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Climate Pollution Reduction Planning Grant

What is Oregon's Climate Pollution Reduction Planning Grant?

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program is one of many federal funding opportunities created through the Inflation Reduction Act and run through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The first round of grants is being provided to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution.

Through this grant, the state of Oregon will create a Priority Climate Action Plan (due to EPA March 1, 2024) and a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (due to EPA fall of 2025) to highlight opportunities to reduce climate pollution. In addition to the state, the Portland-Hillsboro-Vancouver region, led by Metro, and federally recognized tribes in Oregon are eligible for planning grant funds.

The second round of Climate Pollution Reduction Grants will be to implement actions outlined in the Priority Climate Action Plan. More information is expected to be released by EPA later this year related to the second phase of funding.

Oregon's Priority Climate Action Plan

The Priority Climate Action Plan is guided by the extensive work that Oregon, local jurisdictions, and Tribes have done to date on planning for and implementing climate pollution reduction actions. DEQ is collaborating with these agencies, Tribes and the public to identify actions that reduce climate pollution in Oregon in ways that most benefit local communities.

Oregon's approach to the PCAP is to include measures that will qualify for the Climate Pollution Reduction Implementation Grant application. The goal is to submit a single large state grant application to the EPA that encompasses actions to reduce greenhouse gases across the state and in local jurisdictions. The PCAP focuses on measures to reduce emissions from transportation, residential and commercial buildings, and food waste and landfills. Detailed actions will be evaluated based on the criteria set by the EPA for the implementation grant Notice Of Funding Opportunity. 

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Energy have developed a Draft Priority Climate Action Plan as part of an Environmental Protection Agency Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Planning Phase.

The measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions included in this draft PCAP were selected to meet the specific EPA criteria provided in the implementation grant notice guidance. These measures have been identified as “priority measures" for the purposes of pursuing this funding. These measures do not represent a comprehensive list of Oregon's priorities for climate action. These measures also do not represent all the necessary and needed actions for emission reductions in Oregon. Instead, the selected measures included in this draft PCAP meet the following criteria:

  1. that achieve maximum reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while driving benefits to surrounding communities, and
  2. to invest in measures that are ready to receive funds to use over the next several years.
The PCAP has been developed to achieve the most reductions in the short term so that longer term planning, engagement, and development can be a future focus. 

Next Steps  

The next step is to apply for implementation funding and continue the development of Oregon's Comprehensive Climate Action Plan.  Building on the PCAP, implementation of which will help the state reach the 2030 milestone, Oregon will develop the CCAP to help achieve the state's climate goals, particularly the 2040 and 2050 goals. The CCAP will consist of five workstreams, some of which are already underway:     
  • The development of an Oregon State Energy Strategy that identifies areas for improved alignment of energy policy, regulation, implementation, financial investment, and technical assistance to achieve decarbonization. 
  • A GHG emissions reduction policy gap analysis of sources and sectors.
  • A Natural and Working Lands Carbon Sequestration Inventory.   
  • Continuation of community engagement to identify the barriers faced by Oregon’s environmental justice communities to accessing and benefiting from clean energy projects and programs and to identify the GHG mitigation measures that are of most interest and benefit to those communities.  
  • Oregon’s Comprehensive Climate Action Plan, which will synthesize the findings of the efforts listed above to identify recommended policies and actions to achieve Oregon’s 2040 and 2050 climate goals and develop metrics to track progress toward achieving them. 

Resources

Contact

Contact the Climate Pollution Reduction Planning Grant team by email: CPRG@deq.oregon.gov

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