Requests for Proposals

Since 1992, the LCBP has awarded more than 1,500 grants totaling more than $17.02 million to local organizations to support a variety of pollution prevention, habitat restoration, and other projects that improve the quality of Lake Champlain. In that same time, the LCBP and its partner organizations also have funded numerous projects conducted by universities, consultants, research foundations, nonprofit organizations, and others. These projects include scientific research, best management demonstration projects, education and outreach efforts, and other initiatives that are key to implementing Opportunities for Action.

Visit our Grantee Toolkit page for grant writing resources, and as always, please contact us with questions about your grant application.

LCBP GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

(click the grant category for more details, including sub-categories)

RECURRING AND ANNUAL GRANTS

Clean Water and Healthy Ecosystems Research Projects (up to $300,000)

These grants support for projects to further the mission of the LCBP and address the research tasks outlined in our management plan, Opportunities for Action. Eligible organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, and municipalities in the U.S. and Canada.

Clean Water and Healthy Ecosystems Planning and Implementation Projects

CLEAN WATER – Small grants for IMPLEMENTATION (up to $50,000)
CLEAN WATER – Large grants for IMPLEMENTATION ($50,001 – $200,000)

These grant categories supports projects that will improve water quality and directly result in the reduction of water pollution in the Lake Champlain Basin (U.S. and Québec). Eligible organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and non-federal/non-state government agencies.

CLEAN WATER – grants for PLANNING (up to $75,000)

This grant category supports projects that will provide planning, design, or prioritization for future water quality improvement projects in the Lake Champlain Basin (U.S. and Québec). Eligible organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, non-federal/non-state government agencies, and for-profit companies.

HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS – Small grants for HABITAT AND NATIVE SPECIES CONSERVATION (up to $50,000)
HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS – Large grants for HABITAT AND NATIVE SPECIES CONSERVATION ($50,001 – $175,000)

These grant categories support Projects that will preserve, restore, or improve native species habitat in the Lake Champlain Basin (U.S. and Québec).

HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS – Grants for AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES SPREAD PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT (up to $25,000)

This grant category supports projects that will directly prevent the spread aquatic invasive species or manage their impacts in the Lake Champlain Basin (US and Québec).

HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS – grants for AQUATIC ORGANISM PASSAGE RESTORATION (up to $250,000)

This grant category supports projects that will directly lead to improved aquatic organism passage in the U.S. portion of the Lake Champlain Basin.

Education and Outreach

These grants support projects that address strategies and tasks outlined in the Informed and Involved Public chapter of Opportunities for Action

Education and Outreach – Small (Up to $15,000)

Education and Outreach – Large ($15,000 to $50,000)

Organizational Support

(up to $20,000)

These grants support projects that will support increased organizational capacity and long-term effectiveness of watershed organizations working to implement elements of Opportunities for Action.

Stream Wise

(up to $15,000)

These grants are available to organizations who wish to partner with Stream Wise and conduct Stream Wise assessments in the communities they serve during the 2023 season

ONGOING GRANTS

Watershed Association Professional Development Mini-Grants (up to $500/year)

These mini-grants provide professional development funds for the staff and volunteers of qualified watershed organizations in the Lake Champlain Basin, to cover expenses such as travel, meals, registration and accommodations at meetings, conferences, workshops and other venues designed to enhance the organizations’ capacity to operate.

Download the Watershed Association Professional Development Mini-Grants: Instructions, Application & Reimbursement Form →

Educator Mini-grants (up to $1,ooo)

These mini-grants provide educators with funds to buy materials for their classroom that will aid in teaching students about Lake Champlain Basin issues. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Download the Educator Mini-Grants: Instructions, Application & Reimbursement Form →

PROJECT REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS

Interstate Clean Water Accounting: External Review of VTDEC and NYSDEC Clean Water Project Tracking and Accounting Methodologies

The Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), in coordination with NEIWPCC, is pleased to announce a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the external review of published Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VTDEC) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) clean water project tracking and accounting methodologies. This project will support the coordination and development of a comparison evaluation of clean water project tracking data and accounting. The project will offer recommendations to align pollution reduction efficiencies for management practices, total phosphorus load reduction estimates, and Standard Operating Procedures for calculating this information for the entire U.S.-portion of the Lake Champlain watershed. The outputs of the external review will define and compare BMP tracking and accounting procedures, consider data collection and state-wide tracking responsibilities for New York and Vermont, and identify opportunities for building consistency into the existing programs over time. Ultimately, the project will recommend how pollution reduction tracking methodology for the Lake Champlain Phosphorus TMDL may be improved within each State and be better aligned between the two States.

The successful applicant will propose a project that completes the outputs described below according to the required project timeline. Up to $100,000 is available to support this project, and it is anticipated that one application will be awarded.

This work will support the Clean Water goal of LCBP’s long-term management plan, Opportunities for Action: An Evolving Plan for the Future of the Lake Champlain Basin. This grant opportunity is supported by funds awarded to NEIWPCC on behalf of the Lake Champlain Basin Program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Applicants must submit their proposal via the online form below at this link no later than 12 PM (noon) EST on Monday September 25, 2023.

Lake Champlain Watershed Economic Assessment

The Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), in coordination with NEIWPCC, is pleased to announce a Request for Proposals (RFP) for services to perform an economic assessment of major watershed-related uses, economic sectors, and economic impacts of these sectors to the Lake Champlain basin. The purpose of this project is to measure and communicate the economic value that Lake Champlain and the clean water and healthy ecosystems of its watershed provides to the regional economy. The results of this project will provide a credible economic analysis and public facing outreach materials. The results of this valuation will be used in reports and publications by the Lake Champlain Basin Program and partners including the US EPA. This comprehensive, multisector study will update and expand previous economic studies in the region. This study may lead to additional work in this sector. 

Eligible organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, and non-federal/non-state government agencies.   

Up to approximately $200,000 is available to support the awarded project. The LCBP anticipates offering one (1) award for this RFP.  

Applicants must submit proposals via the online form below no later than 12 pm (noon) on Monday May 8, 2023.  

View a list of recently closed RFPs, or search our Publications Database to read the technical reports that have resulted from past projects.