By STAFF REPORTS
The deadline has passed for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s many grant opportunities available to fund projects statewide in the areas of resiliency planning and implementation, water supply in Northwest Florida and water quality issues dealing specifically with the Florida Keys.
The Sept. 1 deadline follows grant opportunities that were closed on July 31 in the areas of water quality, alternative water supply, springs restoration, wetlands restoration, technology related to algal blooms, nonpoint source management, and coral reef restoration.
For the 24/25 fiscal year, the Florida Legislature provided considerable grant funding to the Department to continue doling out money to local governments to address various environmental challenges. Grant opportunities and criteria are available at protectingfloridatogether.gov.
The Sept. 1 grant deadline programs focus on resiliency planning and implementation. According to the Department’s website, resiliency planning includes, “further assessment of vulnerabilities of critical assets which helps to ensure coastal communities will recover and move forward faster after natural disasters.” The resiliency implementation grant program focuses on risks that local governments had already identified by vulnerability assessments.
Also included in the most recent grant cycle are water supply projects in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties in Northwest Florida as well as projects in the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern or the City of Key West Area of Critical State Concern. For the latter, to be eligible, projects must improve water quality and protect water resources, such as wastewater, land acquisition, and fisheries.
In June when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Fiscal Year 24/25 budget, it included various line items for grant funding, including $110 million for the water quality improvement grant program, $55 million for the alternative water supply grant program, $225 million for resilience projects, $100 million for wastewater and stormwater projects for the Indian River Lagoon, and other state priorities.
The water quality improvements grant program lays out specific eligibility requirements related to Indian River Lagoon, Biscayne Bay and the Caloosahatchee River, in addition to general water quality improvement projects.
For the 23/24 fiscal year, the Department selected 27 water quality improvement projects totaling $210 million, ranging from upgrading local government wastewater treatment facilities to advanced wastewater treatment to septic to sewer conversions and more. Cities, counties, and special districts received funding.
