What should the grant projects accomplish?
Public participation grant projects should motivate people to change their behavior and take action that will improve the environment. Past projects have helped people understand and comment on hazardous waste site cleanup proposals, shop for products that reduce waste, or use less hazardous substances in their businesses. Successful projects educate people. They create awareness of the causes and the costs of pollution. They stimulate people to assess their behavior and recognize the impact that their individual actions have on the environment. They provide strategies and methods for solving environmental problems.
The Department of Ecology (Ecology) emphasizes projects that prevent pollution and produce measurable benefits to the environment.
Who can qualify?
Grants can go to groups of three or more unrelated individuals, or to not-for-profit public interest organizations. Businesses, government agencies, Indian tribes, and universities do not qualify.
Not-for-profit groups encouraged to apply include environmental coalitions; community clubs- environmental education groups; neighborhood associations-, business and trade associations- labor or worker health/safety organizations; groups who live in the path of potential contamination from hazardous waste cleanup sites, ethnic or minority societies-, outdoor enthusiasts-, professional or fraternal societies; and service clubs.
What project costs do these grants cover?
A grant may be used to pay for technical experts who help people understand hazardous waste site cleanup issues. It can cover the costs of holding meetings, workshops and other events that inform people and motivate them to change their behavior. It can support printing and distributing reports, brochures and other materials, and renting equipment and buying supplies. The program guidelines explain this in more detail.
A grant may NOT be used to pay for independent sampling, product research and development, legal action, lobbying activities, or capital items such as furniture, machinery or computers.
Money available
Ecology has an estimated $350,000 available for the 1999-00 funding cycle. Grants will be awarded in amounts from $1,000 up to $60,000 per applicant or per site. There is no requirement for "matching funds," but groups should expect to invest resources in the project.
When is the application period open?
Ecology accepts applications for public participation grants during an annual application period. People on the public participation grants mailing list will be notified by mail when the application period opens.
The application period for the 1999-00 funding cycle runs from Thursday, July 1, 1999 through Tuesday, August 31, 1999. Applications must be received at the Department Headquarters building by 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, August 31, 1999. The headquarters building is at 300 Desmond Drive in Lacey. Applications may be mailed to Dept. of Ecology, Solid Waste and Financial Assistance, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600. Postmarks by the deadline do not qualify .
For more information
Call 1-800-RECYCLE
Special accommodations
The Department of Ecology is an equal opportunity agency and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, disability, age, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disabled veteran's status, Vietnam Era veteran's status, or sexual orientation.
If you have special accommodation needs, please call Katherine Seel, in Ecology's
Solid Waste and Financial Assistance office, at (360) 407-6061. Ecology
Headquarters telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) number is (360) 4076006.
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