National Environmental Information Exchange Network Grants

The summary for the National Environmental Information Exchange Network Grants grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Environmental Protection Agency, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

National Environmental Information Exchange Network Grants: The goal of the National Environmental Information Exchange Grant Program is to advance the National Environmental Information Exchange Network (Network) by encouraging State and Tribal environmental data integration efforts. The Network was created almost three years ago in an effort to integrate the environmental data management systems of the States, Tribes, and federal government by using the Internet and creating standardized information exchange formats. Completion of this integrated network will enable fast and timely sharing of environmental information from across the country and improve our ability to more effectively distribute that information to the public. The Network supports one of the major goals of the President's Management Agenda for E-Government by helping create a seamless, citizen-centered government. The Network uses technologies and approaches that are found in E-commerce and provides an alternative to the historic approaches for exchanging data that rely upon data being processed directly to multiple EPA national data systems. Ultimately, network participants will house information on their own nodes or portals where it will be available upon authorized request. EPA and the Environmental Council of the States have developed the Network Implementation Plan and the Network Blueprint that further explain the goals and operating principles for the Network. The Network Implementation Plan describes in detail the activities and mechanisms that must be developed to operate and manage the Network; the Network Blueprint document describes the foundation for the Network Implementation Plan. Both documents can be accessed at: http://www.epa.gov/neengprg/library/. The President's fiscal year (FY) 2003 budget includes $25 million for this grant program. Subject to availability of appropriations for this purpose, EPA plans to select, through a competitive process, grant proposals that will be awarded to States, the District of Columbia, Trust Territories (referred to as States in the remainder of this guidance), and Federally Recognized Indian Tribes (referred to as Tribes in the remainder of this guidance) for capacity building capabilities for Network participation. Tribes will receive funds from a designated set-aside pool of resources. A designated set-aside of funds will also support the Network Administration for States and Tribes. This notice sets forth the process that will be used for selecting proposals and forms necessary to prepare a proposal.