Environmental Justice Grants for Community Organizations in 2026

Introduction: Environmental Justice in the Federal Funding Landscape

Environmental justice, at its core, is the principle that no community should bear a disproportionate share of environmental harm. In the federal funding context, this translates into dedicated grant programs that direct resources toward communities historically overburdened by pollution, industrial contamination, and inadequate infrastructure. These are communities where zip code has long predicted health outcomes, where proximity to hazardous waste sites correlates with race and income, and where decades of underinvestment have compounded environmental risk.

For community organizations working on the ground in these neighborhoods, federal environmental justice grants represent more than funding. They represent recognition that the people most affected by environmental harm are essential partners in solving it. The federal government has steadily expanded its commitment to this principle, and 2026 offers a robust set of funding opportunities for organizations ready to act.

This guide walks through the major grant programs available, eligibility considerations, application strategies, and planning timelines. Whether your organization is a seasoned grant recipient or exploring federal funding for the first time, understanding the full landscape is the first step toward securing the resources your community needs. You can also browse all grants to see current opportunities across agencies.

EPA Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Grants

The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) program is one of the EPA's longest-running and most targeted environmental justice funding mechanisms. It was designed specifically for community-based organizations working in areas with documented environmental and public health concerns.

What EJCPS Funds

EJCPS grants support projects that bring together residents, local government, businesses, and other stakeholders to develop and implement solutions to environmental and public health challenges. The emphasis is on collaborative approaches, meaning the EPA wants to see that your organization is not working in isolation but is actively partnering with affected community members and institutional allies.

Typical projects include community-led air quality monitoring, contaminated site assessment, lead exposure reduction campaigns, and water quality improvement initiatives. The program has historically funded awards ranging from $150,000 to $500,000, though exact amounts and cycles vary. Check the EPA grants page for current funding levels and deadlines.

What Makes a Strong EJCPS Application

Reviewers look for clear documentation of the environmental burden your community faces, a well-defined collaborative structure, and a realistic plan for measurable outcomes. You should be able to articulate why your community qualifies as overburdened, what specific environmental or health issue you are addressing, and how you will sustain progress after the grant period ends. A solid grant evaluation plan is essential for demonstrating that your proposed work will produce verifiable results.

EPA Community Change Grants

The Community Change Grants program, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, represents one of the largest single investments in environmental justice in federal history. With billions allocated for community-driven projects that reduce pollution and build climate resilience, this program has reshaped the funding landscape for EJ-focused organizations.

Scale and Scope

Community Change Grants are substantially larger than most traditional EJ grant programs. Awards can reach into the tens of millions of dollars, though smaller awards are also available, and the program is structured to support both planning and implementation activities. The scope includes climate resilience infrastructure, clean energy deployment in disadvantaged communities, workforce development for green jobs, and pollution reduction projects.

Who Should Apply

The program prioritizes community-based nonprofits, tribal organizations, and partnerships led by organizations with deep roots in the communities they serve. A distinguishing feature of the Community Change Grants is the emphasis on community ownership of solutions. The EPA has signaled that applications led by or substantially involving residents of affected communities receive stronger consideration.

If your organization has not previously applied for federal grants at this scale, consider partnering with a larger institution that can provide fiscal and administrative support while your organization maintains programmatic leadership. For more on what nonprofits should understand about EJ funding, see our overview of EPA environmental justice grants in 2026.

EPA Brownfields Grants for Environmental Cleanup

Brownfields grants address a specific but widespread environmental justice issue: the legacy of contaminated properties in communities that lack the resources to assess and clean them up. Former industrial sites, abandoned gas stations, and decommissioned facilities often sit idle for decades in low-income neighborhoods, depressing property values, limiting economic development, and posing ongoing health risks.

Grant Types

The EPA Brownfields program offers several distinct grant types. Assessment grants fund the investigation and characterization of contaminated sites. Cleanup grants provide direct funding for remediation. Revolving Loan Fund grants allow communities to establish lending programs for brownfield redevelopment. Multipurpose grants offer flexibility to combine assessment and cleanup activities.

