The primary objective of the EPA's ancsa cooperative agreement grants program is to provide financial support to assist the alaska tribal entities with addressing contamination on lands conveyed…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 awarded a $1.28 million Cooperative Agreement to the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council under the Contaminated Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Lands Assistance Agreements program (CFDA 66.965) effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027. The recipient will remediate contamination at the Galena Old BIA School site in Galena, Alaska, by assembling a project management team, contracting a qualified environmental professional, and developing comprehensive planning and compliance documentation including a Quality Assurance Project Plan, Environmental Documents, and Health and Safety Plans.

The project deliverables include conducting site assessment and cleanup activities, preparing public information materials and meeting presentations, managing the removal and proper disposal of hazardous materials in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local regulations, and ultimately restoring the property to safe reusable condition. No sub-awards are included in this agreement. This award is one of 13 cooperative agreements totaling $23.2 million obligated by EPA Region 10 under the ANCSA Lands program since its inception in fiscal year 2023, which provides financial support to eligible Alaska Native tribal entities for characterization, assessment, planning, community involvement, and cleanup activities on contaminated lands conveyed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

The primary objective of the EPA's ancsa cooperative agreement grants program is to provide financial support to assist the alaska tribal entities with addressing contamination on lands conveyed pursuant to the alaska native claims settlement act (ancsa) (43 U.S.C. 1601 ET SEQ.). The funds are available to eligible tribal applicant to: (1) to characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community involvement activities related to these lands; and (2) to carry out cleanup activities at ancsa contaminated sites. Yukon river inter-tribal watershed council will assemble a project management team, contract a qualified environmental professional (QEP), ensuring compliance with all environmental regulatory and for the safety of field operations to adequately address associated hazardous material (hazmat), safety, and human health requirements. The goal, and final outcome, is to clean up the galena old BIA school located in galena, AK of contamination and hazards.activities:yukon river inter-tribal watershed council will prepare and publish notices, prepare meeting materials and presentations, and prepare and distribute other public information materials. The recipient will create a quality assurance project plan (qapp), environmental documents, health, and safety plans (hasps) and final remediation (cleanup) plans. To clean up the contaminants, the recipient will conduct assessment and cleanup of the galena old BIA school site, ensure the recovered hazardous materials and associated waste products are disposed of in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:grant funding will allow yukon river inter-tribal watershed council to complete the remediation and cleanup of the contamination and to address associated hazardous material (hazmat), safety, and human health requirements; allowing the safety reuse of the property. Direct beneficiaries of this grant are members of the tribe, local community residents and shareholders of the alaska native village and regional corporations.