State Of Utah Dept Of Environmental Quality

State Of Utah Dept Of Environmental Quality, doing business as Environmental Quality Ut Dept, is a state environmental regulatory agency that acts as a federal grant recipient administering water quality, air quality, drinking water, hazardous waste, remediation, and pollution prevention programs funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies. The agency operates as a pure grant recipient (100% of recent awards are prime grant awards) with no federal contract prime work and negligible SCI-reportable service contract activity, making it fundamentally different from typical federal contractors — it functions as the state's implementing arm for federal environmental law and program delivery.

UDEQ's federal footprint is dominated by EPA formula grants. The Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 and the broader EPA account for 226 of 281 awards (80% coverage), anchoring the agency's work in water infrastructure financing, air quality monitoring, remediation oversight, and drinking water system support. Recent representative grant work includes a $124.4 million Clean Ports Program award (EPA Region 8, January 2025) to deploy zero-emission equipment at the Salt Lake City Intermodal Terminal; a $74.7 million Climate Pollution Reduction Grants award (EPA Region 8, October 2024) to implement greenhouse gas reduction programs statewide; a $23.9 million Performance Partnership Grant (EPA Region 8, October 2025) consolidating funding for continuing air quality, water quality, hazardous waste, and enforcement programs; and a $9.457 million Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Emerging Contaminants grant (EPA Region 8, August 2025) targeting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water serving small and disadvantaged communities. The agency also received $54.5 million in Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program funding (EPA Region 8, January 2025) for school bus electrification and $25.96 million (EPA Region 8, January 2025) for vocational vehicle electrification. Secondary customers include the Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration (7 awards, $1 million combined potential value) for mammography facility inspections under the Mammography Quality Standards Act, the Department of the Air Force (10 awards, $327 thousand–$287 thousand depending on command), and the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Utah Region (2 awards, $158 thousand) for environmental remediation services.

UDEQ's grant portfolio is heavily weighted toward formula grants capitalizing state revolving funds and supporting ongoing environmental program operations. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs dominate the award count, with multiple capitalization grants issued annually under both CWSRF (CFDA 66.458) and DWSRF (CFDA 66.468) mechanisms, including emphasis awards targeting emerging contaminants, lead service line replacement, and PFAS remediation. Nonpoint Source Implementation Grants (CFDA 66.460), Leaking Underground Storage Tank programs (CFDA 66.804, 66.805), and air quality and emissions reduction programs (CFDA 66.034, 66.049, 66.051) comprise the remainder. Many awards include subaward pass-through to municipalities, utilities, universities (including Utah State University and University of Utah), conservation districts, and community-based organizations such as the Utah Clean Air Partnership. The agency also manages Superfund sites under cooperative agreements with EPA Region 8, including operation-and-maintenance awards for Sharon Steel, Portland Cement, and Eureka Mills sites, and remedial investigation cooperative agreements for Bountiful/Woods Cross PCE plume operable units.

Activity shows a decline from historical peaks. Awards per year fell from 23 in 2022 to 3 recorded in 2026 year-to-date (as of the source snapshot on July 15, 2026), reflecting the source capture window's recency rather than a sustained trend — most recent awards cluster in late 2024 and early 2025. Forty-four awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $378 thousand, representing modest recompete exposure for a grant-funded entity whose award pipeline depends on EPA appropriations and periodic formula-grant authorizations under the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.

UDEQ operates as the administrative state agency executing delegated EPA programs and does not subcontract significantly. The single sub-award in the portfolio is a 2024 sub-grant (as sub-recipient under a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant) supporting Jordan River and Great Salt Lake riparian restoration. SCI-reported invoiced revenue of $34 thousand in FY2022 across 0.2 FTEs reflects minimal federal service contract activity; the agency's federal footprint is grant-driven, not contract-driven. As a state government entity under the parent State of Utah, UDEQ is ineligible for SBA set-asides, minority-owned, or women-owned designations and does not compete for federal contracts as a prime contractor — it is a state environmental authority implementing federal programs.