Grants and Funding Opportunities

Through this grant, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will help support community-driven habitat restoration and build the capacity of tribes and underserved communities to meaningfully engage in coastal habitat restoration activities. Awards range from $75,000 to $2 million for projects that will advance the coastal habitat restoration and climate resilience priorities of tribes and underserved communities. 

• Apply   

NOAA will host three webinars about this funding opportunity. A webinar specifically for Tribes will be held on Feb. 24. 

• Register for the Jan. 16 webinar
• Register for the Feb. 24 webinar

Register for the April 10 webinar

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Build America Bureau has announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program. This NOFO provides $27 million in technical assistance grants to rural and Tribal communities for the planning and design phases of transportation projects. Participation in this program does not require a local funding match. The Bureau has allocated up to $10 million specifically for Tribal applicants.  

Grants may be used to hire staff or advisors to assist with planning and design phase activities, including feasibility studies, preliminary engineering and design, environmental review, revenue forecasting, financial feasibility analysis, statutory and regulatory analysis, and drafting and negotiation of agreements. This program has two types of grants:
 

• Single project grants ranging from $200,000 up to $750,000 each
• Multi-community grants ranging from $500,000 up to $2.25 million each to fund projects in at least three eligible communities submitted in a single application

Grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible applicants with qualifying projects. The application form will be available starting at 11:00 a.m. Pacific on March 4.

• Read the press release

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development is accepting applications for the Rural Decentralized Waters System Grant Program. Grant funds will be made to nonprofits and Tribes to create a revolving fund that can be used to finance the costs of household water well systems and individually owned decentralized wastewater systems. Up to $15,000 in loans and up to $15,000 in subgrants are available for each project.  

• Apply 

A reminder that applications are due for each of these grant programs by January 21. Find submission instructions here:

• Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (GAP) funding
• Clean Air Act Section 105 funding
• 106: Clean Water Act Section 106 funding
• Clean Water Action Section 319 funding

Please contact your Project Officer if you have any questions. 

The Environmental Justice (EJ) Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (TCTAC) Grants Database includes a wide array of funding opportunities. For application assistance, contact your regional TCTAC. The EJ TCTACS are a collaborative initiative of EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy.

NOAA Fisheries has $100 million in funding available for habitat restoration and coastal resilience. Of the $100 million available, 15 percent is specifically available to U.S. federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and organizations that represent Tribes through formal legal agreements, direct awards or subawards:

Selected projects will have a transformative impact for coastal communities and tribes across the country. They will help sustain our nation’s fisheries, make significant strides in the recovery of threatened and endangered species, and help protect coastal communities and ecosystems from the impacts of climate change. They will support efforts such as reconnecting rivers to their historic floodplains, building living shorelines that protect coasts from erosion and sea level rise, and more.

NOAA will accept proposals between $750,000 and $10 million for the entire award, with typical funding anticipated to range from $4 million to $6 million.

The WaterSMART Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program provides cost-share funding for the study, design, and construction of large-scale aquatic ecosystem restoration projects that improve the health of fisheries, wildlife, and aquatic habitat, including through habitat restoration or the removal or bypass of fish passage barriers. Common project types include dam removal or modification, restoration of floodplain connectivity, implementation of nature-based solutions, and other related activities. The first round of applications are due by April 15. The second round of applications are due February 17, 2026.  

• Apply 

An informational webinar will be held on January 16 at 12:00 Pacific.

• Join the webinar on Teams. 

This competition is designed to support Tribal Nations in addressing their unique and critical needs. Priorities include strengthening education, preserving traditional languages and cultural practices, advancing environmental stewardship, fostering economic opportunity, promoting healthy futures, and enhancing the quality of life for veterans. Hundreds of AmeriCorps members will be placed across Indian Country to create positive, lasting change. Applicants may be eligible for 100% match replacement.

• Apply

The Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Applied Science Grants funding opportunity will support projects to develop hydrologic information, water management tools, improve modeling and forecasting capabilities to increase water supply reliability, and projects that will improve the condition of a natural feature or nature-based feature. Applicants may request up to $400,000 for projects to be completed within two years. A non-Federal cost-share of 25 or 50 percent depending on the type of project is required. 

• Apply 

The Bureau of Reclamation will host a webinar Jan. 15 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific to discuss eligible applicants and project types, program requirements, and the evaluation criteria.

• Join the webinar.

The Puget Sound Partnership has announced a Salmon Science Investigations Request for Information for collaborative proposals to conduct studies that support regional salmon recovery. Projects should advance progress towards self-sustaining, harvestable salmon populations that uphold Tribal treaty rights and support thriving communities and ecosystems in Puget Sound.

 The Partnerships anticipates supporting 6-15 projects with a minimum budget of $100,000 each. Projects are expected to begin in July 2025 and continue through June 30, 2027.

