The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking grant applications from states and federally-recognized tribes to promote pollution prevention (P2) in businesses across the country. Through these grants, the agency hopes states and tribes, along with colleges, universities, and intertribal consortia, will develop and provide information, training and tools to businesses to help them reduce costs and the use of water, energy and other natural resources.
“Pollution prevention grants are important tools that help support innovative solutions to reducing pollution,” said EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dapolito Dunn. “The results of work done under these grants have created best practices that are helping to advance economic growth, increase sustainability and protect the environment.”
EPA anticipates awarding approximately $9.38 million in total federal pollution prevention grant funding over a two-year funding cycle ($4.69 million in FY 2020 funds and $4.69 million in FY 2021 funds). Individual grant awards could be in the range of $40,000 to $500,000 for the two-year funding period or between $20,000 to $250,000 funded per year.
For these grants, EPA emphasizes the importance of grantees documenting and sharing P2 best practices that are identified and developed through these grants, so that others can replicate these practices and outcomes. Each grantee will be required to develop at least one case study during the grant period on P2 practices that are new or not widely known or adopted, or where detailed information on the P2 practices could benefit other businesses or P2 technical assistance providers.
Grant applications should focus on at least one of the following P2 priority areas, also referred to as National Emphasis Areas (NEAs) that support several of the Agency’s Smart Sectors:
- NEA 1: Food and Beverage Manufacturing and Processing
- NEA 2: Chemical Manufacturing, Processing and Formulation
- NEA 3: Automotive Manufacturing and Maintenance
- NEA 4: Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing and Maintenance
- NEA 5: Metal Manufacturing and Fabrication
EPA’s national P2 Program will host two informational webinars for potential applicants and interested stakeholders. The first webinar will be held on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm EDT. To register for this webinar, please click here.
This webinar will review information about the P2 Grant program and the application process to help potential applicants submit a high-quality application to EPA for consideration. Time will be provided on the webinar for questions and answers.
The second webinar will be held on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm EDT to review and answer questions on the NEAs for this grant competition cycle. To register for this webinar, please click here.
The webinar registration links will work best when using the Google Chrome browser. Please consult the solicitation for further details.
Proposals are due by March 31, 2020. Additional information is available on www.grants.gov, under Funding Opportunity Announcement EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-001.
Read more about P2 and the P2 Grant Program.
