The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established both the PROTECT Formula and Discretionary Grant Programs. The PROTECT Discretionary Grants Program funds projects on a competitive basis that address the climate crisis by … Read more
The EPA’s Gulf of Mexico Farmer to Farmer grant supports projects to improve water quality, habitat, and environmental education through farmer-led or farm focused organizations in the Gulf of Mexico watershed. Grant recipients must directly collaborate with farmers from underserved communities and/or underserved producers.
Eligible Uses
- Subaward projects must include one of the following:
- Water quality focus (e.g., nutrient reduction with creative runoff treatment solutions or managing livestock access to streams)
- Habitat focus (e.g., riparian zone improvement or conservation and restoration of perennially flooded grasslands and forests)
- Sustainable forest management (e.g., improving utilization of sustainable forestry practices through training, education, and public outreach or monitoring effectiveness of sustainable practices)
- Subaward projects must include both:
- Collaboration (e.g., partner organizations replicating existing successes in watersheds to build stakeholder and farmer capacity through technical trainings and outreach, including subawards to local farmer organizations to demonstrate techniques)
- Sustainable and resilient agricultural operations (e.g., developing adaptive capacity or resilience to respond, recover and transform continued operations after exposure that will result in reduced soil nutrient losses and improved downstream water quality)
- For past project examples, see the ‘Farmer to Farmer’ tab in the EPA Gulf of Mexico Story Map.
Eligible Recipients
State and local governments are eligible recipients, along with U.S territories, tribes, tribal organizations, individuals, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. Nonprofit organizations that conduct political lobbying, like 501(c)(4) registered nonprofits, are not eligible for EPA funding.
Approx Annual Funding Amount
The program is currently awarded $12 million each year.
Cost Share Requirements
There are no cost-share requirements.
Application Cycle
Applications are typically due in February.
Contact
Rachel Houge (gmp-rfp@epa.gov)
Other Info
- This program is covered under the Justice40 Initiative.
- The grant program is designed to award $3-million-dollar agreements to recipients in each of the four geographic categories: Missouri – Arkansas – White – Red Region, Ohio-Tennessee Region, Non-Mississippi River Drainage, Mississippi River Region (see map). Successful recipients then administer competitive subawards that range from $75,000 to $250,000 for projects to achieve the four major grant objectives: 1) promote innovative practices; 2) increase collaboration; 3) collect data; 4) effectively communicate results.
