Dear NE FL Region,

My name is Ashantae Green and I serve as the Sustainability Manager of the City of Jacksonville. My fellow NE FL Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) colleagues and I are so excited to launch this regional Clean Air Northeast Florida Newsletter.   

Our goal with the newsletter is to keep the community apprised of the CPRG efforts, build collaboration, momentum, and cohesion throughout the region, and foster engagement. When appropriate, this newsletter will share upcoming events, CPRG updates, regional news and announcements, and more. We promise to make it worth your time with useful information and always have methods to deeply engage in this momentous endeavor. 

We invite EVERYONE to engage as this region builds out a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan over the next year. 

Brief Background on CPRG 

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program provides $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. Authorized under Section 60114 of the Inflation Reduction Act, this two-phase program provides $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants, and approximately $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants. 

In September 2023, the City of Jacksonville, ths the lead organization and applicant for NE FL Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), was awarded $1 million climate pollution reduction planning grant. By April 1, 2024, the Jacksonville MSA CPRG team had completed the region’s first greenhouse gas inventory, first climate action plan, and submitted/participated in three applications for implementation grant dollars.   

Read on and subscribe/share this newsletter with others to stay update and engaged! 

Thank you in advance for helping our community grow sustainably.  

Sincerely, 

Ashantae Green

By April 1, 2024, the COJ submitted three EPA CPRG implementation grant applications: 

• Sunshine State Energy Resilience Coalition (SSERC) application was submitted for $200 million focused on energy efficiency and solar in partnership with four other FL MSA’s (Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metro Area MSA, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA, and Orlando- Kissimmee-Sanford MSA). With over 8,600,000 residents, the SSERC Project represents almost 40% of Florida’s population – 15 counties and 91 cities.

 

• Northeast Florida's Electric Vehicle Overhaul and Low-Emission Transit (E-VOLT) application was submitted for $50 million and is a visionary step towards actualizing the principles of Resilient Jacksonville: Jacksonville’s 50-Year Resilience Strategy. By addressing the pressing challenge of climate change through innovative transportation solutions, the E-VOLT project aligns perfectly with the strategy’s focus on fostering healthy communities and environments while proactively adapting to evolving social and economic conditions. The project, by facilitating the transition to electric vehicles and enhancing mass transit and mobility hubs, directly supports actions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Through strategic investments in clean transportation infrastructure, the E-VOLT project embodies the strategy’s goals to guide smart and equitable development in areas safe from future hazards, promote safe and connected transportation options, and ultimately build a future-proof city that anticipates the needs and risks of the coming decades.  

• City of Palm Coast Dynamic Reinvestment in Piping Systems (DRiPs) for Wastewater Energy Efficiency and Climate Resiliency Project application was submitted for $10 million to address one of the city’s major challenges: wastewater. The project’s primary goal is to decrease GHG emissions and to enhance and increase energy efficiency within the wastewater treatment system infrastructure and promote climate resiliency. The wastewater treatment system is complex and comprised of sewer mains routed through lift and pump stations to transport wastewater (influent) to the wastewater treatment plant for processing. These sewer mains can become vulnerable to infiltration. Infiltration is the process of groundwater, or water from any source other than domestic wastewater, like stormwater, entering the sanitary sewers through cracks, breaks or the misalignment of fittings. The City noticed that because of the changing climate, the sanitary pipes become inundated by infiltration during wet weather events resulting in recorded-high wastewater treatment plant influent almost double the normal actual daily flow rate and at times triple. For instance, for five rainfall events occurring from the end of September 2023 to the end of December2023, Wastewater Treatment Plant I experienced, continued inundation from infiltration, seeing spikes of over 10MGD all the way to 14.8 MGD, this plant is rated to max out at 6.8MGD. 

COJ will find out if any of these applications are awarded funding by July 2024.  If awarded, funding is anticipated to arrive in October 2024. 

First Preliminary Regional Climate Action Plan Published Thanks to Planning Grant from U.S. EPA 

Under the $7 billion Solar for All program, Florida will be able to create new or expand existing low-income solar programs, which will enable over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from distributed solar energy. 

How should NE FL gather GHG reduction measures and ideas  

for its Comprehensive Climate Action Plan? 

Should we set up sector specific roundtables? Should we host community input sessions virtually and in-person? How can we reach people not typically engaged in this issue and listen to their voices and ideas?