Opportunities for Funding

Purpose:
The California Energy Commission’s Siting, Transmission, and Environmental Protection Division announces California Clean Energy Planning Program (CCEPP) and the availability of up to $1,550,000 in grant funds for this first-come, first-served grant solicitation.

Description:
This solicitation has two purposes: 1) make $1,050,000 available to California Native American tribes for clean energy future planning as well as to better enable their participation in statewide clean energy and energy infrastructure planning activities and 2) make $500,000 available to local government entities to develop new or updated land use planning documents that support and advance the development of clean energy in their jurisdiction.

Background
The Office of Native Hawaiian Relations’ (ONHR) Heritage (Tourism) Opportunities in Hawaiʻi (HŌʻIHI) Grant Program serves to implement the Native Hawaiian Organization NATIVE Act Grants under CFDA 15.068 and the provisions of the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act (NATIVE Act), 25 U.S.C. 4351 et seq. The purposes of the NATIVE Act include establishing a more inclusive national travel and tourism strategy and providing opportunities, including funding, for Native Hawaiian organizations (NHO) as distinctly defined in the NATIVE Act, with the potential to deliver significant benefits, including job creation, elevated living standards, and expanded economic opportunities, for the Native Hawaiian Community.Tourism in Hawaiʻi has grown over the last century as visitor arrivals surpassed 10 million in 2020 and has seen a recovery since the drop in arrivals during the pandemic, with 9.4 million visitor arrivals in 2022 in a state whose population is less than 1.5 million people. This volume of visitors has led to excessive pressure on Hawaiʻi’s natural and cultural resources, including many long held sacred by members of the Native Hawaiian Community. Tourism in Hawaiʻi relies heavily on the Native Hawaiian culture as its overarching theme and draw and has operated as an extractive industry, depleting resources and often displacing Native Hawaiian Community members from their traditional lands, homes, and places of worship. Frustration amongst Native Hawaiian Community members has resulted in urgent calls to reevaluate priorities and to transform tourism into a regenerative industry, one that invests back into restoring and sustaining resources, including human resources, in Hawaiʻi. Given that tourism will remain a major economic driver for many states, including Hawaiʻi, the NATIVE Act plays an important role in promoting heritage and cultural tourism opportunities through the self-determining participation of Native American communities, including the Native Hawaiian Community, in the visitor industry.The Hawaiian value of hōʻihi (to treat with reverence or respect), as reflected in the ʻōlelo noʻeau (Hawaiian proverb) “E hōʻihi aku, e hōʻihi mai,” meaning “show respect, get respect”, represents the core principle of ONHR’s HŌʻIHI Grant Program. Through showing respect, visitors (tourists) can then be welcomed as guests with a shared kuleana (responsibility) in perpetuating the values and importance of Native Hawaiian traditional knowledge and cultural practices. This ʻōlelo noʻeau serves as a foundational guide for ONHR’s HŌʻIHI Grant Program to aide in actions that:Showcase the heritage, places, arts, foods, traditions, history and continuing vitality of the Native Hawaiian Community;Identify, enhance, revive, or maintain loea (cultural traditions and practices), wahi kūpuna (ancestral spaces) and wahi pana (sacred spaces) that are important to sustain the distinctiveness of the Native Hawaiian Community; andProvide for authentic and respectful visitor experiences in Hawaiʻi.These grants and subsequent actions by NHOs are also expected to facilitate job creation, stimulate economic activity, and contribute to elevating the living standards in the Native Hawaiian Community. Program Priorities for 2024For fiscal year 2024, ONHR will fulfill the core principles of the HŌʻIHI Grant Program by providing grant funding to successful NHO applicants who meet the criteria for one or more of the following priorities:Uplift, perpetuate, and in some cases revive, traditional Native Hawaiian practices (e.g., ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, kapa making, lauhala and kaula weaving, hula, amongst many others including lesser known practices) by creating opportunities for demonstrations, visitor education on history, usage, and protocols, or hands-on visitor participation experiences in the cultural practice;Support the maintenance, enhancement, and protection of Hawaiʻi’s natural resources, wahi kūpuna, and wahi pana at areas impacted by tourism;Enhance the entrepreneurial capacity for the Native Hawaiian Community by helping create business opportunities in the visitor industry, offering business development training, or stimulating economic activity; AND/ORUndertake related activities with visitors that convey respect and reaffirm the principle of reciprocation to the place, resources, and traditional knowledge holders and practitioners.For the purposes of this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), Native Hawaiian cultural practices may include, but are not limited to, traditional: farming practices, food preparation, material gathering and production of implements, products, and adornments, and cultural activities such as moʻolelo, dance, chant, song, arts, construction, and recreation.

The Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) WaterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) Program provides a framework for Federal leadership and assistance to stretch and secure water supplies for future generations in support of DOI priorities. Through WaterSMART, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) leverages Federal and non-Federal funding to work cooperatively with states,tribes, and localentities as they plan for and implement actions to increase water supply reliability through investments in existing infrastructure and attention to local water conflicts. Drought conditions across the Western United States (U.S.) impact a wide range of communities and sectors, including agriculture, cities, tribes, the environment, recreation, hydropower producers, and others. Reclamation established the Water Conservation Field Services Program (WCFSP) in 1996 to encourage beneficiaries of Federal water projects to conserve water, and to assist agricultural and urban water districts in preparing and implementing water conservation plans in accordance with the Reclamation Reform Act (RRA) of 1982. Through the WCFSP, Reclamation makes cost- shared financial assistance available for developing water conservation plans, identifying water management improvements through System Optimization Reviews (SORs), designing water management improvements, and improving the understanding of water conservation techniques through demonstration activities. The WCFSP provides support for priorities identified in Presidential Executive Order (E.O.) 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad and aligned with other priorities, such as those identified in E.O. 13985: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. WaterSMART also supports Reclamation’s priorities to increase water reliability and resilience, support racial and economic equity, modernize infrastructure, and enhance water conservation, ecosystem, and climate resilience.Through this NOFO, Reclamation’s Lower Colorado Basin Region (LCB) is requesting proposals to fund activities in support of the WCFSP within the LCB, within the State of Hawaii (map provided below), American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Sophie Danforth Conservation Biology Fund (SDCBF), established by Roger Williams Park Zoo and the Rhode Island Zoological Society in 1989, supports conservation programs that protect threatened wildlife and habitats worldwide.

Funding is directed towards field studies and other projects that demonstrate a multi-disciplinary approach to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation. This includes development of techniques that can be used in a natural environment, environmental education programs, and breeding programs that stress an integrative approach to conservation. Projects that involve in-country collaborators or align with RWPZoo’s conservation portfolio receive the highest funding priority.

ILCER aims to support island economies to develop and implement United States and international priorities to strengthen climate adaptation, green growth, and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

River Network and the United States Forest Service are excited to announce the sixth year of funding for nonprofit and tribal organizations working on or planning for stewardship activities on Forest Service administered Wild & Scenic Rivers (WSR) and surrounding lands. There are two types of awards:

1. Stewardship Impact Awards – these awards are for WSR stewardship projects for groups with established relationships with the Forest Service, and can cover a range of stewardship activities; and

2. Relationship Building and Planning Awards – these planning awards are intended to support relationship building between organizations led by and/or supporting communities who historically lack access to outdoor education, recreation, and stewardship opportunities and their local Forest Service offices.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP) on behalf of the Local Goverment Energy Program (LGEP). This FOA will support eligible local governments and Tribes to implement projects that provide direct community benefits, spark additional investments, meet community-identified priorities, and build local capacity. Community benefits may include creation of local economic opportunities for workers, workforce measures and agreements, community revitalization, lowered energy burdens, increased access to renewable energy, improved air quality, increased public participation in energy decision-making processes, and improved quality of life for local residents. Projects may span a range of geographic scopes and wide variety of technology areas including, but not limited to: building efficiency and/or electrification, electric transportation, energy infrastructure upgrades, microgrid development and deployment, renewable energy, resilience hubs, and workforce development. To view the entire FOA document, visit the Infrastructure Exchange Website at https://infrastructure-exchange.energy.gov/

