EPA used COVID-19 relief funds for grants promoting ‘green infrastructure,’ ‘environmental justice’

he Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting new applications for grants funded by President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package passed in 2021, but last year’s awards funded some projects that had virtually little to do with addressing the impact of the pandemic.

The EPA’s Environmental Justice Small Grants Program recently announced it is using $1.6 million of American Rescue Plan funds to award grants to “federally recognized tribal governments to establish or modify public participation programs where fair treatment and meaningful participation priorities have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Approximately 16 to 20 grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded for each project, the EPA announced March 21.

Last year under the same program, 99 organizations nationwide were selected to receive awards totaling approximately $7.4 million in grant funding, which included $5.25 million allocated from the American Rescue Plan and $2.15 million from what the EPA describes as its “baseline [Environmental Justice] appropriation.” Those grants were for up to $75,000 for each project that addressed “health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID–19 pandemic,” the EPA said at the time.

A review of the 2021 awards, however, shows that the program funded grants for some projects that had virtually little to do with addressing COVID-19 or the effects of the pandemic. – READ MORE