Grants and Funding Opportunities

EPA is seeking applications for community-engaged research to advance the use and communication of air pollution data to address air pollution concerns. This research will provide underserved communities with science-based information, tools, and approaches and related environmental data to engage with decision-makers and address community-identified air pollution concerns. Specifically, this funding opportunity is soliciting research projects that involve substantial engagement with communities, community-based organizations, and/or Tribes to address the following priorities:

• Methods and tools for data integration and analysis to characterize community exposures to air pollution in underserved communities
• Effective communication of air quality information to communities and decision-makers to support actions to address air pollution concerns in underserved communities

EPA anticipates awarding a total of $10 million under this funding opportunity divided among approximately 8 awards.

If you are interested in serving on the external scientific Peer Review Panel, rather than applying, email your contact information and a copy of your resume to Mirtha Cápiro at capiro.mirtha@epa.gov.

• Apply

EPA will host an informational webinar on this funding opportunity on April 22 at 10:00 Alaska, 11:00 Pacific, 12:00 Mountain.

• Register for the webinar

The Bureau of Reclamations WaterSMART Environmental Water Resources Projects program invites applicants to leverage their money and resources by cost sharing with the Bureau. Eligible projects will include water conservation and efficiency activities that result in quantifiable and sustained water savings and benefit ecological values or watershed health; water management or infrastructure improvements to benefit ecological values or watershed health; and watershed restoration projects benefitting ecological values or watershed health that have a nexus to water resources or water resources management. Projects will be developed collaboratively to help carry out an established strategy to increase the reliability of water resources. Applicants may request up to $3 million for projects with total project costs of $6 million or less to be completed within 3 years.  Projects that increase water supply reliability for ecological value and developed as part of a collaborative process may be eligible to receive up to 75% Federal cost-share contribution.

• Apply
• Read the Fact Sheet (scroll down to find the link.)

The Bureau will host an informational webinar on April 25 at 12:00 Alaska, 1:00 Pacific, 2:00 Mountain. 

• Join the webinar on Teams (scroll down to find the link.)

The $500 million Clean Bus Planning Awards (CBPA) program, managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), seeks to reduce barriers to zero-emission bus deployment by providing school and transit bus fleets with free technical assistance to develop comprehensive and customized fleet electrification transition plans. The program connects transit and school bus fleets with technical experts to support planning for bus electrification. Fleets also have the option to receive free deployment assistance from NREL at the completion of their plan. Applications will be accepted on rolling basis until September 30. 

• Apply

The National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL) invites coastal, remote, and island communities aiming to address energy resilience challenges to apply to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project. Communities will receive technical assistance and up to $50,000 in direct funding to support energy resilience projects defined by their local priorities and goals, using expertise from energy analysts at national labs including NREL and regional partner organizations. The benefitting community must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• It is located on an island 
• It is within 50 miles of a coastline
• It is in Alaska and not serviced by the Railbelt grid utilities 
• It is a federally recognized tribe

NREL will host an informational webinar on April 24.

• Register for the webinar

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the $500 million Renew America’s Schools Program to promote the implementation of clean energy improvements at K-12 public schools. This first-of-its-kind investment aims to help schools make energy upgrades that will decrease energy use and costs, improve indoor air quality, and foster healthier learning environments. DOE will host office hours on April 24 to discuss this opportunity.

• Learn more and register for the upcoming office hours
• Register for office hours on April 24.

Federally recognized Tribes can receive Tribal Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates to help weatherize their homes, purchase efficient electric heat pumps for space heating and cooling and electrical upgrades, and more. These are “point of sale” rebates up to $14,000/households ($8K for heat pumps). These upgrades could help improve air quality the comfort, health, and safety of Tribal households. 

• View the funding allocation per Tribe
• Apply

DOE will host a webinar today (April 4) at 11:00 Alaska, 12:00 Pacific, 1:00 Mountain to discuss this opportunity.

• Register for the webinar

EPA is soliciting project applications to support the Environmental Information Exchange Network (EN) to:

• Facilitate sharing of environmental data, especially through shared and reusable services.
• Reduce burden and avoid costs for co-regulators and the regulated community.
• Streamline data collection and exchanges to improve its timeliness for decision making.
• Increase the quality and access to environmental data through discovery, publishing, outbound and analytical services so it is more useful to environmental managers.
• Increase data and IT management capabilities needed to fully participate in the EN.

EPA expects to award 25-35 grants of up to $500,000 each in FY24. Individual applicants may request up to $300,000 and eligible partnerships can request up to $500,000. At least 90 Tribes in the U.S. have already received funding under the Exchange Network program. For information on projects previously funded/ideas for potential projects, see the Summary of Previously Awarded EN Grants by Fiscal Year.

• Apply

EPA’s Clean Ports Program funds zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure, as well as climate and air quality planning at U.S. ports.

• The Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition will fund zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure to reduce mobile source emissions (criteria pollutants, air toxics, and greenhouse gases).
• The Climate and Air Quality Planning Competition will fund climate and air quality planning activities, including emissions inventories, strategy analysis, community engagement, and resiliency measure identification.

See the Ports Initiative Events webpage for presentations on this funding opportunity.

The Catalyst Fund strives to accelerate the pace and practice of landscape conservation and stewardship by making strategic investments in strengthening the collaborative capacity of place-based, community-grounded landscape partnerships. A portion of the Catalyst Fund is dedicated to supporting Indigenous leadership in landscape conservation and stewardship.

