Mid-Atlantic Environmental Justice Fund - Track II: Tree Canopy for Resiliency and Public Health

Overview

Mid-Atlantic Environmental Justice Fund

The Mid-Atlantic Environmental Justice Fund is a grant program that leverages forestry to address environmental justice (EJ) issues in the Mid-Atlantic. Our goal is to disperse and democratize the range of co-benefits that healthy community forests have for decades into the future. A just community forestry and tree stewardship effort that integrates environmental, climate, and energy justice is a powerful tool to improve the health of the Mid-Atlantic region. Increasing tree canopy improves local air and water quality, cools neighborhoods, fosters public health, stimulates local green jobs, encourages community cohesion, mitigates flooding and its adverse effects, and strengthens the region and its inhabitants.

The Chesapeake Bay Trust co-leads the Mid-Atlantic Environmental Justice Fund with Appalachian Voices, Centro de Apoyo Familiar, Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH Inc), Empower DC, Howard University, Overbrook Environmental Education Center, Sentinels of the Eastern Shore Health, and South Baltimore Community Land Trust. Emphasizing a participatory and inclusive decision-making process, the Fund empowers different representatives of communities affected by environmental injustice to participate in the development of the Request for Proposal (RFP), scoring applications, selecting funded projects, and providing limited technical assistance to a select group of applicants.

Fund

Track II: Tree Canopy for Resiliency and Public Health

This track seeks to support tree planting and tree canopy improvements to address local public health, ecological, and environmental issues like air pollution and stormwater management. Projects should implement best practices and nature-based solutions to support biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. To ensure meaningful integration between applicants and the communities where the project will be located, the application process will require letters of recommendation from community members. Air-monitoring equipment can comprise up to $1,500 of an application budget for this track.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

* Community-based organizations that are tax-exempt or fiscally sponsored throughout the Mid-Atlantic region (DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, WV), particularly those who have historically faced barriers in securing funding to address EJ issues.
* We welcome requests only from tax-exempt or fiscally sponsored organizations including, but not limited to:
* Community and neighborhood associations
* Counties and municipalities
* Fiscally sponsored community-based organizations
* Faith-based institutions
* Federally recognized tribes
* Forest conservancy district boards
* Indigenous-led non-profit organizations
* Institutions of higher education
* Non-profit organizations
* Non-profit tribal organizations
* Schools
* Service, youth, and civic groups
* The project must be located in areas that are in areas identified as disadvantaged by EPA’s IRA Disadvantaged Communities Map, federally approved opportunity zones, or PennEnviroScreen mapping tool.
* Eligible Project Property Types include, but are not limited to:
* Streets and right-of-way projects
* Reclamation of mine-impacted lands projects
* Abandoned agricultural land restoration
* Institutional grounds, such as, but not limited to, faith, education, or health institutions.
* Vacant lots
* Tribal lands
* Other types of nonfederal public or private property.
* Your project should include all three phases:
* Phase I Planning and Outreach
* Focused on obtaining permits and support from the landowners and neighbors of the properties where the trees will be planted.
* For new trees to survive and thrive, the people around them should welcome them and help ensure their sustainability.
* Phase II Implementation
* Focused on tree planting or tree canopy improvement.
* We encourage you to choose native trees, but using introduced species to create food forests is also allowed.
* Fall planting is recommended to maximize survivorship.
* Phase III: Maintenance
* A written 2-year maintenance plan is required.
* It must include: 
* Watering and mulching
* Pruning
* Pest, disease, and invasives control
* Leaf removal, care, and/or mowing around the tree.

Ineligibility

* Due to the federal nature of this grant funding, some types of projects, applicants, and expenses are restricted. These restrictions include, but are not limited to: 
* Land acquisition.
* Work defined in 2 CFR 200 as Research and Development.
* Planting projects on private property without documented approval by the property owner.
* Projects required as mitigation for new or redevelopment, regulatory offset, or regulatory reasons. 
* Projects located in areas not considered as disadvantaged by the map provided above.
* Applications by for-profit entities.
* Applications from organizations with outstanding final, progress, or status reports under other CBT grants.
* Purchase of equipment, defined as an article of nonexpendable, tangible personal property with a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit.
* Certain telecommunications and video surveillance equipment or services as described in 2 CFR 200.216.
* Construction activities, including site preparation like sidewalk repairs or extensive concrete removal.
* Removal of trees that don’t meet eligibility criteria approved by the Forest Service and are not replaced within one year and in a 1:1 ratio (1 new tree for 1 tree removed).
* Planting of state-listed invasive species, including species listed as “restricted”, “pending further review”, “non-restricted”, or on a watch list.