California Natural Resources Agency

About the Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Grant Program

The Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Grant Program was created by California Streets and Highways Code Section 164.56, which authorizes the legislature to allocate up to $6.7 million each fiscal year from the Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation (EEM) Program Fund for projects that are directly or indirectly related to the environmental impacts of modifying existing transportation facilities, or for the design, construction, or expansion of new transportation facilities. Examples of transportation facilities include, but are not limited to, city streets, highways, trains, ports, airports, light rail lines, mass transit stations, park and ride facilities, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes. 

The California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) develops procedures and criteria to evaluate grant project proposals and recommends projects for funding to the California Transportation Commission (CTC). The CTC annually awards grants to projects from CNRA's list.

EEM projects must mitigate, either directly or indirectly, the environmental impacts caused by construction of a new transportation facility or the modification of an existing transportation facility. Examples of transportation facilities include, but are not limited to, city streets, highways, trains, ports, airports, light rail lines, mass transit stations, park and ride facilities, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes. In the EEM Grant Program, a transportation project used as the basis for the EEM project is referred to as a “Related Transportation Facility” or “RTF”. 

2025 Project Awards Updates

In January 2026, the CTC Board approved partial program funding from the 2025 EEM Program, as well as advanced partial funding from the 2026, 2027, and 2028 EEM Programs, to fund Phase 2 of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing project, https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/02/02/california-closes-in-on-completing-the-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing/ for a total of $18,835,000. The wildlife crossing is the first of its kind in California and provides safe passage for wildlife across US 101 in Los Angeles County. The project was previously awarded program funding from the 2021 EEM Program to support Phase 1 work.

Additional 2025 project awards are anticipated to be made by the CTC in March 2026.

2026 Solicitation

Due to the significant reduction in EEM Program funds available for projects in 2026, CNRA will not run a competitive grant solicitation this year. An assessment of available funding will be made later in the year to determine whether the program will have sufficient funds to resume a grant solicitation in 2027. The best way to stay up to date and track future updates on the EEM program is to subscribe to the Bonds & Grants listserv https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/CNRA/subscriber/new?topic_id=CNRA_388. Announcements will also be shared on this webpage, and questions can be emailed to eemcoordinator@resources.ca.gov.

EEM PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

To date, 11 competitive grant cycles have resulted in funding 190 projects totaling approximately $99,000,000.00.