Grant News & Information

Sustainable Jersey Announces Grant Funding

August 23, 2018 

The Gardinier Environmental Fund is contributing $150,000 to support a Sustainable Jersey Grants Program cycle for municipal governments and public-school districts. The Gardinier Environmental Fund will fund energy projects focused on conservation, efficiency and renewable energy. For this grant cycle, Sustainable Jersey is offering $30,000 and $10,000 grants. Visit for more information about the grant program and details on how to apply. 

Applications are due on October 31, 2018.

Free informational webinar: September 10, 2018 from 3:00-4:00pm
Register for the webinar on Sustainable Jersey's website.

HUD's Lead Hazard Control

August 7, 2018

Through the League’s partnership with the National League of Cities we are sharing this opportunity for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant funding.

The HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH) provides grant funding to remediate lead and healthy home hazards in privately owned single family housing. If your municipality has  a large proportion of occupied Pre 1940 rental housing which is of high risk for lead hazards you are encouraged to reach out to the point of contact at OLHCHH to learn more about how to apply and use the funds that remain available.

An interactive webinar will be held on August 22, 2018 2:00 PM EDT to learn more about this funding opportunity. You may register for the webinar by clicking here.

Visit the program's website for more information on this program. This website contains answers to frequently asked questions, links to additional resources and program updates.

Contact: HUD, Shannon Steinbauer, at Shannon.e.steinbauer@hud.gov, or 202-402-6885.

NLC & U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Webinar on the RIS grant program

July 19, 2018

Join the National League of Cities' (NLC) and program leaders from the U.S. Economic Development Administration's (EDA) Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for a July 24^th  informational webinar to discuss how communities can leverage the 2018 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) grants to support entrepreneurship- and technology-based economic development strategies.

The EDA’s 2018 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) Grant Program is accepting applications through August 29. The RIS program is a catalytic national grant program focused on regional capacity-building via entrepreneurship and technology commercialization.

In partnership with and support from Schmidt Futures, the NLC’s Innovation Ecosystem Program, helps city leaders promote innovation, entrepreneurship and STEM education through partnerships with businesses, colleges and universities, foundations, entrepreneurs, school districts and community-based organizations. Within the initiative’s first year, the NLC will bring together a new group of cities that have made specific commitments to strengthen their regional innovation ecosystems. To find out more about this program, please email Scott Andes at Email: Andes@nlc.org. 877-827-2385

Webinar Details: Tuesday, July 24, 2018 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT Follow this link to register for the webinar.  

Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) Program

July 2, 2018

The US EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) is accepting applications for the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) Program. The US EDA is awarding grants to build regional capacity to translate innovations into jobs. The two funding opportunities currently available:

FY18 i6 Challenge: “creation of centers for innovation and entrepreneurship that increase the rate at which innovations, ideas, intellectual property, and research are translated into products, services, viable companies, and jobs.”

FY18 Seed Fund Support Program: “funding for technical assistance to support the creation, launch, or expansion of equity-based, cluster-focused seed funds that invest regionally-managed risk capital in regionally-based startups with a potential for high growth.”

Application Deadline: August 29.

$10 Million in Grants Available to Improve Water Quality in the Barnegat Bay Watershed

May 23, 2018

The NJDEP is seeking proposals for projects to reduce the input of nutrients, primarily nitrogen, which are transported into the bay by stormwater runoff. Proposals that mitigate nutrients in stormwater in the northern and southern portions of Barnegat Bay will be prioritized. This area has poorer water flow and is more highly developed than the southern bay.

Specific nutrient reduction strategies eligible under the grant program include wetland restoration, living shorelines and other resiliency projects, stormwater infrastructure mapping, stormwater basin retrofits, nutrient and pathogen source tracking, submerged aquatic vegetation and shellfish restoration, and stewardship education projects.

Projects consistent with NJDEP's Barnegat Bay Restoration, Enhancement and Protection Strategy will also be considered, click here to view this strategy.

