California Air Resources Board

Assembly Bill (AB) 617 (C. Garcia, Chapter 136, Statutes of 2017) authorized the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to establish the Community Air Protection Program (CAPP) to improve air quality in communities affected by a high cumulative exposure burden. AB 617 requires CARB to provide grants to community-based organizations for technical assistance and to support participation in the community air protection process. Community Air Grants (CAGs) provide funds to California community-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations and California Native American Tribes through a competitive process. To date, CARB has awarded $35 million dollars to 69 organizations and eight tribal governments to build community capacity, improve air quality at the local scale, and support community participation in the Community Air Protection Program (Program).

Under Blueprint 2.0, the statewide strategy and implementation guidance to reduce harmful emissions and exposures to air pollution in communities most impacted by poor air quality, CARB commits to using CAGs as a new pathway to provide benefits, such as grants, to not only the 19 communities selected into the Program but also other communities heavily impacted by air pollution, including communities consistently nominated for the program throughout the state. This goal aligns with CARB’s commitment to diversity, racial equity, inclusion, and environmental justice (EJ).

The CAGs are funded, in part, through the State’s portion of Cap-and-Trade auction proceeds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).

Almost $16M Now Available for Community Grants Cycle 5 Projects – Application Deadline November 1, 2024

The Cycle 5 Request for Applications (C5 RFA or RFA) is now available for eligible nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations and California Native American Tribes to apply for Community Air Grants. Review the RFA for application instructions and scoring criteria.

Eligible Applicants:

1. California non-profit organization with current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) section 501(c)(3) tax exemption
2. California current IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempted non-profit organization as the Grantee, in partnership with a California community-based organization without Section 501(c)(3) status designated as a sub-grantee
3. California Native American Tribe. For the purposes of this grant, this includes all Federally Recognized Tribes, and other California Native American Tribes, as defined by Governor’s Executive Order B-10-11.

Funding Available: Almost $16M for the Cycle 5 Project Awards.

Maximum award per project:

• Educational projects - $300,000 maximum award
• Technical and Focused (previously “Targeted”) projects - $500,000 maximum award

All projects must be wholly located in California, and benefit disadvantaged and low-income communities, per Senate Bill 535 (De León, Chapter 830, Statutes of 2012) and Assembly Bill 1550 (Gomez, Chapter 369, Statutes of 2016).

Grant Term: The grant term will be approximately from June 2025 through March 2027 or December 2027, depending on the project type awarded.

Deadline for applications is November 1, 2024. For more information, please see the Cycle 5 RFA page.