Community Organizations and Brownfields

Community organizations play a critical role in brownfields work, often serving as the bridge between residents, local government, and developers. While municipalities are the most common brownfields applicants, nonprofits and tribal organizations are explicitly eligible for many brownfields grant categories. If your organization is working on land reuse, community health, or neighborhood revitalization in an area with contaminated properties, brownfields funding may be directly relevant.

For a detailed walkthrough of the application process, see our EPA brownfields grants guide.

Beyond EPA: Other Agencies Funding Environmental Justice

While the EPA is the most prominent source of EJ-specific funding, several other federal agencies administer programs that directly support environmental justice outcomes. Community organizations should not limit their search to the EPA alone.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

HUD funds projects at the intersection of housing and environmental health. The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, while not exclusively focused on environmental justice, can fund infrastructure improvements, lead abatement, and community facilities in low-income areas. HUD's Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes administers grants specifically targeting lead paint and other residential environmental hazards.

Department of Energy (DOE)

The DOE has expanded its environmental justice programming significantly. Weatherization assistance programs reduce energy burden in low-income households. The Justice40-covered programs within DOE fund clean energy deployment, energy efficiency upgrades, and grid resilience projects in disadvantaged communities. Community organizations involved in energy equity, solar access, or building decarbonization should monitor DOE funding announcements closely.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

USDA programs are particularly relevant for rural environmental justice. The Rural Development portfolio includes grants for water and wastewater infrastructure, community facilities, and rural business development. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program fund land management practices that can address agricultural pollution affecting nearby communities.

Other Federal Sources

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funds coastal resilience and marine debris projects in underserved coastal communities. The Department of Transportation supports equitable transportation planning. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers hazard mitigation grants that can address environmental justice concerns in disaster-prone areas.

Exploring grants for nonprofits across these agencies will surface opportunities that may not appear in an EPA-only search. Our grant finder can help you identify relevant programs based on your organization's specific focus areas.

The Justice40 Initiative and What It Means for Community Organizations

The Justice40 Initiative established the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities. This directive covers climate, clean energy, affordable housing, clean water, and other categories, affecting hundreds of federal programs across dozens of agencies.

Practical Implications

For community organizations, Justice40 means that a significant portion of federal program budgets is now targeted toward the communities you serve. When agencies design grant programs covered by Justice40, they are required to consider whether their funding is reaching disadvantaged communities as defined by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST).

This does not mean that organizations in designated communities automatically receive funding. It means that agencies are incentivized to fund projects in those communities and that reviewers may give additional weight to applications serving Justice40-designated areas. If your service area overlaps with CEJST-identified communities, reference this explicitly in your applications.

Using the Screening Tool

The CEJST identifies disadvantaged communities based on indicators including poverty, pollution exposure, housing cost burden, lack of green space, and health disparities. Before applying for any Justice40-covered program, check whether your target community is designated in the tool. If it is, incorporate that data into your needs statement. If it is not but you believe the community qualifies based on other evidence, present that case clearly in your application.

Eligibility Requirements for EJ Grants

Eligibility varies by program, but several common requirements apply across most federal environmental justice grant opportunities.

Organizational Eligibility

Most EJ grant programs are open to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, tribal governments and tribal organizations, and in some cases community development financial institutions and local government entities. Some programs restrict eligibility to organizations that have been operational for a minimum number of years or that can demonstrate a track record of community engagement.

Geographic and Demographic Focus

Your proposed project should serve a community that meets the program's definition of disadvantaged, overburdened, or underserved. This typically requires documentation through census data, environmental monitoring data, health statistics, or inclusion in a federal screening tool such as CEJST or EJScreen.

Capacity Requirements

Federal agencies want to know that your organization can manage federal funds responsibly. This means having basic financial management systems, audit history if applicable, and staff or consultants with experience in federal grant compliance. Smaller organizations that lack these systems should consider partnering with a fiscal sponsor or administrative partner. For organizations new to federal funding, our guide on first-time federal grant tips for small nonprofits covers the basics of building this capacity.

