Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG)

Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) – Planning

The RPC has recently received a $1 million Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The CPRG program was created by the Inflation Reduction Act, and provides non-competitive planning grants to states, regions, tribes, and territories to complete climate action plans over the next four years. An additional $4.6 in competitive grants will be available in 2024 to implement greenhouse gas reduction measures. The RPC will utilize its planning grant to conduct climate action planning across nine parishes: Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, and Tangipahoa. A Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) has been completed and  includes a greenhouse gas inventory, list of priority emission reduction measures, and an analysis of potential benefits to low income and disadvantaged communities. In order to be eligible for the implementation grant funding potential emission reduction measures must be listed in the PCAP. By 2025, the RPC will complete a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) that will build on the PCAP and include additional emission reduction measures, community benefit analyses, and workforce planning analyses. It is hoped that the PCAP and CCAP will provide a path forward for continually reducing green house gas emissions over the long term, thereby reducing the region’s vulnerability to the effects of climate change. More information about the grants can be found here, and anyone interested in learning about the RPC’s CPRG planning process can contact Tom Haysley at [email protected].

Priority Climate Action Plan

The PCAP for Southeast Louisiana can be viewed here.

CPRG Implementation

The EPA has recently announced funding to implement Greenhouse Gas reduction measures across the country. A summary of the funding can be viewed here, and more information from the EPA is available here.