What is the current status of this program?
This program, under which grants were made to 11 organizations that were to make subgrants to environmental justice communities, was terminated by the EPA. Three of the recipients sued the EPA and a judge ruled on June 17, 2025 that the termination is unlawful. The Administration is likely to appeal. On June 25, 2025, public interest attorneys filed a class action suit on behalf of all recipients of grants under several IRA environmental justice programs.
Read a letter requesting that RTI (the NC/SC awardee) legally appeal the termination of its award.
Below is information on how the program is supposed to work. However, RTI ceased operations on this program and is not accepting applications for subgrants. Read RTI’s statement about the termination.
If you had already submitted an application by the January or April deadline, scroll down to “What is the timeline?” to learn more about your application status.
What does this funding get me?
The Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program is part of the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program. It selected multiple grantmakers around the nation to reduce barriers and increase the efficiency of the awards process for federal environmental justice (EJ) grants.
Approximately $600 million was granted to the 11 successful applicants listed here, including $100 million to Research Triangle Institute (RTI) for subgrants to entities in EPA regions 4-7, including North and South Carolina.
The types of subgrants planned were:
- Tier I, Assessment: fixed amount, $150,000, duration 1 year
- Tier II, Planning: up to $250,000, duration 1-2 years
- Tier III, Development: up to $350,000, duration 2 years
- Capacity building: noncompetitive, fixed amount $75,000, duration 1 year
RTI issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Grantmaking program on December 11, 2024 and opened an application portal on December 20. RTI, working together with a Community Advisory Board and its partners (National Center for Healthy Housing, Southern Environmental Law Center, University of Kentucky, and North Carolina Central University), was intending to make subgrants for EJ projects.
RTI and the other grantmakers also planned to implement a tracking and reporting system and provide resources and support to communities, all in collaboration with EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.
Am I eligible?
Entities eligible to receive subgrants from RTI included nonprofit organizations, Tribal governments (both Federally- and state-recognized) and intertribal consortia, local governments, and Native American organizations.
Individuals, for-profit businesses, and state governments cannot apply for subgrants.
Eligible EJ projects include assessment, planning, and project development activities on projects including (but not limited to) small local cleanups, local emergency preparedness and disaster resiliency programs, environmental workforce development programs for local jobs reducing greenhouse gas emissions, fenceline air quality and asthma related projects, healthy homes programs, and projects addressing illegal dumping.
How can I access the money?
This funding is no longer available. If you want more incentives like this, tell your Federal, North Carolina, and South Carolina legislators. Many organizations are fighting back against this program’s termination through litigation, including:
- Three of the recipients sued the EPA and a judge ruled on June 17, 2025 that the termination is unlawful. The Administration is likely to appeal.
- On June 25, 2025, public interest attorneys filed a class action suit on behalf of all recipients of grants under several IRA environmental justice programs.
- Read a letter requesting that RTI (the NC/SC awardee) legally appeal the termination of its award.
What is the timeline?
A note from The Cultivating Healthy Environments Team amid the termination in funding (May 7, 2025):
Cycle 1 Applicants (completed by Jan. 31, 2025)
Prior to the program termination, the initial administrative review for Cycle 1 applications was completed. Feedback and details from this review remained available until June 30, 2025 and could be viewed in the RTI application portal under “Administrative Review Decision and Feedback.”
Cycle 2 Applicants (completed by April 30, 2025)
RTI was not able to review Cycle 2 applications before the program termination, but applicants could still access their application materials until June 30, 2025.
Additional Questions
RTI understands that you may have questions about the program. At this time, they are unable to respond individually. However, they provided access to program materials and accessible resources, including a budget template, through their communication outlets and YouTubeaccount until June 30, 2025.
What other incentives could I use to help me accomplish my goals?
- You may be able to access more funding from the Environmental Justice Grants, Funding and Technical Assistance Page (be aware that this is an archived page that is no longer being updated; programs listed there may no longer be available).
- Affordable loans for clean energy projects should eventually be available through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
- Check the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) for additional incentives that may be offered by your state, local government, or utility, as well as important federal, state, and local policies. For questions regarding DSIRE, contact Justin Lindemann (NC Clean Energy Technology Center) at jplindem@ncsu.edu.
- Check out our (non-exhaustive) list of non-federal funding from other sources that may fit your energy and cost-saving goals.
Where can I get more information?
- EPA’s Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program homepage
- The Environmental Protection Network offers a step-by-step Application Guide, including a Budgets for Beginners Worksheet and presentation, information on projects that do and don’t trigger a Quality Assurance Project Plan, and more. Fill out their intake form to request application assistance.
- In addition to the resources listed above, a variety of organizations offer technical assistance that may help you access these funds. They are listed on our Get Help page.
- For specific questions on this program or for more assistance, contact Meech Carter at info@energyfundsforall.org.