Grants & Funding Opportunities
We have no open requests for proposals open at this time. We expect to announce the availability of a new round of Infrastructure and CCMP support grants in April 2024, with about $900,000 available.
Helpful maps:
Interactive map of nutrient and bacteria impaired waters
Interactive map of past grants awarded
Interactive Map of Buzzards Bay environmental justice target areas
Recent Awards
Our last grant round was awarded in March 2024 (see this announcement). Looking for Buzzards Bay NEP solicitations for Goods and Services? Check our NEP Solicitations page.
Other Recent Past Awards: Round 1 of the Buzzards Bay Watershed Infrastructure and CCMP Support Grant Program closed on February 1, 2023. On April 25, 2023, EEA announced three proposals totaling $808,000 were funded. Read the IIJA Round 1 Press Release. Round 2 of the Buzzards Bay Watershed Infrastructure and CCMP Support Grant Program closed on August 1, 2023, and on October 12, the NEP awarded $550,000 to four municipalities. Read the IIJA Round 2 Press Release. Round 3 of the Buzzards Bay Watershed Infrastructure and CCMP Support Grant Program is expected to be announced in April 2024, with nearly $900,000 available.
2023 Municipal Grants
(this grant round is closed, and funds awarded in March 2024)
The Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program would like to announce the availability of $182,897 in grant funds. The FY24 Buzzards Bay Watershed Municipal Mini-grant Program Announcement has been posted on the COMMBUYS website. We are seeking proposals for projects that implement recommendations in the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and will be located within the Buzzards Bay Watershed.
Eligible projects include:
- Feasibility, assessment, and design of stormwater facilities to treat, eliminate, or reduce discharges to impaired surface waters.
- Construction of stormwater facilities to treat, eliminate, or reduce discharges affecting surface waters.
- Permanent land preservation through direct acquisition or easement.
- Update or digitizing of wetland boundaries or land elevations from wetland permits.
- Restoration of wetlands, habitat, migratory fish passage, and culvert replacements to improve aquatic conductivity and wildlife migration.
- Construction of a boat pump-out facility in a municipality or harbor when none exists,
- Creation of online reporting systems for tracking of operation, maintenance, and monitoring of innovative and alternative septic systems.
- Projects that, through direct action (other than routine maintenance or replacement of existing infrastructure), mitigate or restore coastal waters, or freshwaters, adversely affected by nutrient loading (nitrogen and phosphorus pollution) or bacteria pollution. Projects to expand municipal sewer networks are not eligible.
- Other activities in support of the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan.
Note: Categories 1-8 are considered priority categories and receive an additional 2 pt in the scoring criteria.
This solicitation is open to municipalities within the Buzzards Bay Watershed, including Fall River, Westport, Dartmouth, New Bedford, Acushnet, Fairhaven, Rochester, Mattapoisett, Marion, Wareham, Middleborough, Carver, Plymouth, Bourne, Falmouth, and Gosnold. However, all projects must lie within the Buzzards Bay watershed boundary.
Municipalities that contain one or more Environmental Justice (EJ) Population (as defined in the Request for Proposals), and Title 1 schools in the Buzzards Bay watershed are strongly encouraged to apply under this grant opportunity provided they meet the eligibility criteria and allowable funding categories. Projects that meet EJ or climate goals will receive additional consideration. Visit our NEP disadvantaged communities map to see target areas that support our Equity Plan. The sources of funds for this solicitation are federal and provided in accordance with Cooperative Agreements CE00A0887 and CE00A01217 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Southeast New England Program (SNEP).
Application Process
Proposals must be submitted electronically and are due Tuesday, January 23, 2024, by 4:00 PM. Applicants must provide a non-federal match that will equal or exceed 33 percent of requested grant funds (i.e. 25 percent of total project costs). Municipalities may submit any number of applications and they may receive more than one grant; however, no single grant award may exceed $70,000 and no municipality can receive more than $140,000. Contracts are expected to begin in March 2024.
