Buffalo Niagara’s Priority Climate Action Plan
The Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council (GBNRTC) is leading a climate action planning process for Erie and Niagara Counties. Along with partners involved in One Region Forward, we are working together on a new federally funded initiative through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) opportunity to reduce our region’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP)
The PCAP is a narrative report that focuses on near-term, high-priority strategies to reduce GHG pollution from across the economy including transportation, housing, and commercial buildings which comprise 82% of emissions in our region along with other key sectors.
The PCAP is a first step in the development of a Climate Action Plan for the region and is being developed on a fast timeline to meet EPA’s deadline of March 1, 2024. The PCAP includes a GHG inventory, GHG Reduction Measures, Low-income/Disadvantaged Communities Benefits Analysis, and a review of authority to implement. The Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) described below will take a much more comprehensive approach, including broader stakeholder input and community outreach.
The PCAP is available and accessible by clicking on the image below.
Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP)
In March 2024, GBNRTC will begin to expand the completed PCAP to include a fully updated GHG inventory, GHG Emissions Projections, GHG Reduction Targets, Quantified GHG Reduction Targets, Benefits Analysis (including LIDAC Analysis), Review of Authority to Implement, and Workforce Planning Analysis. The CCAP process will include broad municipal and stakeholder outreach and engagement.
Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG)
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program provides $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. This two-phase program provides $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants and approximately $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants.
The EPA released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announcing the CPRG grant competition in September 2023. Eligible applicants will compete for CPRG implementation grants to fund measures in applicable Priority Climate Action Plans (PCAP). This PCAP will be made available to any entity in Erie and Niagara Counties looking to apply for the implementation grant:
Grant Criteria include the following:
· Projects from $2 million to $500 million
· Projects must tie to the regional PCAP
· Evaluation includes consideration of greenhouse gas emission reductions, transformative impact, scalability, and multi-jurisdictional, benefiting low-income and disadvantaged communities.
· States, municipalities, councils of government, and other regional organizations composed of municipalities are eligible to apply.
· The deadline to apply to the general competition is April 1, 2024.
Full grant details can be found on the CPRG General Competition NOFO webpage. Slides from a recent EPA webinar discussing the program can be found here.
WHAT IS ONE REGION FORWARD?
One Region Forward is a broad-based collaborative effort to promote more sustainable forms of development in Erie and Niagara counties – the Buffalo Niagara Region – in land use, transportation, housing, energy and climate, access to food, and more. It combines research and public engagement with planning and action to help us meet the combined economic, environmental, and social challenges of the 21st century.
One Region Forward was launched through a planning process to craft a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development, a federally recognized document that gives our region priority status for funding opportunities today and into the future.
The plan, called A New Way to Plan for Buffalo Niagara serves as a practical roadmap for improving mobility, promoting more efficient land use patterns, strengthening our basic infrastructure, growing a 21st century economy, ensuring broad access to healthy food, protecting housing and neighborhoods, and mounting our region’s response to the challenge of global climate change.
ONE REGION FORWARD IMPLEMENTATION
Through One Region Forward, we learned what we as the Buffalo Niagara region want out of our transportation system in broad terms. Moving Forward 2050 will identify how our transportation systems can help us achieve the region’s goals via specific strategies and targeted transportation projects.