00I18200

Description: The purpose of this award is to provide funding under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG).

The recipient will implement greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction programs, policies, projects, and measures identified in a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) developed under a Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) planning grant.

Activities conducted through this grant will benefit all residents and visitors to the DRCOG area (58 member jurisdictions) 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 to be performed include four building decarbonization projects to reduce greenhouse gases and other air pollutants.

The first project will provide full-service decarbonization for low-income and disadvantaged communities (LIDACs) by providing free home retrofits and upgrade services from start to finish, designed to meet LIDAC resident needs.

The second project will provide energy advising through free, data-driven, client-focused, and vendor-neutral support to help residential, multifamily, and commercial building owners through decarbonization.

The third project will provide funds, in the form of rebates and incentives, to mitigate costs, accelerate adoption, and spur market growth of decarbonization.

The fourth and final project will establish a building policy collaborative, which will provide facilitated support for accelerating and coordinating zero-emissions building policy implementation region-wide and funds to grow municipal capacity.

Subrecipient: Denver Regional Council of Governments anticipates a total subaward budget of $34,800,000 over the span of the five-year project period.

On average, subawards will be in the amount of $600,000 for each of DRCOG's 58 member governments.

The subawards are part of the Building Policy Collaborative Project (Measure 4).

The Building Policy Collaborative Project aims to provide facilitated support for accelerating and coordinating zero-emissions building policy implementation region-wide and funds to grow municipal capacity.

Under this program, member jurisdictions can apply for subawards to support:

Direct staff capacity (internal or contracted),

Permitting process and applicant support,

Inspection and enforcement,

Systems administration,

New data tracking capabilities,

Certification and training,

Software licenses,

Legal counsel and support,

Community engagement,

Peer-to-peer and elected coordination,

Strategic policy advancement and collaborative work,

Data collection for coordination, and/or

Evaluation and studies.

Outcomes: The anticipated deliverables of the Decarbonize Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) program include over 60,000 homes and buildings partially or fully weatherized and/or electrified between 2025-2030;

Buildings equipped with new air filtration, purification, or cooling systems;

Leveraged state, federal, utility, and in-kind local government funds;

Training and job placement opportunities, particularly for low-income and disadvantaged communities (LIDACs);

Over 40,000 rebates and incentives issued between 2025-2030;

Over one million community members served, with a focus on LIDACs;

Regionally-standardized ambitious building energy and carbon codes/standards implemented quickly;

Updated and streamlined digital permitting systems and requirements;

And increased quality assurance checks, data collection and analysis, and results follow-up.

The expected outcomes include greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in the amount of 6,855,776.

Denver Regional Council Of Governments

1 - TACKLE THE CLIMATE CRISIS 1.1 - REDUCE EMISSIONS THAT CAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE 4 - ENSURE CLEAN AND HEALTHY AIR FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 4.1 - IMPROVE AIR QUALITY AND REDUCE LOCALIZED POLLUTION AND HEALTH IMPACTS 1 - A CLEANER, HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT 1.2 - PROVIDE FOR CLEAN AND SAFE WATER 1 - TACKLE THE CLIMATE CRISIS 1.1 - REDUCE EMISSIONS THAT CAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE

66.046 - Climate Pollution Reduction Grants

EPA Region 8: Denver [EPA - RO]

Denver, Colorado United States

City-Wide

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