EPA spending $177 million to help communities advance environmental justice through help with grants, organizing

Environmental Protection Agency map shows regions
for EPA's new environmenal justice program.

The Environmental Protection Agency is spending $177 million to advance local environmental justice through a new program, the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center. The money is being distributed through 17 regional centers that will get at least $10 million each.

"These centers will provide training and other assistance to build capacity for navigating federal grant application systems, writing strong grant proposals, and effectively managing grant funding," EPA says. "In addition, these centers will provide guidance on community engagement, meeting facilitation, and translation and interpretation services for limited English-speaking participants, thus removing barriers and improving accessibility for communities with environmental justice concerns."

The initative aims to "enhance leadership and organizational capabilities among individuals and communities, foster community decision-making and cooperative ventures, facilitate connections, and furnish research and information that strengthens community and economic development," says the University of Kentucky, one of eight universities that are part of the Southeast center, run by the nonprofit research institute Research Triangle International.

“Many communities in need tend to be places where there's a higher ratio of minority populations as well as higher levels of poverty,” said UK agricultural economics professor Alison Davis, executive director of the Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky, which will lead Kentucky’s involvement in the program.