CAMBRIDGE – MAY 31: This is the Boston skyline, which is obscured by smoke from wildfires in Canada.
A Boston nonprofit organization was selected on Wednesday to receive $50 million to fund environmental justice projects in New England, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Health Resource in Action was granted the $50 million under the EPA's Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking program that was created by President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, the EPA said.
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The agency said this is "the largest investment in climate action in history."
The new grant program aims to make it easier for small community-based organizations to access federal environmental justice funding, according to the EPA.
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Under this program, communities will be able to apply to Health Resource in Action for subgrants to pay for a variety of different environmental projects, including small local clean ups and projects addressing illegal dumping, the EPA said.
"Together, in partnership with these grantmakers, we are taking a giant step toward a future where every person in America has equal opportunity to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live a healthy, productive life," said Michael Regan, EPA administrator.
Health Resource in Action, along with Alternatives for Community and Environment and the New England Grassroots Environment Fund, will create and manage an environmental justice grantmaking program to support several organizations, such as nonprofits, in executing projects that will tackle local environmental and public health challenges in New England, according to the EPA.
The grantmakers will work with the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights to issue subgrants to community-based nonprofits, the agency said.
Health Resource in Action will be tasked with creating an application and submission process, awarding the subgrants, implementing tracking and reporting systems and providing resources and support to communities, said the EPA.
The subgrants will be available by summer of 2024, according to the EPA.
According to its website, Health Resources in Action's goal is to "help people live healthier lives and create healthy communities through prevention, health promotion, policy and research."
