Environment Grants

The Edwards Aquifer Authority's 2024 Groundwater Conservation Grant Program supports agricultural irrigation efficiency improvements within its jurisdiction, encompassing over 8,000 square miles across eight Texas counties. This initiative aims to incentivize the adoption of water-saving practices among Edwards Aquifer permit holders, enhancing groundwater conservation efforts. Qualified projects that demonstrate potential groundwater savings are eligible for funding. Applicants are required to provide detailed project proposals, including descriptions of current and proposed irrigation methods, equipment to be used, and comprehensive cost estimates.

This funding opportunity provides financial assistance to Alaska Native organizations and tribes for assessing and cleaning up contaminated lands that were transferred under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, addressing health and environmental concerns in their communities.

The RTP provides grant funding for land acquisition for trails, trail maintenance, trail construction, trail rehabilitation and for trail head support facilities. The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) is a federal funded, state administered grant program. RTP provides grant funding for land acquisition for trails, trails maintenance and restoration/rehabilitation, trail construction, and trail head support facilities. All grant projects must be on publicly owned land.

Environmental Cleanup & Brownfields Redevelopment. The RR Program accepts applications for traditional petroleum grants and loans year-round. There is no application deadline. We recommend that anyone interested in applying for funding first discuss your project with DNR staff. Please contact Gena Larson to discuss your project. In order to be eligible for funding, a site must meet the following criteria. The site must meet the federal definition of an eligible brownfield, which is "real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant." The site or costs must be ineligible for the Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Award (PECFA) reimbursement. The grant or loan recipient must not have contributed to contamination, and there are no persons responsible for the contamination that are both subject to an environmental enforcement action and able to pay for the cleanup. There must be no federal enforcement action under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), obligation under the federal Oil Pollution Act (OPA), or use of federal leaking underground storage tank (LUST) funds at the site. The DNR can help make this determination.

Recreational boating facility projects. Past projects have included ramps and service docks to gain access to the water, purchase of aquatic weed harvesting equipment, navigation aids and dredging waterway channels. These grants may be used by counties, towns, cities, villages, tribes, sanitary districts, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation districts and qualified lake associations for recreational boating facility projects. FOR GRANT REQUESTS IN EXCESS OF $250,000: Applications for RBF grants exceeding $250,000 are encouraged to be submitted to your regional DNR grants specialists in time for the June 1st, or September 1st, application deadlines. These larger grant requests take extra processing time and therefore are highly recommended for earlier evaluation, in the first two quarters of the fiscal year. Contact your regional DNR grants specialist as soon as possible, if you have a larger project and you are planning to apply for a RBF grant. DNR grants specialists can help with scheduling and grant processing.

The Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program aims to construct, renovate, and maintain facilities for transient recreational vessels at least 26 feet long. Funding is available at both state and national levels, with applications due annually by June 1. Eligible activities include various infrastructure projects, informational materials specific to BIG, but exclude certain activities like law enforcement support or land acquisition. Grants require a minimum 25% matching funds, with the federal share not exceeding 75% of total costs. Contact the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for more information.

The Ready for Reuse program will only be funding sites that are READY to begin cleanup activities, and have enough secured funding to finish the cleanup. The RR Program accepts applications for traditional hazardous substance grants and loans year-round. There is no application deadline. We recommend that anyone interested in applying for funding first discuss your project with DNR staff. Please contact Gena Larson to discuss your project. Loan and grant funds can be used for eligible costs incurred during the grant or loan agreement period for cleanup of contamination from hazardous substances or hazardous substances commingled with petroleum.

The DNR and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) offer cost share funding grants to governmental units working with owners and operators of livestock operations to meet pollution control requirements imposed by the DNR. ELIGIBLE PROJECTS Eligible projects are those designed to implement best management practices (BMPs) for improving water quality impaired by pollution discharges at an animal feeding operation satisfying the conditions of the NOD or NOI. INELIGIBLE PROJECTS Ineligible projects are those that address previously in-compliance facilities, were included in a previous offer of cost-sharing, cover routine maintenance and operation of BMPs, or cover a significant expansion of the livestock operation.

