December 18, 2023
Special thanks for this information compiled by our friends at Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm that believes all people and communities should have access to the tools of change, and that everyone has the right to make decisions about the air, water, and land where they live, work, and play.
They are always available to chat with folks interested in learn more about Community Benefits.
Please contact: Meagan Niebler at [email protected] directly for more information.
Click here to read Part I of our Community Benefits Plans series to learn the basic definitions.
The Department of Energy (DOE) now requires applicants to submit Community Benefits Plans (CBPs) as part of all Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding opportunity announcements (FOAs).
The DOE has chosen four equally scored categories that project applicants must prioritize in order to be eligible for funding –>
Our friends at RMI help us again to explain this text and elaborate on the DOE’s four priority categories necessary for federal funding applications:
Community and Labor Engagement:
Describes the applicant’s actions to date and plans to engage with labor unions and community stakeholders (e.g. local governments, Tribal governments, community-based organizations, labor unions, etc.)
Quality Jobs and Workforce Continuity:
Outlines the applicant’s approach to investing in workforce education and training of both new and incumbent workers and ensures jobs are of sufficient quality to attract and retain skilled workers
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA):
Create a DEIA plan including descriptions of the applicant’s strategy to partner with businesses, educational institutions, and workforce training organizations that serve underrepresented communities
Justice40 Initiative:
Describes how the project advances equity, environmental and energy justice priorities, including a commitment to disperse project benefits to “disadvantaged” energy communities
How do I begin to develop a Community Benefits Plan?
Once you have decided to craft a CBP, it is important to make sure you are creating a strong CBP. RMI provides some tips to keep in mind when drafting a strong CBP:
- Demonstrate moving beyond a vision or assessment into actionable goals, outcomes, and implementation steps supported by adequate money, people, and time resources
- Include mechanisms for accountability to and transparency with impacted communities
- Propose clear metrics to measurable success
- Match proposed actions to the needs and priorities of impacted communities
- Robustly address all four topic areas
- Reduce negative impacts and harm, especially to already overburdened communities
- Create quality jobs, equitable access, and invest in workforce development
When an applicant is selected for funding, the CBP will be a contractual obligation and a summary of the CBP will be posted publicly on the DOE’s website for transparency and accountability. The DOE’s CBP template can be downloaded here.
As you can see, a CBP is a process that can lead to a community benefit agreement. For more information check out our summit on Community Benefit agreements.
For even more information on how CBPs apply to the Loan Programs Office, please visit the DOE’s Community Jobs and Justice webpage by clicking here.
For more information and FAQ, please visit the DOE’s webpage by clicking here.