Funding Opportunities

Throughout its existence, the success of Union Pacific's business has been inextricably linked to the economic and community wellbeing of cities and towns across the nation. We take pride in the role we have played in helping communities thrive and believe the impact we can have on local communities is greatest when it is authentic to our history and reflective of the diverse company we are today. As such, we have carefully aligned our Local Grants cause areas to our company's unique heritage, strengths, and assets. Specifically, we prioritize funding for direct services and efforts that build the capacity of organizations focused on the following causes within our local operating communities. Within each focus area, we aim to support programs and organizations working to advance the diversity, equity and inclusion of underrepresented populations within the local context and issue areas addressed. Find more information about our commitment to DEI in our FAQs.

Through this planned Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the DOE Office of Indian Energy plans to solicit applications from Indian Tribes, which include Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Village Corporations, Intertribal Organizations, and Tribal Energy Development Organizations to:

Install clean energy generating system(s) and/or energy efficiency measure(s) for Tribal Building(s) (Area of Interest 1); or, Deploy community-scale clean energy generating system(s) or energy storage on Tribal Lands (Area of Interest 2); or, Install integrated energy system(s) for autonomous operation (independent of the traditional centralized electric power grid) to power a single or multiple essential tribal buildings during emergency situations or for tribal community resilience (Area of Interest 3); or, Power unelectrified Tribal Buildings (Area of Interest Area 4).

Except for Area of Interest 4, projects proposed under this FOA are intended for Tribal Buildings that are either (1) grid-connected (which, for the purposes of the planned FOA, means the Tribal Building(s) are connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid), or (2) connected to a stand-alone (isolated) microgrid that operates autonomously from the traditional centralized electric power grid.

Area of Interest 4 is intended to deploy integrated energy system(s) or energy infrastructure to provide electricity to Tribal Buildings which otherwise would be unelectrified, where “unelectrified” means Tribal Building(s) that are (1) not connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid, and (2) not connected to a stand-alone (isolated) microgrid that operates autonomously from the traditional centralized electric power grid.

The DOE Office of Indian Energy envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of grants. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately from two (2) to four (4) years, including a 12-month mandatory verification period. Under the planned FOA, DOE’s Office of Indian Energy anticipates making awards that range from $100,000 to $2,500,000 or from $250,000 to $5,000,000, depending on the Area of Interest.

The EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) is issuing this NOFO to announce the availability of funds and solicit applications from eligible entities to help ports nationwide transition to zero-emission (ZE) operations under the EPA’s Clean Ports Program. The EPA’s Clean Ports Program will fund ZE port equipment and infrastructure to reduce mobile source emissions (criteria pollutants, air toxics, and/or greenhouse gases) at United States ports, delivering cleaner air for communities across the country. The Clean Ports Program will also fund climate and air quality planning activities as part of a separate NOFO – including emissions inventories, strategy analysis, community engagement, and resiliency measure identification – that will build the capacity of port stakeholders to continue to reduce pollution and transition to ZE operations over time. This new funding opportunity, made possible by funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, builds on the EPA’s Ports Initiative, an ongoing program that helps our nation’s ports, a critical part of our infrastructure and supply chain, address public health and environmental impacts on surrounding communities.

The EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) is issuing this NOFO to announce the availability of funds and solicit applications from eligible entities to conduct climate and air quality planning activities under the EPA’s Clean Ports Program. The EPA’s Clean Ports Program will fund climate and air quality planning activities at United States ports – including emissions inventories, strategy analysis, community engagement, and resiliency measure identification – that will build the capacity of port stakeholders to continue to reduce pollution and transition to zero-emissions (ZE) operations over time. The Clean Ports Program will also fund ZE port equipment and infrastructure as part of a separate NOFO to reduce mobile source emissions (criteria pollutants, air toxics, and/or greenhouse gases) at United States ports, delivering cleaner air for communities across the country. This new funding opportunity, made possible by funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, builds on the EPA’s Ports Initiative, an ongoing program that helps our nation’s ports, a critical part of our infrastructure and supply chain, address public health and environmental impacts on surrounding communities.

Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) invites applications for investigator-initiated Program Project (P01) applications. The proposed Program may address any of the broad areas of cancer research, including (but not limited to) cancer biology, cancer prevention, cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, and cancer control. Basic, translational, clinical, and/or population-based studies in all of these research areas are appropriate. Each application submitted in response to this FOA must consist of at least three research projects and an Administrative Core. The projects must share a common central theme, focus, and/or overall objective.

