2022 Columbia River Basin Restoration Funding Assistance Program awards

The Columbia River Basin Restoration Funding Assistance Program is a competitive grant program for environmental protection and restoration programs throughout the Columbia River Basin. The grant program offers funding assistance to eligible entities on a competitive basis.

In 2022, EPA awarded approximately $6.9 million across 25 projects to reduce toxics in fish and water throughout the Basin using annual Congressional appropriations and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding.

Total amount of grants awarded: $6,935,609
Total amount of BIL funding awarded: $3,823,379
Total amount going to Tribal governments: $2,201,201
Total amount of matching funds which leverage community partnerships and resources: $1,589,739

About Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding

In 2021, the EPA received $79 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding to grow its Columbia River Basin Restoration Program and significantly increase competitive grants to reduce toxics in the Basin.

2022 grant summaries

See below for a full listing grants. A printable version of the project summaries is also available: 2022 Columbia River Basin Restoration Funding Assistance Program Grant Awards (pdf) (821.32 KB, October 2022)

Category 1: Agricultural Best Practices

1. Salmon-Safe Columbia Basin Pledge: Accelerating Water Quality Protection in the Interior Columbia Basin (OR, WA, ID, MT, WY)

Recipient: Salmon-Safe
EPA Grant Amount: $342,000 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Mandatory Cost Share: $114,250
Total Project Cost: $456,250
Location: Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin

2. Next Steps in Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships at the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WA)

Recipient: Washington State Department of Agriculture
EPA Grant Amount: $349,898
Mandatory Cost Share: $116,633
Total Project Cost: $466,531
Location: Upper Columbia River Basin

Category 2: Stormwater Green Infrastructure

3. Urban Waters and Wildlife Partnership & Program Implementation (Phase II) (OR)

Recipient: Cascade Pacific RC & D
EPA Grant Amount: $349,978
Mandatory Cost Share: $118,452
Total Project Cost: $468,430
Location: Willamette River Basin/Middle Columbia River

Category 3: Monitoring and Assessment

4. Phase 2 Pilot Implementation of the Columbia River Mainstem Fish Tissue and Water Quality Monitoring Program – Grant A: Planning, Outreach and QAPP development (WA)

Recipient: Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
EPA Grant Amount: $350,000 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Total Project Cost: $350,000
Location: Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin

5. Phase 2 Pilot Implementation of the Columbia River Mainstem Fish Tissue and Water Quality Monitoring Program: Grant B – Field Data Collection, Analytical, and Reporting (WA)

Recipient: Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
EPA Grant Amount: $350,000 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Total Project Cost: $350,000
Location: Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin

6. Upper Columbia Basin Contaminant Status, Movement, and Remedial Pilot Study (WA)

Recipient: Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation
EPA Grant Amount: $262,500 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Total Project Cost: $262,500
Location: Upper Columbia River Basin

7. Monitor Contaminants Trends, Transport, Uptake, and Transfer through the Kootenai River Ecosystem to Evaluate Fish Bioaccumulation and Inform Fish Consumption Advisories (ID)

Recipient: Kootenai Tribe of Idaho
EPA Grant Amount: $349,040 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Total Project Cost: $349,040
Location: Upper Columbia River Basin

8. City of Vancouver Columbia Slope Water Quality Monitoring Phase 2 (WA)

Recipient: City of Vancouver
EPA Grant Amount: $246,860
Mandatory Cost Share: $82,286
Total Project Cost: $329,146
Location: Lower Columbia River Estuary

9. Tracking Toxics in the Lower Columbia (Phase 1) (OR)

Recipient: Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership
EPA Grant Amount: $344,020
Mandatory Cost Share: $114,730
Total Project Cost: $458,750
Location: Lower Columbia River Estuary

10. Lower Wenatchee River PCB Source Investigation (WA)

Recipient: Chelan County Natural Resource Department
EPA Grant Amount: $138,999
Mandatory Cost Share: $46,333
Total Project Cost: $185,332
Location: Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin

11. Reducing PFAS and Phthalates in Local Clean Water Systems within the Columbia Basin (OR)

Recipient: Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies
EPA Grant Amount: $118,044
Mandatory Cost Share: $39,348
Total Project Cost: $157,392
Location: Columbia River Basin

