FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
29 July 2022
Contact: Kevin McGuire, 202-538-2386 (mobile)
The Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act encompasses over 50 proposals aimed at protections against wildfires and droughts and mitigation efforts for communities impacted by climate disasters.
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán’s (CA-44) Climate Justice Grants Act to support community driven climate solutions in environmental justice communities was passed by the House of Representatives, as part of H.R. 5118, The Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act.
H.R. 5118 consists of 49 proposals aimed at investments to prevent wildfires, invests in water resiliency to address drought, and creates mitigation efforts for communities impacted by climate disasters. California is facing extreme drought because of the climate crisis.
“In my minority-majority district, and districts across the country, climate change is a direct threat to our health and livelihoods,” said Rep. Barragán. “In Los Angeles County, children live and go to school next to active oil wells and communities are surrounded by freeways filled with trucks. I was proud to vote today for a bill that included provisions from my Climate Justice Grants Act. These grants will empower low-income communities and communities of color to reduce pollution in their neighborhoods and transition to 100% clean energy. It is the only way to tackle the climate crisis meaningfully and equitably.”
The climate crisis disproportionally affects low-income communities and communities of color, who are hit first and worst by extreme weather and experience health problems from polluted land, air, and water. Rep. Barragán’s Climate Justice Grants Act, included in the package, authorizes a 5-year Climate Justice Grants program at EPA to provide $1 billion per year in grants for projects and initiatives proposed by environmental justice communities.
Grant recipients can accept up to $2 million for community clean energy projects, weatherization, home and building electrification, energy storage, electric vehicle deployment, installing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, building natural infrastructure, and climate resilient infrastructure.
Investments from the Climate Justice Grants Act are also included in the Senate’s recently announced Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Nanette Diaz Barragán is proud to represent California’s 44th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Carson, Compton, Florence-Firestone, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, San Pedro, South Gate, Walnut Park, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington. She serves as chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Border Security, and on the House Energy and Commerce Health, Energy, and Environment & Climate Change Subcommittees.