Beyond EPA: 7 Funding Sources for Environmental Justice Work in 2026

Beyond EPA: 7 Funding Sources for Environmental Justice Work in 2026

I spent fifteen years writing EPA grants for environmental justice organizations in Northern Manhattan and across the Northeast. EJCPS applications, Community Change Grants, Thriving Communities subgrants. For a long time, EPA was the center of gravity for EJ funding. That center has shifted.

With the termination of hundreds of EPA environmental justice grants and the congressional rescission of unobligated IRA funds in 2025, community organizations need a broader funding strategy. The good news is that environmental justice funding still exists, and in some cases it is growing. You just have to know where to look and how to position your work.

Here are seven funding sources that are actively supporting environmental justice work right now.

1. State Environmental Justice Grant Programs

State governments have become the most reliable source of dedicated EJ funding. Several have created or expanded grant programs specifically in response to federal pullbacks.

California runs one of the most established programs through CalEPA, funding tribes, 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and fiscally sponsored organizations for community-driven environmental projects. Their Environmental Justice Small Grants and Action Grants are worth tracking.

Colorado completed its third Environmental Justice Grant Program cycle in 2025, distributing over $3 million. The next application window is expected to open in Summer 2026 through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

New York maintains several EJ grant programs through its Department of Environmental Conservation, with funding for community-based environmental monitoring, education, and capacity building.

If your state does not yet have a dedicated EJ grant program, check whether your state environmental or health agency offers related funding for air quality monitoring, lead abatement, community health assessments, or climate resilience. These programs often fund the same types of work that EPA's EJ programs supported.

2. Regional Grantmaking Intermediaries

Before the federal cuts, EPA established a network of regional grantmakers through the Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program. While the federal program has been disrupted, several of these intermediaries continue to operate with previously obligated funds or have secured independent funding to continue their work.

Philanthropy Northwest is distributing $40 million over three years to environmental justice organizations across Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and tribal nations.

Environmental Justice for New England has $48 million in funding for community-based organizations, with application rounds anticipated through April 2026.

Contact the intermediary that covers your region. Even if their federal-funded rounds have closed, many are actively seeking foundation and state support to continue subgranting.

3. Major Private Foundations

The largest private foundations have maintained or increased their environmental justice giving. This is not a temporary response to federal cuts. Many of these funders have multi-year EJ commitments.

Key foundations actively funding environmental justice work include:

• Ford Foundation: Long-standing commitment to environmental justice as part of their broader equity portfolio.
• Kresge Foundation: Funds climate resilience and environmental health in urban communities.
• Bullitt Foundation: Focused on the Pacific Northwest but influential in setting EJ funding trends.
• MacKenzie Scott / Yield Giving: Large unrestricted gifts to EJ organizations, though the application process is invitation-based.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Funds the intersection of environmental justice and community health.

Foundation grants often require a different writing approach than federal proposals. The emphasis shifts from compliance and methodology to narrative impact, organizational capacity, and community voice. If your team has primarily written federal grants, invest time in learning foundation proposal conventions.

4. Grassroots and Community Foundations

Smaller foundations are often overlooked, but they can be a reliable source of operating support for community-based EJ organizations.

Ben and Jerry's Foundation runs the Jerry Greenfield National Grassroots Organizing Grant Program with rolling deadlines. Their February 2026 cycle just closed, but they fund multiple times per year.

Ronald W. Naito MD Foundation offers Sustainable Communities Grants targeting climate change, health disparities, and community transformation.

Local community foundations in your metro area or region often have environmental or health-focused grant cycles. These are competitive but tend to favor organizations with strong local roots, which is exactly the profile of most EJ groups.

5. Legal Defense and Impact Litigation Funds

If your environmental justice work involves litigation, policy advocacy, or enforcement actions, dedicated legal funds can support that work.

The Impact Fund provides recoverable grants to legal services nonprofits and small law firms working on social, environmental, and economic justice issues. They have awarded over $10 million since 1992.

Earthjustice provides free legal representation to environmental and EJ organizations, which can effectively subsidize your enforcement and policy work.

Southern Environmental Law Center and similar regional legal organizations are actively supporting EJ communities challenging permit decisions, pollution violations, and the federal grant terminations themselves.

6. Crowdfunding and Individual Giving

Federal grant cuts have raised public awareness of environmental justice issues, and many organizations are finding that individual donors are more responsive than ever.

Platforms like GoFundMe, Classy, and GiveLively provide infrastructure for campaigns. But the real opportunity is in building a sustainable individual giving program, monthly donors, annual appeals, and event-based fundraising.

Organizations that built their entire budget around government grants are the most vulnerable right now. Even a modest individual giving program, covering 15 to 20 percent of your operating budget, provides a buffer that makes your organization more resilient and more attractive to institutional funders.

7. Federal Programs Outside EPA

EPA's dedicated EJ programs took the biggest hits, but other federal agencies still fund work that overlaps with environmental justice priorities.

• HUD funds community development and housing-related environmental health work.
• USDA Rural Development supports infrastructure and community facilities in underserved areas.
• FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program funds climate resilience projects.
• DOE still has active programs for energy efficiency and renewable energy in low-income communities.
• CDC funds environmental health tracking and community health assessments.

These programs do not use the term "environmental justice" in their framing, but the eligible activities often align closely with EJ priorities. Reframing your project narrative to match each agency's language and priorities is essential.

How to Build a Resilient Funding Strategy

The organizations that weather this funding shift will be the ones that treat it as a structural change, not a temporary disruption. Here is what that looks like in practice:

Map your funding sources across at least four categories: federal, state, foundation, and individual. If any single category represents more than 50% of your revenue, you have a concentration risk.

Build relationships before you need money. Foundation program officers, state agency staff, and regional intermediaries all make better funding partners when you have an existing relationship. Attend their webinars, respond to their RFIs, and share your impact data proactively.

Invest in grant writing capacity. The competition for non-federal funding is intensifying as hundreds of organizations pivot simultaneously. Strong proposals that are tailored to each funder's specific priorities will stand out.

Writing grants across multiple funders with different formats, requirements, and evaluation criteria is genuinely time-consuming. Tools like Granted can help streamline your grant proposal process, from RFP analysis to draft generation, freeing up your team to focus on the community partnerships and program design that funders want to see.

Keep Reading

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• First-Time Federal Grant Tips for Small Nonprofits
• How to Apply for USDA Community Facilities Grants
• See how Granted AI drafts every section

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