EPA Releases Final FY 2016 Exchange Network Grant Solicitation Notice

The FY 2016 Exchange Network (EN) Grant Program Solicitation Notice is now available at http://www2.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/fiscal-year-2016-national-environmental-information-exchange-network-grant-program.  Applications are due to EPA by November 13, 2015.  These grants are an excellent opportunity for a state or group of states to fund electronic reporting, data sharing, or other similar projects.

In FY 2016, EPA expects to award about $10 million for 40-50 assistance agreements for EN Phase 2 (or Phase 1) projects of up to $500,000 each. The exact number of assistance agreements will depend on the final amount of EPA’s appropriation for the EN grant program, the number of applications submitted to EPA by the application deadline, the amounts of proposed budgets, and the outcome of application reviews.

The primary outcome expected from EN assistance agreements is improved access to, and exchange of, high-quality environmental data from public- and private-sector sources. With this outcome in mind, applications should demonstrate support for and results toward EN program priorities.  EPA only accepts project proposals for EN assistance agreements submitted electronically through Grants.gov, unless applicants have a waiver.  EPA anticipates that it will announce selection decisions in or around April 2016, and plans to issue awards by July 31, 2016.

Applicants can learn more at EN2015, the 2015 Exchange Network National Meeting, where a pre-Meeting Session has been scheduled on September 28, 2015, at 5:30 PM. Additionally, EPA will host webinars to assist applicants. Webinar details will be provided via EN Alerts and at http://www2.epa.gov/exchangenetwork.

For more information, please contact Salena Reynolds at reynolds.salena@epa.gov.