Organizations in St. Lawrence County and elsewhere in NY can apply for portions of $4.5 million in Community Impact Grant funding to support communities across New York that are disproportionately impacted by pollution and toxins.

Community Impact Grants provide community-based organizations with funding for projects that address various environmental and public health concerns, with a particular focus on low-income and minority communities historically burdened by environmental problems, according to a news release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.

The grants are funded through the state's Environmental Protection Fund and administered by the Department of Environmental Conservation's Office of Environmental Justice. Funded projects include targeted research, community gardens, tree plantings, education and curriculum development, urban farming training, habitat restoration, as well as water and air quality monitoring, Cuomo’s office said.

Funding will be distributed to communities around the state, and for the first time in the program's history, interested organizations can request up to $100,000 for proposed projects. Not-for-profit community-based organizations are eligible to apply for Community Impact Grants to work on projects that address environmental and public health concerns of residents in impacted neighborhoods. Projects must address a community's exposure to multiple harms and risks and include a research component that will be used to expand the knowledge of the affected community, Cuomo’s office said.

Organizations must have their have their primary office located in the affected community, serve the residents of an area equal to or smaller than a town or city outside of New York City, or an area equal to or smaller than one of the five boroughs within New York City, and must address environmental or public health issues of the residents of the affected community.

Questions will be accepted until July 2. All questions and answers will be uploaded to the state’s Grants Gateway at https://grantsgateway.ny.gov on a rolling basis. Applicants are required to register and qualify in the Grants Gateway before applying. This web-based grant management tool is used to improve the way grants are administered by the state. Once registered and prequalified, organizations can apply for the grant in the Grants Gateway. Instructions and application are available online at the Grants Gateway website, Cuomo’s office said.

The deadline to submit an application for the Environmental Justice Community Impact Grant is 3 p.m. on July 9. For a complete list of guidelines and more information, contact the Department of Environmental Conservation's Office of Environmental Justice at 518-402-2600, justice@dec.ny.gov or online at DEC's Environmental Justice web page.