Deadline: 14-Mar-22
The Rose Foundation is inviting applications for the Puget Sound Stewardship & Mitigation Fund to mitigate past pollution run off by supporting community-based efforts to protect or improve the water quality of Puget Sound.
The Puget Sound Stewardship and Mitigation Fund were created by a record legal settlement between the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance (Soundkeeper) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway and has since been supplemented by several other pollution mitigation payments involving Soundkeeper and other Clean Water Act enforcers. More recently they received two large mitigation payments, one from Total Terminals International LLC and another one from Waste Action Project v. Port of Olympia.
The Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s Clean Water Act enforcement program enforces federal water quality laws against serious violators. Lawsuits are brought on behalf of Soundkeeper’s citizen members, each of whom has a legal right to swimmable and fishable waterways.
Funding Information
- Grants will be awarded up to a maximum amount of $30,000.
- If your organization has an annual budget of $150,000 or less, they recommend applying for a grant of $10,000 or less.
Eligibility Criteria
For the current grant cycle, the applicant and project must meet the following criteria:
- Types of Projects Supported: Projects designed to improve (or prevent degradation of) the water quality of Puget Sound and its watershed. Project activities include water stewardship, advocacy, outreach and education, restoration, and watershed protection. Project proposals with strong community involvement and participation are especially encouraged.
- Geographic Focus: for the current grant cycle projects designed to improve (or prevent degradation of) the water quality of Puget Sound and its watershed. To be eligible for a grant, the projects must benefit:
- The water of South Sound, especially Budd Inlet, Muck Creek, and Nisqually River.
- Commencement Bay, including Hylebos Waterway.
- Limited Funds: Duwamish River and Central Sound
- Applicant requirements: The applicant must demonstrate the capacity to complete the proposed project, including experience in successfully conducting similar or otherwise related work in the past. If your organization is large with a multi-million dollar budget, they encourage you to include a locally-based group in your proposal.
- Environmental Justice: Supporting environmental and social justice is a core organizational value that guides the Fund and the Rose Foundation. Applications from local, volunteer-based groups and environmental justice-oriented organizations are highly encouraged. Projects that involve impacted, vulnerable communities and are centered around principles of equity are be given preference.
- Duration of Support: Most grants are for one year; however, you do not have to ask for a one-year grant. It is permitted to request a shorter or longer grant period if that is what you need.
- Frequency of Applying: Organizations that have been funded may re-apply in the next cycle after their grant report has been submitted. After three consecutive years of funding, groups must wait two years before reapplying.
- Non-profit Status: The applicant must be a 501(c)3 organization, fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)3, or a governmental or tribal entity. If your small neighborhood-based organization is not a 501(c)3 or already has a fiscal sponsor, but has a compelling project, the Rose Foundation may be willing to act as your fiscal sponsor for this grant proposal.Nonprofit colleges, universities, university clinics, and graduate programs are eligible to apply, but university overhead is limited to 5% of a grant award.
For more information, visit https://rosefdn.org/puget-sound-stewardship-mitigation-fund/