Funding

No listed deadline. Significant human health and water quality problems exist in Alaska Native Villages (ANV) and other rural communities in Alaska due to lack of sanitation. To address these issues, Congress in 1996 authorized EPA to create the Alaska Native Villages and Rural Communities Grant Program, which is codified in 33 U.S.C. § 1263a.

The program assists these communities with the construction of new or improved wastewater and drinking water systems. Communities can also use the funding for training and technical assistance in system operations and maintenance.

EPA provides funds to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to address the needs of rural and native Alaska communities. The DEC, in turn, administers these funds through its Village Safe Water (VSW) program. The VSW program’s goal is "to improve public health and compliance with environmental laws by upgrading the level of sanitation facilities in rural [Alaskan] communities through financial and technical assistance."

The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA), established the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). The DWSRF makes funds available to drinking water systems to finance infrastructure improvements.

The SDWA also authorized EPA to set-aside up to 1.5% of the DWSRF for grants to improve the infrastructure of drinking water systems that serve tribes (SDWA §1452i). Starting in 2010, Congress increased the tribal set aside funds to 2%.

Previous Deadline: 06/01/2020. The purpose of the Children’s Healthy Learning Environments Grant Initiative is to provide capacity building to address children’s environmental health in school and childcare settings. The Children’s Healthy Learning Environments Grant Initiative provides funding directly to organizations to support school- and/or childcare center-based capacity building projects that help school communities understand and address local environmental and public health issues that affect children. Capacity building projects are projects that improve the organization’s long-term effectiveness and sustainability through management practices, implementation, and dedication to achieving results towards children’s environmental health. The physical environments in which children develop play a critical role in their health, development, and safety. Children, from the fetal stage through adolescence, are in a dynamic state of growth as their nervous, respiratory, reproductive and immune systems develop and mature. Because of these developing systems, children are more vulnerable to permanent and irreversible damage from environmental hazards than adults. Distinct environments like childcare and school-based settings have unique characteristics related not only to the degree and route of exposure but also to the timing of exposures. Reducing exposures to unhealthy school and childcare settings through the adoption of healthy indoor environment best practices can lead to improving children’s health, attendance, concentration, and performance.

Deadline Passes December 15, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown. This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits proposals from eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, to deliver Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training programs that recruit, train, and place local, unemployed and under-employed residents with the skills needed to secure full-time employment in the environmental field. Please note that eligible entities who received an EWDJT grant in Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17) are not eligible to apply for funding in FY18. While Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants require training in brownfield assessment and/or cleanup, these grants also require that Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) training be provided to all individuals being trained. EPA encourages applicants to develop their curricula based on local labor market assessments and employers’ hiring needs, while also delivering comprehensive training that results in graduates securing multiple certifications.

Deadline unknown for 2017. Wetland Program Development Grants (WPDGs) provide eligible applicants an opportunity to conduct and promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution. All proposals submitted under this RFP must be for projects that build or refine state/tribal/local government wetland programs. Implementation of wetland protection programs is not an eligible project under this announcement

Deadline passed as of March 3, 2023. EPA Region 9 anticipates awarding approximately 30 grants to federally-recognized tribes within the Region 9 geographic area for funding tribal air pollution control programs, air quality education and assessment projects, and the development of tribal air program capacity.

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: May 19, 2022. EPA has announced the availability of up to $1.6 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to support Tribal government efforts to establish or modify programs on environmental justice, water and air quality issues. Congress made up to $1.6 million in ARP funding available to Tribes, recognizing the importance of supporting Tribal public engagement programs and related priorities that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. EPA anticipates awarding 16 to 20 grants nationwide in amounts of up to $100,000 per award. Applicants should plan for projects to begin on 1 October 2022. Learn more and apply here.

Deadline passed as of November 6, 2016. Deadline for 2017 unknown. Through Cool & Connected, a team of experts will help community members develop strategies and an action plan for using broadband service to promote smart, sustainable community development. Broadband access can provide new opportunities for people and businesses. A growing number of communities have combined broadband service with other local assets such as cultural and recreational amenities to attract and retain investment and people, including young people. This can help diversify local economies. Such efforts typically require planning among community leaders, businesses, and internet service providers. The Cool & Connected program will provide assistance to this end, helping communities take advantage of broadband service to create walkable, connected, economically successful main streets and small-town neighborhoods.

RFP closed for 2016. The EPA is seeking applications for a noncompetitive $50 million grant program to establish and enhance state and tribal response programs. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) 128(a) response program grants are funded with State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) appropriations. Generally, these response programs address the assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of brownfields sites with actual or perceived contamination.

Deadline passed on September 22, 2020. This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits applications from eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, to deliver Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training programs that recruit, train, and place local, unemployed and under-employed residents with the skills needed to secure full-time employment in the environmental field. While Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants require training in brownfield assessment and/or cleanup activities, these grants also require that Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) training be provided to all individuals being trained. EPA encourages applicants to develop their curricula based on local labor market assessments and employers’ hiring needs, while also delivering comprehensive training that results in graduates securing multiple certifications.

Deadline passed as of August 1, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown. This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits proposals to develop and stand-up a place-based estuary program encompassing one or more of the following bays in Florida’s northwest panhandle region: Perdido Bay, Pensacola Bay, Escambia Bay, Choctawhatchee Bay, St. Andrews Bay and Apalachicola Bay.

The Healthy Communities Grant Program is EPA New England’s main competitive grant program to work directly with communities to reduce environmental risks, protect and improve human health and improve the quality of life. The Healthy Communities Grant Program will achieve this through identifying and funding projects that: 1) Target resources to benefit communities at risk [areas at risk from climate change impacts, areas impacted by stormwater run-off, environmental justice areas of potential concern, urban areas and sensitive populations (e.g. children, elderly, tribes, and others at increased risk)]; 2) Assess, understand, and reduce environmental and human health risks; 3) Increase collaboration through community-based projects; 4) Build institutional and community capacity to understand and solve environmental and human health problems; 5) Advance emergency preparedness and resilience; 6) Achieve measurable environmental and human health benefits. In order to qualify as eligible projects under the Healthy Communities Grant Program, proposted projects must take place within New England states and must meet several criteria including: (1) Be located in and/or directly benefit one or more of the Target Investment Areas; and (2) Identify how the proposed project will achieve measurable environmental and/or public health results in one or more of the Target Program Areas

Deadline: June 15, 2023. EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program will provide noncompetitive planning grant opportunities for Federally recognized Tribes, tribal consortia, and U.S. Territories interested in participating in the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program. The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program will provide grants to states, territories, tribes, air pollution control agencies, and local governments to develop and implement plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. Section 60114 of the Inflation Reduction Act provides an investment of $5 billion to support these efforts to develop and implement strong, local greenhouse gas reduction strategies. This two-staged grant program provides funding of $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants, and $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants. An informational webinar intended specifically for tribes, tribal consortia and U.S. Territories will be held March 9, 2023 at 11am Pacific and will be recorded and posted to https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/climate-pollution-reduction-.... Register for the webinar here.

This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits applications from eligible entities for demonstration, training, outreach and/or education cooperative agreements that will have a national scale impact to reduce exposure to indoor air contaminants and yield measurable environmental outcomes.