[RWG] Funding Opportunities that can support ecological restoration: Brownfields Program (deadline Dec. 3, 2019) & SERDP (deadline Jan. 7 & Marc. 5, 2020)

[De Angelis, Patricia]

Two EPA funding programs provide three funding opportunities that
could include elements that support ecological habitat restoration:

*FY 2020 Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants.*

These brownfields grants may be used to address sites contaminated by
hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous
substances co-mingled with petroleum) and petroleum. The deadline to submit
an application is December 3, 2019 at 11:59 PM (EST). For more information
and application instructions, see
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/multipurpose-assessment-rlf-and-cleanup-marc-grant-application-resources
.

SIDE NOTE: These funds can be used to plan and execute habitat restoration.
To see the range of projects and prospects for funding under this grant
program, see previous grantee success stories:
https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfield-grant-recipient-success-stories

Here are some examples of how Brownfields funding have supported native
plantings:

+SNOW CREEK MULTIUSE TRAIL AND NATIVE WETLANDS HABITAT (Lake Tahoe, CA): An
old concrete plant near Lake Tahoe is going back to nature as part of a
grassroots effort to improve water quality and restore a roughly 3-acre
parcel of land with native habitat.

+COOLEY LANDING PARK AND EDUCATION CENTER (East Alto, CA): East Palo Alto
is a disadvantaged community with a poverty rate twice that of the rest of
the San Francisco Bay Area and a population consisting of 80% Hispanics and
African–Americans. The city also has a critical lack of open space. But a
9-acre nature park and education center are rising from the ashes of an
80-year-old burn dump, turning what was once a liability into a much needed
asset. After more than a decade of studies, research and
community discussions, the new Cooley Landing Park opened to the public in
July 2012. Workers encapsulated the contamination using an engineered cap
with clean imported fill, and the site was reseeded with native plants and
grasses.

+FLAT BRANCH PARK (Columbia, MO): Flat Branch Park is located at the
original site of Columbia’s Market Square, which since its establishment in
the 1820’s has been a favorite spot for community gatherings and a hub for
commerce. At the turn of the twentieth century, a railway depot known as
Katy Station was built in the Flat Branch area and it became a focal point
of industry and transportation, with trains chugging in and out of the
station along the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad. In October of 1997, a
deteriorated warehouse located on the site was torn down and soil
contamination was found. Phase I of the project was cleanup and develop a
trail. Phase II consisted of converting a 45-space parking lot (under which
there was also contaminated soil) to develop a park. A volunteer group
sponsored by the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department, C.A.R.P.
(Columbia Aquatic Restoration Project), assisted in the stream cleanup,
invasive species removal, planted 620 native perennials in the rain garden,
installed erosion barrier, planted 125 shrubs and grasses, and installed
400 soil bags with aquatic irises along the creek bed.

+EVITTS RUN PARK (Charles Town, WV): The Evitts Run Creek is bordered by
the existing Evitts Run Park. However, much of the area surround the Evitts
Run Creek is blighted by former industrial sites, overgrown and
inaccessible to the public, and lacking park and recreational amenities.
These properties include a former municipal dump, the Charles Town Public
Works Yard, the former Dixie-Narco parking lot, and the contaminated
Supertane property.  Now, Charles Town has created a vision for a connected
system of parks, trails, and recreational assets on these lands that can
serve the community and future generations. In early July [2014], Charles
Town joined with local community groups to cut the ribbon on a new,
completed project to deploy 28 species of trees and shrubs and 15 native
plants along the banks of the Evitts Run Creek, to enhance the community
and ecosystem along the Evitts Run Park.

*FY 2021 Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)
Solicitations. (DoD, EPA, DOE)*

The Department of Defense's SERDP is seeking environmental research and
development proposals for funding beginning in FY 2021. Projects will be
selected through a competitive process. The Core Solicitation provides
funding opportunities for basic and applied research and advanced
technology development. Core projects vary in cost and duration consistent
with the scope of the work proposed. Researchers from Federal
organizations, universities, and private industry can apply for SERDP
funding. All submissions must be in response to a Statement of Need (SON)
associated with the solicitation.

There are two calls for proposals aimed both at federal and nonfederal
applicants - Core and SEED.

Projects funded under the Core solicitation vary in cost and duration,
consistent with the scope of the project. The Statements of Need (SON)
referenced by the Core solicitation requests proposals related to the SERDP
program areas of ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION (ER), Munitions Response (MR),
RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RESILIENCY (RC), and Weapons Systems and
Platforms (WP). All Core pre-proposals are due January 7, 2020.

The SERDP Exploratory Development (SEED) Solicitation provides funding
opportunities for work that will investigate innovative environmental
approaches that entail high technical risk or require supporting data to
provide proof of concept. Funding is limited to not more than $250,000 and
projects are approximately one year in duration. This year, the SERDP is
requesting SEED proposals for the Munitions Response program area
(specifically, Detection, Classification, and Remediation of Military
Munitions Underwater). SEED proposals are due March 5, 2020.

The SERDP Executive Director and Deputy Director will host a funding
opportunities webinar on November 12, 2019. For more information and
application instructions, see
https://www.serdp-estcp.org/Funding-Opportunities/SERDP-Solicitations.

SIDE NOTE: Previous SERDP projects have included native habitat
issues/research: These funds can be used to plan and execute habitat
restoration. To see the range of projects and prospects for funding under
this grant program, see previous grantee success stories:
https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfield-grant-recipient-success-stories

Here are some examples of SERDP projects that have informed or supported
habitat restoration with native plant species:

+Endangered Butterflies as a Model System for Managing Source-Sink Dynamics
on Department of Defense Lands - Among the issues examined were the
management and restoration impacts on animal movements in low vs. higher
quality habitat on DoD lands.
https://www.serdp-estcp.org/Program-Areas/Resource-Conservation-and-Resiliency/Natural-Resources/Species-Ecology-and-Management/RC-2119


+Sources and Sinks: Elucidating Mechanisms, Documenting Patterns, and
Forecasting Impacts - Part of this research sought to compare the habitat
and preferences of endangered blackcapped vireo to more robust white-eyed
vireo (Vireo griseus) populations near Fort Hood to aid in explaining their
differential outcomes and the unique challenges faced by black-capped
vireos.
https://www.serdp-estcp.org/Program-Areas/Resource-Conservation-and-Resiliency/Natural-Resources/Species-Ecology-and-Management/RC-2120


+A Decision Support System for Identifying and Ranking Critical Habitat
Parcels On and In the Vicinity of Department of Defense Installations - The
objective of this project was to develop a user-friendly GIS-based
spatially-explicit decision support system (DSS) from red-cockaded
woodpecker (Picoides borealis; RCW) habitat and population information that
will help DoD personnel identify and prioritize habitat parcels on and in
the vicinity of DoD installations in the southeastern United States.
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