This Request for Applications (RFA) is issued pursuant to Clean Water Act (CWA) §319(h), which authorizes EPA to award grants to eligible Tribes and intertribal consortia to implement approved NPS management programs developed pursuant to CWA §319(b)(1) “for controlling pollution added from nonpoint sources to the navigable waters” and “improving the quality of such waters.
Donor Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/14/2023
Size of the Grant: $125,000
Details:
NPS management programs must identify “best management practices and measures which will be undertaken to reduce pollutant loadings resulting from each category, subcategory, or particular nonpoint source” identified in the Tribe’s NPS assessment report developed pursuant to CWA §319(a).
The funding available through this RFA will support Tribal projects primarily focused on implementing on-the-ground best management practices (BMPs) that will help protect or restore waters from sources of NPS pollution. All applications must include an on-the-ground project to implement NPS BMPs. As described below, applicants may also use up to 25 percent of requested federal funds to support other eligible project activities, including the development of a nine-element watershed-based plan (i.e., up to $31,250 of a $125,000 federal grant request). Tribal staff time supporting the implementation of NPS BMPs is not included in this 25 percent cap. Please note the narrow definition of a “nine element watershed-based plan” specific to EPA’s NPS Program, described below.
Examples of NPS BMPs and other project activities eligible to be funded under this RFA include, but are not limited to the following:
Examples of eligible NPS BMP implementation:
- Road stabilization/removal;
- Riparian planting;
- Streambank stabilization
- Natural channel restoration;
- Low impact development/storm water management practices;
- Livestock exclusion fencing;
- Septic system rehabilitation; and
- Nutrient or grazing management practices.
Funding Information
- The total amount of federal funding expected to be available under this announcement is approximately $3 million, depending on Agency funding levels, the number of Tribes requesting CWA §319 base funding for FY 2023, the quality of applications, and other applicable considerations. A federal funding amount of $3 million equates to approximately 24 competitively funded grants at $125,000/project. In FY 2022, EPA awarded approximately $3 million to 31 Tribes at approximately $100,000/project for specific watershed projects through a competitive process.
- Eligible Tribes and intertribal consortia may submit an application for up to a maximum of $125,000 of federal CWA §319 funding (plus the additional required non-federal cost share/match of the total project cost). Please note that this is an increase over the FY 2022 maximum funding request of $100,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible for a CWA §319 grant under this RFA, a Tribe or intertribal consortium must: (1) be federally recognized; (2) have an EPA-approved NPS assessment report in accordance with CWA §319 (a); (3) have an EPA-approved NPS management program in accordance with CWA §319 (b); and (4) have “Treatment-in-a-manner-similar-to-a-State” (TAS) status in accordance with CWA §518(e).
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
