COMMUNITY ACTION FOR A RENEWED ENVIRONMENT (CARE) PROGRAM
This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits from eligible entities project proposals to receive financial assistance through the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. CARE is a unique community-based, community-driven, multimedia demonstration program designed to help communities understand and reduce risks due to toxic pollutants and environmental concerns from all sources. The CARE grant program works with the eligible entities to help their communities form collaborative partnerships, develop an understanding of the many local sources of risk from toxic pollutants and environmental concerns, set priorities, and identify and carry out projects to reduce risks through collaborative action at the local level. CAREs long-term goal is to help communities build self-sustaining, community-based partnerships that will continue to improve human health and local environments into the future. This is the fifth year requesting proposals for the CARE grant program; the first was in the spring of 2005.
The objective of the CARE grant program is to work collaboratively within the community to investigate the effectiveness of the CARE process--whether this cross-Agency, multi-media program provides greater environmental benefits than either non-collaborative or single media approaches.
EPA will award two types of cooperative agreements (Level I and Level II) under this solicitation as part of the CARE grant program.
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Level I cooperative agreements will support the following types of activities: working with the funded entity to form community-based collaborative partnerships; developing an understanding of the many local sources of risk from toxic pollutants and environmental concerns; and setting community risk reduction priorities.
Level II cooperative agreements will fund activities to identify and demonstrate actual risk reduction projects on the ground in their community. Level II agreements are for communities that have already completed the actions typically taken in a Level I agreement. However, receipt of a Level I cooperative agreement is not a prerequisite to receiving a Level II cooperative agreement.
