January 2014 – Nearly $151 Million in Funding and Technical Assistance Available for State, Local, and Tribal Governments

Nearly $151 million of funding and technical assistance is available for state, local, and tribal governments from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bureau of Reclamation, Economic Development Administration (EDA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Wells Fargo and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), National Association of Counties, the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), and Georgetown University that can be used to support climate and energy initiatives, including economic development, sustainable communities, green infrastructure, and water efficiency. For full eligibility and application details, please visit the links provided below.

In addition, please visit the calendar of 2014 EPA grant opportunities that may be of particular interest to communities.

***EPA Indoor Air and Climate Change – $4.5 million

Application Due: January 23, 2014

Eligible Entities: State and local governments, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments, U.S. territories or possessions, and public and private nonprofit institutions/organizations located in the U.S.

As part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, the EPA is seeking applications proposing research to improve understanding of the effects of climate change on indoor air quality and the resulting health effects. EPA is interested in supporting research that will explore the anticipated effects of climate change on indoor air quality directly through a variety of mechanisms, and indirectly through adaptations in building use and design.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

Application Due: January 23, 2014

Eligible Entities: State, Indian tribe, irrigation district, water district, or other organization with water or power delivery authority. Must be located in: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands.

WaterSMART is accepting proposals for projects that seek to conserve and use water more efficiently, increase the use of renewable energy and improve energy efficiency, benefit endangered and threatened species, facilitate water markets, or carry out other activities to address climate-related impacts on water or prevent any water-related crisis or conflict. Through near-term improvements, projects carried out as WaterSMART Grants can increase water management flexibility, making our water supply more resilient and thereby helping to prepare for the impacts of climate change.

For more information, visit the funding opportunity synopsis.

Application Due: January 24, 2014

Eligible Entities: Any combination of local government departments, offices, or agencies or non-profit organizations may submit a letter of interest. Applicants must include a representative of local government.

EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management is seeking letters of interest from communities that want to implement green infrastructure to protect water quality and build more sustainable communities. The Green Infrastructure Technical Assistance program provides assistance to help communities 1) overcome the most significant barriers to green infrastructure and 2) develop innovative approaches to implementation that meet multiple environmental, social, and economic goals. Assistance will be provided to 5-7 communities through an EPA contract, not a grant.

For more information, visit the request for letters of interest.

***NFWF 2013 Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grants Program – $100 million

Application Due: January 31, 2014

Eligible Entities: Local governments and agencies, recognized tribes, state government agencies, non-profit 501(c) organizations, and academic institutions.

Marking the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, the U.S. Department of the Interior launched the Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program. The program will use competitive grants to award funding for science-based solutions by states, local communities, non-profit organizations, and other partners to help restore key habitats and bolster natural systems, enabling these areas to withstand the impacts and better protect local communities from future storms.

For more information, visit the program webpage.

Application Due: February 5, 2014

Eligible Entities: Any public or private entity. Preference is shown to organizations directly connected to the local community who can monitor and sustain these projects for 5 years or more.

The National Association of Counties, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), and the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), USDA Forest Service (USFS), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Southern Company, FedEx and PG&E are seeking applications for the Five Star/Urban Waters Restoration Program. The Program seeks to develop community capacity to sustain local natural resources by providing financial assistance to diverse local partnerships for wetland, forest, riparian and coastal habitat restoration, stormwater management, outreach and stewardship with a particular focus on water quality, watersheds and the habitats they support. Project ideas include urban forest restoration and green infrastructure.

For more information, see the grant webpage.

Application Due: February 13, 2014

Eligible Entities: Local governments, tribes, nonprofit organizations, and other

The program provides funding to eligible entities 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, including solid waste management, wastewater treatment, and emergency response.

For more information, view the grant guidelines.

Letters of Intent Due: February 2014

Eligible Entities: For this competition, a “community” is defined geographically by the limits of a municipality – a town, city, or county that has corporate status and local government. All small to medium municipalities in the U.S.A. with populations between 5,000 and 250,000 are eligible to apply.

The Georgetown University Energy Prize is a competition in which communities will be challenged to work together with their local governments and utilities in order to develop and begin implementing plans for innovative, replicable, scalable, and continual reductions in the per capita energy consumed from local natural gas and electric utilities. Participating communities will be asked to develop a long-term energy efficiency plan and to demonstrate initial effectiveness and sustainability over a two-year period. Participating communities will benefit from access to various resources and the winning community will receive $5 million, which will help to support their continuing community-based energy efficiency efforts. Interested communities are encouraged to submit a non-binding letter of intent as soon as possible.

For more information, visit the energy prize website.

Application Due: Varies by program year; next due date is March 14, 2014

Eligible Entities: State and local governments, federally recognized tribes, non-profits, institutions of higher education.

Under the Economic Development Assistance Programs (EDAP) Federal Funding Opportunity announcement, EDA will make construction, non-construction, and revolving loan fund investments under the Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance Programs. Grants made under these programs will leverage regional assets to support the implementation of regional economic development strategies designed to create jobs, leverage private capital, encourage economic development, and strengthen America’s ability to compete in the global marketplace. EDA is soliciting applications from rural and urban communities to develop initiatives that advance new ideas and creative approaches to address rapidly evolving economic conditions. EDA’s investment priorities include environmentally sustainable development and economically distressed and underserved communities.

For more information, see the opportunity synopsis.

Application Due: March 10, 2014

Eligible Entities: An Eligible Area is designated as a nonattainment area or a maintenance area for ozone or carbon monoxide as defined under the Clean Air Act.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of $24.9 million for the deployment of low or no emission transit buses. The main purpose of the Program is to deploy the cleanest and most energy efficient U.S.-made transit buses that have been largely proven in testing and demonstrations but are not yet widely deployed in transit fleets. The Program provides funding for transit agencies for capital acquisitions and leases of zero emission and low-emission transit buses, including acquisition, construction, and leasing of required supporting facilities such as recharging, refueling, and maintenance facilities. Of that total funding, $21.6 million is available for buses and $3.3 million is available for supporting facilities and related equipment.

Source:EPA

Click here to be introduced to the EPA