Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Building Partner Capacity and Promoting Resiliency and Equity under Clean Water Act Wetlands, Nonpoint Source, Monitoring, Assessment and Listing Programs | EPA OW OWOW 21 02

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The Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Building Partner Capacity and Promoting Resiliency and Equity under Clean Water Act Wetlands, Nonpoint Source, Monitoring, Assessment and Listing Programs grant opportunity is a discretionary funding competition run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is designed to strengthen the people and organizations responsible for protecting and restoring water quality by funding training and related capacity-building activities. The overall intent is practical and service-oriented: EPA wants awardees to help agricultural partners, state and territorial water program staff, tribal officials, and nongovernmental stakeholders improve how they plan, implement, and manage work that supports several key Clean Water Act (CWA) programs. Rather than paying for on-the-ground construction or restoration as the primary purpose, this opportunity focuses on improving the skills, tools, coordination, and know-how that make those on-the-ground efforts more effective, equitable, and resilient over time.

The supported work is tied to multiple core CWA program areas. This includes the CWA Section 303(d) Program (which deals with identifying impaired waters and developing approaches like Total Maximum Daily Loads, or similar strategies, to address impairments), the CWA Section 319 Nonpoint Source Program (addressing diffuse pollution such as runoff from agriculture and developed lands), the EPA Wetlands Program (protecting and improving wetlands condition and program capacity), the CWA Section 401 Program (water quality certification related to federally permitted activities), and water quality monitoring efforts (the collection and use of data to assess conditions, support decision-making, and inform listing and restoration priorities). In other words, EPA is looking for projects that can connect real-world program needs with targeted training, peer learning, and technical assistance that helps partners do these jobs better and more consistently across jurisdictions.

A central feature of the opportunity is knowledge exchange and capacity building. Applicants are expected to assess the needs of the intended audiences (for example, what state, territorial, or tribal programs are struggling with, what data gaps exist, what implementation barriers are common, or what emerging issues require new skills), and then deliver assistance that addresses those needs. That assistance can include training curricula, workshops, webinars, communities of practice, peer-to-peer exchanges, guidance materials, and other support that helps partners apply sound methods in monitoring, assessment, wetlands protection, nonpoint source management, and related planning and implementation. The title highlights resiliency and equity, signaling that EPA is interested in approaches that help communities and institutions withstand and adapt to stressors like climate impacts, while also improving fairness in how water quality programs are designed, prioritized, and carried out, particularly for communities that have historically been underserved or disproportionately burdened.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, the opportunity is identified as EPA OW OWOW 21 02 and uses a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument. A cooperative agreement typically indicates that EPA expects to have substantial involvement in the funded work (for example, collaboration on project direction, deliverables, or coordination with EPA priorities), compared with a standard grant where the recipient generally operates more independently. The activity category is environment, and the CFDA (assistance listing) number is 66.436. The maximum award amount listed is $990,000, and EPA anticipated making about 17 awards, suggesting multiple projects may be funded to serve different regions, topics, or partner networks. The opportunity was posted on June 24, 2021, with an original closing date of August 10, 2021, while noting that applicants should consult the announcement's Section IV for the official deadline details.

Eligibility is described broadly as "Others," with clarification to be found in the funding announcement's eligibility section. In practice, that phrasing usually means eligibility is not limited strictly to states or tribes, and may include nonprofit organizations, universities, intertribal consortia, associations, and other entities capable of delivering training and technical assistance at scale. The common thread is that applicants should be positioned to convene stakeholders, develop and deliver credible training, and translate program requirements and best practices into usable support for agencies and partners working under the Clean Water Act framework.

Taken together, this grant competition is about strengthening the national water quality management system by investing in people, processes, and shared learning. EPA is seeking partners who can identify capacity gaps across CWA-related programs and then provide targeted training and technical assistance that improves implementation quality, supports better monitoring and assessment, enhances wetlands and nonpoint source program effectiveness, and integrates resiliency and equity considerations into how water quality work gets done.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Building Partner Capacity and Promoting Resiliency and Equity under Clean Water Act Wetlands, Nonpoint Source, Monitoring, Assessment and Listing Programs" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.436.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 24, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 10, 2021 See Section IV of the funding opportunity announcement for close date information.. (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 $990,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 17 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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