The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted half a million dollar to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Cherry Hill, Highland Park, and Montclair, New Jersey.
The grant has been provided to the township of Cherry Hill, as the formal applicant, under the Climate Showcase Communities program, which is designed to help local governments establish and implement initiatives that will help reduce GHG emissions.
The Cherry Hill project was one of 25 projects nationwide to receive grants as part of the $10m competitive grant program.
The money will launch an initiative called the New Jersey Sustainable Energy Efficiency Demonstration (SEED) project, which is a partnership that includes the three communities, the New Jersey state Board of Public Utilities and the Municipal Land Use Center at the College of New Jersey.
The communities in this project have populations of 75,000 (Cherry Hill), 16,000 (Highland Park) and 38,000 (Montclair). Using the grant money, the partners will demonstrate that aggressive reductions in GHG emissions are possible in small and medium-sized municipalities.
Possible actions are enrollment of community members and local businesses in state and federal energy-efficiency programs, efficiency retrofits of municipal buildings, updates to local codes and policies and utilizing more energy efficient vehicles in municipal fleets.
The New Jersey SEED program through state and federal support, will share information with residents and businesses on measures that reduce GHG emissions in small and medium-sized municipalities.
The project will set GHG reduction targets and publicly report on each community’s progress. After one year, the project team will assess implementation efforts and accordingly will take necessary actions to augment the program.
The project partners will share lessons on the program through a state-wide workshop and regional workshops. The work will be integrated into New Jersey’s Sustainable Jersey certification program, a voluntary state program for municipalities to hasten the adoption of sustainable policies and achievement of cost savings.
Over the course of the grant program, EPA will offer training and technical support to grant recipients, and share lessons learned with communities across the nation.
Judith Enck, regional administrator of EPA, said: ”The New Jersey SEED program is part of a national showcase of community actions to address climate change. Effective programs such as the one in southern New Jersey will reduce air pollution, save consumer dollars, promote innovation, create new jobs and put New Jersey on the path to a clean energy economy.”