Funding

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Offi ce of Indian Energy is now accepting applications for the third round of
its Strategic Technical Assistance Response Team (START) Renewable Energy Project Development Assistance
Program. Through START, Tribes can get customized technical assistance for furthering the development of
community- and commercial-scale renewable energy projects. Applications are due May 1, 2015; up to fi ve
projects will be selected in June 2015.

Deadline Passed as of 2/09/2018. Deadline for 2019 Unknown. Natural disasters have become increasingly damaging and problematic to transportation systems in many locations within the United States, affecting the performance of the transportation network and straining state and Federal funding for repair and maintenance. Addressing this critical issue is included in the U.S. Department of Transportation Draft Strategic Plan for FY 2018 -2021, which includes development of new tools to improve transportation infrastructure durability and resilience as a priority innovation area. It also states that infrastructure should be made resilient and durable to withstand extreme weather events. This pilot program will assist U.S. DOT and FHWA in achieving these strategic objectives, reducing future maintenance costs over the full life-cycle of transportation assets.

Most recent deadline: 01/15/2021. Tribal Wetland Program Development Grants (WPDGs) assist tribal governments and intertribal consortia to develop or refine tribal programs which protect, manage, and restore wetlands. The primary focus of these grants is to develop/refine tribal wetland programs. The goals of EPA’s wetland program include increasing the quantity and quality of wetlands in the U.S. by conserving and restoring wetland acreage and improving wetland condition. In pursuing these goals, EPA seeks to develop the capacity of all levels of government to develop and refine effective, comprehensive programs for wetland protection and management.

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: April 20, 2023. The Zoonotic Disease Initiative is a grant program focused on wildlife disease prevention and preparedness. Authorized under the American Rescue Plan (2021, H.R. 1319, Section 6003.3), the Initiative will provide $9 million in available funding to states, Tribes and territories to strengthen early detection, rapid response and science-based management research to address wildlife disease outbreaks before they cross the barrier from animals to humans and become pandemics. The highest priority for the funding is to increase organizational readiness and ensure a network of state, Tribal and territorial wildlife managers across the nation are prepared for zoonotic disease outbreaks. Strengthening partner capacity for wildlife health monitoring will allow for the early detection of diseases. Learn more and apply here. Grants for Tribes are open through NOFO F23AS00139. For more information, please contact Anna-Marie York at anna-marie_york@fws.gov.

Deadline Passed. Most recent deadline: March 23, 2023. The Community Wood Grant Program, launched in 2020, provides funding for grants to install thermally led community wood energy systems or to build innovative wood product manufacturing facilities. The Forest Service expects renewable wood energy systems installed under this program to use the most stringent control technologies. The program places extra emphasis on assisting sawmills in economically challenged areas to retool or add advanced technology. Read the funding announcement here.

Most recent deadline: 1/14/2021. The Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) seeks to solve critical organic agriculture issues, priorities, or problems through the integration of research, education, and extension activities. The purpose of this program is to fund projects that will enhance the ability of producers and processors who have already adopted organic standards to grow and market high quality organic agricultural products. Priority concerns include biological, physical, and social sciences, including economics. The OREI is particularly interested in projects that emphasize research, education and outreach that assist farmers and ranchers with whole farm planning by delivering practical research-based information. Projects should plan to deliver applied production information to producers. Fieldwork must be done on certified organic land or on land in transition to organic certification, as appropriate to project goals and objectives.

Deadline passed. Deadline for 2022 unknown. The Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice in 2020 announced its new Tribal Resilience Initiative (TRI). Special consideration will be given to applications to support hiring of scholars (1) whose work addresses the severe water access challenges that face Native American and Indigenous communities, especially those facing Native American communities within Arizona; and (2) to scholars who have significant expertise or experience that relates to tribal customs and governance, and to traditional knowledge, and ways of approaching resilience challenges of Native American and Indigenous communities that respect both. The Haury Program will award up to ten one-time grants in Spring of 2021 to support the recruitment of scholars whose teaching, scholarship, or outreach centers on matters relevant to Native American and Indigenous resilience. Each one-time award will be for $18,000 to be used to support the position, or to support a research assistant for the awardee.

