The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 (EPA), is issuing a Request for Applications (RFA) from eligible Columbia River Basin tribal governments to improve water quality in the Columbia River Basin, through specific actions to reduce toxics, and/or increase public education and outreach.
Donor Name: Environmental Protection Agency
State: Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $2,000,000
Grant Duration: 6 years
Details:
The Columbia River Basin Restoration Program (CRBRP) will assist tribes as they implement the Columbia River Basin Toxics Reduction Action Plan and the Lower Columbia River Estuary Plan – Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and conduct activities to support EPA national goals for the Columbia River Basin.
Project Categories
- Eliminating or reducing pollution including strategies or projects to reduce toxics into streams of the Columbia River Basin, including agricultural best management practices such as Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships, stormwater and sediment management, andpesticide collection and take back programs.
- Cleaning up contaminated sites including targeted small-scale clean-up actions which do not duplicate similar work efforts of other EPA funded programs, including but not limited to CERCLA, RCRA, and Brownfields.
- Improving water quality to reduce toxics in the Columbia River Basin.
- Reducing runoff through agricultural best management practices and/or sediment and stormwater runoff controls, including green infrastructure.
- Protecting habitat to reduce the impact of toxics on Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife.
- Promoting citizen engagement or knowledge by increasing engagement and communication with individual community members (such as local, state and tribal environmental managers, and/or NGOs), creating bi-lingual outreach and education materials on the topic of toxics reduction, green chemistry pilot projects, and/or sharing examples of successful toxics reduction efforts.
2023 Program Priorities
Pursuant to CWA § 123(b)(3)(C) and (d), eligible projects must address at least one of the following project categories: eliminating or reducing pollution; cleaning up contaminated sites; improving water quality; reducing runoff; protecting habitat; or promoting citizen engagement or knowledge. In addition, priority for funding will be given to projects which are also consistent with FY 2023 Priorities as described below; and build off successful efforts in the Columbia River Basin to address toxics and that leverage or expand on existing partnerships.
Evaluation scores are contingent on one or more program priorities being addressed but scores will not depend on the number of priorities addressed, rather on the quality with which the priorities are addressed. Across all priorities, there is a focus on toxics and their impact on human health and fish and wildlife. See documents on the Columbia River Basin RFA website for reference. In addition, funding priority will go towards proposals that do not duplicate similar work efforts of other EPA funded programs, including but not limited to CERCLA, RCRA, and Brownfields within the Columbia River Basin.
- Agricultural best practices to reduce toxics
- Green infrastructure to reduce stormwater and improve water quality
- Pollution prevention to prevent toxics from entering the environment
- Small-scale clean-up actions to remove toxics at non-Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (also known as Superfund) sites
- Community education and outreach to help the public take actions to reduce toxics in the Basin.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $2,000,000
- Award Floor: $750,000
- The estimated project period for awards resulting from this solicitation is 4-6 years.
Eligibility Criteria
Under this funding opportunity, federally recognized Tribal Governments are eligible to apply, in accordance with 33 U.S.C. § 1275 and Assistance Listing 66.962.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
