California Awards $96 Million for Climate Projects in 10 Frontline Communities

SACRAMENTO – The state today approved $96.2 million in grants to support 10 disadvantaged, unincorporated and tribal communities across California to plan and implement neighborhood-level projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve public health and the environment and expand economic opportunity for residents. 
  
Combined, the 10 projects approved today will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 64,000 metric tons, equivalent to taking 14,000 cars off the road for one year. 
  
“California is empowering communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis to tackle pollution and build resilience in their own neighborhoods,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “This innovative support for community-led projects across the state will bring environmental, health and economic benefits to Californians for decades to come.” 

Photos from the Transform Fresno project, which received a $66.5 million TCC grant in Round 1 of the program

The California Strategic Growth Council voted unanimously today to approve this grant funding through the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) program, which has awarded a total of $230 million in 26 communities since 2016. In total, the state has allocated $661 million to the TCC program since 2016. The program is an important component of the Governor’s multi-year $54 billion California Climate Commitment to advance economic opportunity and environmental justice in communities across the state. 

The current round of TCC grant funding will support seven planning grants and implementation of three climate resilience infrastructure proposals. Planning grants provide pre-construction support to communities to successfully apply to future funding rounds though TCC or other funding sources, while implementation grants fund affordable housing, transit access, energy efficiency, building electrification, water and waste management, green infrastructure, air quality, workforce training, anti-displacement programs and more.  
 
The TCC grants approved today will support projects in disadvantaged, unincorporated and tribal communities across the state:

  
“Yôotva (thank you) to the State of California for bringing Tribes into the room and having access to this opportunity. The Karuk Tribe is the second largest Tribe in California and our native communities, like Orleans, are going to be some of the most impacted environmentally and economically due to new climate realities. With this planning effort we can get ahead of the crisis,” said Russell Attebery, Tribal Chairman of the Karuk Tribe. 

“Community groups like SAJE, SCOPE and TRUST South LA have advocated for almost a decade for climate investments to come to the community of South Los Angeles and to consider the needs of existing community members,” said Marie Patiño Gutierrez, Director of Policy and Research at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy and community leader with South LA Eco-Lab. “An investment of this size will greatly benefit our neighbors and support strong tenant and small business protections and policies for our communities in the long term.” 
 
“The impact of redlining is evident in South Los Angeles. We experience high amounts of air pollution, heavy policing, lack of green spaces, and polluting industries, with some neighbors living 5 feet away from active oil wells,” said Brian Jointer, resident of South-Central Los Angeles and member of Scope. “With support through the Transformative Climate Communities program, we want to re-imagine a South LA that has clean air, more parks, free transit, and healthier community spaces that provide relief from extreme heat. Thank you for choosing South LA EcoLab as a TCC recipient.” 
  
As part of the current round of TCC funding, the Strategic Growth Council also voted to allocate $10 million in remaining funds towards additional technical assistance as well as a pilot initiative to fund basic infrastructure and project development in under-resourced unincorporated and tribal communities.