Match Requirements

Some EJ grant programs require a cost match, meaning your organization must contribute a percentage of the total project cost from non-federal sources. Match requirements vary; some EJCPS and brownfields grants have reduced or waived match requirements for small community organizations. Always verify match expectations before committing to an application.

Demonstrating Community Impact and Engagement

Federal reviewers of environmental justice proposals scrutinize your approach to community engagement more closely than in most other grant categories. This is not a box to check. It is often the factor that separates funded applications from those that fall short.

Authentic Engagement

Authentic community engagement means that residents of the affected community have played a meaningful role in identifying the problem, shaping the proposed solution, and planning for implementation. Letters of support from community members help, but they are not sufficient on their own. Stronger evidence includes documentation of community meetings, survey results, participatory planning processes, and community advisory board structures.

Measuring Impact

Your proposal should include specific, measurable indicators of the impact you expect to achieve. These might include reductions in pollutant concentrations, decreases in emergency room visits for asthma, acres of contaminated land remediated, households connected to clean water, or jobs created in the green economy. Vague promises of improved quality of life will not score well. Build your grant evaluation plan around indicators that are quantifiable, attributable to your intervention, and collectible within your budget and timeline.

Environmental Justice Narratives

The strongest EJ proposals tell a clear story: this community faces this specific environmental burden, this burden exists because of these historical and structural factors, our organization and our partners are positioned to address it, and here is how we will measure success. Ground your narrative in data but do not let the data overwhelm the human story. Reviewers respond to proposals that connect statistical evidence to the lived experience of real people.

Building Partnerships with State, Local Government, and Academia

Partnerships are not optional in most EJ grant applications. They are expected, and the quality of your partnerships often determines the strength of your proposal.

State and Local Government

State environmental agencies and local health departments can provide data, technical expertise, and regulatory support that community organizations typically cannot generate on their own. Partnering with a local government entity also signals to federal reviewers that your project has institutional backing and a pathway to sustainability beyond the grant period.

Academic Institutions

Universities and research institutions bring technical capacity for environmental monitoring, health assessments, and data analysis. Many EJ grant programs explicitly encourage community-academic partnerships, and some universities have environmental justice centers or community engagement offices specifically designed to support these collaborations. The key is to structure the partnership so that your organization retains programmatic leadership while the academic partner provides technical support, not the other way around.

Other Community Organizations

Coalition-based applications, where multiple community organizations collaborate on a shared project, can be powerful. They demonstrate broad community buy-in and allow for specialization: one partner may lead outreach, another may manage environmental monitoring, and a third may coordinate workforce training. Coalitions also distribute risk and build long-term organizational capacity across multiple groups.

Budget Strategies for EJ Proposals

Budgeting for an environmental justice proposal requires balancing the real costs of community-based work with the expectations of federal reviewers.

Personnel Costs

Community engagement is labor-intensive. Budget realistically for staff time devoted to outreach, meeting facilitation, translation and interpretation, transportation for community members, and administrative compliance. Underbudgeting for personnel is one of the most common mistakes in EJ proposals and can lead to project failure even when funded.

Subcontracts and Consultants

If your organization lacks specific technical capacity, such as environmental sampling, GIS mapping, or legal analysis, budget for qualified subcontractors. Federal reviewers understand that community organizations cannot do everything in-house. What matters is that you can justify the cost and explain how the subcontractor's work supports the overall project.

Indirect Costs

If your organization has a federally negotiated indirect cost rate, use it. If you do not, most federal programs allow a de minimis rate of 10 percent of modified total direct costs. Do not leave indirect costs out of your budget. These funds support the organizational infrastructure that makes project implementation possible.

