California Department Of Conservation

The California Department of Conservation is a U.S. state government entity registered in SAM.gov since November 2003, headquartered in Sacramento, California. As a state conservation agency, the Department of Conservation serves as a custodian of California's natural resources and environmental assets, providing critical services related to geological surveying, environmental protection, mine remediation, and energy management to support both federal and state objectives. The entity receives federal grant awards across multiple programs to advance conservation, hazard mitigation, public safety, and resource management initiatives throughout California, leveraging state expertise to achieve national environmental and energy security goals.

The California Department of Conservation has demonstrated substantial federal grant activity with over $80 million in prime federal grant awards across diverse conservation and resource management programs. The entity's primary work encompasses geological mapping and surveying through the California Geological Survey (CGS), including the production of detailed 1:24,000-scale and 1:100,000-scale geologic maps in support of the U.S. Geologic Framework Initiative, funded through the U.S. Geological Survey's National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (CFDA 15.810) and the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (CFDA 15.073). The Department has received substantial infrastructure funding for orphaned well remediation efforts through the Department of Interior's Energy Community Revitalization Program and Orphaned Well State Formula Grant Program (CFDA 15.018), with multiple awards totaling over $62 million to plug, remediate, and reclaim orphaned oil and gas wells on state and private lands. Additional critical work includes abandoned hardrock mine reclamation on state and private lands (CFDA 15.099, $149,967), abandoned mine hazard mitigation in National Recreation Areas and National Parks through the National Park Service (CFDA 15.944 and 15.954, totaling approximately $1.5 million), and geochemical characterization of mine waste for critical mineral potential (Earth MRI CFDA 15.073, $146,783 and $456,954). The Department also manages regulatory and compliance programs including underground natural gas storage facility inspection and enforcement (Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration Formula Grants), underground injection control programs protecting drinking water sources from Class II injection wells (EPA Region 9 CFDA 66.433, multiple awards totaling over $3.4 million), and flood hazard mapping and mitigation through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Cooperating Technical Partners Program (CFDA 97.045, $250,000 to $800,000). Specialized deliverables include landslide hazard awareness publications and mapping (USGS Cooperative Landslide Hazard Mapping Program CFDA 15.821, $366,310), paleoseismic investigations of fault zones in northern California, and inventories of legacy mines with critical mineral potential in California's desert regions. The Department has received federal funding to develop digital geospatial databases for historical mine production records, conduct wildfire resilience and shared stewardship services on federal lands through the Forest Service Good Neighbor Authority (CFDA 10.691, $700,000), and preserve geological and geophysical data through the USGS National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program. These diverse awards reflect partnerships with multiple federal agencies including the USGS, Department of Interior, EPA, FEMA, National Park Service, and Forest Service, demonstrating the Department of Conservation's critical role in advancing federal environmental, conservation, hazard mitigation, and resource management objectives across California and supporting domestic critical mineral security initiatives.