Track I applications must include a Community Engagement and Collaborative Governance Plan. Successful implementation of environmental and climate justice projects requires relationships and meaningful engagement among an ecosystem of community leaders and members alongside partners across many sectors. This plan is required to help ensure that grant activities are driven and informed by the views of the Project Area community and are accomplished through collaboration among key stakeholders, The plan should describe how the applicant will engage, educate, and be responsive to community members throughout project development and/or implementation. Additionally, the plan should incorporate a Collaborative Governance Structure that demonstrates how the Lead Applicant and Collaborating Entities (as described in Section III.A) will work together to successfully implement the grant in a timely, effective, and equitable manner.

The Community Engagement and Collaborative Governance Plan cannot exceed 10 single spaced pages – excess pages will not be reviewed. It should address the following elements and any others the applicant deems relevant to their projects:

• Past Community Outreach and Engagement Conducted: The applicant should demonstrate what outreach and engagement methods were used to engage with the Project Area community, including any with specific neighborhoods or groups, and how this impacted the selection of the strategies and associated projects as well as the applicant’s implementation approach.
• Community Engagement Plan Implementation: The applicant should demonstrate the specific community engagement methods, as well as how they will mitigate barriers and involve relevant governmental stakeholders, necessary to support overall implementation including:
  • Clear Methods for Engagement and Transparency: The applicant should describe the following elements:
    • Outreach methods that provide opportunities for broad and diverse community member involvement in project development and / or implementation and feedback during grant performance.
    • Transparent mechanisms that will promote meaningful accountability to the needs and preferences of residents in the Project Area.
    • Mechanism(s) that will be used to continuously inform the community before and during project implementation on project status, benefits available to them through the project, and indicators being tracked, such as air quality improvements or trees planted.
  • Mitigating Barriers: The applicant should describe measures to minimize and mitigate barriers around community engagement and participation in project development and / or implementation including but not limited to those related to linguistic differences, communication challenges, disabilities, inaccessible technology, lack of trust or awareness, transportation, childcare, and elderly / adult care.
  • Government Involvement: As applicable, the applicant should demonstrate the support and involvement of government agencies needed to facilitate successful grant performance. For example, projects that intersect with local-government authorities such as permitting, planning, and zoning are encouraged to demonstrate the involvement and cooperation of local government authorities.
• Collaborative Governance Structure: The applicant should provide details regarding the roles and responsibilities of the Lead Applicant, Collaborating Entities, and community residents and / or community-selected representatives for implementing, managing, and overseeing the application’s project activities, including how they should meet regularly to discuss project implementation. The description should include at a minimum:
  • Outreach methods to solicit community representatives and processes to choose representatives to enable a broad cross-section of community representatives to participate so different voices are heard.
  • An explanation of how the Lead Applicant and Collaborating Entities will coordinate with each other and community members to inform and engage the community on project development and progress.
  • An outline of the planned decision-making processes between the Lead Applicant and Collaborating Entities, including procedures to ensure that decisions are transparent and can be made in an expedited manner when necessary.
  • Processes for replacing a Collaborating Entity to ensure that the replacement entity has comparable skills, qualifications, expertise, community support, and experience to avoid any adverse impact on grant performance. EPA approval of the qualifications, expertise, and experience of the replacement Collaborating Entity will be required pursuant to 2 CFR 200.308I(2) and / I(c)(6).