Applications open for Wetland Program Development Grants (US)

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.

Program Objectives

• 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 pursuing these goals, EPA seeks to develop the capacity of all levels of government to develop and/or refine effective, comprehensive programs for wetland protection and management.
• 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.

Core Elements

• The CEF has 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

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.

Outputs

• Outputs refer to an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product/output related to an environmental goal or objective that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during the assistance agreement funding period
• Examples of anticipated outputs from the assistance agreements to be awarded under this announcement include, but are not limited to:
  • Development of a state, tribal, or territory Wetland Program Plan (WPP).
  • Development of training materials and tools to help state, tribal, territory, or local government decisionmakers integrate wetland protection and restoration into integrated watershed planning especially regarding environmental justice1 /hazard mitigation/flood/drought planning and climate change and resiliency. The project can incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (Voluntary Restoration/Protection and/or Regulatory Core Elements).

Outcomes

• Examples of anticipated outcomes from the assistance agreements to be awarded under this announcement include, but are not limited to:
  • Increased quantity of wetlands.
  • Increased quality of wetlands
  • Improved wetland protection efforts.
  • Increased stakeholder’s and decisionmaker’s understanding of a wetland’s condition for a variety of uses/functions, including traditional and cultural uses.
  • Increased stakeholder’s and decisionmaker’s understanding of wetland ecologic condition and/or function at population scales (i.e., state, territorial, tribal, or regional).
  • Increased stakeholder’s and decisionmaker’s understanding of the impacts of increased flooding/drought and/or climate resilience on wetlands, especially on traditional and cultural uses.
  • Improved wetland inventories and baseline condition assessments to address hazard mitigation/flood/drought effects and climate adaptation.

Eligibility Criteria

• Only program development and/or refinement activities are eligible.
• Implementation projects are not eligible.
• Eligible Applicants
  • In accordance with Assistance Listing, 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.
  • EPA will have two separate applicant tracks for eligible applicants:
    • States, territories, and tribes can apply under Track One: WPP or Track Two: Non-WPP.
    • Local governments, interstate agencies, intertribal consortia, and eligible colleges and universities that are agencies of a state government can apply under Track Two: Non-WPP only.

Ineligible Activities

• Ineligible activities include, but are not limited to:
  • Wetland program implementation tasks.
  • Fundraising, honorarium, or for the purchase of land or conservation easements.
  • Wetland restoration training projects cannot include wetlands constructed only for the purposes of treating wastewater or stormwater
  • Implementation of individual mitigation projects, mitigation banks, or in-lieu-fee mitigation programs are not eligible for funding. Applications that carry out studies that may be part of an in-lieu-fee program/instrument are eligible for funding, but the actual creation of an in-lieu-fee instrument is not eligible for funding.
  • Purchase of vehicles (e.g., cars, boats, motor homes, etc.) and office furniture is not eligible for funding under this program. The lease of vehicles is eligible for funding under this program but must be described in the budget detail and linked to project activities.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.