Watershed Quality Restoration grants are made possible through funds provided under Section 319(h) of the federal Clean Water Act, Natural Resource Damage settlements the state has secured with polluters, and the state's Corporate Business Tax. Additional funding is also available as low-interest and principal-forgiveness loans through the New Jersey Water Bank, administered by the NJDEP in partnership with the New Jersey Water Infrastructure Bank.

Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to attend one of the two public information sessions.

Application Deadline: August 31, 2018. Click here for more information on this program.

NJDEP Competition for Flood-Resilience Planning Grants

May 23, 2018

The NJDEP has announced a grant competition in which municipalities located in nine counties most impacted by Superstorm Sandy can form teams to compete for $200,000 resilience-planning grants to address coastal and river-related flooding. Resilient NJ is open to all municipalities in the nine Sandy-impacted counties as identified by HUD: Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Union. Teams may cross county borders.

This grant is part of Resilient NJ, a new program administered through the NJDEP's Office of Coastal and Land Use Planning, to identify and implement innovative regional solutions to address coastal and river-related flooding. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing the grant funding as part of its National Disaster Resilience Competition, which works to make communities more flood resilient after major natural disasters.

As many as five regional teams will receive grants of up to $200,000. Teams must be made up of at least three contiguous municipalities and at least one community-based organization. County governments, regional planning commissions and utility authorities are also eligible to participate.

A panel of NJDEP experts will review applications submitted by each team and score them based on a set of criteria. Winning teams will be paired with multidisciplinary consulting teams of planners, engineers, ecologists, designers and other experts to participate in a comprehensive planning process to develop regional Resilience and Adaptation Action Plans and ultimately implement selected actions from those plans.

Application Deadline: Friday, July 20. Click here for more information.

US. Department of Justice COPS Office has announced the availability of three grant funding opportunities

April 27, 2018

• Community Policing Development (CPD) Program
  A competitive grant designed to advance the practice of community policing in law enforcement agencies through training and technical assistance, the development of innovative community policing strategies, field-directed law enforcement microgrants, guidebooks, and best practices that are national in scope. The COPS Office, a federal provider of innovative, customer-focused resources that address the continuing and emerging needs of those engaged in enhancing public safety through community policing, has designed the CPD solicitation to address critical topics in the law enforcement field by building on the principles of community policing. Deadline: June 7, 2018 at 7:59 PM EDT
  
  
• COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force (AHTF) Program
  A competitive grant program that assists state law enforcement agencies in states with high per capita levels of primary treatment admissions for both heroin and other opioids. AHTF funds shall be used for investigative purposes to locate or investigate illicit activities related to the distribution of heroin or unlawful distribution of prescription opioids. Deadline: June 27, 2018 at 7:59 PM EDT.
  
  
• COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program (CAMP)
  A competitive grant program that advances public safety by providing funds directly to state law enforcement agencies to investigate illicit activities related to the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine. Deadline: June 27, 2018 at 7:59 PM EDT.

Program Fact Sheets

• 2018_CPD_PreAward_FactSheet.pdf
• 2018_AHTF_Pre-Award_Fact_Sheet.pdf
• FY_2018_CAMP_Pre-Award_Fact_Sheet.pdf

EPA's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Funding Announced

April 16, 2018

The US EPA has announced a second round of funding for water infrastructure projects and is currently seeking Letters of Interest (due July 6). $5.5 billion in WIFIA loans are available. The WIFIA program is a federal loan and guarantee program aiming to accelerate investment in the nation's water infrastructure through long-term, low-cost supplemental loans for regionally and nationally significant projects, including:

• Drinking water treatment and distribution projects;
• Wastewater conveyance and treatment projects;
• Enhanced energy efficiency projects at drinking water and wastewater facilities;
• Desalination, aquifer recharge, alternative water supply and water recycling projects;
• Drought prevention, reduction or mitigation projects.

Click here to visit the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) website,

EPA Program Provides Funding for Water Projects

April 5, 2018

Senator Cory Booker has asked us to remind municipal officials the EPA will be announcing the availability of a second round of funding for water infrastructure projects under the EPA's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. EPA is seeking Letters of Interest from prospective borrowers by July 6, 2018. The WIFIA program accelerates investment in our nation’s water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental loans for regionally and nationally significant projects. Click here for more information.