Healthy Environment, Healthy Communities Grant Program - Environmental Improvement Action Projects

Healthy Environment, Healthy Communities Grant Program

The Healthy Environment, Healthy Communities Grant Program will support community outreach and engagement, environmental action, and larger-scale restoration projects in the communities of the Patapsco and Back River Watershed and the Curtis Bay and surrounding area. The funding sources of this program originate from environmental enforcement cases from a civil settlement involving the Patapsco and Back River Wastewater Treatment Plants (which will support projects throughout these watersheds) and a criminal enforcement case involving Curtis Bay Energy, L.P. (which will support projects in the Curtis Bay and surrounding communities).

This is the first year of the program, and the Request for Proposals (RFP) will be updated and adapted in each subsequent funding round to be responsive to any feedback received and continue to be supportive of evolving community needs and goals.

Environmental Improvement Action Projects

These small to medium-scale projects will aim to green recreational and communal spaces through tree plantings, rain gardens, rain barrels/cisterns, pervious pavement, and other practices. Note that many of these greening projects are also known as stormwater best management practices (BMPs) and/or green infrastructure practices. As envisioned in strategies such as the Baltimore Green Network Plan, vacant lots and barren streets can offer an opportunity to strengthen communities by bringing community members together to create and maintain community green space and walkable neighborhoods.

In the Curtis Bay and surrounding communities, projects that provide both environmental and public safety improvements, such as solar-powered street lighting or solar panel installations, will also be considered.

Eligibility

_ You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website.