North Texas had sought nearly $200 million in funding to implement its climate plan, but was not selected to receive federal funding this year.
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency began accepting applications from state and local governments to develop and implement climate change plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. The applicants were seeking $4.6 billion made available through the Inflation Control Act.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments developed and submitted a short-term plan in March, followed by a specific project proposal in April.
Savannah Nance, chief air quality planner at the Council of Governments, said the group is seeking $199 million to fund 19 of the 44 proposals, including transportation, It said the sectors include energy, waste management, green spaces and water.
“One example of this could be to provide rebates to residents and local governments who improve energy efficiency or install solar power,” Nance said. “Alternatively, it could be improving cycle lanes and making all roads accessible to cyclists and pedestrians, or clean vehicle funding to move away from gasoline and diesel vehicles and equipment to alternative fuels. I included it.”
But when 25 applicants were selected in July, Austin was the only city in Texas to receive funding. Nance said North Texas was passed over simply because it had a competitive application pool. There were 218 applicants, so the EPA had to choose “the best of the best applicants,” she said.
“The North Central Texas Council of Governments has applied for a lot of funding,” Nance said. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t.”
The Council of Governments met with EPA officials at a debriefing session to discuss the application. Nance said the Council of Government’s score was “slightly above average,” which was acceptable to application reviewers, but low enough to not be selected.
“EPA has very specific scoring criteria,” Nance said. “For example, there are sections such as low-income and disadvantaged communities, where you can earn up to 35 points based on how the judges think your application will impact low-income and disadvantaged communities. can.”
Although the Council of Governments has not received any funding, officials are optimistic about future grant applications and will continue to apply to federal programs, including the EPA’s Clean Heavy Vehicle Program, Nance said.
The Council of Governments is currently focused on the Dallas-Fort Worth Air Quality Improvement Plan, examining how the region can improve air quality over the next 25 years. Officials held an open house earlier this year to solicit ideas from area residents.
North Texas is currently classified as a “major” violation of the EPA’s 2008 ozone standard, which requires ozone concentrations in metropolitan areas to average 75 parts per billion or less. If the region doesn’t reduce the number of ozone warning days by the end of 2026, local businesses that emit certain pollutants could face $45 million in annual fines, according to previous Fort Worth Report reporting.
An air quality improvement plan won’t be submitted until next summer, Nance said.
“We are definitely working on finding other opportunities to implement these,” she said. “This scheme has been developed with a lot of engagement on our part, so we are very pleased to see such demand in our region. Although we were not able to obtain one, we are actively considering other applications.”
Kevin Vu is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a contributor to the Fort Worth Report.
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