About

CLIMATE RESILIENT RVA

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program is an exciting opportunity for the Richmond region to support green development while lowering greenhouse emissions. 

Managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the CPRG program was established by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to award grants to state and local governments across the country to develop and implement programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

 

Key CPRG Grant Program Steps

  • Due March 1, 2024

    • Near-term, implementation-ready, priority greenhouse gas reduction (GHG) measures

    • Prerequisite for implementation grant

  • Due April 1, 2024

    • Applications for implementation grants corresponding to PCAP priorities

  • Due in 2025

    • Near- and long-term GHG emission reduction goals and strategies

    • A timeline for meeting specified goals

  • Due in 2027

    • Updated analyses and plans

    • Progress and next steps for key metrics

In 2023, the EPA distributed planning grants to states, local governments, tribes and other entities to develop and implement Priority Climate Action Plans (PCAPs) and Comprehensive Climate Action Plans (CCAP).

PlanRVA received a $1 million planning grant in 2023 and is leading the creation of the PCAP and CCAP for our region.

PCAPs are due to the EPA on March 1, 2024 and must outline short-term, ready-to-implement projects and policies the region can take to reduce climate pollution. PlanRVA is focusing on the transportation and waste sectors within its PCAP.

Implementation grant applications – state and locality plans to execute the projects and priorities within the PCAP – are due to the EPA on April 1, 2024. A total of $4.6 billion is available nationwide for the implementation grants to carry out priority projects identified in the PCAPs. Projects must be tied to sectors in the PCAP to be eligible for funding.

The region’s CCAP is due to the EPA on March 1, 2025 and will detail long-term strategies to lower greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors. For example, while the Richmond region’s PCAP is focused on transportation and waste, the CCAP will include all sectors that contribute to air pollutant emissions. The plan will also include an analyses of current and projected greenhouse emissions and will be time-bound, meaning it will include a specified year for achieving goal targets.

Finally, a status report will be submitted to the EPA in 2027 with updated analyses and plans, as well as progress by the region in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Community Feedback: Key to developing climate plans

PlanRVA and its locality partners are focused on collecting community feedback during the planning process, with an emphasis on engaging overburdened and historically underinvested communities throughout the region.

PlanRVA is organizing a series of focus groups and public engagement opportunities in January to hear from people living in the region about their ideas for reducing climate pollution. The community feedback and ideas will help inform and develop the PCAP.

Email CPRG@planrva.org to stay informed on community engagement updates.

PCAP Focus Areas: Transportation and Waste

Representatives from local jurisdictions helped identify transportation and waste as climate priorities in the region’s PCAP report. This means near-term transportation and waste projects will be submitted for implementation grants in April.

Localities can submit ideas for projects and programs for the Richmond region’s PCAP here.