The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is soliciting applications from eligible applicants to develop or refine state, tribal, territory, or local government wetland programs
Donor Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
State: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/13/2024
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 4 Years
Details:
Wetland Program Development Grants (WPDGs) assist state, tribal, territory (Insular Areas), local government agencies, and interstate or intertribal entities in developing or refining state, tribal, territory, or local programs which protect, manage, and restore wetlands. The primary focus of these grants is to develop/refine state, tribal, and territory wetland programs. A secondary focus is to develop/refine local (e.g., county or municipal) programs.
The goals of EPA’s wetland program include increasing the quantity and quality of wetlands in the U.S. by conserving and restoring wetland acreage and improving wetland condition. In addition to developing and/or refining wetland protection and management programs EPA seeks to build wetlands programs to incorporate climate change and environmental justice considerations as described Climate Change and of this announcement on the program’s National Priorities.
Wetlands are areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. For this grant program, the term wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.
WPDGs provide states, tribes, territories, local governments, interstate agencies, and intertribal consortia (hereafter referred to as applicants or recipients) an opportunity to develop and/or refine comprehensive state, tribal, territory or local government wetland programs. These programs are meant to:
- Develop the capacity of state, tribal, territory, or local governments to increase the quantity and quality of wetlands in the U.S. by conserving and restoring wetland acreage and improving wetland condition.
- Use one or more of the following “Core Elements” to achieve this goal.
Core Elements
The CEF describes in greater detail the four core elements that make up an effective state, tribal, or territory wetland program. These four core elements are:
- Monitoring and assessment.
- Voluntary restoration and protection.
- Regulatory approaches including Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 certification.
- Wetland-specific water quality standards.
Tracks
Under this announcement, EPA will have two separate applicant tracks for eligible applicants:
- Track One: WPP Applicants: demonstrate how they will develop or refine a state, tribal, or territorial Wetland Program Plan
- Track Two: Non-WPP Applicants: demonstrate that their application is developing or refining a state, tribal, territory, or local wetland program.
Funding Information
- EPA anticipates approximately $2,300,000 in federal funding to be available for assistance agreements under this announcement to fund approximately 5 to 10 awards depending on funding availability and other applicable considerations. Awards for the selected projects will likely range from $100,000 to $400,000 in federal funding.
- EPA anticipates awarding approximately $1,725,000 in federal funds under Track One: WPP and approximately $575,000 in federal funds under Track Two: Non-WPP. It is anticipated that approximately 4 to 7 awards will be made under Track One: WPP and approximately 1 to 3 awards will be made under Track Two: Non-WPP with the expectation of funding more projects from Track 1 than Track 2.
Project Period
The project period for assistance agreements under this announcement should be no more than four years.
Eligibility Criteria
- In accordance with Assistance Listing 66.461, states, territories (Insular Areas), tribes, local government agencies, colleges and universities that are agencies of a state, interstate agencies, and intertribal consortia are eligible to apply for WPDGs under this announcement. Tribes must be federally-recognized, although “Treatment as a State” status is not required. As explained in Section I, there will be two separate applicant tracks with states, territories, and tribes in Track One: WPP or Track Two: Non-WPP, and local governments, interstate agencies, intertribal consortia, and colleges and universities that are agencies of a state government in Track Two: Non-WPP.
- Projects must be performed within one or more of the states, territories, or tribes of EPA Region 7, specifically Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and tribal lands located within those states, to be eligible to apply for funding. Inter-jurisdictional watershed projects must primarily be conducted in EPA Region 7.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
