Radium Remediation at Land-Grant Universities

The Department of the Interior Departmental Offices funds radium decontamination and remediation at land-grant universities contaminated by former Bureau of Mines operations under Assistance Listing 15.982, with the most recent grant award dated August 17, 2020.

This program operates through the Central Hazardous Materials Fund and supports facility decontamination, restoration, and refurbishment work at eligible land-grant institutions. The single awarded project to date involved radium remediation and restoration of the University of Nevada, Reno's Facilities Services Building to restore historic value and enable unrestricted occupancy.

Award activity is minimal in the available record. One Project Grant of $12 million was obligated in 2020, with no subsequent awards documented. The grant was structured as a Project Grant, the sole assistance type in the portfolio. The Department of the Interior Departmental Offices Interior Business Center was the exclusive funding source.

The most recent grant opportunity on record was solicitation S20AS00007, posted March 10, 2020, with an application due date of May 12, 2020. That opportunity was characterized as a one-time, competitive solicitation open to public and private higher education institutions that operated as land-grant universities and had received federal or state notification that radium contamination at their facilities exceeded allowable regulatory levels due to former Bureau of Mines activity.

No grant opportunities are currently posted or have been posted since 2020. The six-year gap between the last award and the present date, combined with the one-time framing of the 2020 solicitation, suggests this program may be inactive or has completed its intended scope. Organizations with contaminated facilities at land-grant institutions should verify current program status and eligibility requirements directly with the Department of the Interior before investing in application development.