Project proposals must align with one or more information need categories: 

• Relationships between salmonid populations, recovery actions, and salmonid habitat quality or quantity
• Marine survival and marine food webs
• Salmon production potential across landscapes and habitats
• Human dimensions of salmon recovery
  
  • Apply 

An informational webinar will be held via Zoom on January 8. 

• Register

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon/Washington’s Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Programs work to prevent, detect, inventory, control, and monitor weed populations on public lands. Funding of $10,000-$500,000 is available in Oregon and Washington. The program’s goals include: 

• Prevention, detection, and eradication of noxious weeds and invasive plant species.
• Development of outreach materials to engage the public in the detection of and to prevent the spread of noxious weeds and invasive plants species.
• Development of methods or modeling to increase the detection and mapping of noxious weeds and invasive plant species 
  
  • Apply

Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative will fund projects that clearly demonstrate a direct benefit to Pacific Lamprey, including restoration, passage/infrastructure improvements, assessments that inform range-wide or site-specific guidance, partner outreach, monitoring, research, and land acquisition. A match is waived for Tribal applicants. Strong project proposals that request less than $100,000 are preferred.

• Apply

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is accepting project proposals for the Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership (C-MAP). C-MAP promotes a better understanding of microgrid technology among communities, companies, and energy system operators. Tribes interested in developing a microgrid or improving their existing microgrid are encouraged to apply. In Regio 10. this opportunity is open to communities in Alaska, where there is greatest opportunity for advanced microgrids to boost energy independence and resilience in electrically islanded and traditionally underserved areas. 

• Apply 

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program provides grants for surface transportation infrastructure projects with significant local or regional impact. The grant will allow recipients to pursue multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional projects that are more difficult to fund through other grant programs.  

• Apply 

The deadline for the Climate United NEXT Grant has been extended to Jan. 24. This grant program will support the efforts of community-based organizations to expand access to clean technologies such as building decarbonization, electric transportation, and distributed generation and storage. Specifically, this initial round is open exclusively to nonprofit organizations, state and local government entities, Indian tribes, and Institutions of Higher Education looking to support projects directly benefiting Tribal communities.

All proposed projects must have a realistic pathway to financing within 24 months of pre-development grant application and meet Climate United’s definition of a Qualified Project:

• Would reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions
• Would reduce or avoid emissions of other air pollutants
• May not have otherwise been financed
• Would mobilize private capital
• Would support only commercial technologies 

The project must deliver benefits within one or more of the following categories: climate change; clean energy and energy efficiency; clean transportation; affordable and sustainable housing; training and workforce development; remediation and reduction of legacy pollution development of clean water infrastructure. 

• Read the press release
• Apply 

NOAA Fisheries will announce the availability of $20 million in funding for projects that will advance the coastal habitat restoration and climate resilience priorities of tribes and underserved communities, including through capacity building. This funding has been made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This is the third and final round of this funding opportunity under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Of the $20 million in funding available, 15 percent is specifically available to U.S. federally recognized tribes through direct awards or subawards. The remaining funding will be available to all eligible applicants, to support opportunities for tribes and underserved communities to meaningfully engage in coastal habitat restoration activities.

Through this funding, NOAA will help support community-driven habitat restoration and build the capacity of tribes and underserved communities to more fully participate in restoration activities. Projects selected through this opportunity will span several types of activities, including capacity building and restoration:

●      Capacity building includes activities such as participation in municipal or regional-scale resilience planning, project planning and feasibility studies, community engagement, or developing proposals for future funding.

●      Restoration includes activities such as demonstration projects, engineering and design, permitting, and on-the-ground habitat restoration work.

Across all of these activities, selected projects will work to ensure that the needs and priorities of tribes and underserved communities are at the center of habitat restoration and coastal resilience efforts happening in their communities.

NOAA will accept proposals with a federal funding request of between $75,000 and $2 million for the entire award, with typical funding anticipated to range from $250,000 to $1 million. The application deadline is May 12, 2025. For more information, view the Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Tribes and Underserved Communitiesfunding opportunity.

NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation has a long history conducting habitat restoration efforts by executing large-scale competitive funding opportunities and providing expert technical assistance through its Community-based Restoration Program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act present a historic opportunity for NOAA to continue making an impact for fisheries, threatened and endangered species, and coastal communities, including tribes. To date, we have funded 214 awards totaling $985 million through two rounds of funding competitions.  This funding opportunity will be posted on Grants.govtomorrow. Please let me know if you have any questions

Federally recognized Tribes and Tribal consortia within Region 10 may now apply for Clean Air Act grant funding for FY25. Region 10 expects that about $3 million will be available for individual awards ranging from $20,000 to $250,000. EPA encourages proposals for two-year work plans from current grant recipients with a strong record of grant performance. Individual work plans and budgets must be submitted for each year of funding requested. 

