The Great Lakes Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (Great Lakes TCTAC), funded in April 2023 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), has announced the suspension of its services due to the unilateral termination of its EPA cooperative agreement, effective February 21, 2025. This termination impacts hundreds of communities and organizations with active requests for technical assistance.
The TCTAC program was created by Congress under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to provide regionally tailored, free technical assistance, training, and capacity building to support communities as they engage with the federal government and other funders to implement critical infrastructure projects.
The Great Lakes TCTAC was selected by the EPA through a competitive process to be a local implementing partner of EPA and DOE’s technical assistance missions for our region, providing technical assistance in six states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
The TCTAC model reflects EPA’s foundational principle of implementing its mission with locally situated partners. The Great Lakes TCTAC has built efficiency and effectiveness in delivering technical assistance by working with a network of partners throughout our region. The Great Lakes TCTAC network includes community development programs in the Extension schools at six Land Grant universities in our region, as well as nonprofits that work with independent governmental jurisdictions across the region.
To date, the Great Lakes TCTAC has responded to more than 600 requests for technical assistance with the potential to deploy over $400 million in infrastructure projects, including more than 100 active requests that have now been disrupted.
It has delivered critical technical assistance to municipal governments, tribes, nonprofit organizations, and community-based organizations across rural and urban areas. The Great Lakes TCTAC has provided critical support to rural and remote communities that otherwise would not have access to these resources to develop infrastructure projects and secure necessary funding.
A major point of emphasis has been helping local governments and organizations develop plans and funding applications for infrastructure projects. Some specific examples of impactful work include assisting:
- A Minnesota-based tribal nation to weatherize homes and install new insulation and heating systems.
- An urban community in Ohio to provide food to people who were struggling with reliable food supply while reducing food waste.
- A statewide association of local water district managers in Indiana to identify opportunities for critical infrastructure upgrades.
- A rural town in Illinois to restore former mine land into a recreational space, and to address flooding caused by ground sinking caused by an abandoned mine.
- An urban community in Wisconsin to upgrade its disaster preparedness centers and address air pollution.
- A rural school district in Michigan to conduct asbestos and lead abatement in school buildings.
The University of Minnesota is appealing EPA’s unilateral termination of the agreement.
For more information, please contact [email protected].
