oEPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Pacific Southwest / Region 9
Wetland Program
Development Grants
Water Division
Tribal Water Section • October 2018
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
866-EPA-WEST • www.epa.gov/region9
What Are Wetlands?
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or
near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during
the year.
Why Are Wetlands Important?
Wetlands are important features in the landscape that provide
numerous beneficial services for people and for fish and wildlife.
Some of these services, or functions, include protecting and improv-
ing water quality, providing fish and wildlife habitats, sustaining
cultural uses to tribes, and storing floodwaters.
What Funding Is Available?
Wetland Program Development Grants is a competitive program for
tribes, states, local governments, and non-profit organizations. EPA
Region 9 expects a total allocation of approximately $3,000,000 every
two years, with individual awards between $50,000 and $500,000. Funding is only available every other year.
What Types of Projects Can Be Funded?
•	Developing a Tribal Wetland Program Plan
•	Creating training materials and tools for wetland protection and watershed
planning
•	Assessing criteria to identify wetland restoration and protection priorities
•	Building a wetland restoration/protection prioritization process that considers
whether climate change may impact project success
•	Developing monitoring protocols and assessment criteria that can be used to
report the condition of wetland resources
•	Incorporating methods or strategies to include wetland water quality standards
in EPA-approved tribal water quality standards
•	Research, investigations, experiments, trainings, studies, surveys and
demonstration projects

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What Are Core Elements of a Tribal Wetland Program?
EPA identifies four core elements that comprise and strengthen effective wetlands
programs. The core elements are basic program functions that form the founda-
tion of wetlands management and protection in a state or tribe. These include:
•	Monitoring and assessment
•	Regulatory activities including 401 certification
•	Voluntary restoration and protection
•	Water quality standards for wetlands
More information on core elements can be found at www.epa.gov/wetlands/
core-elements-effective-state-and-tribal-wetlands-programs.
What Are Wetland Program Plans?
EPA believes that Wetland Program Plans are useful documents for guiding and focusing efforts to build an
effective wetland program. A Wetland Program Plan may be a concise identification of planned actions to help
create a focused and sustainable wetland program. Plans should include the following minimum components:
•	An overall goal statement for the program over the time period covered by the plan
•	An overall timeframe for the plan, with a minimum timeframe of three years and a maximum of six years,
starting from the time of plan submittal to EPA
•	A list of actions consistent with the Core Elements Framework that the program intends to carry out over the
plan timeframe, and which, if collectively met, will accomplish the overall plan goal(s)
•	An intended schedule for the achievement of each action
•	A listing of more specific activities to be accomplished under each action
More information on Wetland Program Plans can be found at www.epa.gov/wetlands/developing-wetland-
program-plan.
When and How Does One Apply?
Tribes interested in applying for wetland grants must submit their proposals through www.grants.gov. Begin-
ning in FY2017, EPA set aside 10% of total wetland grant funding to conduct a separate tribal-only national
competition, which occurred subsequent to the regional competition that is open to states, tribes, local govern-
ments, inter-tribal consortia, and state universities. Tribes were able to submit proposals to both competitions,
resulting in a net increase of tribes selected for grant funding. The next regional competition as well as tribal
set-aside competition will occur in the beginning of 2019.
ITow to apply and other information will be available under the Wetlands tab at
www.epa.gov/tribal/r9tribalcwa.
•	The application requires a proposal with a detailed workplan and budget describing how the requested funds
will be used and target dates for accomplishing specific milestones.
•	Grant applicants are required to match 25% of the total project costs. The match may be reduced to 5% of the
total project costs if included in a Performance Partnership Grant (PPG).
•	The funding announcement includes a section on the competitive grant selection criteria for the proposal
and how they are ranked. It is anticipated that the 2019 Request for Proposals will be similar the 2017 Request
for Proposals, which can be found at www.epa.gov/wetlands/tribal-wetland-program-development-
grant-request-proposals.
•	There are two funding tracks in each competition: Track One is for applicants to develop a Wetlands Program
Plan, Track Two is for applicants to build or refine core elements of their existing Wetlands Program Plan.
Contact Information
Leana Rosetti. rosetti.leanataepa.gov, (415) 972-3070
U.S. EPA, Region 9 (WTR-2-4), 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

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