OARS funding Environmental Sustainability

This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits applications that will be used to support a local government Compliance Assistance Center ("Center"). EPA seeks to provide financial assistance to a recipient to continue operation and maintenance of the Compliance Assistance Center for local governments, operating as the Local Government Environmental Assistance Network (LGEAN-https://www.lgean.org/). This Request for Applications solicits applications for this project from nonprofit organizations, colleges, universities, and state, tribal and local governments. For-profit organizations are not an eligible entity for this funding opportunity. The Agency will award a cooperative agreement under this announcement.

To address ecological questions that cannot be resolved with short-term observations or experiments, NSF established the Long-Term Ecological Research Program (LTER) in 1980. Two components differentiate LTER research from projects supported by other NSF programs: 1) the research is located at specific sites chosen to represent major ecosystem types or natural biomes, and 2) it emphasizes the study of ecological phenomena over long periods of time based on data collected in five core areas. Long-term studies are critical to achieve an integrated understanding of how components of ecosystems interact as well as to test ecological theory. Ongoing research at LTER sites contributes to the development and testing of fundamental ecological theories and significantly advances understanding of the long-term dynamics of populations, communities and ecosystems. It often integrates multiple disciplines and, through cross-site interactions may examine patterns or processes over broad spatial scales. Recognizing that the value of long-term data extends beyond use at any individual site, NSF requires that data collected by all LTER sites be made publicly accessible. The LTER program has long recognized the importance of humans in ecological systems and is especially interested in how human activities in urban settings interact with natural processes to determine ecological outcomes. Factors that control urban ecosystems are not only environmental, but also social and economic. These factors and their interactions need to be considered to understand urban ecosystems over long time frames and broad spatial scales.

The National Fire Plan was implemented in 2001 to assist communities at risk from catastrophic wildland fires by providing assistance in the following areas: - Implement hazardous fuels reduction activities, including the training, monitoring or maintenance associated with such hazardous fuels reduction activities, on federal land, or on adjacent nonfederal land for activities that mitigate the threat of catastrophic fire to communities and natural resources in high risk areas; - Community programs that develop local capability including; assessment and planning, mitigation activities, - Community/homeowner education and action plans Enhance local and small business employment opportunities.

Through the program, grants of up to $25,000 will be awarded to nonprofit community-based groups in the United States working to advance social and environmental justice and support sustainable and just food systems. The foundation prioritizes the types of activities and strategies an organization uses for creating social change rather than on the specific issues the organization is addressing. Priority strategies identified by the foundation include: community and ally outreach; leadership development; constituent empowerment and decision-making; popular education; root cause analysis; power analysis; campaign development; constituent and ally mobilization; coalition building; and direct action.

Pathogens are one of the common pollutants in stormwater runoff. The fate and transport of pathogens in stormwater flows can vary widely, resulting in very different pathogen concentrations. Even in stormwater collection systems that are separated from municipal sewers, sewage ingress occurs within urban areas through various pathways, including cross-connections, leaking sewers, and rain-induced overflows to stormwater collection systems. Therefore, there is a need to expand the risk-based framework developed in the report Risk-Based Framework for the Development of Public Health Guidance for Decentralized Non-Potable Water Systems (SIWM10C15) and more broadly assess the enteric and non-enteric microbial risks and potential impacts from stormwater collection and uses to help establish risk-based best management practices.

The purpose of the SCRI program is to address the critical needs of the specialty crop industry by awarding grants to support research and extension that address key challenges of national, regional, and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of food and agriculture, including conventional and organic food production systems. Projects must address at least one of five focus areas: Research in plant breeding, genetics, genomics, and other methods to improve crop characteristics Efforts to identify and address threats from pests and diseases, including threats to specialty crop pollinators Efforts to improve production efficiency, handling and processing, productivity, and profitability over the long term (including specialty crop policy and marketing) New innovations and technology, including improved mechanization and technologies that delay or inhibit ripening Methods to prevent, detect, monitor, control, and respond to potential food safety hazards in the production efficiency,handling and processing of specialty crops.

