Resource Document on Funding Opportunities for Urban Waters Projects Summary: This document provides information on funding opportunities that have been relevant to Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) locations in the past. These diverse opportunities have varying levels of commitment and available funding from year to year. Some of these opportunities are only applicable to organizations from certain sectors, but cooperation on planning grant applications as a local UW partnership has been useful in the past. To find and apply to other federal grants, visit https://www. gran ts. gov/. Grants listed below are organized by topic. They vary according to the cycle when awarded, deadline and application process. All grants listed are subject to change due to funding availability. The grants detailed below have historically funded projects focused on urban waters restoration and protection, water infrastructure and economic development. Given the limited funding availability, additional private sector funding opportunities are listed on the final page of this document Urban Waters Restoration and Protection EPA Urban Waters Small Grants The Urban Waters Small Grants are expanding the ability of communities to engage in activities that improve water quality in a way that also advances community priorities. EPA supports and empowers communities, especially in under-served areas, who are working on solutions to address multiple community needs and fostering successful collaborative partnerships. The grants are competed and awarded every two years, with individual award amounts of up to $60,000. Learn more her and find the small grants fact sheet here. The Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Grant Program This public-private partnership managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation seeks to develop community capacity for urban waterway restoration by providing modest financial assistance to diverse local partnerships focused on improving water quality, watersheds and the species and habitats they support. While several agencies and companies support this grant program, EPA's Urban Waters Program gives special consideration to project proposals that advance the priorities in the 19 Urban Waters Federal Partnership designated locations. Learn more hen and find the fact sheet here. 2017 Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program, U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities The goal of the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program, a partnership between EPA and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, is to accelerate strategic protection of healthy, freshwater ecosystems and their watersheds. Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations; for-profit companies; tribes; intertribal consortia; interstate, state and local government agencies, including water utilities and wastewater facilities; and colleges and universities. More information can be found here. Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program Administered by National Park Service, this program is available for community groups, nongovernmental organizations, tribes, and state and local governments to design trails and parks, conserve and improve access to rivers, protect special places and create recreation opportunities. The program does not include financial grants but provides the assistance of a staff member with extensive experience in community-based outdoor recreation and conservation. Project applications are due annually on August 1. Learn more about the application process here. DRAFT - MARCH 2018 1 ------- Water Infrastructure and Green Infrastructure EPA Water Finance Clearinghouse The Water Finance Clearinghouse is an easily navigable web-based portal to help communities locate information and resources that will assist them in making informed decisions for their drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure needs. The Water Finance Clearinghouse includes two searchable databases; one contains available funding sources for water infrastructure and the second contains resources, such as reports, weblinks and webinars, on financing mechanisms and approaches that can help communities access capital to meet their water infrastructure needs. The Clearinghouse can be found here. EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) The CWSRF is a financial assistance program for a wide range of water infrastructure projects. Using a combination of federal and state funds, state CWSRF programs provide loans to eligible recipients to construct municipal wastewater facilities, control nonpoint sources of pollution, build decentralized wastewater treatment systems, create green infrastructure projects, protect estuaries and fund other water quality projects. More information is found iere. EPA Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) The WIFIA program's mission is to accelerate investment in our nation's water and wastewater infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental credit assistance under customized terms to creditworthy water and wastewater projects of national and regional significance. The program offers creditworthy borrowers loans for up to 49 percent of eligible project costs. Learn more about the WIFIA program and eligibility requirements iere. EPA 319 Grants Clean Water Act Section 319(h) funds are provided only to designated state and tribal agencies to implement their approved nonpoint source management programs. State and tribal nonpoint source programs include a variety of components, including technical assistance, financial assistance, education, training, technology transfer, demonstration projects and regulatory programs. Each year, EPA awards Section 319(h) funds to states in accordance with a state-by-state allocation formula that EPA has developed in consultation with the states. Learn more about the 319 grants eligibility and application process iere. Coastal Waters, Oceans or Lakes HHS Impacts of Climate Change on Oceans and Great Lakes Program The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced funding for multi-component projects that will investigate the impact of climate change on emerging public