Please note that only electronic submissions will be accepted for the FY24 Buzzards Bay Municipal Grant Program. Applicants must include all the documents required in the application and follow the suggested format. E-mail the proposal (including supporting materials) to sarah.williams@mass.gov with the Subject Line “FY24 Buzzards Bay Watershed Municipal Grant Program”. Please ensure that the entire electronic submittal, including supporting materials, is accessible and legible (use a file share system if your submission exceeds 10GB because of limitations of the mass.gov email system). The submission may be as a single document or multiple electronic documents. Eligible municipalities may submit any number of applications but may only receive a maximum of two grant awards not to exceed $70,000. No single grant award may exceed $50,000. Additional details and required forms are posted on the COMMBUYS website.
The RFP and other details on the program may be found at the following website: COMMBUYS – Bid Solicitation. The sources of funds for this solicitation are federal and provided in accordance with Cooperative Agreement FC00A01217 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and includes funding from the Southeast New England Program (SNEP).
To apply, you can use this fillable pdf application form (which is also posted on COMMBUYS). You can use this application form word document if you prefer to create a document from the source file.
Inquiries about the RFP: The RFP’s Question and Answer period will close 4:00 PM, Thursday, January 11, 2024. Email questions to Sarah.Williams@mass.gov. Responses to questions, if any, will be posted below as soon as possible after a question is submitted, as well as on the COMMBUYS website. These answers are for clarification purposes only and do not constitute an amendment to the RFP unless expressly stated as such.
Question 1: I represent a municipal health department in the Buzzards Bay watershed. We are participants in a regional health collaborative. The health collaborative includes six towns. Four of these towns are in the Buzzards Bay watershed, but the other two towns have only a small area in the Buzzards Bay watershed. Would the application be eligible if it included these towns in the application? Can a municipality apply for funding on behalf of the collaborative?
Response to Question 1: Grant eligibility in our program depends on the location of activities, and whether the activity achieves goals identified in the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. Previously we have funded town-wide projects in towns that straddle the watershed if the preponderance of activities or benefits occur in the Buzzards Bay watershed. As two-thirds of the proposed activity is in the watershed, such an application would meet our criteria for the location of activities. The planned activities must also relate to addressing water quality and living resource impairments in Buzzards Bay, or threats to human health from those impairments. For example, better management of onsite wastewater systems and stormwater discharges by health boards are high priorities in the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan because of potential threats to human health and the environment from those pollution sources. An example of an activity by health boards not eligible for funding in our grant program might relate to dispensing vaccines. Municipalities must be the applicant in our grant program, but the municipality may contract with any entity they deem fit.
Overview of Buzzards Bay Municipal Grant Programs
The Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program, a planning and technical assistance unit of the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, makes funding available to assist eligible Buzzards Bay watershed municipalities to meet the goals and objectives of the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan. Grant categories for the general municipal grant program typically include the protection of open space, rare and endangered species habitat, and freshwater and saltwater wetlands, projects to help restore tidally restricted salt marshes, to develop designs and remediate stormwater discharges threatening water quality, monitoring to establish the effectiveness of previously funded Buzzards Bay NEP projects, to construct pump-out facilities, to digitize wetland boundaries approved in permits, to assist in the monitoring of water quality to prioritize stormwater remediation, to address problems in migratory fish passage, and to implement other recommendations contained in the watershed management plan for Buzzards Bay. From time to time, we may offer municipalities funding for more specific tasks, including the engineering designs and permitting.
All our grant programs are made available through the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) as part of one or more Cooperative Agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Questions From Recent Previous Rounds of the General Municipal Grant Program
Question: The RFP states that “general stormwater monitoring programs are not eligible unless they build upon existing regional collaborations”. Is the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative considered a regional collaboration on which we can build a proposal to achieve water quality analysis of a specific stormwater basin?
Response to Question: If a town wishes to establish a general stormwater monitoring program, work with the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative is but one example of building upon existing regional collaborations. However, site assessments of a specific stormwater basin (including monitoring) fall under Funding Category 3: Support for tasks to achieve MS4 compliance. In that category we specifically provide examples like estimating the amount of nitrogen removed from existing stormwater management practices and site investigations of dry weather outfalls including monitoring of dry weather flows.
Question: Can municipalities use Category 7 funding to join the Barnstable County I/A Tracking system?
Response to Question: Yes.
Question: Is the removal or management of aquatic weeds affecting water quality in lakes and ponds an eligible project?
