Montana Coal Endowment Program: Project Grants (MT)

The Montana Coal Endowment Program (MCEP) provides essential grants to support local infrastructure projects, focusing on drinking water, wastewater, solid waste, and bridge improvements. These state-funded grants help municipalities address critical health and safety concerns while promoting financial efficiency. Applicants are required to match funding dollar-for-dollar, with maximum grants reaching up to $750,000. By alleviating construction costs, MCEP enhances the affordability and quality of public facilities across Montana.

The Montana Coal Endowment Program (MCEP) is a state-funded program that is designed to help address the "affordability" of local infrastructure projects by providing grants to lower the cost of constructing public facilities.
The Montana Coal Endowment Program (MCEP) provides funding assistance for drinking water, wastewater, storm sewer or storm drain, solid waste, and bridge projects. The funding for the program comes from revenues earned on interest from Coal Severance Taxes.
The program makes awards to cities, towns, counties, and districts to replace aged collection or distribution systems, newly construct or repair treatment facilities, and repair or replace bridges. Program awards are focused on addressing health and safety problems and financial needs of applicants.
Eligible project expenses are those that are project related and incurred after the project award is authorized by the Legislature.
Some examples of typical costs reimbursed for by the program are:

• engineering designs and inspectiongrant administrationsurveying or geotechnicalconstruction
• Funding
• Applicants must provide matching funds of at least dollar for dollar of the amount requested from the program.

Maximum grant amount available is $750,000, $625,000 or $500,000 dependent on user rates being charged in the project area. Bridge projects are generally limited to $500,000.