Since 2002, U.S. EPA has supported implementation of the Exchange Network through the Exchange Network Grant Program, which provides funding for states, tribes, and territories. For complete official information, visit EPA’s Exchange Network Grants website. The purpose of the Exchange Network (EN) grant program is to foster better environmental management and decision-making through increased access to timely, high quality, environmental information.
FY25 Grant Competition Update
The Exchange Network Grant Program initially published its FY25 Solicitation Notice (SN) in January of 2025; however, this competition was extended and then paused in April 2025, to allow for mandatory Solicitation Notice updates in alignment with new Agency priorities and strategic alignment.
The revised FY25 SN has now been re-published, with an application due date of Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025, by 11:59 PM ET: see https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/358164.
Applicants are encouraged to revise any draft applications to align with the new guidance before submittal. See ‘FY25 Exchange Network Solicitation Notice’ for more information and a description of the changes reflected in the new published SN. Please note that any applicants who applied during the first open application period may resubmit an application in alignment with the updated guidance; EPA will review the most recent application submitted to grants.gov. New applicants are also welcome.
The optional fillable templates for the cover letter, project narrative (work plan), and budget narrative attachment form, plus the optional budget calculation tool, have also been updated and are available by downloading the full announcement zip file under the ‘related documents’ tab in the grants.gov listing. This guidance is likewise available under the ‘resources’ section of the EN website.
The purpose of the Exchange Network (EN) grant program is to foster better environmental management and decision-making through increased access to timely, high quality, environmental information. An applicant’s proposed project goals and outputs should align with one or more EN Funding Areas as described in Section 3A of the SN and EPA Pillar 3: ‘Permitting Reform, Cooperative Federalism, and Cross-Agency Partnership’ from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s “Powering the Great American Comeback”; applicants should also address other supported EPA Pillars within their submitted project narrative, if applicable to their proposal. Applicants are encouraged to read the Solicitation Notice carefully for further information on applicant requirements.
EPA expects to award 25-30 grants of up to $600,000 each, totaling approximately $9,200,000 in FY25. The exact number of grants awarded will depend on the number of applications submitted to EPA by the application deadline, the amounts of proposed project budgets, and the quality of proposals. Please be aware: award funding thresholds have increased from prior competition years by $100,000. Individual applicants can now request up to $400,000 and eligible EN partnerships can request up to $600,000.
EPA only accepts project proposals for EN grants submitted electronically through Grants.gov, unless applicants have a waiver. Please allow for enough time to successfully submit your application and allow for unexpected errors requiring you to resubmit. EPA anticipates that it will announce selection decisions in early 2026 and plans to issue awards by October 2026.
For more information, please contact:
Erin McGown
EN Grants Program Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Email: [email protected]
Previous Grant Recipients
Information on previous Exchange Network grant awards is available at http://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/previous-exchange-network-grant-projects.
Contact
Erin McGown
Exchange Network Grants Program Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Email: ENGrantProgram [at] epa.gov