The state is offering $2.1 million in competitive grant funding to support community-driven projects to improve air quality and help advance the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The funding will support community-based not-for-profit organizations working in disadvantaged communities throughout the state that are disproportionately burdened by pollution. The grants will advance local efforts to obtain air quality data tailored to issues identified by community residents.
“As someone who grew up in the shadow of a steel plant that contributed to orange skies and a polluted Lake Erie, I know firsthand the urgency of our fight against air pollution and climate change,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “These grants will target the air quality challenges faced by disadvantaged communities and help advance strategies to create a greener state and improve the health and well-being of all New Yorkers.”
In July 2022, Governor Hochul announced the launch of the statewide air quality and greenhouse gas mobile monitoring initiative that is underway in 10 disadvantaged communities across the state, home to approximately five million New Yorkers – 25 percent of the state’s population – in areas overburdened by environmental pollution. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is working in partnership with community-based organizations to map hyperlocal air pollution and greenhouse gases statewide at the community level. The initiative is bolstered by approximately $3 million in State grant funding for the 2022-23 Community Air Monitoring Capacity Building Grants and funding announced today to support community-led air monitoring to complement these ongoing efforts.
Nearly $900,000 for capacity-building grants was announced in December 2022 to support nine community-based organizations developing new or strengthening existing air monitoring programs focused on reducing exposure to harmful emissions in disadvantaged communities.
Applicants for this funding may be awarded up to $500,000 each until monies have been exhausted. The deadline to submit an application is 3 p.m. on July 26, 2023. Questions regarding this grant opportunity will be accepted until 5 p.m. on July 12, 2023. All questions and answers will be uploaded in the Grants Gateway on a rolling basis. For a complete list of guidelines and more information, contact DEC’s Office of Environmental Justice at 518-402-8556, [email protected], or online at DEC’s Environmental Justice webpage.