• Read the applicant guidance document
• Apply

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Confronting Hazards, Impacts and Risks for a Resilient Planet grant will support the co-design of projects that deliver evidence-based, actionable solution pathways reducing the risk from earth system hazards compounded by global environmental change. Researchers, academics, and community leaders will work together on NSF-supported projects to advance understanding, forecasting and/or prediction of future Earth system hazards and risks, develop community-driven research questions, and inform actionable, science-based solutions that increase community resilience now and in the future.

• Apply

NSF will host a webinar to discuss this funding opportunity on March 25.

• Register for the webinar

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Transmission Facilitation Program (TRP) is a revolving fund program that will provide federal support to overcome the financial hurdles in the development of large-scale new transmission lines and upgrading existing transmission as well as the connection of microgrids. On February 29, DOE announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) for up to $200 million for transmission projects to connect remote and isolated microgrids to existing infrastructure corridors in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories. The partnerships developed through this RFP will be designed to address the unique electric grid configurations and challenges faced by residents in these remote communities.

• Read the press release
• Apply

The Bureau of Reclamation’s Planning and Project Design Grants include three funding opportunities.

• Water Strategy Grants fund planning to support water management solutions, such as domestic water supply projects for disadvantaged communities, water marketing, water conservation, drought resilience, and ecological resilience.
• Project Design Grants fund the development of site-specific final design of on-the-ground water management construction and restoration projects.
• Drought Contingency Planning Grants fund the development or update of Drought Contingency Plans.

Projects will require a 0%, 25%, or 50% non-federal cost-share depending on project type.

• Apply

EPA is awarding approximately $2 billion in Community Change Grants to fund community-driven projects that address climate challenge and reduce pollution while strengthening communities through thoughtful implementation. The objectives of the grant program are to:

• Provide resources for community-driven projects to address environmental and climate challenges in communities facing disproportionate and adverse health, pollution, and environmental impacts, and suffering from generations of disinvestment.
• Invest in strong cross-sectoral collaborations with partners who bring a robust commitment to working with and for communities with environmental and climate justice concerns. 
• Unlock access to additional and more significant resources to advance environmental and climate justice goals from across the federal government and other sources.
• Empower communities and strengthen their capacity to drive meaningful positive change on the ground for years to come. 
• Strengthen community participation in government decision-making processes that impact them.

Eligible entities include partnerships between two community-based organizations or a partnership between a community-based organization and a local government, federally recognized Tribes, or institutes of higher education.

• Read the notice of funding opportunity.
• View frequently asked questions.

EPA is making available $4.6 billion across two implementation grant competitions: one general competition and one competition specifically for Tribes and territories. Eligible applicants can compete for climate pollution reduction implementation grants to fund measures in their climate action plans. EPA will prioritize measures that achieve the greatest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.  The deadline to apply to the general competition is April 1, 2024. The deadline to apply to the Tribes and territories competition is May 1, 2024. EPA estimates that the implementation grants will be awarded in
fall 2024 for the general competition and in winter 2024-2025 for the Tribes and territories competition.  

Learn more: 

• Tribes and Territories Competition Notice of Funding Opportunity
• General Competition Notice of Funding Opportunity
• Climate Pollution Reduction Grant website 
• EPA’s Stay Connected webpage. Sign up for notifications about the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program.
• Quantified Climate Action Measures Directory
• Government Climate Action Plans that Address Materials Management and Waste
• Climate Pollution Reduction Grants webpage. Find a list of the CPRG planning grantees in your area. 

Congress has appropriated $20 million for a grant program to assist Tribal entities in Alaska with addressing contamination on ANCSA lands that were contaminated before they were conveyed. Grants are non-competitive and may be used for site assessment and remediation, as well as community outreach and involvement.

• Grants are awarded as Cooperative Agreements.
• Funding requests are accepted on a rolling basis, as funds remain available.
• Up to $3M is available per project for a 5-year project period.
• No matching funds are required.
• An applicant may request funding for multiple projects may be requested per applicant.

Please review the Contaminated ANCSA Lands Assistance Program Guidance and Grants.gov for details on eligibility and how to apply, and contact EPA Project Managers before submitting funding requests.

• Returning or current cooperative agreement recipients: contact Jeff Estes.
• New applicants: contact Mahri Lowinger.

The non-profits ReFED and the Natural Resources Defense Council have developed a database of federal funding opportunities that could support food waste reduction and organics recycling. The database includes basic information about eligible applicants, application due dates, funding amounts, and more.

• Explore the database.

Congress has appropriated $20 million for a grant program to assist Tribal entities in Alaska with addressing contamination on ANCSA lands that were contaminated before they were conveyed. Grants are non-competitive and may be used for site assessment and remediation, as well as community outreach and involvement.

• Grants are awarded as Cooperative Agreements.
• Funding requests are accepted on a rolling basis, as funds remain available.
• Up to $3M is available per project for a 5-year project period.
• No matching funds are required.
• An applicant may request funding for multiple projects may be requested per applicant.

Please review the Contaminated ANCSA Lands Assistance Program Guidance and Grants.gov for details on eligibility and how to apply, and contact EPA Project Managers before submitting funding requests.

• Returning or current cooperative agreement recipients: contact Jeff Estes.
• New applicants: contact Mahri Lowinger.