Grants

With support from Toyota Motor North America, the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) is pleased to announce $150,000 in grant funding to make public lands more accessible and enjoyable for Americans of all abilities.

When the system of public lands in the United States was first created, its mission was to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and beauty...for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” Today, land management agencies are tasked with the ongoing challenge of preserving ecologically and historically important sites—while making sure that they remain accessible to all segments of the population, including people with disabilities (From NEEF’s Public Land Engagement Guide: https://www.neefusa.org/conservation/public-lands-engagement/activity-guides/focus-on-accessibility-guide).

According to the Centers for Disease Control (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html), 61 million Americans are living with a disability and 26% of adults in the US have some type of disability. The National Park Service conservatively estimates that a minimum of 28 million visitors with disabilities from all over the world visit national parks annually. Making sure that everyone truly has access to our shared public lands and waters is an ongoing challenge, supported by activists, outdoors organizations, and land management agencies themselves. NEEF, among other organizations, is committed to making the environment more accessible, relatable, relevant, and connected to people’s daily lives.

CIG is a voluntary program to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies in conjunction with agricultural production. CIG projects are expected to lead to the transfer of conservation technologies, management systems, and innovative approaches to agricultural producers, into NRCS technical manuals and guides, or to the private sector. CIG generally funds pilot projects, field demonstrations, and innovative ways to transfer conservation methods from one geographic area or ag sector to another.

To assist underserved, small and disadvantaged communities with improving their drinking water resources, this program will include approximately $25.8 million in funding. Grants will be awarded as non‐competitive grants to states, with a 10 percent tribal allotment of $2.64 million. The grant program is designed to help public water systems in underserved communities meet and comply with SDWA requirements. The grant program will provide assistance to underserved communities that have no household drinking water or wastewater services or are served by a public water system that violates or exceeds any Maximum Containment Level, treatment technique, or action level.

The PENNVEST per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) remediation program is an annual funding program created by Act 101 of 2019.  The program provides funding for eligible applicants to treat and eliminate PFAS compounds from drinking water systems.