Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission today issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the 2022 Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program grant program.

For more than 30 years, the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program has provided grants to reduce nutrients and sediments from entering the Great Lakes. This year’s program will continue to help local partners take action to reduce nutrient loads from agricultural watersheds, reduce untreated stormwater runoff, and restore shoreline and streambanks in the Great Lakes basin.

Through the program, nonfederal units of government, tribes, and incorporated nonprofit organizations are eligible to receive grants for up to $200,000, supporting work over a period of up to three years. Applicants are invited to submit proposals for activities associated with one of three project types: 1) agricultural nonpoint; 2) stormwater; and 3) Great Lakes shoreline or streambanks.

The due date for applications is 5:00 p.m. Eastern on April 22, 2022. Applications will be reviewed by representatives from the eight Great Lakes states, plus federal partners at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). Final decisions on funded projects are anticipated in summer 2022. Selected projects would begin work not later than October 1, 2022.

The Great Lakes Commission has managed the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program for more than three decades. Since 2010, the program has benefitted from funding through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Funded projects support progress toward the achievement of GLRI Action Plan objectives and goals. The program is a partnership with NRCS, U.S. EPA, and the Great Lakes states. Please visit www.nutrientreduction.org for more information. 

An informational webinar for applicants will be offered on March 24, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern to discuss funding priorities and the application process. To register for the webinar, visit https://bit.ly/3s746up.

For more information, please contact GLC Program Manager Nicole Zacharda at nzacharda@glc.org or 734-396-6084.

The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Todd L. Ambs, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (retired), is a binational government agency established in 1955 to protect the Great Lakes and the economies and ecosystems they support. Its membership includes leaders from the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes basin. The GLC recommends policies and practices to balance the use, development, and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes and brings the region together to work on issues that no single community, state, province, or nation can tackle alone. Learn more at www.glc.org.