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EPA Marks One Year of Progress Under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act

WASHINGTON (Aug. 16, 2023) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) marks one year of progress implementing President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the most ambitious climate law in U.S. history and a core pillar of Bidenomics and the President's Investing in America Agenda. Since the legislation was signed into law, EPA has moved swiftly to put a historic $41 billion dollars to work to reduce emissions, build a clean economy, lower energy costs for American households and businesses, create good-paying union jobs, and advance environmental justice across the country.

“President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is the game-changer America needed for climate action,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The EPA team has been hard at work designing innovative programs to cut emissions in every sector of our economy, while empowering communities across the country with the resources to take decisive action. We are centering environmental justice in everything we do, ensuring communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis are benefiting from the public health, resilience, and economic opportunities unleashed by this transformative legislation. This is Bidenomics in action – achieving our ambitious climate and clean energy goals while investing directly in the wellbeing and prosperity of hard-working Americans.” 

EPA’s Inflation Reduction Act programs are helping meet President Biden’s goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50-52% below 2005 levels in 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by no later than 2050. Along with cutting emissions, these programs are advancing President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative to direct at least 40% of the overall benefits of these investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities to combat decades of underinvestment and address disproportionate environmental burden. 

Year One in Review

In just one year, EPA has made tremendous progress designing and implementing new Inflation Reduction Act programs. In November 2022, EPA was the first federal agency to award Inflation Reduction Act dollars by announcing more than $30 million to expand community air monitoring in 37 states, followed by an additional $25 million in clean air grants to improve air quality across the country.  

At the same time, from day one, EPA has prioritized robust stakeholder engagement, listening to states, municipalities, and Tribal governments, environmental justice and climate nonprofits, labor unions, and community-based organizations to inform the development of new programs. These perspectives will ensure EPA’s Inflation Reduction Act programs meet the unique needs of stakeholders and maximize the results of this historic funding for communities and the environment.

EPA first-year Inflation Reduction Act highlights include:

Designed and launched competitions for a national-scale clean energy financing network. The Inflation Reduction Act authorized EPA to implement the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a historic $27 billion investment to mobilize financing and private capital to combat the climate crisis and bolster the clean financing market. EPA has opened all three grant competitions under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund including the $7 billion Solar for All competition, the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund, and the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator. All three of the competitive grant opportunities are designed to mobilize private capital into clean technology projects, strengthen the market for project deployment, create good-paying clean energy jobs, and lower energy costs for American families, while cutting harmful pollution to protect people’s health and tackle the climate crisis. These first-of-their-kind programs also support the President’s commitment to ensuring all communities can participate in the clean energy transition, with over two-thirds of the funds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund dedicated to low-income and disadvantaged communities.

Catalyzing innovative strategies to cut climate pollution and deploy clean energy solutions nationwide. EPA’s $5 billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, created by the Inflation Reduction Act, is enabling states, municipalities, Tribes, and territories to develop community-driven solutions to dramatically cut climate pollution, transition key sectors, and position communities to be more resilient and sustainable. In year one of implementation, EPA made $250 million dollars available to fund the development of climate action plans, and nearly all states, plus major cities in all 50 states, have opted in to receive these flexible planning resources. In the coming weeks, EPA will announce a $4.6 billion grant competition to fund select initiatives developed under the first phase of the program. Together, these grants will catalyze transformative local climate solutions, enable communities to chart a path toward unprecedented emissions reductions, and create good-paying jobs across the country.  

Building the framework for the largest investment in environmental justice in U.S. history.

From day one of his administration, President Biden has made achieving environmental justice a top priority. The Inflation Reduction Act created a new Environmental and Climate Justice Program that EPA will launch this fall to provide more than $2 billion in grants and $200 million in technical assistance to community-based organizations to address community climate priorities. EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights has conducted months of extensive public engagement to inform the design of this program, including with the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, and hundreds of individuals from frontline communities. Under this program, disadvantaged communities will be able to apply for funding to support a vast array of community-driven priorities, from extreme heat mitigation to climate resilience to zero-emissions technologies and workforce development to expand pathways into high-quality jobs.

EPA launched competitions and will soon award funding for three new and expanded environmental justice grant programs totaling $650 million, including a $550 million  Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program, a $70 million Government-to-Government Program, and a $30 million  Collaborative Problem-Solving Program.

These Inflation Reduction Act activities build on EPA’s existing and ongoing commitment to underserved communities. Over the last year, EPA has launched and expanded innovative programs to provide more support than ever before to communities that unjustly bear the burdens of environmental harm and pollution. One highlight includes the $177 million for the creation of 16 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) to remove barriers to federal resources and help communities pursue funding opportunities like those made available through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda.

Looking Ahead to Year Two

EPA made significant progress in the first year of implementing the historic Inflation Reduction Act and has laid a strong foundation to continue delivering robust results in year two. In the coming months, the agency will award billions in additional funding to states, cities, Tribal governments, community-based organizations, and other grassroots leaders on the front lines of combatting climate change and build a stronger, cleaner economy for all Americans. EPA will launch numerous additional cutting-edge Inflation Reduction Act programs to curb harmful methane emissions, reduce air pollution at ports and in surrounding communities, promote low-carbon construction materials, improve air quality at schools, and put more clean vehicles on America’s roads. EPA will remain steadfastly committed to delivering on President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative to ensure every community benefits from progress under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Americans are already witnessing how the Inflation Reduction Act is spurring private sector investment, accelerating state and local action, and delivering concrete evidence of clean energy progress across the country. Together, these investments will generate economic growth, contribute to the revitalization of American manufacturing, and create good paying union jobs that strengthen America’s middle class. This has been a historic year, and EPA will keep its pace in the second year of implementation to continue delivering on the vision and opportunities for people and the planet established by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

Learn more about EPA’s implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

 

Contact: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)