The California Natural Resources Agency is accepting proposals for the Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program.
Donor Name: California Natural Resources Agency
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/30/2023
Size of the Grant: $750,000
Details:
The EEM Grant Program seeks projects to mitigate environmental impacts caused by new or modified public transportation facilities. Eligible applicants are local, state, and federal governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations.
Funding Information
Grants for individual projects are generally limited to $750,000 each.
Eligible Projects
Eligible EEM projects must fit one of the following categories:
- Urban Forestry
- projects designed to offset vehicular emissions of carbon dioxide.
- Urban Forestry projects plant trees and other suitable plants to offset or mitigate the vehicular emissions of carbon dioxide created by the RTF.
- Projects where plantings, once established, will thrive without the need for supplemental irrigation will be more competitive in this category (however, habitat and climate will be taken into consideration)
- Resource Lands
- projects for the acquisition or enhancement of resource lands to mitigate the loss of, or the detriment to, resource lands lying within the right-of-way acquired for transportation improvements.
- Cumulatively, Resource Lands projects address state-wide conservation issues, including climate change, availability of water for fish and wildlife, preservation of California’s rich biodiversity and protection of rare species, control of invasive species, protection of large landscape-level land holdings from conversion and fragmentation, preservation of wildlife movement and migration corridors and expanded public access to outdoor wildlife/natureoriented recreation compatible with conservation goals.
- Resource Lands may include, but are not limited to, natural areas such as inland wetlands, forests, oak woodlands, mountain meadows, creeks, and streams with riparian or riverine fish or wildlife habitat, wildlife corridors and fish passages, coastal estuaries, grazing land and grasslands, among others. Additionally, Resource Lands may contain features of archaeological or historical value.
- Resource Lands MUST be impacted by the RTF for projects to qualify in this category. Projects that demonstrate the following will be more competitive.
-
- Protect biodiversity, ecosystem health, habitat quality, and connectivity to secure the success of wildlife species and populations.
- Conserve wilderness and open space threatened by infrastructure development, population growth, and land use decisions exacerbating habitat loss and fragmentation.
- Protect watersheds to safeguard clean drinking water and preserve the natural beauty of coasts and waterways.
- Restore and enhance natural areas to ensure long-term ecosystem health.
- Protect working lands or working forests that foster a healthy agricultural system and create valuable habitat for wildlife species.
- Expand opportunities for outdoor wildlife/nature-oriented recreation that is compatible with conservation goals.
- Promote education and public awareness to develop current and future generations of land stewards.
- Prepare for the impacts of climate change, such as shifting species ranges and changes in the composition of natural communities.
- Collaborate in public-private partnerships which leverage investment in priority landscapes, as well as smaller-scale partnerships of local and regional significance.
- Employ forward thinking management strategies which anticipate changing conditions and public needs.
- Mitigation Projects Beyond the Scope of the Lead Agency
- projects to mitigate the impact of proposed Transportation Facilities or to enhance the environment, where the ability to effectuate the mitigation or enhancement measures is beyond the scope of the lead agency responsible for assessing the environmental impact of the proposed transportation improvement.
Eligibility Criteria
Local, state, and federal agencies and 501(c)(3) nonprofit entities may apply for and receive grants. The applicant entity is not required to be a transportation- or highway-related organization but must be able to demonstrate adequate charter or enabling authority to carry out the type of project proposed and be eligible for funding under Article XIX of the State Constitution. Partnerships are encouraged; however, a project proposal can only be submitted by one entity. For Development projects, only one project proposal may be submitted per eligible applicant. However, more than one project proposal may be submitted per eligible applicant for Acquisition projects.
For more information, visit California Natural Resources Agency.
