EPA Requests Proposals for $216,000 Environmental Education Grant

Press release from EPA:

EPA Requests Proposals for $216,000 Environmental Education Grant

Contact Information: Davina Marraccini, (404) 562-8293, marraccini.davina@epa.gov

(ATLANTA – Aug. 28, 2012) Through Nov. 21, EPA Region 4 will accept proposals from eligible schools and entities for a $216,000 environmental education grant to develop new programs promoting environmental stewardship across the Southeast.

The Environmental Education Regional Grants Program is a competitive program that supports EPA’s efforts to increase public awareness and knowledge about environmental issues. The total estimated funding for this opportunity is approximately $2,160,000 nationwide. EPA expects to award 10 grants nationally—one per region—with each individual award totaling no more than $216,000.

Applications can be submitted electronically via www.grants.gov by Nov. 21, 2012, 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time. Alternately, applications may be postmarked by Nov. 21 or hand delivered by the end of the business day to the EPA Southeast Regional Office. Proposals received after the due date will not be considered.

A solicitation notice announcing the grants program is available online at www.epa.gov/enviroed/grants.html. In September, EPA will host two webinars for potential applicants interested in additional information about the application process. The date, time and call-in information for the webinars will be posted on the website, and interested persons can sign-up online to receive e-mail updates.

Environmental education grants provide funding to local education agencies, state education and environmental agencies; colleges and universities; not-for-profit organizations; and non-commercial broadcasting entities. Tribal education agencies controlled by an Indian tribe, band or nation, including schools and community colleges, may also apply.

Learn more about EPA’s environmental education grants: www.epa.gov/enviroed/grants.html

For additional information, contact Kathy Armstrong at armstrong.kathy@epa.gov or 404-562-8225.

EPA seeks project proposals to reduce marine debris

For Immediate Release:  May 9, 2012
Contact:  Dean Higuchi, 808-541-2711, higuchi.dean@epa.gov   

MEDIA ADVISORY

EPA seeks project proposals to reduce marine debris
$280,000 available to reduce the source of land-based marine debris

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking project proposals to reduce land-based trash at the source, thus preventing trash from entering coastal runoff and becoming marine debris.

The amount of funding available is approximately $280,000 and projects must occur in a coastal or estuarine watershed in U.S. EPA Region 9, which includes coastal areas of California, Hawaii, and the Pacific Territories of Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.  States, local governments, public and private nonprofit institutions/organizations, federally recognized Indian tribal governments, U.S. territories or possessions, and interstate agencies are eligible and encouraged to apply.

The aim of the grant is to reduce marine debris from coastal watersheds with true source reduction practices, not with the more commonly used capture and removal practices such as inserting catch basin screens and enhancing street sweeping. Methods that businesses can use to facilitate true source reduction include creating mechanisms for product/packaging take-back, minimizing procurement of difficult-to-recycle goods, and ‘incentivizing’ reuse.

Proposals should demonstrate and promote the economic benefits of source reduction to business and government, inspire innovative local policies promoting litter prevention, and foster creative collaborative partnerships between local government, non-profits, and business.  Proposals that principally support recycling, clean-up, treatment, trash capture/removal, plastic bag and/or polystyrene bans, or disposal activities will not be considered for funding.

Marine debris degrades estuarine, near shore, and open ocean habitats. It endangers marine and coastal wildlife, causes navigation hazards, results in economic losses to industry and governments, and threatens human health and safety. With up to 80 percent of marine debris coming from land-based sources, reducing what is generated upstream will result in less trash having to be captured and removed downstream.

Submission Date:  Proposals are due on Friday, June 8, 2012, 5 pm (PDT). EPA anticipates awarding one to three grants under this solicitation with project periods of up to three years. Applicants must demonstrate how they will provide the minimum non-federal match of 25 percent of the total cost of the proposal.

For more information and the full request for proposals, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/marine-debris/

This grant will support the Region 9 Strategic Plan goal of reducing the accumulation of trash that contributes to marine debris, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/strategicplan/islands.html and http://www.epa.gov/region9/strategicplan/comm.html

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