The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting applications for 2023 Southeast New England Program Priority Research Grants.
Donor Name: Environmental Protection Agency
State: Selected States
City: Boston
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/28/2023
Size of the Grant: $100,000 – $300,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
The objective of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) is to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.” Despite continuing progress in achieving these goals, coastal ecosystems are recognized as particularly vulnerable to upstream pollution sources, fragmented management, and the impacts of climate change. The coastal watersheds of southeast New England are prime examples of this vulnerability.
SNEP Priority Research Areas
SNEP’s Strategic Plan includes three overarching program goals: to ensure and support the development of a resilient ecosystem of safe and healthy waters, thriving watersheds and natural lands; and sustainable communities. In support of these goals, SNEP has identified the need for research to fill informational/knowledge gaps in the following Priority Research Areas:
- Modeling and assessing coastal lake and pond health
- Lakes and ponds are critical elements of the SNEP region and landscape. Despite the wide variety of ecosystem services they provide to regional residents and visitors, there is limited long-term and systematic monitoring of their conditions, which can be deeply affected by the local impacts of development and the widespread impacts of climate change on eutrophication, temperature, and precipitation. Due to their sheer number and geographic extent, physically sampling all, or even a majority of, these ponds on a regular basis would be extremely resource intensive. Volunteer monitoring programs, while valuable, have not been able to fill the need for additional data at the regional scale that would better enable understanding of the impacts of larger scale environmental change (e.g., climate change, decreases in acid rain deposition, nutrient inputs, etc). Information gathered from remote-based monitoring of coastal lake and pond conditions is desired to provide end users (local managers and practitioners) with a fuller picture of regional conditions on a relevant timescale for decision-making
- Lessons learned from implementing permeable reactive barriers
- Within the past decade, many permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) have been installed with the goal of removing nitrogen in ground water to reduce eutrophic conditions in embayments across the SNEP region. Currently, no single entity is tracking the number of PRBs installed to improve coastal water quality in the SNEP region. Also, no region-wide study has been conducted to determine how effective these PRBs are at removing nitrogen in situ, or to capture lessons learned from their siting, installation, and operation. PRBs may be a viable option for treating nitrogen in groundwater from various diffuse sources at the “end of pipe” rather than at the source. As communities search for multiple ways to treat their groundwater nitrogen, it is important that they understand the efficacy and longevity of tools such as PRBs. Research is needed to compile results and lessons learned from previously installed PRBs used to capture nitrogen in ground water to advance their understanding of how to best install and maximize performance of PRBs in the future
- Eelgrass viability: flowering and seeding, impacts of climate change, long-term prognosis
- Extent of eelgrass (Zostera marina) has been documented to be in steady decline within the New England region and regional eelgrass restoration efforts to date have been, overall, time- and labor-intensive, short term, and often testing just one method or question at a time. In line with SNEP’s goals to develop resilient ecosystems of safe and healthy waters that can support the sensitive species of eelgrass, research is necessary to understand the most effective protection and restoration measures for eelgrass habitat in the coastal waters off Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Block Island, and in Buzzards Bay, and Narragansett Bay. This opportunity specifically seeks to initially fill a knowledge gap related to the phenology and timing of eelgrass flowering, which is relevant to understand optimal seeding methodologies and elements of long-term successful restoration of eelgrass beds. They seek proposals to study one or more of the SNEP subregions.
Priority Research Area
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support actionable research that produces information to fill identified knowledge gaps and increases their understanding of common regional challenges and environmental stressors or conditions. Outputs of research should be sharable with towns, federal and state agencies, and NGOs in the SNEP region and enhance the ability of managers to make informed decisions and take appropriate actions to prevent, reduce, or mitigate anthropogenic stressors and promote sustainable environments and communities within the SNEP region. In addition to proposing a research project related to at least one of the three (3) priority research areas outlined below, proposals must clearly describe their capability and approach to answering the stated research questions(s) and identify partners participating in each project. The application should also describe how the applicant will communicate lessons learned from the project. The priority research projects are intended to fill critical knowledge gaps identified for the SNEP region to aid in increased knowledge sharing for entities involved in restoration, protection, research, and remediation work, and thus applicants should address how they plan to ensure publication and presentation of this information in peer-reviewed literature, reports, and regional or national conferences.
Funding Information
- The total estimated funding available for awards under this competitive opportunity is up to $800,000, with individual awards between $100,000 and $300,000.
- Project Period: The expected project period for these assistance agreements is up to three years. The expected start date for the awards resulting from this RFA is October 1, 2023. Any subawards or contracts funded under the grant must be completed prior to the end of the grant project period.
Eligibility Criteria
- Assistance under SNEP is available to state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments; institutions of higher education; nonprofit institutions and organizations; intertribal consortia; and interstate agencies. Private businesses, federal agencies, and individuals are not eligible to be grant recipients; however, they are encouraged to work in partnership with eligible applicants on projects.
- Applicants are not limited to the geographic area of southeastern coastal New England, however, those applying from outside the specified region must carry out their projects and have at least one local partner from within the geographic area specified in the competitive funding announcement.
- Organizations must be capable of undertaking and managing activities that advance SNEP priorities, including managing potentially complex fiscal and administrative requirements. Nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply; the term interstate agency is defined in Clean Water Act Section 502 as an agency of two or more States established by or pursuant to an agreement or compact approved by the Congress, or any other agency of two or more States, having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the control of pollution as determined and approved by the Administrator.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
