Deadline: 21-Feb-24
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting proposals to support research that advances the science and innovative technologies needed to remediate and restore the Nation’s most challenging and complex contaminated sites; to reduce the burden of contamination from the storage and management of waste while advancing the Agency’s vision for a future paradigm that fundamentally disrupts the creation and flow of waste; and to revitalize affected communities from increased exposure to contaminants resulting from natural disasters and extreme events.
Examples of relevant topic areas include, but are not limited to, innovative methods and technologies to characterize and to remove contaminants from environmental media (e.g., soil, water, air); research to build community resilience to potential pollution resulting from natural disasters and extreme events; and development of innovative solutions to waste management, as well as techniques and technologies that allow for the beneficial reuse of products and materials.
The People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) Program highlights the use of scientific principles in creating innovative technology-based projects that achieve the mutual goals of improved quality of life, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. P3 encourages interdisciplinary collaborations across academic departments and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines to devise innovative solutions to environmental and public health challenges in the U.S., including those in small, rural, Tribal and/or underserved communities.
P3 supports STEM education through hands-on experience and training that brings their classroom learning to life, while also allowing student teams to create tangible changes in their communities. To the extent practicable, applicants should describe the STEM education ecosystem in their project. A STEM education ecosystem consists of partners united by a collective vision of supporting participation in STEM through the creation of accessible, inclusive STEM learning opportunities spanning all education stages and career pathways. A STEM education ecosystem continuously evaluates its activities and adapts as needed, plans for the long-term, and communicates its work to build broad support and advance best-practices.
The P3 program is emphasizing the use of innovation in projects submitted to this announcement. The program challenges and empowers interdisciplinary student teams to transform their classroom learning into hands-on experience by designing and demonstrating tangible solutions to real-world environmental issues in their communities.
Proposed projects should support P3’s four strategic principles:
- Principle 1: Engage, educate, and empower the next generation of scientists, engineers, and the greater academic and external communities to improve the quality of people’s lives, provide economic benefits, and protect the environment – the P3 approach.
- Principle 2: Support the development of innovative technologies that will contribute to improved social, environmental, and economic well-being, especially in communities with the greatest needs.
- Principle 3: Support the demonstration of proposed P3-developed technologies to prove their effectiveness and value.
- Principle 4: Foster the development of strategies to disseminate technologies in target communities and elsewhere.
The P3 Program is intended to address domestic U.S. environmental needs. For this reason, P3 projects should primarily focus on research in the U.S. and the benefits of the research should primarily accrue to the U.S. Applications that do not meet these requirements may not be evaluated as highly during the relevancy review, and therefore may not be recommended for an award.
Goal and Objectives
- Goal 6: Safeguard and Revitalize Communities,
- Objective 6.1: Clean Up and Restore Land for Productive Uses and Healthy Communities
- Objective 6.2: Reduce Waste and Prevent Environmental Contamination
Funding Information
- It is anticipated that a total of approximately $1.2 million will be awarded under this announcement, depending on the availability of funds, quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. The EPA anticipates funding approximately 16 awards under this RFA. Requests for amounts in excess of a total of $75,000 per award, including direct and indirect costs, will not be considered. The total project period requested in an application submitted for this RFA may not exceed 2 years.
Expected Outputs and Outcomes
- Research outputs expected from the research funded under this RFA may include innovative, inherently benign, integrated, and interdisciplinary designs that will advance the scientific, technical, and policy knowledge necessary to enhance the human condition in communities – including those in small, rural, Tribal and/or underserved communities. Examples of these research outputs include innovative technologies and new methods that address knowledge, software, and data gaps. These outputs can be presented in publications, at the P3 Expo, and conferences.
- The desired outcomes of the research conducted under this program address P3’s four strategic principles listed. P3-supported technologies should also embody the P3 approach which aims to simultaneously:
- maintain or improve human health and well-being;
- advance economic competitiveness; and
- protect and preserve the environment by effectively and efficiently using water, materials, and energy and minimizing the generation or emission of pollution or minimizing the use of toxic substances.
- The outputs and outcomes of the research efforts conducted via the individual P3 grants contribute directly to accomplishing the P3 Strategic Principles presented in this solicitation.
Eligibility Criteria
- Public and private institutions of higher education (limited to degree-granting institutions of higher education) located in the U.S. (includes eligible institutions of higher education located in U.S. territories and possessions) are eligible to apply to be the recipient of a grant to support teams of undergraduate, graduate students, or both. Profit-making firms and individuals are not eligible to receive assistance agreements from the EPA under this program.
- The students on the teams supported by the institution receiving the grant must be enrolled in the college, university, or post-secondary educational institution they will be representing at the time the application is submitted. Institutions are allowed to submit more than one application where each application represents a unique design concept and student team. For the purposes of grant administration, the team’s faculty advisor will be designated the Principal Investigator throughout the P3 grant award and competition process.
- Nonprofit organizations that are not exempt from taxation under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code must submit other forms of documentation of nonprofit status; such as certificates of incorporation as nonprofit under state or Tribal law. Nonprofit organizations exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that lobby are not eligible for EPA funding as provided in the Lobbying Disclosure Act, 2 U.S.C. 1611.
- Foreign governments, international organizations, and non-governmental international organizations/institutions are not eligible to apply.
- National laboratories funded by Federal Agencies (Federally-Funded Research and Development Centers, “FFRDCs”) may not apply. FFRDC employees may cooperate or collaborate with eligible applicants within the limits imposed by applicable legislation and regulations. They may participate in planning, conducting, and analyzing the research directed by the applicant, but may not direct projects on behalf of the applicant organization. An award recipient may provide funds through its assistance agreement from the EPA to an FFRDC for research personnel, supplies, equipment, and other expenses directly related to the research.
- Federal Agencies may not apply. Federal employees are not eligible to serve in a principal leadership role on an assistance agreement. Federal employees may not receive salaries or augment their Agency’s appropriations through awards made under this program unless authorized by law to receive such funding.
- The applicant institution may enter into an agreement with a Federal Agency to purchase or utilize unique supplies or services unavailable in the private sector to the extent authorized by law. Examples are purchase of satellite data, chemical reference standards, analyses, or use of instrumentation or other facilities not available elsewhere. A written justification for federal involvement must be included in the application. In addition, an appropriate form of assurance that documents the commitment, such as a letter of intent from the Federal Agency involved, should be included.
- If an application is submitted that includes any ineligible tasks or activities, that portion of the application will be ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent to which it affects the application, render the entire application ineligible for funding.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.