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is for the launch of a new annual program, issued by the US Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP). This funding opportunity, titled Communities Sparking Investments in Transformative Energy (C-SITE), supports SCEP’s overall mission and is funded through SCEP’s Local Government Energy Program (LGEP). LGEP will provide direct financial awards and technical assistance to recipients through this FOA, as well as capacity-building support through additional upcoming technical assistance offerings.

This funding opportunity provides an anticipated $18 million for local governments and federally recognized Indian Tribes to implement municipally- or Tribal-led high-impact clean energy projects in disadvantaged communities, energy communities, small- and medium-sized jurisdictions, and Tribal communities. DOE retains the right to make partial awards and to reallocate funds in the event of undersubscription, ineligibility and/or increased program funds.

Program Goals

Deliver direct local community benefits of clean energy, such as reduced energy costs and improved air quality, through implementation of community-led energy projects or programs.
Spark additional investments in communities that create long-term local economic development opportunities and support community revitalization.
Advance community-identified energy priorities and right to self-determination.
Build capacity and partnerships in local governments and Tribes.
For this new program, DOE provides one topic area for all applicants to invite a broad range of diverse projects illustrating a variety of technologies, approaches, and models tailored to local community contexts and poised to spark additional investments in their communities. Projects may span a range of geographic scopes and wide variety of technology areas, including, but not limited to, building efficiency and/or electrification, clean transportation, energy infrastructure upgrades, microgrid development and deployment, renewable energy, and workforce development. All projects must include meaningful community engagement.

While partnerships are not required, DOE will prioritize projects with clear demonstrated support from local community partners and relevant decision-makers, as well as projects proposing significant benefits to workers and local residents, and the ability to spur local economic development or community revitalization, utilize existing community assets or transform liabilities into assets, and spark additional investments.

The purpose of this solicitation is to fund an applied research and development project that will support research to assess the impact of consolidated packages of electrified retrofit measures on air quality and other related impact categories, including resilience to extreme heat, indoor comfort, and energy and cost savings in California homes.

Purpose:
The CCOG-RM grant PY 24-25 is awarded to develop and implement radio talk shows aimed at reaching domestic and foreign Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MSFW) and their families to provide timely information regarding various programs, benefits, and services offered through EDD and their partners.

Description:
The Employment Development Department (EDD) announces the availability of up to $100,000. Wagner-Peyser 10 percent Governor's Discretionary funds for Campesino de California Outreach Grant-Radio Media (CCOG-RM) Program Year 2024-25 (PY 24-25) available through this Solicitation for Proposals (SFP). The EDD anticipates funding one organization for the CCOG-RM PY 24-25 grant opportunity.

The purpose of the program is to create and broadcast 24 semi-monthly, 30-minute hosted radio talk show programs in Spanish and recorded in video format media. Additionally, the awardee must create complementing media posts to publish on its website and use social media outlets to publicize the radio talk show videos and communicate additional information as necessary.

Eligible applicants for the CCOG-RM PY 24-25 SFP include public and private non-profit organizations, education institutions, community-based organizations (CBOs) and faith-based organizations. Individuals are not eligible apply.

Proposals must be received by 3 p.m. PT on Tuesday, May 31, 2024. An informational webinar will be held on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. PT. Pre-registration is recommended for all attendees. Please refer to the EDD’s Workforce Development Solicitation for Proposals website link below for the pre-registration instructions.

https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/WDSFP_Workforce_Development_Sol…

The EDD encourages applicants to submit a Notice of Intent to apply by May 21, 2024 by noon to WSBSFP2@edd.ca.gov. To view this SFP, visit the EDD Workforce Development Solicitations for Proposals webpage.