The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it is seeking applicants for a total of $1.5 million in environmental justice small grants to be awarded in 2013. EPA’s environmental justice efforts aim to ensure equal environmental and health protections for all Americans, regardless of race or socioeconomic status. The grants enable non-profit organizations to conduct research, provide education and develop solutions to local health and environmental issues in communities overburdened by harmful pollution. Grants are available for up to $30,000 each.
Previous grants have supported activities including projects to better protect children in the Boston-area from incidences of lead poisoning and asthma attacks, conduct research on air quality in a portside Philadelphia community and provide support to residents on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota to repair failing septic systems and identify water that is unsafe to drink.
The principles of environmental justice uphold the idea that all communities overburdened by pollution – particularly minority, low income and indigenous communities – deserve the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, equal access to the decision-making process and a healthy environment in which to live, learn and work. Since 1994, the environmental justice small grants program has provided funding in more than 1,300 communities, to community-based non-profit organizations and local governments working to address environmental justice issues. The grants represent EPA’s commitment to expand the conversation on environmentalism and advance environmental justice in communities across the nation.
More information about the Environmental Justice Small Grants program
Environment Justice Small Grants 2013 Request for Proposals and schedule of pre-application teleconference calls
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