Region 10 Wetland Program Development Grants | EPA REG10 WPDG 21 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA REG10 WPDG 21 01

The Region 10 Wetland Program Development Grants (WPDGs) opportunity is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discretionary funding program designed to help government and intergovernmental entities strengthen the way wetlands are protected, managed, and restored through better programs and systems. Rather than paying for on-the-ground wetland projects as a primary goal, these grants are meant to build or improve the capacity of wetland programs themselves, so that agencies and partners have stronger tools, policies, methods, and coordination approaches to manage wetlands over the long term.

A central requirement of this funding opportunity is that every proposed project must focus on developing or refining a wetland program operated by a state, territory, tribe, local government, or an eligible interstate or intertribal entity. The EPA is clear that the main priority is helping state, territorial, and tribal wetland programs mature and improve. A secondary priority is supporting local government wetland programs, such as county or municipal efforts, as long as the work still centers on program development rather than routine project delivery.

The opportunity draws a bright line between program development work and implementation work. Implementation activities are not eligible under this announcement if they are mainly routine, traditional, established practices, or if they are simply about completing a task without producing broader learning, transferable methods, or an advance in knowledge. In other words, the funding is not meant to pay for day-to-day enforcement, standard permitting actions, routine restoration construction, or similar operational work that an agency already performs as part of its normal responsibilities. The purpose is to improve the program framework, not to fund the regular execution of that framework.

At the same time, the announcement notes that monitoring and mapping projects can be eligible when they are structured to transfer information or advance the state of knowledge. That means data collection, assessment methods, mapping approaches, or analytical work may fit well if the end result is a stronger, more effective wetland program, such as improved decision-making, better prioritization, clearer wetland inventories, or more consistent assessment tools that can be adopted beyond a single project site.

Administratively, this opportunity is listed as "Region 10 Wetland Program Development Grants" with funding opportunity number EPA-REG10-WPDG-21-01 and falls under the environmental funding activity category. Awards may be made as either grants or cooperative agreements. The CFDA (now often referenced as Assistance Listing) number is 66.461. The EPA anticipated making about 15 awards, with an award ceiling of $300,000 per award. The posting shows a creation date of May 12, 2021, and an original application closing date of June 28, 2021.

Eligibility is aimed at governmental and intergovernmental applicants, including state, territorial, tribal, and local government agencies, as well as interstate and intertribal entities, with additional eligibility details referenced in the opportunity materials. Overall, the program is best viewed as capacity-building support for wetland governance: helping public entities refine how they plan, assess, coordinate, track, and improve wetlands management programs, rather than funding routine, established implementation activities.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Region 10 Wetland Program Development Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.461.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 12, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 28, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 15 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for EPA REG10 WPDG 21 01

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