DEMD administers the EMDP grant. This solicitation seeks proposals for projects that conduct resource inventories and assessments, feasibility studies, or other pre-development studies necessary to process, use and develop energy and mineral resources. These resources and their uses include, but are not limited to, biomass (woody and waste) for heat or electricity; transportation fuels; hydroelectric, solar, or wind generation; geothermal heating or electricity production; district heating; other forms of distributed energy generation; oil, natural gas, and helium; sand and gravel, coal, precious minerals, and base minerals (lead, copper, zinc, etc.). EMDP projects may include, but are not limited to:
Initial resource exploration;
Defining potential targets for development;
Performing a market analysis to establish production/demand for a commodity;
Performing economic evaluation and analysis of the resource;
Baseline studies related to energy and mineral projects; and
Other pre-development studies or work necessary to promote the use and development of energy and mineral resources.

Tribes and Native communities are on the front lines of climate change, experiencing extreme weather, rising sea levels, extended drought, warming temperatures, and melting permafrost. The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report demonstrates that climate change affects Indigenous peoples more severely and earlier than other populations. Many tribes and Native communities are located in remote and coastal locations, which increases their vulnerabilities to flooding and wildfire. Furthermore, subsistence and cultural practices rely on healthy ecosystems that are stewarded by Native peoples. To support climate action that addresses adaptation and disaster preparation First Nations established the second project under its newly created Climate Initiative, Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions. This project is designed to provide tribes and Native nonprofits with resources to support climate action that addresses adaptation and disaster preparation (e.g., wildfires, flooding, drought) through the application of nature-based solutions based on Native knowledge.

Nature-based solutions rely on animals, plants, and the environment to protect ecosystems and support human well-being and local biodiversity. Examples include:

Clam bed restoration to address flooding and beach erosion
Reintroduction of ecocultural plants to prevent erosion
Beaver restoration to promote water retention and carbon sequestration
Cultural burning to prevent sustain biodiversity
Grass farming to address desertification
First Nations is now accepting applications under our Stewarding Native Lands program for projects that aim to grow tribal capacity and programming to employ and monitor community-, culture-, and nature-based approaches. First Nations expects to award 6 grants up to $200,000 each to eligible tribes and organizations.

Grant support is made possible through funding from the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and First Nations’ Tribal Lands Conservation Fund.

The Cultural and Community Resilience program supports community-based efforts to address the impacts of climate change and COVID-19 by safeguarding cultural resources and fostering cultural resilience through identifying, documenting, and/or collecting cultural heritage and community experiences. The program prioritizes projects from disadvantaged communities in the United States or its jurisdictions.

Projects should fall into one of two categories: community collecting initiatives or oral history programs. All projects must address the impacts of either climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic on one or more communities. The program welcomes both modest projects and larger ones and supports projects at any stage, from preliminary planning to final steps and implementation.

Project activities may take many forms, including but not limited to:

Collaborative planning to identify cultural and historical resources;
Documentation of cultural and historical resources through digital means;
Recording oral histories;
Preserving Traditional Knowledge, practices, or technologies, and memories of elders and community, including in languages other than English; or
Establishing shared resources and protocols for rapid response collecting.
NEH welcomes applications at all stages of project development and encourages the use of inclusive methodologies. These might include folkloric, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic modes of inquiry; oral histories; participatory archiving; shared stewardship arrangements; and community-centered access. NEH also encourages leveraging open access online resources and using Creative Commons licenses, when possible and as appropriate.

Please note: the proposal should budget funds for two members of the project team to attend a two-day meeting in Washington, D.C., in May 2026. See Research and Related Budget, section D in the Notice of Funding Opportunity, for more information.

A new pre-recorded webinar with updated information discussing the Cultural and Community Resilience program will be posted to this page by March 21, 2024.

The Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Native Americans announces the availability of Fiscal Year 2024 funds for community-based projects for the Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (ERE) program. The ERE program provides funding for the costs of planning, developing, and implementing programs designed to improve the capability of tribal governing bodies to regulate environmental quality pursuant to federal and tribal environmental laws.

This is a competitive grant solicitation. The CEC announces the availability of up to $4,070,070 to provide grants to local governments.