Funding

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.

Categories: Scholars, water, tribal governance, traditional knowledge

The NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Hawaii Program is a federal funding opportunity which meets NOAA's mission of science, service and stewardship. This B-WET program supports the vision of a future where societies and their ecosystems are healthy and resilient in the face of sudden or prolonged change. The purpose for this financial assistance is to support our communities by developing a well-informed citizenry involved in decision-making that positively impacts our coastal, marine and watershed ecosystems in the State of Hawaii. This opportunity is a competitively-based grant that provides funding to assist in the development of new programs, encourage innovative partnerships among environmental education programs and support geographically targeted programs to advance environmental education efforts that complement national and state school requirements.

Categories: Environmental Education, Coastal, Marine, Watershed, Hawaii.

Most Recent 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 properties' stages of development.

Categories: development, property, infrastructure, IRA, retrofit

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: January 15, 2024. Transportation fatalities and injuries severely impact the quality of life in Indian country. Each year under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), as enacted by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58), 4% of the available TTP funds are set aside to address transportation safety issues identified by federally recognized Indian tribes through a competitive, discretionary program. Projects are chosen whose outcomes will reduce fatal and serious injuries in transportation related incidents, such as motor vehicle crashes.

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.

Deadline Passed 06/27/2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. The purpose of the Sun Grant Program (SGP) is to enhance national energy security through the development, distribution, and implementation of biobased energy technologies; to promote diversification in, and the environmental sustainability of, agricultural production in the United States through biobased energy and product technologies; to promote economic diversification in rural areas of the United States through biobased energy and product technologies; and to enhance the efficiency of bioenergy and biomass research and development programs through improved coordination and collaboration among the Department of Agriculture; other appropriate Federal agencies (as determined by the Secretary); and Land Grant Institutions.

Categories: energy security, biobased energy, technologies, biomass

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.

Categories: Infrastructure, Planning, career building, Research

The purpose of the grant is to accelerate and expand the strategic protection of healthy freshwater ecosystems and their watersheds across the country. EPA expects to issue a cooperative agreement to fund a single grantee to manage the Healthy Watersheds Consortium grant program and issue sub-awards on a competitive basis.

Categories: Restoration, Mitigation, watershed

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.

Categories: collaborative, forest restoration, old growth stands, fire adaptation, watershed health, ecological restoration

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: May 31, 2023. The NSF is calling for planning proposals for advancing inclusive wildland fire science via diverse knowledge systems. Proposals that aim to develop a deeper understanding of wildland fire as integrated social-cultural-ecological-technological systems and improve education across multiple levels, in informal settings and/or formal settings spanning pre-college through post-secondary levels, are also encouraged. Budget requests may not exceed $100,000 per year, with a duration of up to two years. Prospective investigators must submit a two-page description of the proposal concept to wildlandfire@nsf.gov.

Categories: fire, knowledge systems, education

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.

Categories: scientific research, adaptation, evolutionary biology, climate science

Deadline: August 1, 2024.  Microbes and communities of microbes have remarkable genetic, physiological and biochemical diversity, allowing them to flourish in environments all over the planet and in a variety of substrates and hosts. The goal of this solicitation is to support research that addresses one or more of the three themes: 1) define the underlying mechanisms or rules that drive the formation, maintenance or evolution of synthetic microbial communities, 2) use synthetic microbial communities to address fundamental biological questions, including questions in molecular biology, cellular/organismal biology, ecology and evolution and/or 3) build synthetic communities with biotechnology, bioeconomy or environmental engineering applications, including but not limited to the production of novel biorenewable chemicals, biodegradation of recalcitrant or “forever chemicals,” enabling a circular bioeconomy, fostering sustainable agriculture and mitigating the impacts of climate change.

Categories: Scientific research, microbiology, forever chemicals, molecular biology, climate mitigation

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.

Categories: Leadership, Award, Climate Initiatives

Deadline Passed 09/30/2018. Deadline Unknown for 2019. The Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program (Broadband Program) furnishes loans and loan guarantees to provide funds for the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide service at the broadband lending speed in eligible rural areas. For more information on other programs administered by RUS Telecommunications please visit : http://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/all-programs/telecom-programs. Broadband loans provide funding on a technology-neutral basis for financing:The construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities required to provide service at the broadband lending speed including facilities required for providing other services through the same facilitiesThe cost of leasing facilities required to provide service at the broadband Lending speed if such lease qualifies as a capital lease under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)An acquisition, under certain circumstances and with restrictionsFor additional detail see 7 CFR 1738

Categories: broadband access, internet, implementation, development, rural communities

Last deadline: January 19, 2023. The AgrAbility program increases the likelihood that farmers, ranchers, farm workers and farm family members with disabilities will experience success in agricultural production. The program supports projects between State Cooperative Extension System and private, non-profit disability organizations who work in partnership to provide agricultural education and assistance directed at accommodating disability in farm operations for individuals with disabilities, and their families, who engage in farming and farm-related occupations.

Categories: agriculture, equity, inclusion, social justice, disability services

Applications accepted continuously. The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) helps agricultural producers maintain and improve their existing conservation systems and adopt additional conservation activities to address priority resources concerns. Participants earn CSP payments for conservation performance—the higher the performance, the higher the payment.

