The NEP provides financial and technical resources to municipalities for projects that help meet the NEP's goals to protect and restore water quality and living resources in Buzzards Bay and its surrounding watershed as described in the CCMP. The $814,445 in funds for this solicitation are federal and provided in accordance with Cooperative Agreements 4T00A01622 ($753,470) and 4T00A01238 ($60,975) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA provided this funding to the NEP under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Public Law 117-58) to implement NEP management conferences and to support EPA-approved CCMPs. Goals of the IIJA funding include investing public dollars efficiently and equitably, building resilient infrastructure, and adapting to climate stressors. This request for proposals complies with Massachusetts Executive Order 552 and EEA Environmental Justice (EJ) goals of the Commonwealth. Proposed activities need not be within an Environmental Justice community. However, if the project does benefit an EJ community, applicants should describe specifically how the proposed project activities will benefit the specified community, for the purposes of reviewer scoring. Visit this Mass.gov E nvironmental J ustice page for more information. Projects that meet IIJA, climate, EJ, and CCMP goals will be the most competitive.
