Region 2 Wetland Program Development Grants | EPA REG2 WPDG 21 22

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA REG2 WPDG 21 22

The Region 2 Wetland Program Development Grants opportunity is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding program designed to help governments build stronger wetland programs, not to pay for on-the-ground wetland work as usual. The central goal is program development and improvement: helping state, territorial, tribal, and local government agencies (plus certain interstate and intertribal entities) develop, refine, and modernize the policies, tools, and institutional capacity needed to protect, manage, and restore wetlands over the long term. In other words, the EPA is looking to fund projects that strengthen how wetland protection is planned, administered, assessed, and improved, rather than projects that simply carry out routine wetland protection activities.

A key eligibility and project design point in this announcement is the strict focus on developing or refining wetland programs. The solicitation makes it clear that projects must be aimed at improving the structure or performance of government wetland programs, such as building new frameworks, standards, procedures, strategies, or decision-support systems. Projects that are considered "implementation" are not eligible under this specific announcement. The announcement describes an implementation project as one that mainly consists of routine, traditional, or already-established practices, or work that is just performing a task without transferring information or advancing knowledge. That said, the EPA notes that monitoring and mapping projects can be eligible when they are designed to transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, which means applicants should frame monitoring or mapping work as program-improving outputs (for example, building better classification systems, assessment methods, or decision-making tools) rather than simply collecting data as an end in itself.

The EPA emphasizes two tiers of focus. The primary focus is strengthening state, territorial, and tribal wetland programs. A secondary focus is strengthening local wetland programs, such as those run by counties or municipalities. This means local governments can be funded, but the overarching intent remains the same: improving program capacity, governance, and systems, not paying for routine operations or direct implementation actions that would normally be part of an established regulatory or conservation program.

Eligibility is limited to government and certain government-associated entities. Eligible applicants include states, territories, tribes, local government agencies, interstate agencies, and intertribal consortia. Colleges and universities can apply only if they are agencies of a state government, and they must include documentation in the application demonstrating that they are chartered as part of state government. Non-profit organizations are explicitly not eligible to compete under this request for applications, which is an important screening factor for partnerships: non-profits may potentially participate as partners or contractors depending on grant rules, but they cannot be the applicant competing for the award under this announcement.

The competition is organized into two separate applicant tracks, and applicants compete only against others in the same track. States, territories, and tribes can apply under either Track One or Track Two. In contrast, local governments, interstate agencies, intertribal consortia, and eligible state-government colleges/universities are restricted to Track Two only. The EPA also retains discretion to contact an applicant if there is uncertainty about which track is most appropriate for a proposed project, which suggests applicants should be thoughtful and explicit about how their proposal aligns with the chosen track.

Applicants are allowed to submit more than one application, which can be useful for agencies with multiple distinct program development needs. However, each application must be submitted separately and must be for a different project. State, territorial, and tribal applicants may submit proposals to both tracks, but they cannot combine both tracks into a single application. If an application appears to straddle both tracks, the EPA may reach out to determine the appropriate track for evaluation.

In terms of funding, the total federal amount available under this announcement is approximately $1,349,000, although the EPA notes this is dependent on overall agency funding levels and other considerations. The agency anticipates dividing funds roughly evenly between the two tracks, with about $674,000 expected for Track One and about $674,000 expected for Track Two. The EPA anticipates roughly 3 to 5 awards under each track (about 10 total expected awards), with an expectation of funding more projects from Track One than Track Two. Individual awards are expected to fall in the range of $75,000 to $325,000 in federal funds. The EPA also clearly reserves the right to adjust the number of awards, the amounts, the distribution between tracks, or even make no awards, depending on application quality, requested amounts, and budget availability.

Cost sharing is required. Applicants must describe in their application how they will meet the minimum cost share or matching funds requirement, with details referenced in the announcement (Section III.B). Practically, that means proposals should include a credible, well-documented match plan and show that matching resources are committed and allowable under the grant rules.

Administrative details from the posting include that the agency is the Environmental Protection Agency, the funding instrument types include grants and cooperative agreements, and the assistance listing (CFDA) number is 66.461. The funding opportunity is labeled "Region 2 Wetland Program Development Grants" with opportunity number EPA REG2 WPDG 21 22, originally posted May 7, 2021, with an original closing date of June 24, 2021 (with a reminder to confirm closing date instructions in the announcement itself). For applicants looking for examples of what the EPA has supported in the past, the announcement points to the EPA Wetland Grants Database, which can be used to benchmark project scope, methods, and outputs that align with the program development emphasis.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Region 2 Wetland Program Development Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.461.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 07, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 24, 2021 See Section IV of the funding opportunity announcement for close date information.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for EPA REG2 WPDG 21 22

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