Regional Climate Action Plan (CPRG)

Regional Climate Action Plan

CRCOG is developing a regional climate action plan, supported by the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG), a five-billion-dollar program created under the Inflation Reduction Act to help state and regional governments reduce greenhouse gases. The first phase involves noncompetitive planning grants at both the state level, and then to the 67 most populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). In the case of Connecticut, three MSAs will receive one-million-dollar planning grants: Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown (led by CRCOG), Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk (led by MetroCOG), and New Haven-Milford (led by SCRCOG).  

Municipalities included in the CRCOG regional climate action plan are below:

Figure 1: Municipalities in green will be included in the Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown MSA's regional climate action plan. 

RCAP

Project Overview

The program consists of two primary phases – planning and implementation. The major deliverables for the planning phases are a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) and a more detailed Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP). Approximately $4.6 billion in competitive implementation funding will be available under the CPRG program, with an initial requirement that any eligible project must be identified in the Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP), due to EPA in March 2024.  

CRCOG intends to use the CPRG to create a framework for a regional climate action plan, with a particular focus on developing a pipeline of municipal implementation projects and framework for local climate policy and operational initiatives. Specific planning activities will potentially include: 

  • Identifying lead entities for targeted local and regional decarbonization and pollutant reduction efforts and developing appropriate coordination frameworks.  
  • Developing a strategic plan for decarbonizing municipally owned properties and assets. 
  • Further developing a municipal electric vehicle fleet conversion and charging station deployment strategy. 
  • Creating a strategic plan for negative emissions centered around land use, including managing and conserving agricultural, natural, and working lands.  
  • Developing a roadmap for municipalities to leverage climate-related funding opportunities and incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). 
  • Develop building code based decarbonization targets for municipalities.   
  • Conducting a regional workforce impact and needs assessments for clean energy sectors.
  • Evaluating regional and local options to incentivize investment in clean microgrids.  

Next Steps

CRCOG highly encourages proactive engagement from municipalities to ensure their priority projects are identified in the PCAP. For more information, please contact Kyle Shiel, Principal Planner and CPRG project manager at kshiel@crcog.org.  

Resources

Local Government Strategy Series

This resource provides an overview of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategies local governments can use to achieve economic, environmental, social, and human health benefits. Specific strategies include: energy efficiency, transportation, community planning and design, solid waste and materials management, and renewable energy.