Municipal Program
The Municipal Program (MP) was created to support municipal and community-based projects that target greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions. The program allocated approximately $8 million to help municipalities promote sustainability in their local communities.
Three different Categories for projects within the Municipal Program included:
Category One: Corporate Capacity Building Grant
To undertake significant greenhouse gas and air pollutant emission reductions within their own organizations, municipalities must first understand how they are using energy and creating emissions, and where their best savings and reduction opportunities exist. This information can be collected through undertaking emissions and energy inventories and energy audits of facilities.
The Corporate Emissions Reduction Capacity Building Grant supported both inventory and audit activities by municipalities. The inventory and audit must capture all sources of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions attributable to the municipality, and could include town halls and other facilities, vehicles, water and sewage treatment, street lights, and so on.
Category Two: Corporate Action Grant
Reducing greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from corporate operations can provide economic as well as environmental benefits to municipalities. The Corporate Action Grant of the Municipal Program assisted municipalities realize these benefits by supporting projects that reduce emissions from internal municipal operations. Examples of these types of projects included:
- energy efficiency and conservation (i.e. energy retrofits, clean vehicles, new construction, etc.);
- renewable energy (i.e. wind, solar, etc.); and
- fuel switching to fuels that produce fewer air emissions per unit of energy (i.e. changing from a boiler that uses heavy fuel oil to natural gas, etc.)
Category Three: Community Action Grant
Community emissions reduction projects aim at directly reducing the energy consumption and resulting air emissions of organizations and individuals within a municipality. Projects included:
- education and awareness programs
- community emissions reductions programs (via energy efficiency/energy conservation)
- support of community based not-for-profit projects (for example: a community recreation facility, community centre, etc.)
MP applications were reviewed quarterly; a table identifying the application deadlines is detailed below.
MP applications were reviewed quarterly, starting in January of 2008. The final date for applications was January 31, 2010. All successful project applications were approved by March 31, 2010.
A list of the projects supported by the ecoNova Scotia Municipal Program can be found under the Projects tab.