Deadline: 06-Aug-21
The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking applications to improve Community Health through Microbial Source Tracking.
This Request for Applications (RFA) solicits applications from eligible entities for grants and/or cooperative agreements to be awarded.
These awards will improve water quality, habitat, community resilience, and environmental education in the Gulf of Mexico watershed within the Continental United States.
Funding Information
- EPA expects to provide approximately $1.5 million for 3 to 5 projects in this funding opportunity.
- The maximum amount of federal funds that will be awarded for any project in this funding opportunity is $500,000.
- Proposed project periods may be up to three years.
Activities
This funding opportunity is intended to generate applications for one of the following activities:
- Microbial source tracking studies in watersheds with documented high loads of unidentified fecal coliforms. For the purposes of this RFA, microbial source tracking is defined as an approach used to identify and track sources of fecal contamination impacting water quality in stream, river, lake, and marine (including beaches) ecosystems. Applicants should indicate whether there are resources available to mitigate the impairment once identified. Proposed projects should utilize partnership-based approaches focused on evaluating and protecting water quality.
- Innovative demonstration projects focused on reducing identified point source or nonpoint source fecal pollution in watersheds. Demonstration projects must involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, where the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project. The applicant must clearly explain in the proposal how the technologies, methods, or approaches used are new or experimental and how the project otherwise meets the requirements of a demonstration. If your project uses technologies, methods or approaches that have been used previously in other geographic areas and/or other situations, then your proposal must include an explanation as to how your demonstration project is different from such prior projects. The applicant must also explain what will be learned from the demonstration project.
- Innovative demonstration projects and simultaneous microbial source tracking for proof of concept.
Outputs
Potential project outputs include:
- Identification and quantification of potential fecal sources within the project watershed/s
- Number of individuals contacted as a result of education and outreach concerning sources of fecal contamination
- Development of an actionable plan that includes partners and their roles and the resources and funding that will be utilized to decrease fecal contamination and reduce potential human exposure after the sources are determined
Outcomes
One or more required:
- Number of communities where potential for human exposure will be reduced resulting in more resilient communities through the identification of fecal contamination sources, the education of the community regarding those sources, and the actions taken to address the sources
- Number of water segments or water bodies where there is improved understanding of fecal sources impacting water quality
- Number of water segments or water bodies where water quality was improved as a result of project activities
Eligibility Criteria
- Applications will be accepted from governmental entities, including state agencies, interstate agencies, Indian tribes, local governments, institutions of higher learning (i.e., colleges and universities), and non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for funding under this RFA. School districts or high schools designated as one of the eligible entities above are eligible.
- For-profit organizations are not an eligible entity for this funding opportunity. Additionally, non-profit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=333927