The goal of the Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) is to help private landowners create and manage habitat for species that are rare or declining. The program provides management advice, assistance with management plans and cost share funding to individuals and organizations on private lands — with a focus on the Driftless Area of Wisconsin. The LIP is a cost-share program, and the DNR can reimburse a landowner for up to 75% of the cost for the on-the-ground practices that are involved in the management of the project

When oil spills impact our natural, cultural and historic, and publicly owned resources, we work with other federal, state, and local agencies and tribes to restore those resources to pre-spill conditions. The Coastal Protection Fund (CPF) was created as a way to fund restoration and enhancement projects and studies with money collected through oil spill penalties and natural resource damage assessments. Since 1993, over 125 restoration projects have been funded by the Coastal Protection Fund Spills Program sub-accounts. Amount of funding available: Variable. Funding awards depend on revenue from damage assessment claims and oil spill penalties. Maximum available funding is usually between $100,000 and $400,000. Grant award limit: To maximize available funding, the typical grant award ranges from $10,000 to $50,000. Amount of matching funds required: There are no recipient match or cost-share requirements, since Spills CPF grants provide 100 percent of project Total Eligible Cost. Spills CPF grants also can help meet match requirements for other state grants.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund provides funding to preserve and develop outdoor recreation resources, including parks, trails, and wildlife lands. There are two separate LWCF programs: State Program: Congress created the fund in 1965 with the passage of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to states for the acquisition and development of public outdoor recreation areas. All communities may compete for funding in this program. Legacy Program: In 2014, Congress established the Land and Water Conservation Fund Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership program, which provides grants to help urban communities with 30,000 or more people buy or develop land to create or reinvigorate public parks and other outdoor recreation spaces. Priority is given to projects in economically disadvantaged areas that lack outdoor recreation opportunities.

Forestland preservation grants provide funding to lease or buy voluntary land preservation agreements (also called conservation easements) for forests to ensure they remain available for timber production in the future. Grant recipients also may use some of the funding to restore habitats in forests. The program is part of the larger Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, which was created in 1990 to conserve land for outdoor recreation and wildlife, to keep pace with a growing population. In 2016, the Legislature expanded the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program to include preservation of forestland with the goal of supporting working forests that also provide habitat for wildlife, environmental benefits, and public access.

This program provides funding to neighborhood groups in Ann Arbor for community-driven projects that promote sustainability and support the city's climate action initiatives.

The farmland preservation grant program provides funding to buy development rights on farmlands to ensure they remain available for farming in the future. Grant recipients also may use some of the funding to restore natural functions to improve the land's viability for farming. The program is part of the larger Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, which was created in 1990 to buy land for outdoor recreation and wildlife conservation, to keep pace with a growing population. In 2005, the state Legislature expanded the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program to include preservation of significant farmland.

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) makes funds available to drinking water systems to pay for infrastructure improvements. This program is funded through federal and state money and subject to state laws and additional federal regulations. The program provides: Low-interest construction loans to publicly (municipal) and privately owned drinking water systems. These loans cover capital improvements that increase public health and compliance with drinking water regulations. Construction loan repayments can range from 20 to 30 years. In some cases, partial loan forgiveness is offered. Planning and engineering loans to cover preconstruction work and activities such as water system plans, engineering designs, and cultural reviews. Consolidation Feasibility Study grants allow larger Group A community water systems such as cities, town, counties, public utility districts, and water districts to determine feasibility and capital improvements needed to consolidate smaller or struggling water systems into their service area.

This grant provides Virginia landowners who harvest timber with a tax credit for preserving streamside forest buffers, promoting water quality protection while incentivizing sustainable forestry practices.

TEAP provides state matching funds to directly support tire recycling, tire derived product use, tire reuse research and development, or processing facility improvements. In 2015, the Tennessee Automotive Association partnered with TDEC and the General Assembly to enact Public Chapter 525 that established the Tire Environmental Fund. Upon the first retail sale of a new motor vehicle that is to be titled and registered in Tennessee, a flat fee based on the number of the vehicle’s wheels is assessed. The fee goes into the Tire Environmental Fund which is used to fund projects creating or supporting beneficial end uses for waste tires.

The TRIP provides assists cities and counties establish their first Parks and Recreation Department with a parks and recreation professional as the Director. The Tennessee Recreation Initiative Program (TRIP) provides grants to those cities and counties currently without a comprehensive parks and recreation delivery system in operation due to lack of staffing and organization. City or county governments. Development of a formal Parks and Recreation Department.

This program provides financial support to public, nonprofit, and private fleets in Tennessee to replace or upgrade their transit and shuttle buses with new alternative fuel or all-electric models.

The principle objective of the Traditional Conservation Grant Program is to support the development and implementation of States programs to conserve and recover threated and endangered species under the Services jurisdiction. Financial assistance, provided in the form of grants, can be used to support projects that have direct benefits for federally listed species, candidate and at-risk species, and recently delisted species. States may apply for funding to conduct conservation work on federally-listed resident species that are included in the States cooperative agreement. States may also apply for funding to monitor candidate, at-risk, and recently delisted species. Projects proposed for funding may involve management, research, monitoring, and outreach activities or any combination thereof. Applications should include clear and specific information about how the proposed work would contribute to species recovery or prevent the need to list a species under the Endangered Species Act. Successful applications will be those that clearly demonstrate a direct benefit to the species or its habitat.