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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide climate pollution reduction grants to eight tribes in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The tribes will receive $78,441,385 in grants through the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America program.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected 34 funding applications for projects across the country that will implement community-based solutions to address the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, promote environmental justice and accelerate the transition to clean energy.

In Oregon and Idaho, the Nez Perce Tribe received $8,707,461 to conduct energy audits and improve energy efficiency at two tribal buildings, install 49 kW of solar panels, replace 68 fleet vehicles with EV/PHEVs, install 72 Level II and III EV chargers, and plant more than 400,000 trees over five years.

In Washington State, the Nisqually Indian Tribe project received $5,437,277 to hire a climate resilience program manager to oversee implementation, install a 252 kW heat pump and solar thermal system at the Tribe’s Public Safety Building, add a 409 kW solar thermal system to three Tribe service buildings, install heat pumps in 31 rental homes in Nisqually, and install solar thermal systems in 30 rental homes in Nisqually, and create a residential energy efficiency incentive program for Tribe members living off-reservation to install heat pumps and perform insulation retrofits.

Also in Washington state, the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe received $2,961,556 for a project to conduct forest restoration treatments on areas within the Ancestral Forest to enhance carbon sequestration, conduct thinning to restore overcrowded stands to reduce the risk of wildfire, replant tree seedlings in barren stands, and expand workforce capacity.

Other organizations that received funding include: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium ($24,232,383), Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska ($14,999,999), Aleut of Saint Paul Island ($14,820,331), Native Village of Eyak ($4,942,841) and Village of Solomon, Alaska ($2,339,537).

Grants for the proposed projects will support the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction measures that have been identified by tribal and territorial communities. When the estimates provided by all selected applicants are combined, the proposed projects will collectively reduce greenhouse gas pollution by more than 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050 – equivalent to the carbon dioxide emitted from nearly 1.4 million electricity-using households in one year, according to a news release.