12. Reconstructing 40 Years of Selenium Exposure from Fish Otoliths: Archival Tissue Applications for Contaminant Biomonitoring in Lake Koocanusa (MT)

Recipient: University of Connecticut
EPA Grant Amount: $327,100
Mandatory Cost Share: $109,033
Total Project Cost: $436,133
Location: Upper Columbia River Basin

Category 4: Monitoring, Assessment and Public Education and Involvement

13. Clearwater River Toxics Assessment and Monitoring Project (ID)

Recipient: Nez Perce Tribe
EPA Grant Amount: $195,692 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Total Project Cost: $195,692
Location: Middle Columbia River Basin

14. Nez Perce Tribe Methylmercury Monitoring and Abatement: Salmon and Lower Snake Rivers (ID)

Recipient: Nez Perce Tribe
EPA Grant Amount: $343,969 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Total Project Cost: $343,969
Location: Middle Columbia River Basin

15. Upper Columbia River Toxics Monitoring: Caring for Sn̓x̌ʷn̓ tkʷitkʷ (WA)

Recipient: Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
EPA Grant Amount: $350,000 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Total Project Cost: $350,000
Location: Upper Columbia River Basin

16. Engaging Communities to Monitor Mercury Risk in the Columbia River Basin: Intensive Application of a National Biosentinel Network at a Regional Scale (OR)

Recipient: Oregon State University
EPA Grant Amount: $349,919;
Mandatory Cost Share: $116,702
Total Project Cost: $466,621
Location: Middle Columbia River Basin

17. Toxics Assessment of the Lower Columbia (OR)

Recipient: North Coast Watershed Association
EPA Grant Amount: $97,016
Mandatory Cost Share: $32,372
Total Project Cost: $129,388
Location: Lower Columbia River Estuary

18. Quantifying Toxins to Inform Fish Consumption and Identifying Sources of Pollutants in the Upper Columbia River Basin of Montana

Recipient: Montana Trout Unlimited
EPA Grant Amount: $221,362
Mandatory Cost Share: $ 82,499
Total Project Cost: $303,861
Location: Upper Columbia River Basin

19. The Crayfish Mercury Project (ID)

Recipient: University of Idaho
EPA Grant Amount: $322,240 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Mandatory Cost Share: $107,424;
Total Project Cost: $429,664
Location: Middle Columbia River Basin

20. Crayfish as Indicators of 6PPD-quinone (ID)

Recipient: University of Idaho
EPA Grant Amount: $278,241 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Mandatory Cost Share: $92,776
Total Project Cost: $371,017
Location: Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin

Category 5: Pollution Prevention

21. EcoBiz Program Enhancements: Bilingual Training and Pollution Prevention Resources, Public Awareness, and Data Tracking Improvements (OR)

Recipient: Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center
EPA Grant Amount: $187,745
Mandatory Cost Share: $62,800
Total Project Cost: $250,545
Location: Lower Columbia River Estuary

22. City of Vancouver Waste Incentive Network (WA)

Recipient: City of Vancouver
EPA Grant Amount: $255,837
Mandatory Cost Share: $85,279
Total Project Cost: $341,116
Location: Lower Columbia River Estuary

Category 6: Clean-up of Small non-CERCLA Sites

23. Eliminating Erosion of Legacy Mine Tailings from the Bodie Mine into Toroda Creek, Kettle Creek Watershed (WA)

Recipient: Trout Unlimited
EPA Grant Amount: $332,285 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Mandatory Cost Share: $111,200
Total Project Cost: $443,485
Location: Upper Columbia River Basin

Category 7: Community Education and Involvement

24. Pesticide Behavior Change Project of Oregon & Southwest Washington (OR, WA)

Recipient: City of Gresham
EPA Grant Amount: $347,412 (funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds)
Mandatory Cost Share: $115,804
Total Project Cost: $463,216
Location: Lower Columbia River Estuary

25. Columbia River Pollution Education and Outreach Project (OR, WA)

Recipient: Columbia Riverkeeper
EPA Grant Amount: $125,452
Mandatory Cost Share: $41,818
Total Project Cost: $167,270
Location: Middle Columbia River Basin