New Hampshire Department Of Environmental Services

New Hampshire Department Of Environmental Services, doing business as Wetlands Bureau, is a U.S. state government entity that serves as the recipient of federal environmental grants and cooperative agreements from EPA, NOAA, USGS, FEMA, and related agencies — operating as a grant recipient rather than a federal contractor, with no prime contract awardees and no subcontract relationships in the traditional federal procurement sense.

The department's federal award footprint consists almost entirely of environmental management and remediation work funded through formula grants, project grants, and cooperative agreements. NHDES administers multi-media environmental programs across air, water, and waste management; operates state revolving funds (SRFs) for drinking water and clean water infrastructure; manages brownfields assessment and remediation; conducts hazardous waste site oversight at Superfund sites listed on the National Priorities List; performs geologic mapping and groundwater monitoring; and delivers coastal zone management, dam safety, and pollution prevention programs statewide. The recipient role is decisive: the department receives funding directly to execute state environmental responsibilities under Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and CERCLA authorities rather than competing for federal service contracts.

EPA Region 1 is the dominant customer, anchoring approximately 81% of recent award count through formula grants capitalizing the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), project grants for Superfund site oversight and brownfields response, and cooperative agreements for air quality monitoring, pollution prevention, and environmental response programs. NOAA provides funding for coastal zone management and coastal resilience initiatives. USGS and FEMA round out the customer set with geologic mapping and dam safety program support. Recent representative awards include a $13.09 million DWSRF capitalization grant (October 2025 through September 2032) for low-interest financing to public water systems; a $16.1 million multi-media Performance Partnership Grant (October 2025 through September 2029) for integrated air, water, and waste program administration; a $29.88 million lead service line replacement capitalization grant under the DWSRF (October 2025 through September 2032); a $9.457 million emerging contaminants grant for PFAS response (October 2025 through September 2031); and multiple site-specific CERCLA grants funding oversight of remedial action at the New Hampshire Plating Company and Beede Waste Oil Superfund sites.

Activity has remained steady with 39 awards in 2022, declining to 28 in 2023, recovering to 35 in 2024, and 29 in 2025. Combined potential value across all 539 awards is understated at $184 thousand because the vast majority of obligated dollars are reported as invoiced revenue ($1.32 billion) rather than fixed potential value ceilings—typical for state grant recipients administering loan and financing programs where draw-down occurs over time. Fifty awards with completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry $25 thousand in combined potential value, signaling modest recompete activity relative to the scale of ongoing SRF administrations and multi-year program agreements. The department holds no parent contract vehicles, BPAs, or GWACs; its federal footprint is grant and cooperative-agreement-only, with awards flowing through direct appropriation and established grant programs rather than through competitive procurement vehicles. Subcontract relationships are limited to state contractors hired to perform site assessments, remedial investigations, and design work on behalf of NHDES under Superfund and brownfields cooperative agreements—the department does not serve as a subrecipient on another entity's federal award.