Federal grant programs / Environmental Protection Agency

Performance Partnership Grants (66.605)

Also known as PPGs

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$2.5 billion
• Grant awards802
• Typical award$727,615
• Awarded in FY 2025$463 million
• Size rank140 of 1824
• Type of assistanceFormula grants, project grants

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $496 million in fiscal 2021 to $463 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 140th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 55% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 52 states and territories.

What the program funds

Fostering EPA’s partnership with states and Tribes is critical to accelerating environmental outcomes. Performance Partnership Grants (PPGs) are the cornerstone of the National Environmental Performance Partnership System (NEPPS), which aims to strengthen partnerships and build a results-based management system. PPGs allow states and Tribes to combine eligible categorical State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) into a single grant with a single budget and work plan. EPA's overarching goal is to optimize the leveraging power of PPGs to focus strategically on the joint priorities of EPA and recipients in order to achieve environmental outcomes. Key objectives of NEPPS and PPGs are: (1) strengthen partnerships between EPA and recipients through joint planning, priority setting, and efficient and effective management of resources; (2) provide states, and Tribes with flexibility to direct resources where they are needed to address environmental and public health priorities; (3) link program activities more effectively with environmental and public health goals and environmental outcomes; (4) support cross-media approaches and initiatives; and (5) reduce administrative burdens and transaction costs. Through one consolidated work plan, states and Tribes can efficiently manage anticipated environmental outcomes of their PPGs.

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

States agencies (including environmental, health, agriculture, and other agencies where authorized by state or Tribal law), interstate agencies, U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, federally recognized Indian Tribes (including Alaska Native villages), and intertribal consortia are eligible to receive more than one of the 18 categorical grant programs are eligible to apply for PPGs. Any duly authorized state or Tribal entity that currently receives or is eligible to receive EPA categorical program grants may request a PPG for the funds it administers.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Environment (water, air, solid waste, pesticides, radiation)

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. With a PPG, the required amount of the state cost share is the sum of the minimum nonfederal cost share required under each of the programs combined in the PPG. If a program has both a match and a maintenance of effort requirement, the greater of the two amounts will be used to calculate the minimum cost share attributed to that program. The nonfederal share of a PPG may be expended on work plan commitments without regard to the original source of the cost share requirement. The general rules for cost share are found at 2 CFR §200.306 and further described specifically for PPGs in 40 CFR §35.136 for the individual environmental programs. State PPG recipients should calculate a single, composite minimum cost share (based on the match or maintenance of effort requirements of each categorical grant included in the PPG) for each of their PPGs. For Tribal PPG recipients, there are no cost share or maintenance of effort requirements. EPA has a class exception from 40 CFR §35.536 in place that waives the required cost share from Tribal and intertribal consortia PPGs.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines

Award range and average, in the agency's words

There is no award limit for PPGs. The amounts awarded via PPGs vary based on how many programs a recipient chooses to combine in a PPG and how many years the PPG remains active. While PPGs can range from $25,000 to $86 million in award amounts, the average PPG amount is about $3.8 million.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: Recipients have unique environmental priorities and program implementation needs. PPGs have allowed states and Tribes to take advantage of administrative and program efficiencies to achieve greater environmental and program results. States and Tribes have used PPGs to address critical emergencies and unplanned events and have used PPG flexibility to overcome periodic budget needs or high demands in specific programs. States and Tribes use PPGs to implement multi-program initiatives that advance various environmental and human health objectives. States and Tribes also have taken advantage of streamlined administrative procedures that make grant processes more efficient. PPGs allow recipients to develop and implement environmental programs in situations where it would be more difficult to use standalone categorical grants.

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 85% of the money, tribes 15% and nonprofits less than 0.1%.

By state

Each state below has its own page for this program, with its recipients and yearly totals.

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