NIEHS invites applications for cooperative agreements to support the development of model programs for the training and education of workers engaged in activities related to hazardous materials and waste generation, removal, containment, transportation and emergency response. This funding opportunity announcement aims to prevent work-related harm through safety and health training. The training programs will transmit skills and knowledge to workers in how best to protect themselves and their communities from exposure to hazardous materials encountered during hazardous waste operations, hazardous materials transportation, environmental restoration of contaminated facilities or chemical emergency response. A variety of sites, such as those involved with chemical waste cleanup and remedial action and transportation-related chemical emergency response, may pose severe health and safety concerns to workers and the surrounding communities. These sites contain many hazardous substances, sometimes unknown, and often a site is uncontrolled. A major goal of the Worker Training Program (WTP) is to support institutional competency-building for the development and delivery of model training and education programs.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Chesapeake Bay Program Office (CBPO) is announcing a Request for Applications (RFA) addressing the ongoing investigation, development, programming, testing, and implementation of an optimization system built around the CBP's Chesapeake Assessment and Scenario Tool (CAST) model. The CBP partners include federal agencies, the seven watershed jurisdictions of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, and many non-federal organizations. Work funded under this RFA will support the seven watershed jurisdictions and other non-federal partners.

Through the Collaborative Science, Technology, and Applied Research (CSTAR) Program, the NWS Office of Science and Technology Integration is soliciting proposals to conduct research and development activities. NOAA/NWS believes its warning and forecast mission will benefit significantly from a strong partnership with outside investigators in the broad academic community. The CSTAR Program represents a NWS effort to create a cost-effective transition from basic and applied research to operations and services through collaborative research between operational forecasters and academic institutions which have expertise in the environmental sciences. These activities will engage university researchers and students in applied research of interest to the operational meteorological community for the provision of improving the accuracy of forecasts and warnings of environmental hazards. This announcement is for research and development topics identified as priorities by the NWS to support field forecasting operations. There is one grant competition under this announcement valued at approximately $600,000 for three to five new projects

U.S. Embassy Kyiv's Office of Assistance Coordinator announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications for the seventh round of the EDCP to continue building U.S. foreign assistance partnerships with 11 emerging donor governments (EDGs) in Central and Eastern Europe to share their transition and EU integration experiences with Ukraine. Please carefully follow all instructions below. Program Objectives: The U.S. Department of State Office of the Assistance Coordinator for Europe and Eurasia (EUR/ACE) has launched the seventh round of the EDCP to continue building U.S. foreign assistance partnerships with 11 emerging donor governments in Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Through the EDCP initiative, the United States builds partnerships with these new donor countries by co-financing joint foreign assistance activities aimed at sharing the EDGs' transition and EU integration experiences with Ukraine.

The Environmental Engineering program is part of the Environmental Engineering and Sustainability cluster, which also includes 1) the Nanoscale Interactions program; and 2) the Environmental Sustainability program. Environmental engineering is an interdisciplinary field that applies chemical, biological, and physical scientific principles to protect human and ecological health. The goal of the Environmental Engineering program is tosupport potentially transformative fundamental research that applies scientific and engineering principles to 1) prevent, minimize, or re-use solid, liquid, and gaseous discharges of pollution to soil, water, and air by closing resource loops or through other measures; 2) mitigate the ecological and human-health impacts of such releases by smart/adaptive/reactive amendments or manipulation of the environment, and 3) remediate polluted environments through engineered chemical, biological, and/or geo-physical processes. Integral to achieving these goals is a fundamental understanding of the transport and biogeochemical reactivity of pollutants in the environment.

The Environmental Sustainability program is part of the Environmental Engineering and Sustainability cluster together with 1) theEnvironmental Engineering program and 2) the Nanoscale Interactions program. The goal of the Environmental Sustainability program is to promote sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems. These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival. Research efforts supported by the program typically consider long time horizons and may incorporate contributions from the social sciences and ethics. The program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society's need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions.

The Electrochemical Systems program is part of the Chemical Process Systems cluster, which also includes: 1) the Catalysis program; 2) the Interfacial Engineering program; and 3) the Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics program. The goal of the Electrochemical Systems program is to support fundamental engineering research that will enable innovative processes involving electro- or photochemistry for the sustainable production of electricity, fuels, and chemicals. Processes for sustainable energy and chemical production must be scalable, environmentally benign, reduce greenhouse gas production, and utilize renewable resources. Research projects that stress fundamental understanding of phenomena that directly impact key barriers to improved system or component-level performance (for example, energy efficiency, product yield, process intensification) are encouraged. Processes for energy storage should address fundamental research barriers for the applications of renewable electricity storage or for transport propulsion. For projects concerning energy storage materials, proposals should involve hypotheses that involve device or component performance characteristics that are tied to fundamental understanding of transport, kinetics, or thermodynamics. Advanced chemistries are encouraged. Proposed research should be inspired by the need for economic and impactful conversion processes. All proposal project descriptions should address how the proposed work, if successful, will improve process realization and economic feasibility and compare the proposed work against current state of the art. Highly integrated multidisciplinary projects are encouraged.

