The Environmental Protection Agency revoked a $19 million Community Change Grant awarded to the North Richmond Community Resilience Initiative, saying the project promoted DEI or environmental justice initiatives misaligned with new administration priorities. The initiative planned a community center run by Urban Tilth, emergency support services, planting 65 trees near Verde Elementary, renovating four dilapidated buildings into energy-efficient single-family homes, fully electric retrofitting of 40 homes, and demolishing 10 buildings to create a community garden and gathering space. The grant was awarded under the Inflation Reduction Act and was one of 105 projects selected. Two Democratic congressmembers protested, asserting violations of federal appropriations law and the signed Jan. 6 grant contract. An EPA letter dated Aug. 22 reaffirmed the agency's position.
NORTH RICHMOND Months after the Environmental Protection Agency revoked a $19 million grant meant to benefit North Richmond children and other residents, the federal agency is standing by its decision, claiming in a recent letter to Bay Area congressmembers that the project promotes DEI or environmental justice initiatives that are counter to Trump administration priorities. The North Richmond Community Resilience Initiative was set to use the federal grant dollars to build a community center. It would have been run by Urban Tilth,
and served the community during an emergency or disaster. The initiative also called for planting 65 trees around Verde Elementary School to help shield children from pollutants, renovating four dilapidated buildings into energy-efficient single family homes, fully electric retrofitting another 40 qualifying homes and demolishing 10 buildings on another piece of land to make way for a community garden and gathering space.
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