00A01540

Description: This agreement provides funding under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to the City of Springfield, Massachusetts.

Specifically, the recipient will collaborate with various nonprofit organizations in Springfield to reduce indoor and outdoor air pollutants in disadvantaged communities by building two climate-resiliency hubs, planting 1,500 street trees, investing in e-bike sharing services, offering green workforce training programs, rehabilitating homes to treat indoor air pollution and improve the quality of indoor environments for families, decarbonizing home appliances, building bike and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, and monitoring local air quality.

Additionally, the recipient and project partners will engage community members to update the City of Springfield's Climate Action and Resilience Plan and to develop new climate goals and strategies to improve environmental quality and public health.

Activities: The recipient and project partners will reduce indoor/outdoor air pollution and build climate resiliency across Springfield through the implementation of 9 strategies.

To improve indoor air quality, the recipient and partners will reduce indoor greenhouse gases through a housing energy retrofit program, and an indoor air pollutant remediation program that will remediate moisture, indoor paint, and other indoor environmental hazards.

To improve outdoor air quality, the recipient and partners will reduce dependence on greenhouse gases by implementing a community solar program, planting 1,500 trees in disadvantaged neighborhoods to address heat islands, adding bike lanes and sidewalks to a traffic-congested street, supporting an eco-friendly alternative to cars through an e-bike share program, and monitoring air quality in the project area.

Lastly, the recipient and project partners will build climate resiliency and community strength by renovating two buildings to become energy resilience hubs to serve as emergency shelters, offering HVAC-R and green skills workforce training to at least 140 community residents, and engaging community members in the development of an updated Climate Action and Resilience Plan for the City of Springfield.

Subrecipient: The Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts (PHIWM) will conduct three primary activities: air quality monitoring, community engagement, and capacity building trainings.

To monitor air quality, PHIWM will add 15 air sensors in the project area to the Healthy Air Network, a website that provides free online air quality data to residents of Western Massachusetts.

PHIWM will also work with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to engage community residents in the process of updating Springfield's Climate Action and Resilience Plan.

PHIWM will play a significant role in facilitating the participation of the project's collaborative governance team, comprised of an advisory board and working group.

The 20-member advisory board will include 10 community resident advisors, which will be recruited by PHIWM.

The working group will be comprised of 9 organizations, including the City of Springfield, PHIWM, Revitalize CDC, MassHire, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Arise for Social Justice, Way Finders, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, and New North Citizens Council.

PHIWM will provide subawards to Way Finders, Arise for Social Justice, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, and New North Citizens Council to facilitate their participation in the working group.

PHIWM will also work with a consultant to provide capacity building training to the collaborative governance team.

PHIWM's community engagement efforts related to the Climate Action and Resilience Plan will also include 8 Climate Action and Resilience Plan community listening sessions and 6 community update meetings.

These meetings will be conducted in collaboration with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, who will lead the planning of these meetings.

PHIWM will also

City Of Springfield

1 - CORE MISSION 1.3 - REVITALIZE LAND AND PREVENT CONTAMINATION 2 - TAKE DECISIVE ACTION TO ADVANCE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS 2.1 - PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS AT THE FEDERAL, TRIBAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEVELS 3 - RULE OF LAW AND PROCESS 3.3 - PRIORITIZE ROBUST SCIENCE 2 - TAKE DECISIVE ACTION TO ADVANCE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS 2.1 - PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS AT THE FEDERAL, TRIBAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEVELS 5 - ENSURE CLEAN AND SAFE WATER FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 5.1 - ENSURE SAFE DRINKING WATER AND RELIABLE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 2 - TAKE DECISIVE ACTION TO ADVANCE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS 2.2 - EMBED ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS INTO EPA’S PROGRAMS, POLICIES, AND ACTIVITIES 5 - ENSURE CLEAN AND SAFE WATER FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 5.1 - ENSURE SAFE DRINKING WATER AND RELIABLE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 5 - ENSURE CLEAN AND SAFE WATER FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 5.1 - ENSURE SAFE DRINKING WATER AND RELIABLE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 2 - TAKE DECISIVE ACTION TO ADVANCE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS 2.1 - PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS AT THE FEDERAL, TRIBAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEVELS

66.616 - Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program

EPA Region 1: Boston [EPA - RO]

Massachusetts United States

State-Wide

Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program (EPA-R-OEJECR-OCS-23-04)

Termination This project grant was reported as terminated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in July 2025. See All
Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been shortened from 12/31/27 to 04/30/25.