View the entire newsletter for more articles: 2023 – NJAC County Biz – July
by Gareth Lifton, Managing Director, ESG Climate Advisory Government Lead, KPMG LLP
KPMG – Who we are?
The KPMG LLP (KPMG) Regulatory Compliance and Infrastructure, Capital Projects and Climate Advisory (ICA) practice is a leading provider of advisory services for infrastructure owners in the U.S. and internationally. In the U.S., we have been a trusted advisor to state and local government agencies, water utilities, transportation agencies, cities, counties, and port authorities providing grants management, stakeholder engagement, public outreach, sustainability, climate action planning, infrastructure advisory, strategic and implementation support, as well as financial advice.
KPMG in New Jersey
KPMG is proud of our long-standing and continued relationship with the State of New Jersey. We have provided decades of service to state and local government entities, as well as the local business community. We have more than 2,710 professionals in our three local New Jersey offices, which allows KPMG to access and engage resources throughout any region where the State may require our assistance.
IIJA and IRA
The level of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver meaningful economic, social, and environmental change, along with much-needed infrastructure asset management and capacity expansion. But making the most of the funding requires more than good intentions. It requires that we work together—leveraging our collective knowledge, experience, and tools—to meet the many challenges between us and success. We are working with governmental and commercial entities, applying our processes and tools, to secure IIJA and IRA, funding, capture tax incentives, and execute successful projects.
Infrastructure and Environmental Justice
Our team has a well-established record of creating successful stakeholder engagement approaches that support people-centric missions, while simultaneously supporting programs that are integrated, wide-ranging, and trusted. We recognize the vital importance of ensuring that stakeholders feel safe, heard, and empowered. Our approach focuses on providing community education, guidance, grant support, program development and governance to assist disadvantaged/environmental justice communities across the State, while providing a forum in which key stakeholders can participate and collaborate effectively in the environmental decision-making process. An overview of some of our core services is provided below:
- Identification of disadvantaged / environmental justice communities using various mapping tools, including the KPMG physical risk tool, as well as the EPA’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST)
- Coordinate public outreach and participation through a variety of formats including in-person and remote sessions, round tables, focus groups, and digital mechanisms, like surveys
- Project prioritization for capital investments that gathers stakeholder input at each step of the prioritization process, and ensures future capital requirements are identified, quantified, prioritized, and selected for execution inline with an organization’s strategy
- Grants management and compliance for federal funding, such as from IIJA and IRA, including grant identification / prioritization, grant application development, and oversight and monitoring to support federal audit-readiness and that use of funds meets mandated requirements
- Project management and technical assistance with large and / or federally funded capital-intensive projects
Takeaways
At KPMG, we are committed to identifying and securing infra-funding resources that will support infrastructure owners like you – not only in acquiring grants, but in connecting your infrastructure investments to the outcomes that your stakeholders demand, across every project phase and infrastructure delivery milestone.
Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates or related entities.
If you have questions about your funding issues, feel free to reach out. We are committed to the long-term success of New Jersey’s counties.