The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has issued an addendum to its 2014 Water-Energy Grant Program Guidelines/Proposal Solicitation Package (PSP). DWR states in the Addendum that on October 31, 2014, the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) designated census tracts in California as having a CalEnviroScreen 2.0 score of 76 percent or greater as disadvantaged communities (DACs) for the purpose of investing Cap-and-Trade proceeds. This decision increases the number of census tracts considered as DACs from what was originally presented in the DWR Final Water-Energy Grant Program Guidelines/PSP (e.g. 81 percent or higher). The Addendum can be accessed here.
RCRC had previously identified 34 counties, many of them RCRC member counties, that did not have a single DAC census tract identified in the top 20 percent of CalEnviroScreen. RCRC will be reviewing this recent change in percentage to determine which of the 34 counties previously identified may now quality to compete for the $9.5 million for projects located in or outside of a DAC and that provide direct, meaningful, and assured benefit to DACs.