EEA seeks to further land conservation in the Commonwealth. Applications may be to purchase land in fee simple or to purchase a CR. Landholdings that are contiguous, under the same ownership, or proposed for acquisition for a single purpose may be submitted in a single application. Two or more municipalities may submit a joint application for contiguous lands that span multiple municipalities. Unrelated, discontiguous parcels must be submitted as separate projects in individual applications. The Property: 1.) Must be currently unprotected. Land that is already protected for any purpose under Article 97 or under an EEA-approved CR is ineligible for funding. Article 97 status may be conferred on a property through an EEA grant program (LAND, PARC, Conservation Partnership, Landscape Partnership, or LWCF); a CR; Agricultural Preservation Restriction; or by virtue of its acquisition by a government entity for any Article 97 purpose or dedication to an Article 97 purpose after acquisition. Lands enrolled in Chapter 61, 61A or 61B are not classified as permanently protected land and are , eligible to receive funding. Cannot be already owned by a 501(c)(3) non-profit environmental or conservation organization unless it was purchased no earlier than two years prior to the bid posting date for this grant and it can be demonstrated the property was purchased with the sole intention of pre-aquiring the land onbehalf of the municipality in anticipation of a potential LAND grant. Any exercise of this exemption is at the risk of the non-profit organization. EEA does not guarantee funding as a result of this exemption.
