Under the Environmental Education Grants Program, the U.S. EPA is accepting grant proposals to support environmental education projects that promote environmental awareness and stewardship and help provide people with the skills to take responsible actions to protect the environment. This grant program provides financial support for projects that design, demonstrate, and/or disseminate environmental education practices, methods, or techniques. For more information on the program, CLICK HERE.

Deadline: April 8, 2016

Fundamentally, the ability to move safely and without fear through the built environment is an issue of equity.  Equity takes many forms, and this is one of them. Too many discussions about sexual violence blame women instead of asking why attackers believe they can commit these heinous acts with impunity. San Leandro is transforming itself and writing a new narrative for a new century with the development of the transit-oriented San Leandro Tech Campus (SLTC). The first phase of SLTC will open in October, and developer Westlake Urban, in collaboration with the City, is seeking to attract socially oriented companies that provide opportunities for all employees, especially groups who are severely underrepresented in the technology sector, like women. Nothing exemplifies the writing of this new narrative for a new century more than Marco Cochrane’s 55-foot tall statue, Truth is Beauty. Through his art, Marco hopes to inspire people to take action to end violence against women. Displayed in her final form at Burning Man in 2013, Truth is Beauty will be on display at the new San Leandro Tech Campus, challenging viewers with the inscribed question “What would the world be like if women were safe?”

Communities across the country are recognizing that access to high quality, affordable broadband is a critical element to their economic future. Whether it’s improving access to health care through telemedicine, enhancing education, facilitating the reduction of GHG emissions though telecommuting, or expanding small business opportunities, broadband has become a necessity. USDA Rural Utilities Service and the U.S. EPA Office of Sustainable Communities is inviting communities to apply for a new pilot program - "Cool & Connected". The program aims to facilitate the use of broadband services to revitalize small-town main streets and promote economic development. 

Application Deadline: February 24, 2016

Increasingly, developers are recognizing the value of revitalizing brownfields—properties that are abandoned or underutilized due to real or perceived environmental contamination. This workshop for bankers, developers and development agency officials will provide an introduction to brownfield redevelopment.

The Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program provides grants and/or loans to both public agencies and private developers for projects throughout California that will achieve GHG reductions and benefit Disadvantaged Communities through increased accessibility of affordable housing, employment centers and key destinations via low-carbon transportation.

Last month the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the environmental impact review (EIR) of a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) must focus on a project’s impact on the environment “and not the environment’s impact on the project,” ruling that such reverse CEQA analyses would “impermissibly expand the scope of CEQA.”

The National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program (NCWCG Program) was created to acquire, restore, and enhance wetlands in coastal states through competitive matching grants to state agencies. The primary goal of the NCWCG Program is the long-term conservation of coastal wetland ecosystems. Application Deadline: June 29

The National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program is dedicated to preserving the diverse history of U.S. Highway 66. The program provides financial assistance in the form of competitive, cost-share grants for building, structures, road segments, and cultural landscapes along the length of the Route 66 corridor. Cost-share grants are also available for planning, research, and education initiatives. Application Deadline: April 1, 2016

Through its Planning and Local Technical Assistance programs, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) assists eligible recipients in developing economic development plans and studies designed to build capacity and guide the economic prosperity and resiliency of an area or region, and strengthens the capacity of eligible recipients to undertake and promote effective economic development programs through projects such as feasibility analyses and impact studies. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

The National Endowment for the Arts’ Challenge America grant offers support primarily to small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations – those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics or disability. Grants are available for professional arts programming and for projects that emphasize the potential of the arts in community development.

Applications Deadline: April 16th