Application Burden - California Climate and Energy Collaborative

Barrier 4: Application Burden & Accessibility

Barrier Statement

Competitive public grant applications are overly complex, confusing, and inflexible pass/fail processes that are oversubscribed with little standardization, extracting limited organizational capacity that could be used for action while creating prohibitively high costs and low success probabilities that discourage resource-constrained organizations from attempting to apply.

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How communities are experiencing this barrier

View the details on what communities have shared with SLECC from across the state.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Inland Deserts, San Diego

Competitive and fragmented funding systems—characterized by oversubscription, siloed programs, and burdensome application requirements—overwhelm limited local capacity and disadvantage smaller jurisdictions and CBOs. These structures divert scarce resources from implementation and discourage regional collaboration by forcing jurisdictions to compete rather than coordinate.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego

Smaller jurisdictions and CBOs lack the staff capacity, financial reserves, and grant-writing support needed to navigate multiple state programs with differing requirements, leaving them disadvantaged in securing and managing funding. With limited personnel and reliance on costly consultants, these organizations struggle to compete with better-resourced cities, reinforcing inequities and limiting long-term local capacity.

Key challenge discussed in - Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, San Diego

State funding and technical assistance (TA) programs remain highly fragmented and siloed across multiple agencies, creating inefficiencies, confusion, and inequitable access for local governments and community organizations. Despite expanded opportunities through measures like Proposition 4, funding mechanisms, eligibility rules, timelines, and reporting requirements remain misaligned, leading to duplication of efforts and missed opportunities for community-led innovation. Overlapping TA programs further compound the problem, forcing applicants to navigate inconsistent systems rather than receiving coordinated, streamlined support.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles

Grant programs that require shovel-ready projects disadvantage smaller jurisdictions and CBOs that lack early-stage planning and pre-development resources, creating a “chicken-and-egg” problem where insufficient planning funds prevent projects from ever reaching shovel-ready status.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles

Reimbursement-based funding and slow disbursement processes create significant upfront capital barriers, with months-long delays straining operations and forcing smaller jurisdictions, CBOs, and tribes to consider dropping out. These reimbursement structures disproportionately disadvantage organizations without reserves or access to bridge financing.

Local Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by local leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

Local Solution

Regional collaboratives or higher-capacity jurisdictions can serve as conveners to assemble project teams, administer grants, and provide shared technical and administrative support for smaller agencies. By collaborating regionally on funding applications, jurisdictions can reduce redundancy, share administrative capacity, and expand equitable access to competitive public funds.

Existing Examples of Progress:

1. San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative and foundations acting as “regional convening facilitators” to lead multi-partner funding efforts. 2. Regional collaboratives supporting low-capacity districts in applications

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, Inland Deserts, San Diego

Local Solution

Develop shared regional project databases that map funding needs, project readiness, and sectoral priorities.

Existing Examples of Progress:

1. Lift to Rise’s Capital Absorption Framework – Aligns regional partners around shared goals, aggregates a cross-sector project queue, and integrates pre-development loans to accelerate funding access. 2. WRCOG’s Regional Project Pipeline Portal – A digital tool mapping investable projects across jurisdictions, improving visibility for funders and technical assistance providers

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Inland Deserts

Local Solution

Engage in state agency feedback processes to shape future reforms, including ongoing guideline updates for programs like the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) and Community Resilience Centers (CRC)

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Inland Deserts

State Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by state leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

State Solution

Streamline and simplify applications and reporting through a faster, common-application model. Pilot a unified application within SGC—then scale statewide—to reduce administrative burden, improve visibility into opportunities and unfunded proposals, and create a more accessible, transparent funding system.

Existing Examples of Progress:

SGC and its Connecting Communities Initiative are exploring ways to reduce these administrative burdens while increasing access for under-resourced communities

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, San Diego, Statewide

State Solution

The state can establish flexible climate resilience block grants administered by regional entities—such as COGs—that replace competitive, project-by-project awards and provide predictable, multi-year allocations. By offering formula-based funding, upfront or multi-round disbursements, standardized applications, common reporting formats, and access to advance pay, these block-grant models give jurisdictions stability for long-term planning while enabling regional bodies to deliver coordinated TA and grant administration.

Existing Examples of Progress:

1. Proposition 4 implementation – $10 billion for climate infrastructure (urban forestry, greening, fire mitigation, water improvements, etc.). Agencies are working to avoid duplication, reduce application burdens, and expand community input in program design, led by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA). 2. EECBG program seemed to be particularly straightforward with templates for types of energy projects.

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Statewide

State Solution

Direct state funding toward equitable, community-driven infrastructure planning and upgrades in rural and tribal communities—such as water and energy systems—to strengthen local climate resilience.

Existing Examples of Progress:

State agencies like the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) are advancing place-based funding through the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) and Community Resilience Centers (CRC) programs, both of which require collaborative governance structures with CBO and resident representation. These programs prioritize under-resourced and tribal communities, including projects in Anza (Cahuilla Band of Indians), Banning, Adelanto, and Coachella

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Inland Deserts, San Diego

Solution Spotlight

Integrate equity into grant scoring – Reform grant criteria so that cities with disadvantaged residents (even if not formally designated as DACs) are eligible for equity-based points

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