This report surveys the barriers that state agency staff face when deploying federal climate and clean energy funds to priority communities. Based on interviews with 16 state agency managers of Justice40 covered programs, we find that states need: 1) streamlined and transparent federal guidance, 2) eased procurement requirements, 3) flexible use of community screening criteria, and 4) technical assistance in tracking and reporting benefits.

Communities need additional support to navigate federal funding opportunities, including technical assistance on applications and projects, long-term capacity building, and extended timelines for community engagement. All stakeholders are encouraged to facilitate direct connections across states to share best practices, convene mixed audiences of private and public actors, and convey process-oriented feedback to federal agencies to improve the Justice40 funding pipeline.