Grants

Act 13 of 2012 establishes the Marcellus Legacy Fund and allocates funds to the Commonwealth Financing Authority (the “Authority”) to be used to fund statewide initiatives to establish baseline water quality data on private water supplies using the Baseline Water Quality Data Program (BWQDP). Projects which involve practices for water sample collection and analysis to document existing groundwater quality conditions on private water supplies.

Applications will be accepted between February 1st and May 31st of each year. All applications and required supplemental information must be received by May 31st.

The purpose of the Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program is to increase the knowledge of agricultural science. The program’s goal is to increase the capacity for food, garden, and nutrition education while fostering higher levels of community engagement between farms and school systems by bringing together stakeholders from distinct parts of the food system. The initiative is part of a broader effort to not only increase access to school meals for low-income children, but also to dramatically improve their quality.

The primary goal of the UAIP projects is to support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production. The UAIP grants being made available for application under this NFO support planning and implementation activities. Planning activities will initiate, develop, or support the efforts of farmers, gardeners, citizens, government officials, schools, members of tribal communities, and other stakeholders in areas where access to fresh foods are limited or unavailable. Implementation activities will accelerate existing and emerging models of urban and/or innovative agricultural practices that serve multiple farmers or gardeners. Innovation may include new and emerging, as well as indigenous or non-traditional agricultural practices.

Grants can include Planning or Implementation activities:

Planning Activities
Planning activities may include:

• assessing community needs within the local food system;
• researching how food is grown, distributed, or marketed and/or recommending safe growing practices such as soil tests and environmental assessments.
• evaluating how urban agriculture and innovative production can address issues of food access, nutrition, education, conservation, and economic development.
• creating partnerships to improve growing, distributing and marketing of nutritious food;
• conducting business planning, feasibility studies, and other strategies, such as community resource development;
• developing local policy on zoning laws supporting urban agriculture and innovative production; and/or
• creating educational materials and programs that increase knowledge about food and agriculture and encourage careers in urban agriculture and innovative production;

Implementation Activities
Implementation activities may include:

• increasing food production
• promoting agricultural businesses
• providing mentoring, job training, and resources for underserved populations;
• implementing best practices to address food access, zoning, composting, land access, soil health;
• integrating emerging technologies, infrastructure needs (such as access to water and utilities);
• supporting community education about food systems, nutrition, agriculture production, and environment impact;
• operating community gardens or nonprofit farms that offer hands-on training in farming or gardening through virtual or web-based formats; and/or
• providing K-12 schools with educational resources or programs that increase student knowledge and access to locally grown foods.

For new users of Grants.gov, see Section D. of the full Notice of Funding Opportunity for information about steps required before applying via Grants.gov.

DCNR’s Bureau of Recreation and Conservation (BRC) assists local governments and recreation and conservation organizations with funding for projects related to parks, recreation, planning, and conservation. Applications for DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program grants are accepted once a year, typically during the spring. Grants also support regional and statewide partnerships that build capacity to better develop and manage resources.

Tutorial videos: 

• Walkthrough of the grant application 
• 2023 grant workshop video series (additional project information)

Before starting your grant application, contact your DCNR Bureau of Recreation and Conservation regional advisor for advice on making your project as competitive as possible for funding.