Regional Wetland Program Development Grants

To assist state, territory, tribal, and/or local government agencies in building programs which protect, manage, and restore wetlands. The primary focus of the grants is to build state, territory, and Tribal wetland programs. A secondary focus is to

To assist state, Tribal, territory and/or local government agencies in building programs which protect, manage, and restore wetlands. The primary focus of the grants is to build state, Tribal and territory wetland programs. A secondary focus is to build local (e.g., county or municipal) programs.

The term "interstate agency" is defined in CWA Section 502 as "an agency of two or more States established by or pursuant to an agreement or compact approved by the Congress, or any other agency of two or more States, having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the control of pollution as determined and approved by the Administrator." Intertribal consortia that meet the requirements of 40 CFR Part 35.504 are eligible for direct funding. Intertribal consortia projects must be broad in scope and encompass more than one state, Tribe, or local government. Universities that are agencies of a state government are eligible to receive funds through these competitions. Universities must include documentation showing that they are chartered as a part of a state government in their proposal. For-profit organizations are not eligible. Non-profit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in prohibited lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy. Applicants need not be located within the boundaries of the EPA regional office to be eligible to apply for funding but must propose projects that affect the states, Tribes, territories and local governments within the Region.

State, territory, Tribal, and local governments involved in administering wetlands protection, restoration and/or management programs, or programs related to or that complement wetland protection programs.

These grants are intended to encourage comprehensive wetlands program development by promoting the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution. Projects build the capacity of states, Tribes, territories, and local governments to effectively protect, manage, and restore wetland and riparian resources. Projects funded under this program support the development of a wetland protection, restoration, or management program or support enhancement/refinement of an existing program. Interstate agency and intertribal consortia projects must be broad in scope and encompass more than one state, Tribe, territory or local government. The Regional Office will accept submissions only for projects that affect the states, Tribes, territories and local governments within their Region. Funds cannot be used for day to day running of a state/Tribal/territory/local government wetland program. Funds cannot be used for the purchase of land or conservation easements. Funds cannot be used for implementation of individual CWA 404 permits, mitigation projects, mitigation banks, or in-lieu-fee mitigation programs. Additional uses and restrictions on funds will be described in detail in the competitive announcements. Projects that are national in scope are not eligible for funding under this Regional program but may be eligible for funding under EPA's National Wetland Program Development Grants program (Assistance Listing 66.462). Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: Geospatial Resources at EPA. This program makes Federal awards on a discretionary basis. A discretionary award means an award in which the Federal awarding agency, in keeping with specific statutory authority that enables the agency to exercise judgement ("discretion"), selects the recipient and/or the amount of Federal funding awarded through a competitive process or based on merit of proposals. A discretionary award may be selected on a non-competitive basis, as appropriate. For further information, please contact the Headquarters or regional office.

The terms of the grant shall be determined at time of grant award.

An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. Intergovernmental review is applicable to this assistance listing when proposed Federal financial assistance involves land use planning or construction associated with demonstration projects. EPA financial assistance programs and activities subject to intergovernmental review that are subject to review under State single point of contact procedures are identified at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-financial-assistance-programs-subject-executive-order-12372-and-section-204. Applicants for programs or activities subject to Intergovernmental Review that are not subject to State single point of contact review must provide directly affected State, areawide, regional, and local entities at least 60 days to review their application following notification by EPA that the application has been selected for funding as provided by 40 CFR 29.8(a) and (c). Each EPA Regional Office will set up its own competitive process for awarding WPDGs. Interested applicants should review information on the WPDG at: https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/wetland-program-development-grants.

The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this assistance listing will be described in the NOFO.

Grant applications are reviewed by the appropriate EPA Regional Office and, if approved, the grant is awarded by the Regional Administrator. For the National Tribal competition grant applications are reviewed by EPA staff and, if approved, the grant is awarded by the Regional Administrator. For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the NOFO. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements.

For competitive awards, deadlines will be specified in the NOFO.

Grants are usually approved within 4 months of receipt of completed application.

Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005). Copies of these procedures may also be found at: https://www.epa.gov/grants/grant-competition-dispute-resolution-procedures.