Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia
On this page:
- Overview
- Eligible Applicants
- Eligible Activities
- Available Funding
- Timeline
- How to Apply
- Resources
- Webinars
- Updates and Questions
Overview
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $275,000,000 total from Fiscal Year 2022 to Fiscal Year 2026 for grants authorized under the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act. Projects funded through the funding opportunity will:
- Implement the building a circular economy for all strategy series.
- Improve local post-consumer materials management programs, including municipal recycling.
- Make improvements to local waste management systems.
Eligible Applicants
The entities eligible to apply for this grant are federally recognized tribes, including Alaskan Native Villages as defined in Public Law 92-203, and former Indian reservations in Oklahoma, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior. Intertribal consortia, consistent with the requirements in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 35.504(a) are also eligible to apply. Refer to the Eligible Applicants section of the Request for Applications (RFA) for the full details (pdf).
Eligible Activities
Materials and waste streams within scope of this funding opportunity include: municipal solid waste, including plastics, organics, paper, metal, glass, etc. and construction and demolition debris. In addition, materials and waste streams considered include the management pathways of source reduction, reuse, sending materials to material recovery facilities, composting, industrial uses (e.g., rendering, anaerobic digestion), and feeding animals.
All applications must address one or more of the following objectives:
- Develop or update plans focused on encouraging environmentally sound post-consumer materials management such as source reduction (e.g., repair clinics, reuse centers), collection, storage, transportation, composting, recycling, and/or markets for recyclables;
- Develop, strengthen, and/or implement comprehensive data collection efforts that demonstrate progress towards the National Recycling Goal and Food Loss and Waste Reduction Goal;
- Establish, increase, or expand materials management infrastructure, such as facilities for reuse, recycling or composting; collection and storage bins for recyclable or organic material, purchasing and maintaining equipment or supplies such as scales, crushers, balers, and sorting equipment, trucks, forklifts, and safety equipment)
- Establish or identify end-markets for the use of recycled materials; or
- Demonstrate an increase in the diversion recycling rate, and/or quality of materials collected.
Applications may include (but are not limited to) projects that fund:
- Developing or updating plans focused on improving post-consumer materials management;
- Planning and construction of facilities for food recovery, reuse, recycling, composting or anaerobic digestion;
- Purchasing collection or storage bins for recyclables or organic material;
- Purchasing or leasing recycling equipment or supplies for post-consumer materials management recovery efforts (e.g., crushers, balers, and sorting equipment, trucks, forklifts, safety equipment);
- Activities focused on development of end-markets for materials (e.g., working with a recycler to accept collected materials for processing);
- Activities to support increasing and improving collection of recyclable materials and/or organics and food waste, and backhaul;
- Activities to reduce, reuse and recycle building materials including deconstruction (dismantling buildings for reuse and recycling) and construction and demolition debris recycling equipment and projects;
- Activities focused on reducing contamination in the recycling stream;
- Training, technical assistance, and/or tools required to plan, establish, or implement post-consumer materials recovery (e.g., applicants may apply for funding for training employees on use and safety of recycling equipment, raise awareness of infrastructure and processes);
- Land acquisition when necessary for construction or improvement for improvements to tribal recycling facilities and waste management facilities subject to the requirements 2 CFR 200.311 and 2 CFR 200.316; and/or
- Other activities that the applicant believes will further the objectives of the RFA.
Available Funding
The total estimated funding for the currently available competitive opportunity is approximately $40,000,000. EPA anticipates awarding approximately 60 assistance agreements under this funding opportunity, with at least one award per each EPA Region. The minimum individual award floor is $100,000, and the maximum individual award ceiling is $1,500,000 for the grant period. This funding opportunity is in alignment with the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative.
Award Process and Timeline
How to Apply
Applicants must submit applications through grants.gov. Applications should read the RFA for the full solicitation (pdf). The RFA includes a full description of the funding opportunity, award information, eligibility information, application and submission information, application review information, and award administration information.
Resources
- Prepare for a grant webpage.
- Grant request for applications (pdf)
- Access the funding opportunity via Grants.gov.
- Presentation slides from the first set of webinars (pdf).
- Questions and answers document (pdf).
- Frequently asked questions about Build America, Buy America for EPA's Office of Land and Emergency Management programs (pdf)
Webinars
EPA held Webinar Series 1 on:
| Date | Time (Eastern) | Presentation Slides | Webinar Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 19, 2023 | 3:00 - 4:00 pm | EPA presentation slides (pdf). | Watch a recording of this webinar. |
| January 25, 2023 | 4:00 - 5:00 pm | Refer to the link above. | Refer to the link above. |
In these webinars, EPA provided an overview of the request for applications, eligible entities, evaluation criteria, and the application process. We also answered questions.
EPA held Webinar Series 2 on:
| Date | Time (Eastern) | Presentation Slides | Webinar Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 1, 2023 | 1:00 - 2:00 pm | EPA presentation slides (pdf). | Watch a recording of this webinar. |
| February 7, 2023 | 4:00 - 5:00 pm | Refer to the link above. | Refer to the link above. |
EPA covered procurement and subawards in these webinars and answered questions.
EPA held Webinar Series 3, Technical Assistance, on:
| Date | Time (Eastern) | Presentation Slides | Webinar Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 9, 2023 | 2:00 - 3:30 pm | EPA presentation slides (pdf) | Watch a recording of this webinar. |
EPA hosted a third webinar to provide technical assistance to potential applicants. In this webinar, EPA clarified information and answered questions about the Project Narrative Attachment form, including evaluation criteria, budget, timeline, and other requirements. EPA held this webinar for 90 minutes to accommodate an extended questions and answers session.
Updates and Questions
Questions and Answers Document: EPA developed formal responses to questions and comments received (pdf) regarding the Grants for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia (EPA-I-OLEM-ORCR-23-07). Updated on 3/27/2023.
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If you have questions about the grants, email SWIFRTribal@epa.gov.