United States: Puget Sound Stewardship & Mitigation Fund

Deadline: 18-Sep-20

The Rose Foundation has launched the Puget Sound Stewardship and Mitigation Fund to mitigate past pollution runoff by supporting community-based efforts to protect or improve the water quality of Puget Sound.

The Puget Sound Stewardship and Mitigation Fund was created by a record legal settlement between the Puget Sound keeper Alliance (Sound keeper) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway, and has since been supplemented by several other pollution mitigation payments involving Sound keeper and other Clean Water Act enforcers.

Since inception in 2012, over $5.7 million in grants have been awarded for projects in Puget Sound related to conservation, restoration, citizen science, environmental justice, shoreline access, and environmental education.

The Puget Sound keeper Alliance’s Clean Water Act enforcement program enforces federal water quality laws against serious violators. Lawsuits are brought on behalf of Sound keeper’s citizen members, each of whom has a legal right to swimmable and fishable waterways. In bringing pollution-related lawsuits, Sound keeper’s goal is to achieve negotiated settlements that bring polluters into compliance with the law and the permitting system. Settlement funds are then donated to local environmental groups to help them repair damage done to the Sound. The $1.5 million BNSF Balmer Yard settlement which launched the Puget Sound Stewardship and Mitigation Fund is one of the largest ever in a citizen enforcement action involving storm water discharges.

Funding Information

Grants will be awarded up to a maximum amount of $40,000. In addition to larger organizations, they have specifically reserved some of the grant funds for smaller grassroots organizations and they encourage proposals from local, volunteer-based groups. Groups of any size are eligible to apply. If your organization has an annual budget of $100,000 or less, they encourage you to apply for a grant of $10,000 or less.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for a Puget Sound Stewardship & Mitigation Fund Grant, the applicant and project must meet the following criteria:

Projects Supported: The project must be designed to improve (or prevent degradation of the water quality of Puget Sound and its watershed. Th yparticularly encourage proposals that will benefit water quality in the following areas:
- The waters of central Puget Sound, especially
  - Elliott Bay
  - Duwamish River Watershed, with a preference to projects that relate to the intersection of water quality and human health, including aerial deposition of pollutants, in the Duwamish River watershed and associated food chains.
  - Commencement Bay in the Tacoma area
- The waters of South Sound, especially Budd Inlet, Muck Creek, and Nisqually River.
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.
Environmental Justice: Supporting environmental and social justice is a core organizational value that guides the Puget Sound Stewardship & Mitigation Fund and the Rose Foundation’s programs. Applications from environmental justice and equity centered organizations are strongly encouraged, and projects that benefit underserved and impacted communities will receive preference.
Duration of Support: Most grants are for a one year period; 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. However, even if you are asking for multi-year support, the maximum request cannot exceed $40,000.
Frequency of Applying: Organizations that have been funded may only re-apply in the next cycle after their grant report has been submitted and approved. Organizations with an active grant from this Fund are not eligible to reapply. After three consecutive years of funding, they ask groups to step back and wait two years before reapplying – this creates space for new applicants to have the opportunity to share in the funding.
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 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 grant award.