Deadline: 27-Apr-23
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership, is soliciting proposals to restore water quality and habitats of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers and streams in Pennsylvania.
NFWF is soliciting proposals under the Pennsylvania Most Effective Basins (PA‐MEB) grants program for projects that accelerate volunteer implementation of cost-effective agricultural best management practices (“practices”) in selected basins of the Chesapeake Bay watershed of Pennsylvania. The intent of the PA-MEB program is to assist the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in achieving its 2025 water quality goals for the agricultural sector under the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Pennsylvania’s Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP).
Program Priorities
The primary purpose of the PA-MEB program is to maximize cost-effective reductions of agricultural nitrogen loads through the volunteer implementation of eligible agricultural conservation practices in Pennsylvania’s most effective basins, consistent with the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Pennsylvania’s Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP). In addition, NFWF will prioritize funding for proposals that can yield rapid implementation outcomes related to planning, design and engineering, permitting, and construction of eligible practices and those that provide additional conservation and farm management co-benefits beyond water quality improvement.
- Priority #1 – Cost‐Effectiveness for Agricultural Nitrogen Load Reductions
- Priority #2 – Readiness to Proceed
- Priority #3 – Conservation and Farm Management Co‐Benefits
Funding Information
- NFWF estimates awarding up to $5 million in grants through the PA-MEB program in 2023 contingent on the availability of funding. Major funding comes from the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office.
- NFWF will award grants of up to $1,000,000 for projects that result in the direct implementation of eligible agricultural best management practices.
Eligible Practices for Implementation, Technical Assistance, and Verification Activities
EPA and NFWF have identified the following eligible practices for the PA-MEB program, based on the demonstrated ability of these practices to yield relatively low-cost reductions in agricultural nitrogen loading. Notably, these eligible practices include both annual management practices that require ongoing implementation to yield creditable load reduction benefits in future years, as well as structural practices that, once implemented, generate multiple years of creditable load reductions based on their continued performance on the landscape.
- Tillage Management.
- Tree Planting.
- Wetland Restoration.
- Prescribed Grazing.
- Animal Waste Management Systems.
- Manure Incorporation.
- Manure Injection.
- Manure Transport.
- Barnyard Runoff Control.
- Loafing Lot Management.
- Alternative Crops.
- Retirement of Highly Erodible Land.
- Cover Crops –Traditional.
- Cover Crops – Commodity.
- Forest and Grass Buffers.
- Forest and Grass Buffers with Stream Exclusion Fencing.
- Core Nutrient Management – Nitrogen.
- Supplemental Nutrient Management – N Rate.
- Supplemental Nutrient Management – N Placement.
- Supplemental Nutrient Management – N Timing.
- Soil and Water Conservation Plan.
Geographic Focus
All projects must occur wholly within selected basins of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Pennsylvania, identified by EPA as most effective basins (MEB) based on the cost effectiveness of agricultural nitrogen load reduction practices in each basin to positively influence dissolved oxygen in the Bay.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible Applicants for the PA-MEB program are limited to conservation districts, technical service providers certified by the Pennsylvania office of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, countywide action planning coordinators identified through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Phase III WIP planning process. Non-profit 501(c) organizations and local and municipal governments are also eligible but must demonstrate partnership and coordination with appropriate conservation districts, technical service providers, and/or countywide action planning coordinators by providing associated letters of support.
- For‐profit applicants: Please note that this is a request for grant proposals, not a procurement of goods and services;
- Eligible Landowners/Operators are limited to individuals and entities with ownership or management control of an agricultural operation, as defined by applicable Pennsylvania statutes, and located within identified most effective basins. Applicants must also complete signed Landowner-Grantee Agreements for all proposed landowners/operators prior to executing grant contracts with NFWF. In addition, landowners/operators must be able to document compliance with all applicable agricultural erosion and sediment control, manure, and/or nutrient management plan requirements prior to project completion.
For more information, visit National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.