Deadline: 25-Oct-21
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched its 2021 Region 4 Sustainable Materials Management Grants Program to improve community resilience and sustainability through sustainable materials management (SMM).
SMM grants can support research, investigation, experiments, surveys, study, demonstration, education and training.
Priorities
At least one of the two following SMM priorities must be addressed as part of this RFA:
- Addressing Municipal Recycling Markets in Region 4: Recycling is an important driver of the country’s economy and a way to conserve the resources and protect the environment. Recycling municipal solid waste reduces the amount of materials sent to landfills and incinerators; conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals; and decreases wasted energy by reducing the need to extract and process new raw materials.
- In order to address this challenge, EPA is soliciting projects that will encourage collaboration and coordination across Region 4 geographies, organizations, and/or businesses to enhance rural recycling systems, making them stronger and more agile to address changing materials markets. By establishing stronger networks of recyclers, organizations, and governments, existing recycling systems and markets can be advanced in Region 4.
- Project examples under this priority include, but are not limited to:
- establishing and maintaining a collaborative network or cooperative in Region 4 to foster improved approaches to the collection, marketing, and distribution of municipal recycling materials and provide feedstock to manufacturers in the U.S.;
- developing methods to improve market information, and/or connection between markets (e.g. different geographic locations, industries, consumers, and generators, etc.) for recovered municipal recyclable material; and,
- establishing programs that encourage public or private partners to utilize or invest in recycled municipal materials, and ultimately support economic development, create jobs and expand educational outreach around recycled materials markets.
- Strategies for Preventing Food Loss and Waste in Region 4: EPA is requesting applications for projects that develop systems-based solutions to prevent food loss and waste. Projects submitted under this RFA will work with a network of stakeholders to achieve this goal and demonstrate progress to reduce food loss and waste within Region 4.
- Project examples under this priority include, but are not limited to:
- encouraging the development of policies and practices which effectively divert excess food to new markets and/or expands food rescue capacity;
- establishing and maintaining a collaborative network in Region 4 to foster improved approaches to address food system challenges;
- increasing public awareness of the environmental, social, and economic benefits of reducing wasted food via source reduction and distribution to people, particularly in underserved and under-resourced communities;
- improving data quality, including establishing baseline food waste metrics, assessing progress on current food waste intervention activities, or measuring the potential for increased food rescue efforts
- Project examples under this priority include, but are not limited to:
Goals
The activities to be funded under this solicitation support EPA’s FY 2018-22 Strategic Plan. Awards made under this solicitation will support the following goals and objectives of the EPA Strategic Plan:
- A Cleaner, Healthier Environment;
- More Effective Partnerships,
- Greater Certainty, Compliance and Effectiveness,
Funding Information
- EPA Region 4 anticipates awarding approximately $300,000 under this solicitation. EPA anticipates awarding approximately 3-7 grants, ranging from approximately $40,000 to $100,000, subject to the availability of funds, the quality of applications received, distribution between priorities and other applicable considerations.
- The anticipated award amounts are approximations that are subject to change based upon a number of considerations including, but not limited to, funding availability, Agency priorities, and other applicable considerations. Awards will be issued by EPA Region 4 and managed by the LCRD.
- EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this solicitation, consistent with Agency policy and guidance, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections are made. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than 6 months after the original selection decisions.
- The estimated start date for projects resulting from this solicitation is June 1, 2022. All project activities must be completed within the negotiated project performance period of no longer than two years.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants include States, local, Tribal, interstate, and intrastate government agencies and instrumentalities, and non-profit organizations formed under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (not 501(c)(4) organizations that lobby).
- Applicants’ projects must take place within EPA Region 4, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=335654