The Justice40 Initiative was established by President Biden in Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. Justice40 establishes a federal government-wide goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution.

Last year, formal guidance, M-21-28, Interim Implementation Guidance for the Justice40 Initiative, was issued. The M-21-28 guidance memo provided further direction to federal agencies on the Initiative while also identifying 21 pilot programs. More recent guidance, M-23-09, requires programs to use the new Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) to identify these disadvantaged communities.

What is a covered J40 program?

A “covered program” is a Federal Government program that falls in the scope of the Justice40 initiative because it includes investments that can benefit disadvantaged communities across one or more of the following seven areas:

• Climate change
• Clean energy and energy efficiency
• Clean transit
• Affordable and sustainable housing
• Training and workforce development
• Remediation and reduction of legacy pollution
• Development of critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure

Existing and new programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the American Rescue Plan that make investments in any of these categories can also be considered covered under President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative. As such, we expect the Department of Commerce’s covered programs list to evolve over time as new federal programs are created or existing federal programs sunset.

Our Commitment to Justice40

The Department of Commerce’s mission is to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities. We understand that we will fail to meet our full potential as a nation unless we harness the talents and strengths of all parts of the country, including women, people of color, and others who are too often left behind. We believe that Justice40 is more than a one-time investment; rather, it is a series of systemic changes to improve how the government ensures equitable distribution of the benefits of many programs.

The Department of Commerce has laid the foundation for programming and policies that will reach a larger and more diverse audience and address key barriers to economic success for historically underserved communities. Since the announcement of the Justice40 Initiative and subsequent guidance, the Department of Commerce has sought to assess programs for inclusion into the Justice40 Initiative.

The Department of Commerce is proud to release the latest list of covered programs to provide greater visibility and transparency into our effort to support disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution and other impacts of climate change. Regardless of a program’s inclusion in this list, the Department of Commerce is committed to advancing equity and environmental justice across all our processes and programs.

Covered Programs List for the Department of Commerce

The Department of Commerce has 14 covered programs:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

1. Climate Adaptation Partnerships ^{BIL IRA}
2. Climate Resilience Regional Challenge ^IRA
3. Coastal Zone Management Habitat Protection and Restoration Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Competition ^BIL
4. Fish Passage – Restoring Fish Passage through Barrier Removal Grants ^{BIL IRA}
5. Fish Passage – Restoring Tribal Priority Fish Passage through Barrier Removal Grants ^{BIL IRA}
6. Habitat Restoration – Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Tribes and Underserved Communities ^{BIL IRA}
7. Habitat Restoration – Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants ^{BIL IRA}
8. National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) – Extreme Heat Risk Initiative: Urban Climate Science for Decision-making and Evaluation of Heat-Health Interventions
9. National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) – Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) FY2024 NIHHIS Funding Opportunity ^IRA
10. National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) – Urban Heat Island Mapping
11. Sea Grant College Program – Climate Ready Workforce ^IRA
12. Sea Grant College Program – Marine Debris Community Action Coalitions ^{BIL IRA}

Economic Development Administration (EDA)

13. Assistance to Energy Transition Communities

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

14. Community Resilience Program

^BIL  Denotes programs that received funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, P.L. 117-58

^IRA Denotes programs that received funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, P.L. 117-169

^{BIL IRA} Denotes programs that received funding from both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, P.L. 117-58, and the Inflation Reduction Act, P.L. 117-169