As part of the Obama Administration's Sustainable Communities Partnership between HUD, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation, two Notices of Funding Availability have been released for Sustainable Communities  grants.

In a joint notice, funding was announced for two competitive grant programs: HUD's Community Challenge Planning Grants and DOT's TIGER II planning grants.

The mission of the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities is to create strong, sustainable communities by connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation, and helping to build a clean energy economy, according to the office. The Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities coordinates federal housing and transportation investments with local land use decisions in order to reduce transportation costs for families, improve housing affordability, save energy, and increase access to housing and employment opportunities.

For the HUD grants, $40 million is available to communities to develop plans and strategies or revision of codes that promote livability and sustainability. Up to $35 million is available through the DOT program and will be available for the planning, preparation, or design of projects that would qualify for TIGER II discretionary grants.

The programs were announced together to allow applicants to apply to both programs with a single application if their project meets the goals laid out in each.  The grants may be used for up to 80 percent of project costs (with an exception for rural areas seeking funding through the TIGER II grants).

However, projects that offer higher local funding matches will be considered more competitive. Pre-Applications are due within 30 days and final applications are due Aug. 23, 2010. Funding will be awarded by the end of September.

On June 24, HUD also released a NOFA for the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program. Through this program, $100 million is available for two funding categories: Regional Plans for Sustainable Development and Detailed Execution Plans and Programs. These grants do not require matching funds, but applicants must provide 20% of requested funding amount in leveraged resources such as cash or in-kind contributions.

For more information on these grants, visit www.hud.gov/sustainability. 

The full NOFAs for each of these programs are available here.