The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting applications for a wide variety of projects that are designed to build and transform solid waste infrastructure in the United States to equitably reduce waste and manage materials to achieve a circular economy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create cleaner, resilient, and healthier communities.
Donor Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
State: All States
Counties: All Counties
U.S. Territories: U.S. Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/15/2022
Size of the Grant: $40,000,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
The Solid Waste for Infrastructure (SWIFR) grant program funded through the BIL is an historic investment in the health, equity, and resilience of American communities. The unprecedented funding provided by the BIL through the SWIFR grants will assist local waste management authorities by supporting improvements to local post-consumer materials management, including municipal recycling programs, and assisting local waste management authorities in making improvements to local waste management systems. The SWIFR grant program provides a critical opportunity to fund a range of high impact projects to increase recycling, reduce contamination, and promote a circular economy for sustainable materials management by making much-needed investments in solid waste management infrastructure.
The SWIFR Grant Program is a covered program under the Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water, and other investments to disadvantaged communities.
Program Vision and Goals
This RFA has the following goals:
- Fund a range of projects that will help local governments and communities advance from “where they are” to significantly transform their post-consumer materials management infrastructure.
- Fund projects that will result in a significant decrease in the generation of MSW and/or an increase in the diversion of MSW from landfills and incineration.
- Fund innovative solutions and programs that provide or increase access to prevention, reuse, mechanical recycling, anaerobic digestion, and composting.
- This program aims to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water, and other investments to disadvantaged communities.
Program Tracks
Under this RFA, EPA will fund projects under two tracks:
- Track 1: Projects that benefit disadvantaged communities. EPA anticipates that approximately 40% (or $16,000,000) of the funding will be awarded to projects that benefit disadvantaged communities.
- Track 2: Projects that benefit all other communities that do not meet the definition of disadvantaged communities.
Funding Information
- The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is approximately $40,000,000.
- The minimum individual award is $500,000 and the maximum individual award is $4,000,000 for the grant period, which is up to three years.
Criteria
Eligible Applicants
- Under this announcement, applications will be accepted from political subdivisions of states and territories. The EPA considers counties, cities, towns, parishes, and similar units of governments that have executive and legislative functions to be political subdivisions of states.
- Local governments are generally political subdivisions of states and differ from state and federal governments in that their authority is not based directly on a constitution. Each state constitution describes in detail a procedure for establishing local governments. In most cases the state legislature must approve the creation or incorporation of a local government. The local government then receives a charter defining its organization, authority and responsibilities, including the means for electing governing officials. Local government units bear a variety of names, such as city, county, township, village, parish, district, etc. The legal significance of these terms may vary from state to state. The authority of local governments varies greatly. Generally, a local government has the authority to:
- Impose taxes
- Try people accused of breaking local laws or ordinances
- Administer local programs within its boundaries
- Other entities (e.g., state or territorial institutions of higher education, special districts, housing authorities) must provide documentation that the state or territory in which they are located considers these entities to be a political subdivision of the state. Documentation must cite applicable state or territorial law. Examples of acceptable forms of proof include legal opinions from the state Attorney General or equivalent or from the Chief Legal Officer of the state college or university.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
