Transformative Climate Communities Planning Grant

The Transformative Climate Communities Program (TCC), established by AB 2722 (Burke, 2016), invests in community-led climate resilience projects in the state’s most disadvantaged communities. The program objectives are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve public health and the environment, and support economic opportunity and shared prosperity. TCC’s unique, place-based strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is designed to catalyze collective impact through a combination of community-driven climate projects in a single neighborhood. The Planning Grants intend to support planning activities to prepare disadvantaged communities for future funding opportunities in programs that align with the TCC Program’s objectives. Planning activities should focus on responding to planning issues or priorities that directly benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities. TCC Planning Grants support planning activities to advance community-led goals and projects. Some examples of eligible planning activities include: ▪ Building capacity both internally, among staff and departments, as well as externally, among stakeholders, by including the development of collaborations partnerships that connect land use development with environmental, economic and social justice priorities. ▪ Evaluating, updating, and streamlining various policies and codes currently enforced by the Planning Department and other local departments (e.g., public works, health and safety, fire, parks and open space, etc.). ▪ Completing fiscal analyses and studies, such as conducting a fiscal impact analysis to understand long-term service costs of future development and to determine fee structures. ▪ Preparing climate action and climate adaptation plans. ▪ Designing or enhancing community engagement that results in innovative and meaningful programs and practices built upon the input and expertise of local public agency staff, community-based organizations, workforce development boards, and overburdened individuals and groups. ▪ Engaging in activities that will prepare applicants to apply to a TCC Implementation Grant or other similar grant, including but not limited to: partnership development, stakeholder mapping, community needs assessments, community health needs assessments, and creation and/or formalization of a shared governance structure such as a Collaborative Stakeholder Structure. Activities that lead to the development of a Collaborative Stakeholder Structure are strongly encouraged for applicants who anticipate applying to a TCC Implementation Grant in the future. ▪ Identifying and preparing project sites for future development into community-serving uses, such as community land trust feasibility studies and site identification, climate resilience project identification, and planning for project readiness. Planning Grant Applicants must fill out a survey to indicate their interest in applying for a TCC Planning Grant by May 16, 2022. Applicants from tribal communities and disadvantaged unincorporated communities are eligible for Application Technical Assistance, which must be requested by March 25 via an Application Technical Assistance survey on the SGC website.