Connecticut launches grant program to assist communities with climate resilience: launch event on September 23
This week the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Climate Resilience Fund, a state grant program that will help communities in the state plan and prepare for the effects of climate change, was launched. The fund is an historic state-level investment that will help communities initiate planning and envision projects for community climate resilience that can be implemented and constructed with federal funds.
A total of $10 million in state bond funding will be available in this first round. At least 40% of the funding will be prioritized for vulnerable communities, including environmental justice communities that will feel the effects of climate change first and worst.
The DEEP Climate Resilience Fund creates two funding opportunity tracks:
- Track 1 – Planning: Will provide funding for comprehensive climate resilience planning at either the regional, municipal, or neighborhood (hyper-local) level.
- Track 2 – Project Development: Will provide funding for municipalities and other related entities, to advance identified resilience projects to the concept stage and to be ready to apply for federal funding for implementation.
Together, these two funding tracks will create the climate resilience project pipeline, composed of plans and project concept designs that can win competitive federal grants to substantially fund implementation and construction. In fact, funding under this program may be used to prepare those federal grant applications. All grantees are also required to develop a local match funding strategy to meet the non-federal match requirements of federal funding opportunities. The local match strategy may include using the stormwater authority and climate resilience board expansions authorized under Governor Lamont’s Public Act 21-115.
Investing in climate mitigation and adaptation is critical. By 2050, Connecticut will experience stronger storms with stronger winds and heavier rain, longer, more frequent droughts, up to 20 inches of sea level rise along the coast, increased frequency of coastal flooding with levels like those seen in Superstorm Sandy every five to ten years, and an average of 20 additional days per year that are over 90°F. Connecticut is already feeling these impacts with heat waves experienced this summer and the record-breaking rainfall of storms last year.
The DEEP Climate Resilience Fund strongly encourages planning and project development that incorporates elements of nature to reduce flooding and erosion risks while protecting and preserving natural habitats. These “nature-based solutions” work at a neighborhood and community-scale and will preserve town and city coastal beaches for swimming, wetlands for birding and paddling, and rivers for fishing, while also giving flood water a place to go so that roads, homes, and businesses don’t flood. |