The Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program

The Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) Cooperative Agreement Program provides financial assistance to eligible organizations working to address local environmental or public health issues in their communities.  The program assists recipients in building collaborative partnerships with other stakeholders (e.g., local businesses and industry, local government, medical service providers, academia, etc.) to develop solutions to environmental or public health issue(s) at the community level.

The CPS Program requires selected applicants, or recipients, to use the EPA's  Collaborative Problem-Solving Model to address local environmental or public health issues in a collaborative manner with various stakeholders such as communities, industry, academic institutions, and others. The case studies listed in the resources section below highlight some of the successful strategies of previous projects. 

 The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act created the Environmental and Climate Justice block grant program in section 138 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and provided EPA with $2.8 billion in grant funding for the program for projects to benefit communities.

• Is My Organization Eligible?
• Resources

Is My Organization Eligible?

Eligible entities include: 

• a community-based nonprofit organization (CBO); or  
• a partnership of community-based nonprofit organizations * 

* A partnership must be documented with a signed Letter of Commitment from the community-based nonprofit organization detailing the parameters of the partnership, as well as the role and responsibilities of the partnering community-based organizations. 

Resources

• Learn more about the 2023 EJCPS Selectees (pdf) (442.17 KB)
• Review the Amended EJCPS Request for Applications for specific guidance and eligible project examples. (pdf) (1.17 MB)
• Review previous project descriptions by state or review project descriptions by year.
• Review prior year requests for applications (RFAs).
• EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model Guide (pdf) (1.21 MB)
  A guide to EPA's EJ Collaborative Problem-Solving program.
• Case Studies from the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Program (pdf) (3.61 MB)
  In-depth descriptions of five successful CPS awards.
• Fact Sheet on Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program (pdf) (418.19 KB)


• The Power of Partnerships: 45-minute video of EPA's CPS Model at work in Spartanburg, SC featuring interviews of key stakeholders and community members explaining their roles in successfully addressing concerns in the area.