00E03865

Description: The purpose of this award is to provide funding under the Inflation Reduction Act to Cuyahoga County.

The recipient will implement greenhouse gas reduction programs, policies, projects, and measures identified in a priority climate action plan developed under a Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Planning Grant.

Activities conducted through this grant will benefit all residents and visitors to Northeast Ohio through four main objectives: implementation of ambitious measures that will achieve significant cumulative GHG reductions by 2030 and beyond; pursuit of measures that will achieve substantial community benefits, particularly in low-income and disadvantaged communities; complementing other funding sources to maximize these GHG reductions and community benefits; and, pursuit of innovative policies and programs that are replicable and can be 'scaled up' across multiple jurisdictions.

Activities: The activities include installing solar arrays throughout Cuyahoga County and planting native pollinator habitats and trees around the solar arrays.

Subrecipient: Cuyahoga County is allotting subawards to the City of Painesville, the City of Cleveland, and Manufacturing Works.

The City of Painesville will procure a solar system and battery, including distribution line costs, site control needs, and personnel administrative and implementation costs for the solar array.

City of Painesville will contribute to the nature-based solutions measure by planting 140 acres of native pollinator habitat, reforesting approximately 4,000 trees, and hire personnel to oversee this portion of the project.

The City of Cleveland will develop 3 solar locations and also support the nature-based solutions measure by planting 19 acres of native pollinator habitat surrounding the solar arrays.

Additionally, they will develop a community parklet around one of the solar arrays that will include an educational kiosk, cloud cover, and a woodchip path.

Manufacturing Works will carry out workforce ecosystem capacity building and coordination.

This includes pre-apprenticeship programs and outreach for available jobs and pre-apprenticeship positions.

Outcomes: The anticipated deliverables include generation of clean energy to be supplied to residents of Cuyahoga County, City of Cleveland, and City of Painesville.

A peaking coal-fired plant will be decommissioned and replaced by the solar arrays.

Over 1,000 acres of brownfield will be restored with native meadow and trees.

The expected outcomes include a reduction in GHG emissions, as well as criteria air pollutants and hazardous air pollutant emissions.

The nature-based solutions measure will decrease the amount of runoff into Lake Erie and the Grand River.

Jobs will be created to maintain the solar arrays and native pollinator habitats.

A parklet with educational information will be created to expand the community's awareness.

The intended beneficiaries include residents of Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland, and the City of Painesville.

Many residents are part of low-income and disadvantaged communities.

4 of the 6 solar sites are geographically located in Justice40 communities.

This project will help reduce rates of electricity to all residents, as well as improving overall air quality.

Cuyahoga County

5 - ENSURE CLEAN AND SAFE WATER FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 5.1 - ENSURE SAFE DRINKING WATER AND RELIABLE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 4 - ENSURE CLEAN AND HEALTHY AIR FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 4.1 - IMPROVE AIR QUALITY AND REDUCE LOCALIZED POLLUTION AND HEALTH IMPACTS 1 - TACKLE THE CLIMATE CRISIS 1.1 - REDUCE EMISSIONS THAT CAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE

66.046 - Climate Pollution Reduction Grants

EPA Region 5: Chicago [EPA - RO]

Cuyahoga, Ohio United States

County-Wide

Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Program: Implementation Grants (General Competition) (EPA-R-OAR-CPRGI-23-07)