Rolling Deadline through March 2024. Part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program provides funding for direct loans and grants to fund projects that improve energy or water efficiency, enhance indoor air quality or sustainability, implement the use of zero-emission electricity generation, low-emission building materials or processes, energy storage, or building electrification strategies, or address climate resilience, of eligible HUD-assisted multifamily properties. Eligible owners primarily include owners receiving HUD rental assistance under Multifamily Section 8 project-based rental assistance, Section 202 Supportive Housing for Low-Income Elderly, and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Low-Income Persons with Disabilities. There are three different paths/cohorts depending on the propertie stages of development.

Rolling deadline. If you’re a Veteran, and either you or your spouse is Native American, our Native American Direct Loan (NADL) program may help you get a loan to buy, build, or improve a home on federal trust land. You may also get a loan to refinance an existing NADL and reduce your interest rate. Find out if you qualify for an NADL—and how to apply. An NADL offers many benefits, including:

No down payment required in most cases.
No need for private mortgage insurance (PMI), which is commonly charged to conventional loan borrowers.
Limited closing costs (fees you pay for services and other costs related to getting a loan and buying a home).
A low-interest, 30-year fixed mortgage (a fixed mortgage means your interest rate will stay the same over the full life of the loan). The current VA interest rate for NADLs starts at 2.5%. To find out what your interest rate will be, contact an NADL coordinator by email at NADL@va.gov or by phone at 888-349-7541 (TTY: 711). We’re here Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.
A reusable benefit, which means you can get more than one NADL to buy, build, or improve another residence in the future.
The ability to refinance a current NADL for a lower interest rate.
The ability to borrow up to the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac conforming loan limit on a no-down-payment loan in most areas—and more in some high-cost counties. You can borrow more than this amount if you want to make a down payment.

DOT is making available funding to develop innovative programs and activities in public transportation that address the human resources needs of public transportation operators, as well as build pathways to long-term careers in the public transportation industry. DOT is giving additional consideration to proposals that advance training related to maintenance of alternative energy, energy efficiency, or zero emission vehicles and facilities used in public transportation, as well as submissions that are geographically diverse, target areas with high rates of unemployment, and address current or projected workforce shortages in areas that require technical expertise.

Deadline Passed 11/27/2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. Congress established the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) with Title IV of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (PDF, 40 KB) and reauthorized it in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 Section 8629 (the Farm Bill). The purpose of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program is to encourage the collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes and:

• encourage ecological, economic, and social sustainability;
• leverage local resources with national and private resources;
• facilitate the reduction of wildfire management costs, including through re-establishing natural fire regimes and reducing the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire;
• demonstrate the degree to which various ecological restoration techniques achieve ecological and watershed health objectives; and,
• encourage utilization of forest restoration by-products to offset treatment costs, to benefit local rural economies, to and improve forest health.

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: November 21, 2023. Most climate change studies to date have lacked integration between the study of organismal mechanisms involved in the response to changing climates and eco-evolutionary approaches. This solicitation calls for proposals that integrate the study of genomic, physiological, structural, developmental, neural, or behavioral mechanisms of organismal response to climate change (ORCC) with eco-evolutionary approaches to better manage the effects of a rapidly changing climate on earth’s living systems. Specific areas of emphasis include but are not limited to: integrating physiology and genomics into the next generation of species distribution models; mechanistic understanding of plastic responses to climate change; functional genomics of organismal response to climate change; the role biological interactions play in organismal responses to climate change; and improving our ability to predict how organisms will respond to climate change and the consequences these responses will have across biological scales.

Funding unknown for 2017. President Obama has challenged us all to help win the future by out-educating, out-innovating, and out-building our competitors in the 21st century. Know someone who is doing extraordinary things to make a difference in your community? Nominate them to be a Champion of Change. We’ll consider your nominations as we feature people who are bringing about change in their communities on the White House website to share their ideas on how to win the future.

Rolling deadline. This program helps very small, financially distressed rural communities with predevelopment feasibility studies, design and technical assistance on proposed water and waste disposal projects.