health threats associated with marine and Great Lakes Basin environments. More information can be found iere. FWS Coastal Program The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced funding to provide direct technical assistance and financial assistance to coastal communities and landowners to restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat on public and private lands. FWS will favor conservation activities and projects that incorporate ecosystem adaptation and help coastal ecosystems and communities adapt to the effects of sea level rise and greenhouse gases. More information can be found here. NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program This grant program hopes to implement projects that build resilient U.S. coastal communities, economies and ecosystems. Two categories of activities will be supported: (1) Strengthening Coastal Communities: activities that improve capacity of multiple coastal jurisdictions to prepare and plan for, absorb impacts of, recover from and/or adapt to extreme weather events and climate-related hazards; or (2) Habitat Restoration: activities that restore DRAFT - MARCH 2018 2 ------- habitat to strengthen the resilience of coastal ecosystems and decrease the vulnerability of coastal communities to extreme weather events and climate-related hazards. More information can be found here. Brownfields Assessment Grants An eligible entity may apply for up to $200,000 to assess a site contaminated by hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants and up to $200,000 to address a site contaminated by petroleum. The performance period for these grants is three years. More information can be found here. Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grants Provide funding for a grant recipient to capitalize a revolving loan fund and to provide sub grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfields sites. Through these grants, EPA seeks to strengthen the marketplace and encourage stakeholders to leverage the resources needed to clean up and redevelop brownfields. When loans are repaid, the loan amount is returned into the fund and re-lent to other borrowers, providing an ongoing source of capital within a community. More information can be found here. Cleanup Grants Provide funding for a grant recipient to carry out cleanup activities at brownfields sites. An eligible entity may apply for up to $200,000 per site. The performance period for these grants is three years. More information can be found iere. Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Program The Brownfields Area-wide Planning (BF AWP) grant program provides funding to conduct activities that will enable the recipient to develop an area-wide plan (including plan implementation strategies) for assessing, cleaning up and reusing catalyst/high priority brownfields sites. Funding is directed to a specific project area, affected by a single large or multiple brownfields sites. EPA currently offers the BF AWP grant funding opportunity every other year, as funding is available. We anticipate the next available funding opportunity will open in summer 2018. More information can be found iere. Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grant Annual Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grants allow nonprofit and other organizations to recruit, train and place predominantly low-income and minority, unemployed and under-employed people living in areas affected by solid and hazardous waste. This funding can also go to water-related training. More information can be found here. Brownfields Technical Assistance and Research EPA is committed to providing technical assistance and research resources to help small, rural, environmental justice and other community stakeholders with the necessary assistance to aid in the assessment and cleanup of brownfield properties. The major mechanism the EPA Brownfields program provides this assistance is through grant funding to recipients who in turn operate programs which provide direct technical assistance to communities or develop tools and materials that communities can use which will assist them. Funding also goes to organizations that provide research on brownfield issues that can benefit communities. More information can be found here. Environmental Justice Environmental Justice Small Grants EPA's Environmental Justice Small Grants program provides financial assistance to community-based organizations and local and tribal governments working on projects that support activities designed to empower and educate affected communities and to identify ways to address environmental and public health concerns at DRAFT - MARCH 2018 3 ------- the local level. Approximately 40 one-year projects will be awarded at up to $30,000 each. More information can be found here. The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) Cooperative Agreement Program CPS provides financial assistance to eligible organizations working on or planning to work on projects to address local environmental and/or public health issues in their communities, using EPA's "Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model." One award will be made per region in amounts of up to $120,000 per award for a two-year project period. More information can be found iere. Small Grants Program, Center for Health, Environment and Justice The Center for Health, Environment and Justice's Small Grants Program helps grassroots groups build their capacity. Grant activities can include board development, membership outreach, fundraising efforts, strategic planning, training events and educational activities. More information can be found here. Community and Housing Development Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN) Partners for Places, supported by a network of foundations, is a matching grant program that creates opportunities for cities and counties in the United States and Canada to build partnerships between local government sustainability offices and place-based foundations. The grant program provides partnership investments between $25,000 and $75,000 for one-year projects, or $50,000 and $150,000 for two-year projects, with a 1:1 match required by one or more local foundations. More information can be found here. Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) Administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the CDBG program provides annual grants on a formula basis to 1209 general units of local government and states. The CDBG program works to ensure decent affordable housing, to provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities, and to create jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses. HUD does not provide CDBG assistance directly to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations or other nongovernmental entities. If you are interested in participating in this program, you need to contact your local municipal or county officials to find out how the program operates in your area. More information and details on the different grant program areas can be found here. U.S. Department of Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) Through various awards programs, the CDFI Fund supports financial institutions (CDFIs and CDEs) recognized for their expertise in providing service and support to low-income communities. In turn, these organizations leverage the resources awarded to them by the CDFI Fund to draw in new or increased sources of private funding. To be eligible for this award your organization must be a certified or certifiable CDFI. You can find a list of eligible CDFIs near you to bring into your partnership or learn how apply for a CDFI certificate iere. More information on the different award programs and the specific requirements can be found here. An infographic on how the CDFI funds work is available here. Economic Development and Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Competitive Grant Program The highly competitive TIGER grant program supports innovative projects, including multi-modal and multi- jurisdictional projects. Since 2009, the TIGER grant program has provided a combined $5.1 billion to 421 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands and tribal communities. Applicants must detail the benefits their project would deliver for five long-term outcomes: safety, economic DRAFT - MARCH 2018 4 ------- competitiveness, state of good repair, quality of life and environmental sustainability. More information about the program can be found iere. Information on how to apply can be found here. EDA's Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance Programs EDA provides strategic investments on a competitive merit basis to support economic development, foster job creation and attract private investment in economically-distressed areas of the United States. EDA provides other funding opportunities such as the EDA Planning Program and Local Technical Assistance Program, Regional Innovation Strategies Program Competition, and The Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative. More details on these programs can be found here. Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) CRA was established to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Information on what types of loans qualify as community development loans and qualified investments can be found here. More information, including strategic plans, can be found here. Private Sector Foundations The following foundations also support urban waters opportunities. The Kresge Foundation The Health Team funds evidence-based work and innovation developed at the local, state or national levels in the following three areas: (1) Healthy Environments, supporting efforts that create healthy and safe spaces for children and families; (2) Caring Communities, strengthening safety net institutions to achieve better health-care outcomes; and (3) Emerging and Promising Practices in Health, stimulating innovative connections across sectors to improve the well-being of vulnerable populations. Learn more about their current funding opportunities and application details here. Health Impact Project Launched by The PEW Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it funded 13 Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) in 2009 in 10 states. The Health Impact Project offers funding to communities and organizations seeking to promote the consideration of health in policy and decision-making. Eligibility varies based on the specific call for proposals. More information can be found here. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Work to help achieve health equity and expand opportunity to pursue the best health possible, through investments in four broad areas: healthy communities, healthy children and weight, health leadership and health systems. More information on their grants and grant programs can be found here. The Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN) HEFN is committed to activities at the nexus of environment and health. It produces information resources and organizes funder events to allow funders to collaborate around shared goals and projects. HEFN is currently working with EPA and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to establish better lines of information sharing and collaboration. HEFN does not itself make grants. Learn more here. DRAFT - MARCH 2018 5 ------- William Penn Foundation Watershed Protection Fund The Foundation supports projects that protect and restore the Delaware River watershed's natural environment to ensure there is an adequate supply of clean water for generations to come. Prospective grantees are welcome to submit proposals to more than one strategy. Learn more about Watershed Protection's grant making process, eligibility requirements and grant making timeline iere. Ford Foundation: Challenging Inequality Grants The Foundation works and make grants in seven interconnected areas that together, we believe, can help challenge inequality. The seven areas include civic engagement and government; free expression and creativity; equitable development; gender, racial and ethnic justice; inclusive economies; internet freedom; and youth opportunity and learning. Throughout our history, the Foundation's approach has been characterized by a continuous emphasis on building institutions and networks, investing in individuals and leadership and supporting innovative ideas. Search their grants database here. DRAFT - MARCH 2018 6 ------- |