Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (US)

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)) provides funding for the program for five years from 2022 to 2026. The BIL funds are directed toward improving access to Federal funding and supporting projects that build climate resilience in underserved communities.

The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to expand water quality restoration efforts and build regional climate change resilience through funding efforts and partnerships within historically underserved communities (i.e., economically underserved or other populations with disproportionate exposure to environmental harm). Eligible recipients can submit applications for projects within the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties (Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco).

Purpose

• The BIL passed in 2021 and augmented the SFBWQIF for a five-year period. The BIL specifically expands the SFBWQIF to focus on inequities around access to Federal funding and implementation of projects related to climate resilience in underserved communities. It provides additional funding to advance the goal of investing in America’s infrastructure and delivering environmental and public health benefits for communities with environmental justice (EJ) concerns, that is, communities adversely and disproportionately affected by environmental, climate, and human health harms or risks.

Priorities

• Consistency with CCMP: All applications must be consistent with SFEP’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) and must indicate the CCMP objective(s) and action(s) to be implemented under the project.
• Environmental Justice (EJ) and Underserved Communities: This NOFO aims to support a broad array of project types that will deliver environmental and public health benefits to communities with EJ concerns, including underserved communities, within the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties.
• Environmental Outputs and Outcomes: EPA requires that applicants adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved.

Funding Information

• Grant amount: Approximately $14 million
• Awards are expected to be approximately between $500,000 and $2,000,000
• Number of awards: Approximately 15-20

Eligibility Criteria

• Only these types of organizations may apply:
  • State, local government agencies, districts, and councils.
  • Regional water pollution control agencies and entities.
  • State coastal zone management agencies.
  • Federally and non-federally recognized Tribes.
  • Public and private universities and colleges.
  • Public or private non-governmental, non-profit institutions are eligible to apply, unless restricted by the authorizing statutes. Non-profit organizations must have documentation of non-profit status from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or their state of incorporation, except that nonprofit organizations as defined in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 or superseding legislation are ineligible.

Application Requirements

• The following forms and documents are required under this announcement:
  • Application for Federal Assistance
  • Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs
  • EPA Key Contacts Form
  • EPA Form Preaward Compliance Review Report
  • Project Narrative Attachment Form
  • Budget Narrative Attachment Form
  • Other Attachments Form

For more information, visit Grants.gov.