Learn the Issues
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What is the Exchange Network (EN)?
The Environmental Information Exchange Network (EN) is a partner-inspired, developed, implemented, and governed information network for environmental data sharing among EPA, states, Tribes, and territories. The EN: Facilitates the sharing of environmental data, especially through shared and reusable services; Streamlines data collection and exchanges to improve timeliness for decision making…
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Does EPA offer this grant every year?
Funding for the Exchange Network Grant Program is based on the year’s appropriation but has been continuously funded each year since 2002.
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How many proposals are typically received annually?
Anywhere between 30 and 80 proposals. In recent years, the EN grant program has averaged between 40-45 applications annually.
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Does the EN Grant Program issue partial awards?
Partial funding is possible through the EN grant program and reflects when a project goal, project output and/or requested cost is unallowable, is duplicative of prior work, or has been flagged by our Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) as inappropriate for the proposed project. In rare cases, an applicant may also…
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Is there a maximum amount of funds that the EN Grant Program will award per state?
There is no annual or continuous maximum funding threshold per state. However, when making the final funding decisions, the EPA Selection Official may consider geographic distribution of awards, which may limit the number of grants approved per state in a grant cycle. All projects must align with current funding thresholds.
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If awarded an EN assistance agreement, what is the anticipated timeframe for the funding?
Our anticipated award date for FY24 EN assistance agreements is October 1st; however, this has been delayed in recent years due to late releases of annual Solicitation Notices. Selected applicants can always reach out to the EN Grant Program at ENGrantProgram@epa.gov to request a status update on their award, if…
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How long is the period of performance for EN assistance agreements?
The period of performance for EN grants is standardized at 3 years. The start date for each new EN awards is October 1st of that year, and the end date would be three years later as we have a standard three-year period-of-performance. Grantees can finish their projects early within this…
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Are EN grants issued as a one-time award and are the funds expected to be split over the period of performance of three years?
Yes, EN grants are issued as onetime awards and should be spent within the three-year period of performance. Costs need not be split evenly over three years.
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Where can I find a copy of the annual applicant webinar presentations?
In each open application period, a PDF file version of the applicant webinar presentation will be made available on the EN website under "Resources." While we would ideally like to provide this as a recording, EPA requirements for external (public) recordings require significant time for approval. Often, it is not…
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Can a for-profit organization apply for an EN grant?
No, for-profit organizations do not meet eligibility criteria for the Exchange Network grant program as a lead applicant. In rare cases, for-profit organizations may be eligible to participate in a project as an EN partner and receive subaward funding; however, this is dependent on EPA approval which is rarely provided…
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What do I do if my agency or organization is not eligible?
Ineligible entities are encouraged to partner with eligible entities, if they themselves are not eligible under the EN Grant Program. Please note that the partnership eligibility criteria as defined in SN Section 4C must be met. Most importantly, the partnering entity cannot be from the same state agency, government, or…
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As a local agency, we are required to provide a letter from the Attorney General to show that we have status as an instrumentality. Is there anything you are looking for specifically in the letter?
The letter must be signed by the Attorney General on organizational letterhead and must confirm your organization's status as an instrumentality of the state. Instrumentalities of a Tribe must provide a certification and supporting documentation from the Tribal council or other appropriate Tribal government official certifying this status. Please note…
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What is the maximum number of projects that an applicant can submit?
According to 2A(i) Other Eligibility Requirements, item 7, an applicant may submit more than one application in a single grant cycle (fiscal year); however, applicants are not eligible to receive more than one award under this Solicitation. This restriction applies both to single applicants and, in the case of a…
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Can an organization who is participating as a partner in another EN grant application submit their own application for consideration in the same fiscal year?
We cannot award a partnership project in the same year that an individual project is being awarded. So, if, for example, Organization A applies both as an individual applicant and as part of the partnership application with Organization B, and both of these applications score high enough to be awarded…
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What projects are eligible for an EN grant?
Section 3A of the Solicitation Notice presents EPA's annual assistance activities, current EN funding areas (which must be supported in a proposed project), and a list of project write-ups known as EN ‘project opportunities’. These EN project opportunities are listed in Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, and provide potential…
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I have an idea for an EN grant project, can I send you that idea to confirm if the project is a good fit for your program?
Basically, as long as projects fall under one or more of the current EN Funding Areas and the requirements as outlined within our FY25 Solicitation Notice are met, we consider a wide variety of project types in our annual grant competition. Due to this being a competitive grant program, specific…
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If an applicant defined their own project opportunity rather than choosing one listed in Appendices A-C, should we seek pre-approval from epa prior to submitting?
As Exchange Network grants are competitive, we are unable to review any projects or provide project-specific advice prior. Applicants can propose projects that do not fall under one of the EN Project Opportunities as listed in Appendices A-C, so long as they are able to clearly describe how this project…
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Can work from a previously funded grant be expanded or improved upon?
Applications must not request funds for activities or deliverables for which the applicant has previously received funds. If a proposed goal and/or objective is similar to one(s) that have previously been funded, the application must thoroughly describe: How the proposed activities differ from those previously funded; How the current application…
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How do the project activities as listed in the EN project opportunities in Appendices A-C relate to the funding thresholds?
The funding thresholds are set by the application type – it is a limit of $400,000 for anyone applying as an individual applicant and, for eligible EN partnerships (coalition projects) that meet all the requirements in our SN, that funding threshold is increased to $600,000. (Note: we also have one…
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Our agency is considering applying for two projects within one grant application; is it better to submit them as two separate applications?
If an organization is combining two projects within a single application, all relevant details for both projects must be included within the 10-page project narrative. As such, application reviewers will score on the project as a whole (including both parts). This might impact the application's score if the 10-pages is…