Response to Question: Projects to manage invasive and nuisance species that meet the goals and objectives of the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan under Action Plan 11 Managing Invasive and Nuisance Species, or Action Plan 13 Protecting and Restoring Ponds and Streams, may be submitted under Category 9 – Other Activities in Support of the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan.
Question: Are stormwater design projects that reduce flooding and beach erosion (such as paving a dirt parking lot and installing stormwater treatment) eligible for funding?
Response to Question: For projects of this nature, an applicant could fall under Category 1 – Stormwater Remediation Designs for Discharges Affecting Impaired Waters. Projects eligible for funding in this category include those that reopen shellfish beds or coastal public bathing beaches, projects with positive impacts to diadromous fish species, or projects that address other marine water quality impairments, including remediation of discharges to water bodies that are classified as Massachusetts Category 4a (TMDL completed) and/or Category 5 Waters (Waters requiring a TMDL). Proposals must identify the specific pollutant(s) or impairment associated with the stormwater discharge and provide water quality data (collected and evaluated for bacteria) that clearly demonstrates the discharge(s) are problematic and are having a negative effect on water quality in the receiving waters. Stormwater design projects that appear to only remediate erosion issues, and where no water quality data is provided would be less competitive or ineligible in this category. Our municipal grant program also offers a grant category for projects that meet any specific goals in the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). It is incumbent upon the applicant to describe the specific CCMP action plan goal that would be addressed by a project.
Question: Can a town apply for this grant on its own without partnering with other towns or other entities?
Response to Question: Any municipality with an eligible project in the Buzzards Bay watershed can apply to our grant program on its own. That municipality does not have to partner with another town or entity.
Question: What is the scoring system used for grant selection?
Response to Question: The scoring sheet to evaluate proposals is included in the request for proposals.
Question: Are the contractual services currently provided by the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative to municipalities by the Massachusetts Maritime Academy eligible for funding? If so, is it eligible under the MS4 section of the RFR?
Response to Question: Towns may hire any contractor or entity to provide services to meet eligible MS4 tasks identified under this request for proposals.
Question: Are commitment letters required for businesses, such as an engineering firm, that are being paid for their services as part of the project? Or are commitment letters needed only for organizations volunteering their time?
Response to Question: Commitment letters are needed only for organizations or other municipalities that are a co-applicant or a partner on the project providing either an unpaid service or agreeing to complete additional tasks not funded by the grant. Commitment letters are not required for intended contractors. The commitment letter should state what role or services the partner organization is providing to the project.
Question: May a non-municipal entity apply in partnership with a municipality for grant funds?
Response to Question: Municipalities may have non-municipal partners, but the municipality must be the applicant and the recipient of grant funds. Municipalities may subcontract or disburse funds to their partners according to municipal requirements and policies.
Suggestions for applying for other grants
All Buzzards Bay NEP grants, and grants solicitations issued by other state agencies, are posted on the state’s CommBuys system. If you check the CommBuys website regularly, you will be informed of grant opportunities from the Buzzards Bay NEP and other Commonwealth of Massachusetts agencies.
The Buzzards Bay NEP provides technical support to municipalities within our watershed and may also provide technical support outside our watershed depending on staff availability and transferability of the project.
Is your town having trouble meeting match requirements for environmental grants? Consider matching Buzzards Bay NEP or CZM CPR grants with funding from other sources, like Massachusetts Environmental Trust. CZM grants and MET funds are state funds and can be used to match federally funded grant programs like the Buzzards Bay NEP’s or Massachusetts DEP’s 319 NPS program.
Click on the link Other Funding Opportunities for funding opportunities in other agency programs.
Recent Past Press releases and Award Announcements
2023 Round 1 Infrastructure and CCMP grants -$800,000 to 3 municipalities
2022 Municipal Mini-Grants Announced – Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program
Engineering designs, 2022: The Town of Carver’s grant application titled “Support for tasks to achieve MS4 compliance in the Town of Carver” was selected for funding at the requested amount of $12,500.
Fall 2021: Buzzards Bay NEP Awards $110,640 to Three Towns
December 2020: $125k in Grants to Protect Habitat and Water Quality
June 2019 Announcement: $95,000 in Federal Funds Awarded to Three Towns
June 2018 Announcement: $50,000 in Federal Funds Awarded to Two Towns