The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is soliciting proposals for a second round of Great Lakes Shoreline Cities Grants. USEPA will award grants totaling up to $4.5 million to eligible shoreline cities to fund green infrastructure projects that will improve Great Lakes water quality. This year, shoreline cities with a populations of 25,000 to 50,000 residents will be eligible to apply for green infrastructure grants of up to $250,000.
Cities can use the grants to cover up to 50 percent of the cost of the following improvements:
- rain gardens
- bioswales
- green roofs
- porous pavement
- greenways
- constructed wetlands
- stormwater tree trenches
- other green technology features on public property
In 2013, USEPA awarded Shoreline Cities Grants totaling just under $7 million to 16 cities with populations greater than 50,000. One Minnesota and three Wisconsin cities received grants last year. Duluth received a $250,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant to fund green infrastructure projects to improve water quality in the Lake Superior Basin. Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Racine received a combined total of $1.75 million in GLRI grants to fund green infrastructure projects to improve water quality in Lake Michigan.
Click here to view the USEPA’s eligibility requirements. To access additional information about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, click here.