A note on this initial Justice40 Covered Programs list

This is an inaugural list of programs covered under the Justice40 Initiative. The Justice40 

Initiative was established by President Biden in Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate 

Crisis at Home and Abroad,

1 and last year, formal guidance, M-21-28,2 Interim Implementation 

Guidance for the Justice40 Initiative, was issued. The M-21-28 guidance memo provided further 

direction to Federal agencies on the Initiative, while also identifying twenty-one pilot programs. 

As detailed in the M-21-28 guidance memo, Justice40 covered programs are any Federal 

program that makes a covered investment in any one of the following seven categories: climate 

change, clean energy and energy efficiency, clean transit, affordable and sustainable housing, 

training and workforce development, remediation and reduction of legacy pollution, and the 

development of critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure. Existing and new programs, 

including those created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, that make covered investments in 

any of these categories are considered Justice40 covered programs in line with current statute. As 

such, we expect this list to evolve over time as new Federal programs are created or existing 

Federal programs sunset. 

Since the release of the Justice40 Initiative in the EO and subsequent M-21-28 guidance memo, 

the Federal government has been diligently applying the interim guidance and reviewing 

programs for inclusion into the Justice40 Initiative. With an eye toward transparency and 

marking the progress made thus far, we are releasing Justice40 covered programs list for the 

Department of Agriculture.

1 Please see https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-athome-and-abroad 2 Please see https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/M-21-28.pdf
2

Department of Agriculture

The Department of Agriculture has 65 covered programs.

Covered programs list for USDA

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

1. ARS 1890 Faculty Research Program

2. ARS Outreach Activities Associated with Underserved/Underrepresented Populations

3. Clean Energy

4. Climate Change

Farm Service Agency (FSA)

5. Agriculture Risk Coverage Program

6. Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program

7. Conservation Reserve Program

8. Direct Farm Operating Loans

9. Farm Storage Facility Loan

10. FSA County Committees (Urban Agriculture Pilot Locations)

11. Grassland Conservation Reserve Program

12. Organic Certification Cost Share Program

13. Price Loss Coverage

14. Transition Incentives Program

15. Food Production and Conservation Business Center Hazardous Waste Cleanup Program

16. Dairy Margin Coverage

17. Guaranteed Conservation Loans

Forest Service

18. Abandoned Hard Rock Mine and Orphaned Oil and Gas Well Reclamation 

19. Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program∗,3

20. Hazardous Fuels Management*,3

21. Ecological Health Restoration Contracts*

22. Financial Assistance to Facilities That Purchase and Process Byproducts for Ecosystem 

Restoration Projects*

23. Landscape Scale Restoration Water Quality and Fish Passage*

24. Recreation Sites*

25. Restoration Projects Via States and Tribes*,3

26. Restore Native Vegetation on Federal/Non-Federal Land*,3

27. Revegetation Effort to Implement National Seed Strategy*

28. Climate-related Training

29. Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership

30. Reducing Wildfire Risk to Tribes, Underserved, and Socially Vulnerable Communities 

31. Tribal Authorities

∗ Denotes programs that received funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, P.L. 117-58. 3 These programs and funding line items are listed as covered under the Justice40 Initiative because of the inclusion 

criteria set. In practice, these items fund a broad array of different activities, and therefore will likely not be subject 

to the development of a comprehensive benefits methodology or reporting.
3

32. Urban and Community Forestry Program

33. Land and Water Conservation Fund

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

34. Bioproduct Research Program*

35. NIFA Workforce Development, Climate Research, and Extension Programs Benefitting 

Underserved Communities4

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

36. Agricultural Conservation Easement Program

37. Agricultural Management Assistance

38. Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations*

39. Watershed Rehabilitation Program*

40. Conservation Operations/ Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA)

41. Conservation Stewardship Program

42. Environmental Quality Incentives Program

43. Healthy Forest Reserve Program

44. Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership (JCLRP)

45. Regional Conservation Partnership Program

46. Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production

Risk Management Agency (RMA)

47. Risk Management Education (RME) Partnership Program5

48. Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) 5

Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS)

49. Rural Energy for America Grant program

50. Rural Energy for America Loan program

Rural Housing Service (RHS)

51. Community Facilities Direct Loans 

52. Community Facilities Grants

53. Multi-family Housing Section 521 Rental Assistance

54. Single Family Housing Direct Loans

55. Mutual and Self-Help Housing Grants

4 USDA NIFA has identified 14 programs that support workforce development, research, and extension in Justice40 

priority areas. The 14 programs specifically benefit underserved communities (e.g. funding specifically for 1890 

Institutions, 1994 Native American/Tribal Serving Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions etc.). To 

ensure that applicants and grantees of these programs are not burdened with additional administrative work or new 

reporting requirements, USDA will complete any administrative requirements associated with these programs being 

included in Justice40 at Headquarters. For these programs, at this time, there will be no change to Requests for 

Funding Applications or grantee application or reporting requirements. 5 Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) and Risk Management Education (RME) are functions under the 

broader crop insurance program and best suited to be included as Justice40 covered programs. Because the 

parameters of crop insurance are set by Congress and USDA does not retain discretion regarding which applicants 

receive benefits under crop insurance, USDA looks forward to engaging with Congress and crop insurance 

stakeholders to ensure the Federal Crop Insurance Program and crop insurance products offered provide underserved 

producers with the risk management tools they need to thrive and thus better align with the Jusice40 initiative.
4

56. Loan Guarantee and Multi-Family Programs for Underserved Communities6

Rural Utilities Service (RUS)

57. Electric Infrastructure Program

58. High Energy Cost Grant

59. Rural Energy Savings Program

60. Water and Waste Direct Loan

61. Water and Waste Grant

62. Distributed Generation Energy Project Financing

63. Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program

64. Energy Resource Conservation Program

Departmentwide

65. USDA Climate Hubs

6 Rural development administers several loan guarantee and housing programs (multifamily, community facilities, 

etc.) where the program is specially designed to benefit underserved communities and thus USDA plans to report on 

those programs under the Justice40 framework while ensuring that program applicants and beneficiaries will not be 

subject to any program changes or additional reporting requirements.