Community Participation Costs

Budget for the costs of meaningful community engagement. This includes meeting space, food, childcare, transportation stipends, translation services, and compensation for community advisory board members. These line items signal to reviewers that your organization understands what authentic engagement requires, and that you are not expecting community members to contribute their time and expertise without support.

Common Pitfalls in EJ Grant Applications

Understanding where applications fail is as important as understanding what success looks like.

Insufficient Documentation of Environmental Burden

Asserting that your community is overburdened is not enough. You must provide quantitative evidence drawn from EPA screening tools, state environmental data, health department records, or peer-reviewed research. Applications that rely on anecdotal evidence alone rarely score competitively.

Weak or Superficial Community Engagement Plans

As noted above, letters of support are necessary but not sufficient. If your engagement plan consists of holding two public meetings and distributing a survey, reviewers will question whether your approach is genuinely community-driven. Describe ongoing, iterative engagement processes that give residents real decision-making power.

Overly Ambitious Scope

Trying to solve every environmental problem in your community within a single grant period is a red flag. Focus your proposal on a specific, well-defined problem with a realistic solution. You can always build on initial success with subsequent applications.

Ignoring Sustainability

Federal agencies want to know what happens after the grant ends. If your project depends entirely on federal funding and has no plan for continuation, reviewers will question its long-term value. Describe how your project builds capacity, creates infrastructure, or generates momentum that will persist beyond the funding period.

Compliance and Reporting Gaps

Organizations that have struggled with reporting requirements on previous federal grants may face additional scrutiny. If your organization has had compliance issues, address them proactively. Describe the steps you have taken to strengthen financial management and reporting systems. Review our EPA environmental grants guide for a broader overview of what the EPA expects from grantees.

Timeline and Planning for Upcoming Funding Cycles

Federal grant programs operate on predictable cycles, but specific deadlines shift from year to year. Planning ahead is critical.

Current and Anticipated Opportunities

As of early 2026, several major EJ funding programs are expected to announce new cycles or continue accepting applications throughout the year. EJCPS grants typically open in the spring. Community Change Grants have operated on a rolling or phased timeline. Brownfields assessment and cleanup grants generally open in the fall with deadlines in late winter. Monitor the EPA grants page and Grants.gov for official announcements.

Preparing Before the Announcement

The strongest applications are not written after a funding announcement drops. They are prepared in advance. Start by identifying the programs most relevant to your community and reviewing previous years' notices of funding opportunity (NOFOs) to understand expectations. Build your partnerships, collect your community data, and draft your needs statement before the clock starts.

Internal Timeline

A realistic internal timeline for a federal EJ grant application looks roughly like this:

• Six to twelve months before deadline: Identify target programs, begin partnership discussions, initiate community engagement processes, and gather baseline environmental and health data.
• Three to six months before deadline: Draft the project narrative, develop the budget, secure letters of support and partnership agreements, and complete any required registrations such as SAM.gov and Grants.gov.
• One to three months before deadline: Refine the narrative based on internal and external review, finalize the budget, compile all required attachments, and conduct a compliance check against the NOFO requirements.
• Final two weeks: Complete final review, address formatting requirements, and submit with time to spare for technical issues.

Registration Requirements

All federal grant applicants must be registered in SAM.gov with a current Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). This registration process can take several weeks, so do not wait until a funding announcement to begin. You will also need a Grants.gov account for electronic submission. If your organization does not yet have these registrations, start the process immediately.

Moving Forward

Environmental justice grants are not charity. They are investments in communities that have been systematically underserved and overburdened. The federal government is directing significant resources toward these communities, and the organizations best positioned to access those resources are the ones already embedded in the work: listening to residents, documenting harm, building coalitions, and developing solutions.

If your organization is doing this work, the funding landscape in 2026 is more favorable than it has been in years. Take the time to understand the programs, build your capacity, and craft proposals that reflect the depth of your community knowledge and the rigor of your approach. Use our grant finder to identify opportunities that match your mission, and explore grants for nonprofits to see the full range of what is available.

The communities that need these resources most are counting on organizations like yours to bring them home.