CAPI Cohort Grant Applicaiton for Climate Pollution Reduction (CPRG) Program
Background
The Federal EPA's Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program: $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. Authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act, this two-phase program provides $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants, and approximately $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants.
- About the EPA's CPRG Implementation Grant Program
- CPRG Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), updated 1/16/24
CAPI Cohort Grant Application
The Dutchess and Westchester CAPI cohorts have finalized their government operations greenhouse gas inventories and reports and are currently drafting government operations climate action plans. This process has involved thorough analysis of municipal data, recognizing buildings and facilities with the highest GHG emissions. The cohort municipalities have identified potential large-scale GHG reduction projects and projected the emissions reductions they could achieve from these projects.
As such, the CAPI cohort municipalities are in a solid position to apply for CPRG grant funding. The CPRG grant is for implementation funding (i.e. implementing actions that reduce GHG emissions), and HVRC is limiting our grant application to the buildings and facilities sector. It is recommended that you also include a retro-commissioning study or building energy audit, if you have not already completed an audit for the building(s) or facility(ies) in which you hope to install heat pumps. Some examples of reduction measure projects that would be acceptable: most any kind of heat pump (this is the recommended action because of its relatively large impact on reducing GHG emissions), as well as energy efficiency / retro commissioning efforts in conjunction with the reduction measure.
Some examples of projects that we will not be including in our application: more efficient fossil fuel boilers, purchase of EVs, EV charging stations, or a solar study.
If you have not modelled out your proposed action in ClearPath, please either do so, or ask us for help. Please try and choose a measure w/relatively high emissions reduction potential -- the larger the emissions reduction potential from our collective projects, the more positively our application will be viewed.
Cohort Application Form. DUE Date: Friday, 3/8/24
Template Letter of Intent to Apply. DUE Date: Tuesday, 3/12/24
- 2/27/24 Q & A on CPRG Coalition Grant for CAPI communities - presentation
- 2/27/24 Q & A on CPRG Coalition Grant for CAPI Communities - video
Additional Questions & Answers
- What is HVRC's role in this grant application? HVRC will be applying as the lead applicant on behalf of the coalition of participating CAPI communities.
- Is this a match grant? There is no required match for this grant (see p.21 HERE)
- When would payments begin? The official award date is October, 2024 (see p.1 HERE). The payments would begin soon after HVRC is under contract with the EPA, and the project begins. However, the anticipated announcement date of award winners is in July.
- How much can we apply for? The project application limit is $500,000 for each of the 18 CAPI municipalities. However, you may submit a project budget for up to $1,000,000. If fewer municipalities apply, we may be able to support larger project sizes. If you do submit for a larger project, please clarify how you would limit the project if we have to cap the project at the $500,000 level.
- Is it a reimbursement grant? Yes, municipalities will submit reimbursement invoices to HVRC, which HVRC will forward on to the EPA. Once approved by an EPA grants officer, funds will be released to the municipality. There may be some cases in which funds can be released by the EPA prior to expenditure, but it will need to be right before expenditure (i.e. within 5 days) and details are TBD.
- Does our quote for the application form need to include prevailing wage and Build America, Buy America grant requirements? Yes, please include prevailing wage and Build America requirements into your quote if possible. See NOFO requirements sections in CPRG Program NOFO, p.59, and the “Build America, Buy America” information in EPA Solicitation Clauses - Section VI, section x).