Deadline: 25-Feb-22
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the availability of funds and solicits applications from eligible entities to conduct ambient air monitoring of pollutants of greatest concern in communities with environmental and health outcome disparities stemming from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic.
EPA will award funds to support community and local efforts to monitor their own air quality and to promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments.
Objectives
EPA is soliciting applications from eligible entities, as described in Section III.A., for projects designed to monitor air pollutants of greatest concern in communities with disproportionate and adverse health outcomes. EPA’s objective in issuing these awards is to enable communities to monitor their own air quality and to promote monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and/or local governments that:
- Leverage existing air quality monitoring expertise;
- Expand use of community monitoring advisory groups and other approaches that give the community a voice in the monitoring of their air quality; and
- Build a foundation of trusting relationships and enhanced understanding from which sustainable solutions to community air pollution problems can be found.
Applications should include detailed, well thought-out projects for enhancing air quality monitoring, including but not limited to: building capacity and knowledge of local-scale, real time air quality; measuring levels of certain air pollutants; collecting data in situations where there is persistent and complex air pollution (e.g., wildfires); or advancing air monitoring system resiliency.
This is a one-time infusion of funds, so projects must be completed within three years without the expectation of additional resources and/or funds to maintain and operate equipment beyond this timeframe.
Funding Information
- The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is approximately $20,000,000. Approximately $2 million dollars of this amount will be awarded to tribal governments under a tribal government set-aside under which only applications from tribal governments will be considered, and approximately $2 million will be awarded to community-based organizations under a community-based organization set-aside under which only applications from community-based organizations will be considered.
- EPA anticipates awarding a total of approximately 50 to 70 grants or cooperative agreements under this announcement, subject to the availability of funds, the quantity and quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. EPA anticipates awarding approximately 20-30 assistance agreements ranging in value from $25,000 to $100,000 (i.e., “Small Grants”) and 30-40 assistance agreements ranging in value from $100,001-$500,000 (i.e., “Large Grants”).
Eligibility Criteria
- Applications will be accepted from states (including the District of Columbia); local governments; U.S. territories and possessions; Indian tribes; public and private hospitals and laboratories; and other public or private nonprofit organizations.
- Nonprofit organization, means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative or other organization that:
- is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable or similar purposes in the public interest;
- is not organized primarily for profit; and
- uses its net proceeds to maintain, improve and/or expand its operations.
- The term includes tax-exempt nonprofit neighborhood and labor organizations. Note that the definition of nonprofit specifically excludes the following types of organizations from the definition of “nonprofit organization” because they are separately defined in the regulation:
- institutions of higher education; and
- state, local and federally-recognized Indian tribal governments
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=336951
