Background and History

This page includes documentation and information related to the historical summary and timeline of the GGRF, including the Federal Assistance Listings, Implementation Framework, and NOFOs.

When the NOFOs were released, EPA also created a presentation summarizing the three competitions that make up the GGRF. View or download the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Overview Presentation (pdf) (1.4 MB, Summer 2023) . 

On this page: 

Review and Selection Process

Following the closure of the NCIF, CCIA, and Solar for All application periods on October 12, 2023, EPA undertook a rigorous, multi-stage review and selection process for each program. This process culminated with the selection announcements for NCIF and CCIA on April 4, 2024, and Solar For All on April 23, 2024. During the spring and summer of 2024, EPA worked closely with grant recipients to finalize award agreements, and obligated the full $27 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund funds to recipients under the three programs in late summer 2024.

For more information about the review and selection process for NCIF, CCIA and Solar For All, please visit the Review and Selection Process webpage.

Notice of Funding Opportunity

In early summer 2023, EPA released the Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for each of the three GGRF competitions to launch the open application period, which closed on October 12, 2023. Copies of the NOFOs are archived on Grants.gov. During the open application period, EPA provided an update on the Solar for All NOFO.

After releasing the NOFOs, EPA hosted a series of public webinars.  Recordings of the webinars as well as copies of the materials from the webinars are included below:

Notice of Intent (Solar for All)

All Solar for All applicants were required to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to be eligible to apply to the Solar for All competition. An NOI was required for each application the applicant anticipated submitting.  Prior to the close of the open of the application period, EPA released a list of NOI letters received from entities applying to Solar for All. 

The deadlines to submit an NOI were:

  • July 31, 2023 for states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico;
  • August 14, 2023 for territories (specifically, The Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), municipalities, and eligible nonprofit recipients;
  • August 28, 2023 for Tribal governments and Intertribal Consortia;

If applying in a coalition, regardless of the type of applicant, only the lead applicant was required to submit an NOI according to the applicable requirements that pertained to that type of lead applicant (e.g., if an eligible nonprofit recipient was the lead applicant of a coalition, the deadline for the NOI was August 14th, 2023).

EPA did not review or make determinations about an applicant’s eligibility based solely on the information provided in the Notice of Intent; EPA determined an applicant’s eligibility based on the information provided in the full application.

Implementation Framework 

In April 2023, EPA released an "Implementation Framework" for the GGRF.  The framework built on the Federal Assistance Listings EPA released in February 2023 outlined expected parameters and application components for the GGRF grant competitions in order to ensure that the design of this historic program remained as transparent and inclusive as possible, while also providing an opportunity to solicit feedback from the public.  After releasing the framework in April and May 2023, EPA hosted six public listening sessions to solicit fedback.

View or download the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Implementation Presentation (pdf) (1.4 MB, April 2023)  used in these listening sessions. 

EPA also provided the public with an opportunity to provide written feedback via email for over three weeks immediately following the framework's release, which resulted in over 100 detailed written comments on the framework.

Federal Assistance Listings

In February 2023, EPA published two Federal Assistance Listings (FAL) outlining key parameters of the grant competitions. (1) the General Assistance and Low-Income and Disadvantaged Communities Competition and (2) the Zero Emission Technologies Competition. An FAL represents the first public notice requirement to implement a federal grant program.

In October 2023, EPA made updates to ensure that there were three FALs—one for each of the three GGRF competitions. The FALs are available on Sam.gov.

Listening Sessions

In November 2022, EPA hosted two national public listening sessions, which yielded more than four hours of public comments about the program vision. EPA also hosted more than a dozen targeted stakeholder roundtables focused on the RFI questions to solicit input from existing financing entities, labor organizations, environmental justice organizations, State environment and energy officials, and more.

In March 2023, EPA held two additional public listening sessions regarding the design of the $7 billion solarSolar for All competition to understand how to best accelerate the deployment of solar energy to low-income and disadvantaged communities. More than 500 people attended the two sessions combined. 

Environmental Finance Advisory Board

EPA delivered a set of formal charge questions for expert review and comment at the October 18-19, 2023,  meetings of the Environmental Finance Advisory Board (EFAB). EPA continued to engage with the EFAB to received their feedback on the design and implementation of the GGRF Review materials from EFAB meetings.

Request for Information

Stakeholders submitted thousands of pages of comments in response to the GGRF's October 2022 Request for Information (RFI). Records of the responses EPA received during the stakeholder engagement process can be viewed in the docket at regulations.gov. 

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Last updated on August 16, 2024