In 2023, the Oregon Legislature established the
Community Green Infrastructure Grant Program with
HB 3409 and put $6.5 million into a fund to be administered by the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). Green infrastructure is infrastructure that mimics natural systems, such as urban green space and parks, trees, rain gardens, and bioswales, among others. It offers a wide array of social, environmental, and economic benefits, including:
- Climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration
- Stormwater management
- Lower temperatures
- Air and noise pollution reduction
- Energy savings
- Economic development and creation of local jobs
- Public health improvements
- Water conservation and quality improvements
- Erosion and flood control
- Park and open space creation
- Urban forest benefits
- Wetlands and riparian area restoration
- Habitat improvements
- Aquifer recharge and higher stream flows
- Enhanced community livability
Sign up for program updates via email through GovDelivery.
Advisory Committee Recruitment
DLCD is seeking members for an Advisory Committee on Community Green Infrastructure Investment.
Applications will be accepted through Sunday, April 28, 2024.
Apply Here
Advisory committee members may also apply for grants.
The program will award grants in four categories:
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Community green infrastructure projects developed through a collaborative process and benefiting an environmental justice community (defined in Oregon Revised Statutes 182.535), includes both planning and development of projects;
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Community green infrastructure economic development projects, which are community green infrastructure projects that employ members of a community that benefits from the project, includes both planning and development of projects;
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Native seed banks or native plant nurseries; and
- Supporting and implementing
green infrastructure master plans, including urban forestry plans, stormwater management plans, and parks and public green space plans.
The awarded grants will be at least:
- 30% for green infrastructure economic development projects;
- 40% for projects in Green Infrastructure Improvement Zones (determined by the Department of Forestry); and
- 30% for projects in tribal, rural, remote, or coastal communities.
DLCD expects to begin accepting applications in late spring 2024.
An applicant for a community green infrastructure or green infrastructure economic development project may partner with a state agency, an Oregon private business, or an owner of Oregon rental property.
Public bodies and tribal governments are eligible for grants for green infrastructure master plans.
Requirements for community green infrastructure projects and green infrastructure economic development projects
Community green infrastructure projects and green infrastructure economic development projects must:
- Be located in Oregon;
- Provide social, environmental, or economic benefits to an environmental justice community (defined in
ORS 182.535) and be developed in coordination with that community;
- Be planned in consultation with the city or county where the project will be located;
- Be planned in consultation with the electric and water utilities that serve that location; and
- Have a 3-year maintenance plan or request technical assistance for maintenance planning.
Priority will be given to projects that:
- Use large, low-maintenance, storm- and drought-resistant trees;
- Plant trees near schools, affordable housing, senior housing, manufactured dwelling or RV parks, or in public rights of way;
- Implement an adopted city plan to increase urban tree canopy where the city has an agreement with an Oregon nursery to supply trees;
- Strengthen communities and fight displacement;
- Develop innovative solutions for using urban woody biomass;
- Use a community's cultural practices to educate, and conserve and manage resources for, future generations;
- Minimize vehicle miles traveled in transporting plant and tree stock;
- Include partnerships with Oregon nurseries certified by the Oregon Department of Agriculture or operated by an Indian tribe;
- Use native and pollinator-friendly plant stock, especially that grown from native seed banks or native seed recovery and planting efforts;
- Use climate-adaptive plant stock that is regionally native, drought and disease tolerant, and non-invasive.
Priorities specific to projects on school campuses
Community green infrastructure projects and green infrastructure economic development projects on school campuses should include an educational component for students that teaches them about:
- Green infrastructure;
- Careers in green infrastructure; and
- Cultural practices to educate, and conserve and manage resources for future generations.