Written by: Dayen Wilson
On February 26th 2025, the Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (“RISE PA”) grant program opened for applications.[i] The grant program is focused on reducing greenhouse gas (“GHG”) and co-pollutant emissions across the state.[ii] $396 million is available to small, medium, and large scale decarbonization projects at Pennsylvanian industrial facilities.[iii] Governor Josh Shapiro stated that this was one of the largest grants the state had received and will be used to reduce air pollutants, create jobs, and invest in the state’s energy sector.[iv]
RISA PA is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act’s (“IRA”) Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (“CPRG”).[v] The CPRG is designed to provide funding to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop plans to reduce GHG emissions and other air pollutants.[vi] The combined grant amount received by the awardees is $4.3 billion, designed to target six sectors of the economy namely: Transportation, Electric Power, Buildings, Industry, Agriculture and Natural and Working Lands, and Waste and Materials Management.[vii]
In July of last year, the EPA announced that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (“PA DEP”) was selected to receive the grant through a competitive application process that received more than three hundred applications.[viii] Amongst the other recipients of the grants are twenty five states, a Tribe, local governments, and coalitions of these entities.[ix] The RISE PA application was selected under the Industry sector, and other selected applications in this sector include the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, City of New Orleans (Louisiana), Utah Department of Environmental Quality, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.[x]
RISE PA eligible applicants include Small or Medium sized Manufactures (“SMM”), owners of Industrial Facilities, and other entities which include Energy-as-a-Service companies, Sustainability-as-a-Service companies, and other As-a-Service companies.[xi] SMMs are defined as manufacturing facilities with 500 or fewer employees.[xii] Industrial Facilities include process plants that assemble goods or produce industrial process emissions (e.g. cement manufacturing or o-zone depleting substances).[xiii] Other industrial facilities include coal mines, natural gas facilities, or oil system companies.[xiv] The other As-a-Service companies include landlords of industrial facilities.[xv]
Projects eligible for the grant awards are required to reduce GHG emissions through the instillation of several technologies.[xvi] For example, fuel switching technologies designed to enable the transition to low carbon fuels such as bed biomass furnaces and solar thermal heating systems.[xvii] Another project example is on-site renewable energy technologies such as solar systems or wind turbines.[xviii]
Applications for the grant program are set to close on August 29th, 2025 after which the program administrators will begin the application review and selection process.[xix] The Shapiro administration has lofty promises as to the projected outcomes of the program, which include the creation of up to 6000 jobs through a “commonsense initiative” designed to help Pennsylvanian natural gas companies, mines, and industrial manufacturers.[xx] It will be informative to track the program’s progress over the next four years to determine if the program will deliver on its promises. If it succeeds it could serve as a blueprint for future projects or force governments to examine different solutions which may be better suited to improving the lives of Pennsylvanians.
[i] Emily Halvorson, Pennsylvania Opens Applications for RISE PA Grants, Evergreen Action, (Feb. 26, 2025), https://www.evergreenaction.com/press/pennsylvania-opens-applications-for-rise-pa-grants.
[ii] Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (RISE PA), Pa.gov, https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/programs-and-services/energy-programs-office/rise-pa.html, (Last visited Mar. 15,2025).
[iii] Id.
[iv] Shapiro Administration Secures Nearly $400 Million in Federal Funding to Create Jobs and Cut Pollution, Pa.gov, https://www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2024-press-releases/shapiro-administration-secures-nearly–400-million-in-federal-fu.html, (Last visited Mar. 15, 2025).
[v] Rise PA Grant Program Guidance: Medium- and Large-Scale Award Track Applicants, Greenport.Pa.Gov, https://greenport.pa.gov/elibrary/GetDocument?docId=8926418&DocName=RISE%20PA%20GRANT%20PROGRAM%20GUIDANCE:%20MEDIUM-AND-LARGE-SCALE%20AWARD%20TRACK%20APPLICANTS.PDF%20%20%3cspan%20style%3D%22color:green%3b%22%3e%3c/span%3e%20%3cspan%20style%3D%22color:blue%3b%22%3e%28NEW%29%3c/span%3e%2011/15/2026, (Last visited Mar. 15, 2025).
[vi] Pennsylvania’s Priority Climate Action Plan, Greenport.Pa.Gov, (Mar.1, 2024), https://greenport.pa.gov/elibrary/GetDocument?docId=8188822&DocName=PA%20PRIORITY%20CLIMATE%20ACTION%20PLAN.PDF%20%20%3Cspan%20style%3D%22color%3Agreen%3B%22%3E%3C%2Fspan%3E%20%3Cspan%20style%3D%22color%3Ablue%3B%22%3E(NEW)%3C%2Fspan%3E.
[vii] CPRG Implementation Grants: General Competition Selections, Epa.gov,https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/cprg-implementation-grants-general-competition-selections, (last updated Feb. 13, 2025).
[viii] Biden-Harris Administration Selects Pennsylvania DEP to Receive $396M for Community-Driven Solutions to Cut Climate Pollution, Epa.gov, (Jul. 22, 2024), https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-selects-pennsylvania-dep-receive-396m-community-driven.
[ix] Id.
[x] CPRG Selected Applications by Sector – Industry, Epa.gov, https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/cprg-selected-applications-sector-industry, (last updated Sept. 13, 2024).
[xi] Rise PA Grant Program Guidance: Medium- and Large-Scale Award Track Applicants, supra note v.
[xii] Id.
[xiii] Id.
[xiv] Id.
[xv] Id.
[xvi] Rise PA Grant Program Guidance: Medium- and Large-Scale Award Track Applicants, supra note v.
[xvii] Id.
[xviii] Id.
[xix] Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (RISE PA) Program Sheet, Greenport.pa.gov, (Sept. 2024), https://greenport.pa.gov/elibrary/GetDocument?docId=8698308&DocName=REDUCING%20INDUSTRIAL%20SECTOR%20EMISSIONS%20IN%20PENNSYLVANIA%20%28RISE%20PA%29%20GENERAL%20PROGRAM%20SHEET%202024.PDF%20%20%3cspan%20style%3D%22color:green%3b%22%3e%3c/span%3e%20%3cspan%20style%3D%22color:blue%3b%22%3e%28NEW%29%3c/span%3e%209/4/2026.
[xx] Shapiro Administration Launches RISE PA Initiative to Create Energy Jobs, Cut Costs, Grow Pennsylvania’s Energy & Manufacturing Industries, and Lower Toxic Air Pollution, Pa.gov, (Feb. 26, 2025), https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/newsroom/2025-02-26-shapiro-administration-launches-rise-pa-initiative-to-create-energy-jobs-cut-costs-grow-pas-energy-manufacturing-industries.html.