The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (“CEJA”) defines an equity eligible person as:

(1) persons who graduate from or are current or former participants in the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, the Illinois Climate Works Pre-apprenticeship Program, the Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, or the Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program, and the solar training pipeline and multi-cultural jobs program created in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(3) of Section 16-108.21 of the Public Utilities Act;

(2) persons who are graduates of or currently enrolled in the foster care system;

(3) persons who were formerly incarcerated; [or]

(4) persons whose primary residence is in an equity investment eligible community. (20 ILCS 3855/1-10).

A person may fall into multiple categories or only one; a person does not need to have participated in a CEJA- or FEJA-funded training program in order to be an EEP if they qualify under one of the other categories.

An “equity investment eligible community” is defined by CEJA as:

(1) R3 Areas as established pursuant to Section 10-40 of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, where residents have historically been excluded from economic opportunities, including opportunities in the energy sector; and

(2) Environmental justice communities, as defined by the Illinois Power Agency pursuant to the Illinois Power Agency Act, where residents have historically been subject to disproportionate burdens of pollution, including pollution from the energy sector. (20 ILCS 3855/1-10).

A map of R3 Areas can be found here, a map of environmental justice communities can be found here, and the Equity Investment Eligible Community Map that combines EJ and R3 areas can be found here.