Pollution Prevention Grants Program
Program Funding
Annual program obligations reported to SAM.gov.
Program Objective
The P2 grant program was enacted under the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 to 1) Provide technical assistance (e.g., information, training and tools) to businesses/facilities on source reduction/P2 techniques to help them adopt and implement source reduction/P2 approaches that may increase the development, adoption, and market penetration of sustainable manufacturing and processing practices and greener products. 2) Identify, develop, document, and share source reduction/P2 best management practices and innovations so the information generated may inform future technical assistance and encourage practices and innovations that may be replicated by others. The technical assistance provided must use P2/source reduction techniques to reduce and/or eliminate pollution from air, water, and/or land prior to performing recycling, reuse, clean up, or disposal activities. The P2 grant program funds may be awarded as grants and/or cooperative agreements. Funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act (IIJA) for FY2022-2026 affords the P2 program the ability to further support P2 technical assistance to businesses. Updated information on these programs is on EPA’s Grant Program for Pollution Prevention website: https://www.epa.gov/p2/grant-programs-pollution-prevention. In FY 2026, the P2 will continue to: 1. Help businesses adopt P2 techniques into day-to-day operations to reduce or eliminate harmful pollutants from entering the air, water, or land 2. Encourage education and/or training in P2/source reduction techniques. 3. Support P2 information sharing among states, state and federally-recognized tribal entities (e.g., state/tribal colleges/universities), federally-recognized tribes, local technical assistance programs, businesses, and industry. Additional funding priorities are found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) specific to each P2 grant program.
Eligibility
Eligible Applicants
- U.S. Territory Government
- State
- U.S. State Government
- Federally Recognized Tribal Government
- Other
Colleges and universities must include documentation within their applications, which may include, but is not limited to: a state constitutional reference, college/university charter, W-7 tax form that has confirmed the college or university to serve as an instrumentality of a state or a federally-recognized tribe. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing description, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Policy for the Competition of Assistance Agreements.
Beneficiaries
- State
- Interstate Organization
- U.S. State Government
- U.S. Territory Government
- Federally Recognized Tribal Government
- Other
Eligible applicants under this program are State agencies, State colleges and universities that are instrumentalities of the State, and federally recognized Tribes. These eligible applicants are encouraged to establish partnerships with businesses and environmental assistance providers to deliver seamless P2 assistance. Over the years, the P2 Program has found that the most successful P2 grant applicants are those who make the most efficient use of their government funding. In many cases, this has been accomplished through securing grant partnerships. As a result, those who are eligible to apply directly for P2 grant funding can also provide P2 benefits to their grant partners and grant beneficiaries, which include, but are not limited to: States, interstate, intrastate, and local agencies or organizations/universities, federally-recognized Tribes, intertribal consortia, public or private nonprofit organizations/institutions, private businesses, trade associations, student interns (within undergraduate and graduate programs), quasi-public nonprofit organizations, schools and the general public.
How to Apply
Award Procedure
EPA will review and evaluate applications in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the NOFO. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA's Policy for the Competition of Assistance Agreements.
Decision Timeline
- Approval: From 90 to 120 days
Approximately 120 days after the deadline for application submission.
Program details & compliance
Description
EPA awards P2 grants to provide information, training, and/or technical assistance to businesses/facilities to encourage the adoption and implementation of source reduction approaches. Adoption of source reduction approaches can help businesses save money (by reducing resource use, expenditures, waste, and liability costs), while at the same time reducing their environmental footprints and helping protect human health and the environment.
Mission Categories
Primary: Small Business
Other categories:
Economic Development
Use of Funds
Allowed Uses
Funding under the P2 grant program helps businesses establish and provide on-site technical assistance or training to businesses, support educational outreach and research endeavors, support data collection and analysis to curb environmental inefficiencies, and help businesses significantly reduce facility overhead and/or production costs. P2 grants are authorized under the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990 and supported through Congressional appropriation. Past grants have addressed the transfer of potentially harmful pollutants across all environmental media: air, water, and land, and have supported the establishment and expansion of State and Tribal P2 programs under diverse topic areas, some of which include industrial toxics usage, chemical substitution, energy reduction, reduction of hazardous waste and wastewater, and reductions in water usage. For more information on the scope of this grant program, please refer to PPA Section 6603 and 40 CFR Sections 35.343 and 35.662.P2 does not involve practices which alter the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics or the volume of a pollutant, hazardous substance or contaminant through a process or activity which itself is not integral to and necessary for the production of a product or the providing of a service (refer to PPA Section 6603 and 40 CFR 35.343 and 35.662). Recycling of discarded materials, waste clean-up, disposal activities, and management of or processing of non-hazardous solid waste (e.g., paper/cardboard, glass, plastics, etc.) are not P2 activities and cannot serve as a basis for P2 grant funding. If any of these activities represent more than a small and ancillary part of the proposed work, EPA will not consider the application for an award. For assistance with recycling of discarded materials, waste clean-up, disposal, and management or processing of non-hazardous solid waste activities, please contact the EPA’s Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery. This program makes Federal awards on a discretionary basis. A discretionary award means an award in which the Federal awarding agency, in keeping with specific statutory authority that enables the agency to exercise judgment (“discretion”), selects the recipient and/or the amount of Federal funding awarded through a competitive process or based on the merit of proposals. A discretionary award may be selected on a non-competitive basis, as appropriate. For further information, please contact the Headquarters or the regional office.
Required Documentation
In cases where the applicant's credentials are not clear, the applicant must provide proof that the applicant is indeed a state agency/organization, federally-recognized tribe, or intertribal consortium. 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program.
Matching Requirements
The statutory match/cost share requirement for P2 grants is authorized by the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. Eligible awardees receiving P2 grant funds are required to match federal funding by at least 50 percent. As such, EPA will provide half of the total allowable project cost, and the grantee will provide the remaining half. To further illustrate, if the total project cost is $100,000, in order to meet the 50 percent cost share or match requirement, the grantee must be able to provide $50,000 in cash or in-kind contributions in order to be eligible to receive $50,000 in federal grant funds from EPA. Cash or in-kind contributions may include dollars, in-kind goods and services, and/or third-party contributions. When applying for P2 grant funding, the applicant must note in their budget the application and use of matching funds. The match requirement may be applied at the time of award or at specified intervals during the project period. The grant project officer in the EPA Region will monitor the grantee's compliance, addressing the match requirement. If the match requirement is not met or is not applied at specified intervals during the project period, federal funding will cease, and the grantee may be held liable for all incurred costs. With concern to federally recognized tribes or intertribal consortia only -- If a federally recognized tribe or intertribal consortium is selected for a P2 grant award and the tribe then chooses to place their approved P2 grant workplan in a performance partnership grant (PPG) agreement, the match or cost share requirement will be reduced from 50 percent to 5 percent. The reduction in match will be applied during the first two years of the PPG agreement. If applicable, after two years of funding, the EPA Regional Administrator will make the determination through an objective assessment whether the federally recognized tribe or intertribal consortium meets the socioeconomic needs test to warrant keeping the match/cost share at 5 percent. NOTE: There is no cost share/match requirement for P2 grants issued with Infrastructure Investment and Job Act (IIJA) funds appropriation. For further information on match and cost share requirements, please refer to the applicable section of the P2 grant NOFO posted to Grants.gov.
Reporting & Compliance
Applicable 2 CFR 200 Subparts
- Subpart B — General Provisions
- Subpart C — Pre-Federal Award Requirements
- Subpart D — Post-Federal Award Requirements
- Subpart E — Cost Principles
- Subpart F — Audit Requirements