best identify competitive projects that will achieve measurable environmental, human health and quality of life improvements in communities across New England.

EPA expects to award approximately 20 grants through this competitive program, based on availability of funding. Eligible applicants include non-profit organizations, local government, state or regional agencies, K-12 schools or school districts and tribes.

The grant program will achieve this through identifying and funding projects that:

• Target resources to benefit communities at risk (environmental justice areas of potential concern, places with high risk from toxic air pollution, urban areas) and sensitive populations (e.g. children, elderly, others at increased risk).
• Assess, understand and reduce environmental and human health risks.
• Increase collaboration through community-based projects.
• Build institutional and community capacity to understand and solve environment and human health problems.
• Achieve measurable environment and human health benefits.

Target Investment Areas include Environmental Justice Areas of Potential Concern, Places with High Risks from Toxic Air Pollution, Sensitive Populations, and/or Urban Areas (populations of 35,000 or more). The Target Program Areas include: Asthma, Capacity-Building on Environmental and Public Health Issues, Community Air Toxics, Healthy Indoor Environments, Healthy Schools, Preserving & Restoring Urban Natural Resources and Open/Green Space, Urban Development & Redevelopment, and Urban Transportation & Mobility.

To help answer questions from prospective applicants, the Healthy Communities Grant Program will sponsor four telephone conference calls before the one-page project summary is due on April 25. Telephone training sessions for the one-page summary outlines will be held from 9 a.m to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on April 14 and April 15. The training sessions are optional, but RSVPs are required.

Copies of the Request for Proposal and other application forms are available from EPA's web site.

Interested applicants may request a proposal or RSVP for an upcoming training session by calling Sandra Padula at 617-918-1797.