The EPA begins work on setting up a $27 billion green bank

According to Reuters, On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began developing plans for a $27 billion green bank, which will offer grants to disadvantaged communities to build zero- or low-emission projects.

“It’s exciting to know that we are creating a program that will infuse billions of dollars of capital into local communities that will have a direct impact on energy efficiency programs, community solar programs or programs that they know will reduce pollution and create jobs,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan told Reuters on Friday in an interview.

He added that the fund, established by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, would be “transformational” and infuse capital in parts of the country that have not been able to attract clean energy and transportation investments.

The fund was proposed as a way to scale up the model of roughly two dozen green banks located across the United States in places such as the state of Michigan and Montgomery County, Maryland, that invest in community programs like residential solar or efficient heat pump installation, or electric vehicle charger installation.

The EPA will seek input on which entities, projects, and financial structures are eligible to receive funding from the national green bank.

Photo: (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan by Elizabeth Frantz / File Photo/ REUTERS