Categories: Stewardship, Conservation, IRA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: April 8, 2022. The Farm Business Management and Benchmarking (FBMB) Competitive Grants Program provides funds for improving the farm management knowledge and skills of agricultural producers by maintaining and expanding a national, publicly available farm financial management database to support improved farm management. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Farm business, agriculture, financial management

Applications accepted year round. This program provides financing for the construction, maintenance, improvement and expansion of telephone service and broadband in rural areas. For more information on other programs administered by RUS Telecommunications please visit : http://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/all-programs/telecom-programs

Categories: telecommunications, infrastructure, development, broadband, construction, rural communities

Deadline passed as of July 29, 2016. Deadline for 2017 unknown. The 2501 Program provides funding to eligible organizations for training and technical assistance projects designed to assist socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers in owning and operating viable agricultural enterprises. The 2501 Program extends USDA's capacity to work with members of farming and ranching communities by funding projects that enhance the equitable participation of socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers in USDA programs. It is OAO's (Office of Advocacy and Outreach) intention to build lasting relationships between USDA, awardee organizations, and socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers.

Categories: agricultural, food security, veterans, ranching, environmental justice, technical assistance, business,

The USDA Rural Business Cooperative-Service Agency is accepting applications for Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans to assist agricultural producers and rural small businesses with evaluating energy efficiency and the potential to incorporate renewable energy technologies into their operations.

Categories: Renewable energy, Agriculture, small businesses

he Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) helps the owners of non-industrial private forests restore forest health damaged by natural disasters. The EFRP does this by authorizing payments to owners of private forests to restore disaster damaged forests.

The local FSA County Committee implements EFRP for all disasters with the exceptions of drought and insect infestations. In the case of drought or an insect infestation, the national FSA office authorizes EFRP implementation.

Categories: forest restoration, forest management, private forests, non-industrial forests, natural disasters, forest health

Deadline passed as of December 5, 2016. Deadline for 2017 unknown.Contingent upon available funds the Northwest Climate Hub requests proposals to support our mission to serve farms, forests and rangelands in a changing climate. An estimated amount of $350,000 is available for approximately 5-10 projects. There are additional funds available (at least $50,000) to fund one proposal that is designed to assist the NW Climate Hub in serving Alaska, such as efforts focused on Alaska meeting its food security needs under climate change.

Categories: Alaska, agriculture, wilderness, climate change, adaptation, mitigation

Rolling Deadline. This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

Categories: housing, infrastructure, facilities, rural

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: April 11, 2022. This funding seeks to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications are accepted from eligible entities for projects carried out in the state of Alaska. A total of up to $415,000 is available for the Alaska (State) CIG competition in FY 2022. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Conservation, innovation, Alaska, technology

Deadline Passed. Latest Deadline: July 11, 2022. The USDA is seeking applications for grants to preserve and repair housing for very-low- and low-income families living in rural areas. The funds are being made available through USDA Rural Development's Housing Preservation Grant program. USDA does not provide funding directly to homeowners under this program.

Categories: Infrastructure, public health, rural housing

Deadline Passed. Most Recent Deadline February 28, 2024. Application deadlines vary by state. Check with your local program staff. RBDG is a competitive grant designed to support targeted technical assistance, training and other activities leading to the development or expansion of small and emerging private businesses in rural areas that have fewer than 50 employees and less than $1 million in gross revenues. Programmatic activities are separated into enterprise or opportunity type grant activities.

Categories: small business, rural business, family-owned, private business, rural communities

The Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentives Program (VPA-HIP) encourages private landowners to voluntarily make their land available to the public for wildlife-dependent recreation. States and tribes approved for funding of this Farm Service Agency (FSA) program use the funds as incentives to encourage private landowners of farms, ranches, and forests to make that land available to the public for wildlife-dependent recreation. This may include hunting or fishing. The overall goal of VPA-HIP is to enhance wildlife habitat and management and to boost local economies through activities that attract wildlife enthusiasts.

Categories: Conservation, recreation

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: May 23, 2022. The Agency will make grants to public bodies and private nonprofit corporations, (such as States, counties, cities, townships, and incorporated towns and villages, boroughs, authorities, districts, and Indian tribes on Federal and State reservations) to provide associations Technical Assistance and/or training with respect to essential community facilities programs. The Technical Assistance and/or training will assist communities, Indian Tribes, and Nonprofit Corporations to identify and plan for community facility needs that exist in their area. Once those needs have been identified, the Grantee can assist in identifying public and private resources to finance those identified community facility needs.

Categories: community facilities, infrastructure, planning, training, technical assistance

The purpose of the demonstration projects is to test innovative strategies to end childhood hunger, including alternative models for service delivery and benefit levels that promote the reduction or elimination of childhood hunger and food insecurity. Projects may include enhanced SNAP benefits for eligible households with children; enhanced benefits or innovative program delivery models in school meals, afterschool snacks programs, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program; and other targeted Federal, State or local assistance, including refundable tax credits, emergency housing, employment and training, or family preservation services, for households with children who are experiencing food insecurity.

Categories: Health, Hunger

Deadline Passed 06/10/2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. The Rural Housing Service (Agency), an Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the acceptance of applications under the Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) program. Applicants must provide matching funds in an amount at least equal to the Federal grant. These grants will be made to qualified intermediary organizations that will provide financial and technical assistance to recipients to develop their capacity and ability to undertake projects related to housing, community facilities, or community and economic development that will support the community.

Categories: rural development, tribal housing, facilities, development projects, non-profit housing, economic development, infrastructure, capacity building