The Project Officer who reviews your proposal will invite your Tribe or consortium to submit a complete application package in Grants.gov after completing the proposal review process by a date negotiated between the Project Officer and the applicant, but no later than April 25, 2025. Note that current tribal air grantees with multi-media Performance Partnership Grants (PPG) should contact their Project Officer for special submission instructions.

• Apply

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is accepting applications for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program to assist at-risk communities, including Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations, with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks. Individual grants of up to $250,000 can be used to develop and update community wildfire protection plans, while individual grants of up to $10 million can be used for wildfire resilience projects that implement community wildfire protection plans. The program prioritizes communities that:

• Are in an area identified as having high or very high wildfire hazard potential,
• Are low income or,
• Have been impacted by a severe disaster within the previous 10 years which increased wildfire risk and/or hazard.

Funds can be used to:

• Develop and revise Community Wildfire Protection Plans
• Implement projects described in a Community Wildfire Protection Plan that are less than ten years old.

Learn more on the Community Wildfire Defense Grants webpage. 

EPA will have outreach in the coming months with additional info on these grant programs:

o EJ in Communities – https://www.epa.gov/p2/pollution-prevention-grant-environmentaljustice-

communities

o EJ through Safer & More Sustainable Products: https://www.epa.gov/p2/pollutionprevention-

grant-environmental-justice-through-safer-and-more-sustainable-products

o Next iteration of these grant programs will be in Spring 2026 – stay tuned

• Sign up for P2 news including grant information at this link:

https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USAEPAOPPT/subscribers/qualify

The new Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center, funded by EPA Region 10, has set up an up-to-date library of funding opportunities for communities across Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The table of funding opportunities, which can be sorted by funding type and state, is available at: https://nwejc.org/find-funding

Communities are now able to apply to a Grantmaker for a subgrant to fund a range of different environmental project activities, including (but not limited to,) some relevant to our program:

• Monitoring of effluent discharges from industrial facilities.
• Water quality & sampling.
• Small cleanup projects.
• Stormwater issues and green infrastructure.
• Pesticides and other toxic substances.

The Grantmakers will issue subgrants to community-based nonprofit organizations and other eligible organizations representing disadvantaged communities. (Note State Governments are not eligible for these subgrants, but Tribal Organizations, local governments, and nonprofits are eligible to apply.) The subgrants are expected to become available by Fall of 2024.

In Regions 8 and 10, Grantmakers are NOW OPEN and accepting applications!

• JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc., Colorado (EPA Region 8)
• Philanthropy Northwest, Washington (EPA Region 10)
• Climate Justice Alliance, California (National Grantmaker for EPA Regions 8-10)

Grantmakers will work in collaboration with the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers  to create a robust support network to assist eligible entities when applying. Learn more about the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmakers.

EPA has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity: EPA-R10-WD-TWG-2025-01 for entities interested in conducting planning, coordination, and monitoring activities in transboundary watersheds with existing or proposed mines in the Province of British Columbia that impact (or could impact) U.S. waters. The funds for this action are authorized under Public Law 118 HR 4366 which will be issued from the Office of International and Tribal Affairs. Through PL-118 HR 4366, Congress specifically directs EPA to “continue and expand its work coordinating with Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies to monitor and reduce transboundary mining pollution in the Kootenai watershed and other U.S.- British Columbia transboundary watersheds”. The EPA will host a virtual informational webinar for prospective applicants on December 3^rd from 10:00-11:30 AM Pacific. EPA staff will provide an overview of the NOFO and answer frequently asked questions. All applicationsmust be received by electronic submission through Grants.gov by 11:59 PM Eastern on January 17, 2025. More information, including how to join the webinar, can be found on the website at Transboundary Watershed Grant Program I EPA.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Threatened and Endangered Species Program works to conserve and recover over sensitive animal and plant species and their habitat on public lands. This grant will fund projects in Oregon and Washington that protect biodiversity, slow species extinction rates, increase resilience to climate change, support meeting wildlife population objectives, engage rural and indigenous communities to enhance economic opportunities related to wildlife, and use the best science. The award ceiling is $1,500,000. 

• Apply
• Learn about BLM in Oregon and Washington.

The Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI) aims to help communities accelerate their climate resilience plans and projects. The grants offer up to $100,000 per award, along with training and technical support. These funds can be used over 12 months for activities such as risk assessments, community engagement, project prioritization, and initial implementation. The application requires collaboration with a community-based organization, a government partner (local, regional, or Tribal), and a climate adaptation professional. (CSCI’s Registry of Climate Adaptation and Resilience Professionals can connect communities with expert practitioners.)

• Communities interested in applying must register via the community sign-up form.
• Learn more.