Federal grant programs / Environmental Protection Agency

Geographic Programs - Chesapeake Bay Program General, Technical Assistance, and Small Watershed Grants (66.466)

Also known as Chesapeake Bay Program

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$328 million
• Grant awards65
• Typical award$1.9 million
• Awarded in FY 2025$57.6 million
• Size rank475 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceProject grants

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $62.8 million in fiscal 2021 to $57.6 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 475th largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 98% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 9 states and territories.

What the program funds

The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure and unique as North America's largest and most biologically diverse estuary. The objective of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s competitive assistance agreements is to fund activities that support achievement of the goals and outcomes of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Funding priorities include, but are not limited to, implementation projects that support water quality improvement and environmental stewardship, coordination of the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership, monitoring and modeling of the Chesapeake Bay and its ecosystem, and advancement of data science that helps inform decision-making. EPA supports advancement of these priorities by funding cooperative agreements, which support the partnership in carrying out the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and fulfilling the statutory requirements of the Chesapeake Bay Program Office under Clean Water Act Section 117. Additionally, EPA funds cooperative agreements to intermediary organizations for the purposes of carrying out the Small Watershed Grants (SWG) grants program, which supports protection and improvement of local waterways while building citizen-based resource stewardship; and the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction (INSR) grants program, which supports regional innovative solutions to reduce or eliminate nutrient and sediment pollution. More information regarding the Chesapeake Bay Program can be found at https://www.chesapeakebay.net .

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

What the money can and cannot pay for

The Chesapeake Bay Program funds cooperative agreements to implement the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and carry out the statutory requirements of the Chesapeake Bay Program Office. This includes coordination support for the partnership; advancement of science, modeling, monitoring, and data analysis activities; development and publication of environmental information and partnership communications; and outreach programs to foster stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay resources. This funding also supports the implementation of subgrant programs designed to support local and regional efforts to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay. All funded activities, including activities funded through cost-share, must directly support the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Applicants applying for funding under this program must commit to a cost-share of 5-50%, as determined at the discretion of EPA and as described in competitive funding announcements. Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: Geospatial Resources at EPA (https://www.epa.gov/geospatial). This program makes Federal awards on a discretionary basis.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. All applicants applying for technical and general assistance grants under Section 117(d), must commit to a cost share ranging from 5 percent to 50 percent as determined at the sole discretion of EPA. Applicants should refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity for additional information regarding cost share requirements. Applicants applying under the Small Watershed Grants Program under Section 117(g)(2) must commit to a cost share of 25 percent of the total project cost. Projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) may receive a waiver of the cost matching requirements, subject to the approval of the EPA Regional Administrator.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

For competitive awards under this assistance listing, information regarding deadlines will be specified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). For non-competitive awards, contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

EPA revised assistance listing 66.466 to separate competitive and non-competitive funding opportunities and will transition non-competitive funding awards to assistance listing 66.964 (Geographic Programs - Chesapeake Bay Program Implementation, Regulatory/Accountability and Monitoring Grants) at the start of a new award. Under assistance listing 66.466, funding ranges from $50,000 to $11,500,000 per fiscal year, with an average award of $2,000,000.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: Funded projects support the commitments set forth in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and amendments, subsequent directives, adoption statements, endorsements and resolutions, to expand and strengthen cooperative efforts to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay. Examples of projects funded in FY 2025 include: 1) administration of the Small Watershed Grants and Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction grant programs; 2) coordination and staffing support for the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership’s goal teams and advisory committees; 3) implementation of the annual submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) survey using traditional and machine learning techniques; 4) collection and analysis of water quality and living resources data that will contribute to the development of the partnership’s Phase 7 Watershed Model; and 5) support for the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership’s communication, outreach, and engagement activities.

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

Nonprofits received 73% of the money, state and local governments 21% and colleges and universities 5.9%.

By state

8 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.