Grants

The Small Business Advantage Grant provides 50% matching grants, up to a maximum of $5,000 to enable Pennsylvania small businesses to purchase energy efficient or pollution prevention equipment, or adopt waste reduction processes.

Act 13 of 2012 establishes the Marcellus Legacy Fund and allocates funds to the Commonwealth Financing Authority for funding orphan or abandoned well plugging projects using the Orphan or Abandoned Well Plugging Program (OAWP). Pennsylvania has hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells drilled since 1859. This program provides a mechanism to plug abandoned and orphaned wells that have the potential to cause health, safety or environmental concerns. Projects which involve the cleaning out and plugging of abandoned and orphan oil and gas wells; stray gas mitigation systems; and well venting projects.

Applications will be accepted between February 1st and May 31st of each year. All applications and required supplemental information must be received by May 31st.

DCNR’s Bureau of Recreation and Conservation (BRC) assists local governments and recreation and conservation organizations with funding for projects related to parks, recreation, planning, and conservation. Applications for DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program grants are accepted once a year, typically during the spring. Grants also support regional and statewide partnerships that build capacity to better develop and manage resources.

Tutorial videos: 

• Walkthrough of the grant application 
• 2023 grant workshop video series (additional project information)

Before starting your grant application, contact your DCNR Bureau of Recreation and Conservation regional advisor for advice on making your project as competitive as possible for funding.

The new AML/AMD Grant Program that began in the fall of 2022 will continue with three more application rounds in 2023. The Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation is authorized through the United States Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to issue grants to eligible applicants for the purpose of AML reclamation and AMD treatment or abatement. The Bureau will be accepting applications for projects that reclaim abandoned coal mines or address mine drainage from abandoned coal mines during the following open application periods:

2023 Application Round 2 – July 3, 2023, through 11:59 p.m. August 25, 2023
2023 Application Round 3 – October 2, 2023, through 11:59 p.m. December 2, 2023

Projects eligible to receive a grant through the AML/AMD Grant Program must reclaim or enhance AML sites that pose a threat to the environment and/or public health and safety, as specified in SMCRA. Sites must be determined eligible by BAMR, entered into both DEP’s and OSMRE’s AML inventory systems, and, in most cases, associated with a coal mine that was abandoned prior to August 3, 1977.