Federal grant programs / Department of Agriculture

Wetland Mitigation Banking Program (10.933)

Also known as Wetland Mitigation Banking Program (WMBP)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$17.0 million
• Grant awards26
• Typical award$690,375
• Awarded in FY 2025$3.6 million
• Size rank1,364 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceCooperative agreements, project grants

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $4.1 million in fiscal 2021 to $3.6 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 1364th largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 13 largest recipients received 100% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 11 states and territories.

What the program funds

The Wetland Mitigation Banking Program supports the establishment and development of agricultural wetland mitigation banks to make credits available to producers. These credits help producers meet their wetland conservation compliance responsibilities to maintain eligibility for many USDA programs administered by the FSA and NRCS, and maintain eligibility for the Federal crop insurance premium subsidy administered by the USDA Risk Management Agency.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Proposals will be accepted from applicants in any of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Caribbean Area (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and the Pacific Islands Area (Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). NRCS will accept proposals from eligible entities that include federally recognized Native American tribal governments; state and local units of government; for-profit entities; nonprofits with or without a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS other than institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and public and State-controlled institutions of higher education.

What the money can and cannot pay for

The intent of the program is for qualified third parties to operate and manage all aspects of a wetland mitigation bank with oversight by NRCS. Program funds shall only be used for third parties to establish agricultural wetland mitigation banks for use by USDA producers to mitigate small temporary and seasonal cropped wetland. The funds are not to be used to mitigate wetlands solely covered by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.;

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Recipients must provide a non-Federal funding match amount at least equal to 20 percent of the Federal funding request. Matching funds may be committed by the applicant, project partners, or both and can be a combination of cash and in-kind contributions.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 authorized up to $5 million per year for FY 2018-2023 for WMBP. The Further Continuing Appropriations and other Extensions Act, 2024 authorized an additional $2 million dollars as subject to the availability of appropriations. Proposals have a minimum of $100 thousand and a maximum of $1 million.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2018: Agricultural Wetland Mitigation Banks have been funded and established in 10 statesFiscal Year2025: Recently awarded projects can be found here - https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/wmpb-wetland-mitigation-banking-program

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

State and local governments received 36% of the money, small businesses 34% and businesses 16%.

By state

7 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.