In the fall of 2023, ILSR launched the Campaña CPR: Reanimar el clima in coalition with Zero Waste USA y el National Recycling Coalition to uplift waste reduction and materials conservation projects under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Program (CPRG) under the Inflation Reduction Act.

The EPA recently announced award recipients for the CPRG Implementation Grants Tribes and Territories Competition totaling $300 million for climate pollution reduction measures. The grants are projected to reduce 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2030 and 7 million metric tons by 2050.

34 applicants were selected, including 33 Tribal recipients and the Municipality of Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Awards range from $1 million to $24 million, with an average of $8.8 million per grant.

The largest pools of funding are going to projects related to Electric Power and Buildings ($139 million and $55 million, respectively), as well as $45 million for projects related to Transportation. Projects related to Agriculture and Natural and Working Lands received $35 million and those related to Industry received $5 million. The Waste and Materials Management sector projects received $21 million in funding, representing 7% of all funding awarded. Many grant awards include projects from multiple sectors.

These awards follow $4.3 billion in program funding granted for the GPRG Implementation Grants General Competition in summer 2024.

CPRG Tribes and Territories Competition Funds Composting, Recycling, and Healthy Soils

More than 25% of awards support projects within the Waste and Materials Management and Agriculture and Working Lands sectors. Projects support composting, recycling, healthy soils, waste diversion, carbon sequestration, and more. Tribal waste reduction programs estimate reducing emissions by 77,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent by 2030.

Grant Spotlight

Compost Climate Solutions: Empowering Southeast Alaska Tribal Communities to Reduce Emissions – $14.99 million

Applicant: Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
Award Information
Sector: Waste and Materials Management
Estimated GHGs Reductions
- 2025-2030: 241,000 metric tons CO₂ equivalent
- 2025-2050: 1,205,000 metric tons CO₂ equivalent
Alaska’s Priority Climate Action Plan
Grant Description: The selected application will support the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska to expand composting infrastructure in disadvantaged Tribal communities to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase the beneficial use of organic waste. This project will reduce emissions from landfills, the third largest source of human-caused methane emissions in the United States, by establishing composting facilities in four Tribal communities and one urban city, while creating high-quality training and job opportunities for community members.
Project Highlights
- Establish composting facilities in four Tribal communities (Wrangell, Hoonah, Petersburg, Yakutat) and one in Juneau that will lower energy demands and reduce shipping costs and fuel consumption associated with waste management.
- Conduct workshops and training sessions on proper composting techniques for community members, ensuring that these individuals have the knowledge and skills necessary for effective waste management.
- Generate high-quality employment opportunities related to the implementation, operation, and management of the new composting facilities.
- Improve community resilience to climate change by promoting sustainable practices.
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, specifically methane, by diverting organic waste from landfills.

Applicant: Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
Award Amount: $7.8 million
Award Information
Sector: Waste and Materials Management, Buildings, Transportation
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indian’s Priority Climate Action Plan
Measure Spotlight:
- Improve waste management practices by expanding the Tribe’s capacity to handle and recycle waste with upgraded infrastructure, including a commercial front-loading recycling truck and 30 new commercial recycling containers.

Applicant: Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi
Award Amount: $1.2 million
Award Information
Sector: Waste and Materials Management, Buildings, Transportation, Agriculture and Natural and Working Lands
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi’s Priority Climate Action Plan
Measure Spotlights:
- Expand and improve the Tribe’s commercial and residential recycling program.
- Promote habitat restoration through land management and prairie conservation to reduce erosion, protect food sources for pollinators and wildlife, and improve water quality.
- Restore approximately 65 acres of active row crop to grassland habitats to mitigate erosion and contribute to carbon reduction.

Applicant: Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
Award Amount: $9.8 million
Award Information
Sector: Waste and Materials Management, Buildings, Electric Power, Transportation, Agriculture and Natural and Working Lands
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s Priority Climate Action Plan
Measure Spotlights:
- Help build an RNG plant that will deliver converted landfill gas into an existing natural gas pipeline to be piped off-Reservation and reused, providing a transformative opportunity to reduce methane emissions and promote renewable energy generation.
- Plant 3,000 native trees on Tribally owned land to create carbon sinks and enhance air quality.

Applicant: Spirit Lake Tribe
Award Amount: $7.3 million
Award Information
Sector: Waste and Materials Management, Buildings, Electric Power, Transportation
Spirit Lake Tribe’s Priority Climate Action Plan
Measure Spotlight:
- Reduce waste management burdens and costs by building a hazardous waste drop-off center and distributing recycling bins to 1,000 households in the Tribal community.

Applicant: Blue Lake Rancheria
Award Amount: $11.5 million
Award Information
Sector: Agriculture and Natural and Working Lands
Blue Lake Rancheria’s Priority Climate Action Plan
Measure Spotlights:
- Expanding a carbon sequestration program for wetland and forest ecosystems within the ancestral territory of the Tribe.
- Develop and implement restoration and carbon sequestration plans.
- Enhance cultural resources and traditional ecological knowledge among Tribal members and rekindle reciprocal ecological relationships among the Tribe and other organizations across the Blue Lake Rancheria ancestral territory.
- Build climate resilience through Tribal stewardship of the acquired lands.

Applicant: Nez Perce Tribe
Award Amount: $8.7 million
Award Information
Sector: Agriculture and Natural and Working Lands, Buildings, Electric Power, Transportation
Nez Perce Tribe’s Priority Climate Action Plan
Measure Spotlight:
- Plant nearly 380,000 trees on 2,137 acres of Tribal and privately owned land resulting in multiple benefits such as carbon sequestration, protection of wildlife habitat, increased stream shading, sequestration of nonpoint pollution, and improvements to fish habitat.

Applicant: The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe
Award Amount: $2.9 million
Award Information
Sector: Agriculture and Natural and Working Lands
Snoqualmie Indian Tribe’s Priority Climate Action Plan
Measure Spotlights:
- Improve ecosystem biodiversity and resilience to improve wildlife habitat, reduce erosion, and enhance water quality.
- Reforest approximately 1,800 acres of overstocked or underplanted areas within the Ancestral Forest with native species to enhance carbon sequestration.

Applicant: Tule River Economic Development Corporation
Award Amount: $14.7 million
Award Information
Sector: Agriculture and Natural and Working Lands, Electric Power
California Air Resource Board’s Priority Climate Action Plan
Measure Spotlights:
- Generate carbon credits by sequestering carbon during biochar conversion and use electric power created from byproducts of the conversion process for the facility’s operations.
- Promote sustainable forestry management practices and improve soil health to enhance long-term ecological stability and agricultural productivity.

Additional Information

Explore more information about CPRG grants and selections:

$300 Million EPA Grants to Tribes and Territories include Composting, Recycling and Soil Health

CPRG Tribes and Territories Competition Funds Composting, Recycling, and Healthy Soils

Grant Spotlight

Compost Climate Solutions: Empowering Southeast Alaska Tribal Communities to Reduce Emissions – $14.99 million

Other funded projects that include some components for waste, recycling, healthy soils, carbon sequestration, and agricultural and working lands

Additional Information