EPA Challenges & Prizes
View the infographic below, or read the text of the information contained in the graphics.
Active Challenges
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Water Toxicity Sensor Challenge
The challenge calls on innovators to develop a sensor that can identify whether there are chemical pollutants and natural toxins in various types of water much faster and less expensively than current lab methods for detecting individual, specific chemicals.
Phase II coming soon.
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Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Challenge
This Challenge aims to identify existing enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) currently on or near-market that meet or exceed certain environmental and agro-economic criteria. The EEF challenge is also a part of the larger Next Gen Fertilizer Challenge.
No longer accepting submissions.
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Cleaner Indoor Air During Wildfire Challenge
This challenge was the first step in EPA's effort to stimulate the development of new technologies to clean indoor air. It offered a cash prize for the best technology design for cleaning indoor air during wildfire smoke events and high pollution days.
Currently testing phase 2 prototypes. Winners expected to be announced in spring 2023.
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Make A Market Tech Challenge
EPA launched the Make a Market Tech Challenge to solicit evaluations of new technologies developed by EPA researchers. The challenge asks teams or individual participants to choose one of five patented EPA technologies listed below and develop a market assessment for the selected technology.
No longer accepting applications. Winners expected to be announced in spring 2023.
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Environmental Justice (EJ) Student Video Challenge
This challenge enhances communities’ capacity to address environmental and public health inequities. The goal of Phase 1 is for students to create a video to demonstrate innovative approaches to identify and characterize an EJ issue in a select community using data and publicly available tools.
No longer accepting applications. Winners expected to be announced in spring 2023.
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Pollution Prevention Works: A Storytelling Challenge for Students
The Challenge invites high school and college students and to use the TRI P2 Search Tool to identify a TRI facility that has reported implementing source reduction practices and tell a compelling story about how those practices or techniques benefit the business and positively impact communities and the environment.
Accepting applications until February 17, 2023.
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NARS Data Analysis Innovation Challenge
This challenge invites students, scientists, and analysts from a variety of disciplines to apply National Aquatic Resource Survey (NARS) data to critical research questions in the areas of climate change, environmental justice, nutrient management, and other critical water quality challenges.
No longer accepting applications.
Completed Challenges (2019 - 2021)
Let's Talk About Heat Challenge
This challenge aimed to identify innovative and effective communication strategies that inform people of the risks of extreme heat and offer ways to keep safe during the hottest days.
Next Gen Fertilizer Innovations Challenge
As a part of the larger Next Gen Fertilizer Challenges, this challenge aimed to identify concepts for novel fertilizer technologies and other product innovations that could reduce the environmental effects from modern agriculture while maintaining or increasing crop yields. Submissions included technologies not currently on the market.
EcoTox TARGET Challenge
The Technology Advancing Rapid Gene Expression-based Testing (TARGET) challenge called for respondents to develop high quality, low cost, technologies/platforms for evaluating global gene expression in samples from four common aquatic toxicity test organisms.
Campus Rainworks Annual Challenge
This is a green infrastructure design competition for U.S. colleges and universities that seeks to engage with the next generation of environmental professionals, foster a dialogue about effective stormwater management and showcase the environmental, economic, and social benefits of green infrastructure practices. (Stage 3).
Nutrient Sensor Action Challenge
The Nutrient Sensor Action Challenge was a technology-accelerating water quality challenge launched in 2017 to demonstrate how nutrient sensors can be used by states and local communities to help manage nutrient pollution.
‘See a Bloom, Give It Room’ High School Video Challenge
This Challenge called for videos from high school students (grades 9-12) that promote public awareness of harmful algal blooms through creative filmmaking. The public safety videos (under 2 minutes in length) explained how to spot harmful algal blooms and how people and their pets should be safe around them.
Advanced Septic System Nitrogen Sensor Challenge
EPA and partners identified and spurred development of technologies to monitor nitrogen concentration in effluent from wastewater treatment systems. This research helps ensure that advanced septic nitrogen removal system are effective.
Innovative Ways to Destroy PFAS Challenge
This challenge asked solvers to submit detailed plans for a non-thermal way of destroying PFAS in concentrated film forming foam (AFFF), while creating the least amount of potentially harmful byproducts.
EPA has been running Challenges and Prizes since 1996. View EPA Challenges & Prizes completed prior to 2019.