LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) is continuing public outreach for Nebraska’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) planning efforts. The agency is holding a series of in-person public meetings to provide a progress update and accept public comments.

The CPRG is a $3 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Inflation Reduction Act. The grant provides funding for states and local governments to develop and implement a Priority Climate Action Plan and a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The public meetings, scheduled in January and early February, will include a short presentation about the CPRG program and process, the GHG emission reduction measures discussed in previous virtual stakeholder sessions held in late 2023, and the priority measures identified. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the measures, ask questions, and provide input and comment on NDEE’s proposed priority rankings.

Five scheduled meetings are planned across Nebraska:

Alliance: Knight Museum

908 Yellowstone Avenue
Tuesday, Jan. 30, from 5:30-7 p.m.

North Platte: Mid-Plains Community College (North Campus)

Rooms 105 and 107
1101 Halligan Drive
Wednesday, Jan. 31, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Norfolk: Northeast Community College

Lifelong Learning Center, Rooms E and H
801 East Benjamin Avenue
Tuesday, Feb 6, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Lincoln: Park Middle School

855 South 8th Street, Door 5
Thursday, Feb 8, from 6 to 8 p.m.
 

Grand Island: Public Library

Meeting Room B
1124 West 2nd Street
Monday, Feb. 12, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

In November and December, NDEE held a series of virtual meetings with stakeholder workgroups to discuss potential greenhouse gas reduction measures in different economic sectors, including agriculture, energy production, transportation, industry, waste and wastewater, and commercial and residential buildings.

These sessions assisted NDEE in developing a tentative set of priority measures to include in the Priority Climate Action Plan that must be submitted by March 1 of this year. This plan is intended to include high impact, readily implemented greenhouse gas reduction measures. Lower-impact measures may still be considered for inclusion in the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan that is due by August 2025.

If you have an idea for a greenhouse gas reduction measure you would like NDEE to consider for inclusion in Nebraska’s climate action plans and cannot attend a meeting, you can submit your idea using this web link: https://go.unl.edu/ndee-feedback. Please describe the measure and provide as much information as possible to ensure full consideration. The web form also allows you to upload supporting documents.

If you would like to review and comment on NDEE’s current prioritization ranking and process, please use this web link: https://go.unl.edu/cprg-priority-ranking.

For further information about the program or to review meeting notes from the previous workgroup sessions, please visit NDEE’s website: https://dee.nebraska.gov/one-red

If you have other questions about the Climate Pollution Reduction Plan, please contact the NDEE using this web link: NDEE.climatepollution@nebraska.govThis press release was updated Jan. 17, 2024, to include the location of the Lincoln meeting.