Healthy Communities Grant Program

 

The Healthy Communities Grant Program is a competitive grant program for EPA New England to fund work directly with communities to support EPAs mission to reduce environmental risks, protect and improve human health and improve the quality of life. The Healthy Communities Grant Program will achieve these goals through identifying and funding projects that: target resources to benefit communities at risk; assess, understand, and reduce environmental and human health risks; increase collaboration through partnerships and community-based projects; build institutional and community capacity to understand and solve environmental and human health problems; and achieve measurable environmental and human health benefits.

Active 66.110 Environmental Protection Agency B - Project Grants Not applicable. Clean Air Act, Section 103(b)(3)
Clean Water Act, Section 104(b)(3)
Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442(a) and (c)
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20(a), Public Law 106-74
Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001(a)
Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10(a),, Public Law 106-74
Indian Environmental General Assistance Program Act of 1992
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Section 311(b)
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Section 311(c) Assistance under this program is available to State, Local, public nonprofit institutions/organizations, private nonprofit institutions/organizations, quasi-public nonprofit institutions/organizations, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments, K-12 schools or school districts; and non-profit organizations (e.g. grassroots and/or community-based organizations). Funding will be considered for a college or university to support a project with substantial community involvement. Private businesses, federal agencies, and individuals are not eligible to be grant recipients; however, they are encouraged to work in partnership with eligible applicants on projects. Applicants need not be located within the boundaries of the EPA regional office to be eligible to apply for funding but must propose projects that affect the States, Tribes, and Territories within their Region. 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. Interstate, State, Local, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments, public nonprofit institutions/organizations, private nonprofit institutions/organizations, quasi-public nonprofit institutions/organizations, anyone/general public. Tribes may be asked to demonstrate that they are federally recognized. Interstate organizations may be asked to provide a citation to the statutory authority, which establishes their status. Intertribal consortia may be asked to provide documentation that they meet the requirements of 2 CFR 200 Subpart E. Non-profit applicants are not required to have a formal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) non-profit designation, such as 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4); however, they must present their letter of incorporation or other documentation demonstrating their non-profit or not-for-profit status. This requirement does not apply to public agencies or Federally Recognized Indian Tribes. Failure to enclose the letter of incorporation or other documentation demonstrating non-profit or not-for-profit status will render the full application submission incomplete and it will not be reviewed. Applicants who have an IRS 501(c)(4) designation are not eligible for grants if they engage in lobbying, no matter what the source of funding for the lobbying activities. For-profit enterprises are not eligible to receive sub-grants from eligible recipients, although they may receive contracts, subject to EPA's regulations on procurement under assistance agreements, 2 CFR 200 Subpart E. Preapplication coordination is required. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. 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). 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 competitive announcement. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed as the "Agency Contact(s)" in the competitive announcement. Interested applicants should review information found at: https://www3.epa.gov/region1/eco/uep/hcgp.html. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Applicants, except in limited circumstances approved by the Agency, must submit all initial applications for funding through Grants.gov. The Healthy Communities Grant Program has a two-step process for evaluating competitive applications which is described in the competitive announcement. For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the competitive announcement. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. For competitive awards, deadlines will be specified in the competitive announcement. From 60 to 90 days. Applicants will generally be notified within 60 days of receipt of submission for funding. 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). None. All competitive grant awards should be prepared and submitted as new projects, which will be evaluated based on criteria specified in the annual competitive funding announcement. No-cost extensions of existing projects may be available. The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this assistance listing will be described in the competitive announcement. The statutory authorities for this program restrict the use of assistance agreements to support the following activities: conducting or promoting the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects (including health and welfare effects), extent, prevention, and elimination of water pollution. Demonstrations must involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, and it is encouraged that the results of these projects will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not considered a demonstration project. 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 (https://www.epa.gov/geospatial). Not applicable. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject to inspections and audits by the Comptroller General of the United States, the EPA Office of Inspector General, other EPA staff, or any authorized representative of the Federal government. Reviews by the EPA Project Officer and the Grants Specialist may occur each year. Recipients must keep financial records, including all documents supporting entries on accounting records and to substantiate changes in grants available to personnel authorized to examine EPA recipients grants and cooperative agreements records. Recipients must maintain all records until 3 years from the date of submission of final expenditure reports as required by 2 CFR 200.334. If questions, such as those raised because of audits remain following the 3-year period, recipients must retain records until the matter is completely resolved. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching is voluntary. The Healthy Communities Grant Program does not have a matching requirement, but a voluntary match can be provided. However, other Federal money cannot be used as the match for this grant program. Matching funds are considered grant funds. They must be used for the reasonable and necessary expenses of carrying out the assistance agreement work plan. Any restrictions on the use of grant funds (e.g., prohibition of land acquisition with grant funds) also apply to the matching funds.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Assistance agreements are normally funded on a 12 (annual) or 24-month basis, at the discretion of the applicant. There is no restriction placed on the time permitted to spend the money awarded as long as the money is spent within the budget and project periods of the award specified in the workplan and the budget worksheet in the SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Lump. None/Not specified. Zac Degler
US EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Boston, MA 02109 US
Degler.Zachary@epa.gov
Phone: 617-918-1630 https://www3.epa.gov/region1/eco/uep/hcgp.html 68-0108-0-1-304 (Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 22$744,000.00; FY 23 est $508,000.00; FY 24 est $0.00; FY 21$388,000.00; FY 20$350,000.00; FY 19$250,000.00; FY 18$250,000.00; FY 17$299,643.00; FY 16$270,566.00; - Range is $20,000 to $40,000/fiscal year; $30,000/fiscal year. Grants and cooperative agreements awarded under the Healthy Communities Grant Program are subject to 2 CFR 200 and 1500 (EPA Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards; 40 CFR Part 33 (Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in United States Environmental Protection Agency Programs). Not applicable.