National Wetland Program Development Grants and Five-Star Restoration Training Grant

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 b

To assist state, Tribal, territory and 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.

Non-profit, non-governmental organizations, Interstate agencies, and Intertribal consortia which are capable of undertaking activities that advance wetland programs on a national basis are eligible to compete in this program. 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 must meet the requirements of 40 CFR Part 35.504. 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.

Public nonprofit institution/organization, Private nonprofit institution/organization, Native American Organizations State, Territory, Tribal, and local governments involved in administering wetlands protection, restoration, and/or management programs or programs related to or complement wetlands protection programs.

The National WPDGs are intended to encourage comprehensive, national wetland 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, territory and local governments programs to effectively protect wetland and riparian resources. Activities must help states, Tribes, territories and local governments develop and refine wetland programs. Projects funded under this program support the initial development of a national wetland protection, restoration or management program, or support enhancement/refinement of an existing national program. Projects must be broad in scope and include more than one EPA Region or be national in scope and cannot be limited to activities that affect such entities in only one EPA Region. For example, projects and tasks can involve advancing science or collecting and making available through publications and other appropriate means, such as training on information about how various wetland programs across the nation protect, manage, and restore their wetland resources and about initiatives to improve state, Tribal, territory and local government wetland programs. EPA's Five Star Restoration Training Grant is anticipated to fund one cooperative agreement to an organization to manage the Five Star Restoration Training Grant subaward process that will award subgrants to achieve environmental training through voluntary, community/watershed-based wetland restoration projects. 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. Projects that are local or encompass only one EPA Region in scope are not eligible for funding under this program but may be eligible for funding under EPA's Regional Wetland Program Development Grants program (Assistance Listing 66.461). Funds cannot be used for the purchase of land or conservation easements. Projects funded under the subgrant process must be limited to activities that conduct or promote the coordination and acceleration of training relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution. Other activities under section 104(b)(3) will not be considered for funding. Funds cannot be used for implementation of individual mitigation projects, mitigation banks, or in-lieu-fee mitigation programs. Wetland restoration training projects cannot include wetlands constructed for the purposes of treating wastewater or stormwater only. 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.

Intergovernmental review is applicable to this assistance listing when proposed Federal financial assistance involves land use planning. 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). Preapplication coordination is recommended but not required. Regarding pre-application assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the NOFO. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts" in the NOFO.

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

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 Notice of Funding Opportunity (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.