Biden administration to put $4.6 billion toward state and local climate plans

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will make $4.6 billion available to help states, localities and tribes implement their climate plans.

The funds represent the bulk of a $5 billion effort under the Inflation Reduction Act to help local and state governments cut their greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. 

The administration has already put an additional $250 million to help them develop the plans.

Biden administration officials told reporters that four states — Florida, Iowa, Kentucky and South Dakota — declined to participate; major metropolitan areas in those states did receive planning grants. 

The $4.6 billion will be part of a grant competition. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it plans to dole out 30 to 115 grants of between $2 million and $50 million in what it described as the “general competition.”

It will also award 25 to 100 grants of between $1 million and $25 million to tribes and territories. 

“President Biden secured this historic funding because he knows that communities need resources to fund projects to cut climate pollution, lift up disadvantaged communities, and reap the economic and job-creation benefits of climate action,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a written statement. 

“By investing in America, we’re investing in communities so they can chart their own paths toward the clean energy future,” he added.