The Combustion and Fire Systemsprogram is part of the Transport Phenomena cluster, which also includes 1) the Fluid Dynamics program; 2) the Particulate and Multiphase Processes program; and 3) the Thermal Transport Processes program. The goal of theCombustion and Fire Systemsprogram is to advance energy conversion efficiency, improve energy security, enable cleaner environments, and enhance public safety. The program endeavors to createfundamental scientific knowledge that is needed for useful combustion applications and for mitigating the effects of fire.The program aims to identify and understand the controlling basic principles and to use that knowledge to create predictive capabilities for designing and optimizing practical combustion devices. Important outcomesfor this program include: broad-based tools - experimental, theoretical, andcomputational - that can be applied to a variety of problems in combustionand fire systems; science and technology for clean and efficient generation of power; discoveries that enable clean environments (for example, by reduction in combustion-generated pollutants); and enhanced public safety through research on fire growth, inhibition, and suppression.

The increasing shortage of affordable housing creates a multitude of economic issues, including the inability of households and individuals to establish financial stability and plan for the future. As housing costs consume a growing share of income, it forces decisions that make it virtually impossible to build credit and pay off student debt. To help address those issues, the TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, is seeking solutions to expanding the stock of affordable rental units and plans to award grants totaling $3.75 million to thirty local housing nonprofit organizations to refurbish existing housing stock and create safe, healthy, and affordable rental units for families, individuals, the elderly, new Americans, veterans, the disabled, women, and youth.

Through the program, grants of up to $25,000 (grades 6 through 12) or $50,000 (colleges and universities) will be awarded to projects that reach at least a hundred students and that are aligned with Constellation's Energy to Educate Innovation Themes. Themes identified by the company that are eligible for support include: Smart Home - How will new technologies and artificial intelligence transform home energy usage in the future? More and more, homes are generating their own electricity and interactive technology is becoming a part of our daily lives. Sample topics include onsite generation, smart home energy tech, voice and gesture interfaces, and home energy data. Electrification - What will the future of transportation look like? New technologies are poised to power us into a cleaner energy future. Sample topics include electric vehicles, electric buses, electric charging infrastructure, and fuel conversions. Clean Energy & Zero Waste - How do we understand which energy sources and choices will have the greatest impact on our collective and individual carbon footprint? What if we could harness and store energy that would otherwise be wasted? Sample topics include low-carbon energy, clean energy sources, waste to energy, biomass, energy storage, and fuel cells.

Bangladesh's ecosystems and biodiversity have suffered severe degradation due to rapid economic growth, unplanned urbanization, severe pollution, weak environmental governance, major infrastructure projects, a lack of land use policies and territorial management plans, over-exploitation of natural resources. All of these factors, but not limited to, weakens the country's overall resilience, self-reliance and ability to achieve long-term sustainable development.

The National Conservation Lands financially supports studies aimed at increasing our understanding of the resources present on BLM lands and the effectiveness of BLM¿s resource management decisions. The program seeks to develop and maintain strong partnerships with State, local, and private stakeholders in shared conservation stewardship by engaging partners in conducting management-focused research on the National Conservation Lands. Results from these studies on National Conservation Lands will inform management strategies utilized throughout BLM as well as other land management entities.

The overall objective of this Funding Opportunity Announcement is to accelerate wide-scale deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) through assessing and verifying safe and cost-effective anthropogenic CO2 commercial-scale storage sites, and carbon capture and/or purification technologies.

Tropical rainforests cover about 2 percent of Earth's total surface area but provide habitat for half of the terrestrial plants and animals on earth. Indigenous peoples who call these rainforests home - as they have for millennia - have proven to be their best guardians, but other human influences have never been a more urgent threat. Today is a time of great challenge and great opportunity in the rainforests of the Amazon River basin, the Congo River basin, and the Indonesian and Malaysian archipelagos. Resource demands that include mining, agriculture, and hydropower have combined with illegal logging and incursions into protected areas to create intense ecological pressures on tropical rainforests. Th peril to these ecosystems has manifested itself in measurable ways. For example, the dry season is now longer in some parts of the Amazon and more drought-tolerant tree species are starting to starting to appear. Continued loss of tree coverage in any tropical forest can alter water cycles in ways that could lead to further degradation. There is hope, however, that global recognition of these problems and discovery of locally grounded solutions can halt or reverse them.