Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance | F19AS00026

Opportunity Information: Apply for F19AS00026

The Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F19AS00026) is a discretionary funding program offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which generally means the agency expects to have substantial involvement during the project period rather than simply providing funds and stepping back. The opportunity falls under environmental and natural resources research and development, with a focus on science and technology approaches that can produce practical, biologically meaningful improvements for fish and aquatic communities affected by urban runoff.

This specific project is centered on untreated urban stormwater runoff, which often carries a mix of pollutants that can harm fish and other aquatic organisms when runoff reaches streams, rivers, and estuaries. The work proposed under this award is aimed at improving stormwater treatment through bioretention systems, which are engineered soil-based filtration practices often used in green infrastructure (for example, rain gardens or bioretention cells). The research is designed to identify cost-effective bioretention soil depths that still achieve real, measurable gains in water quality that translate into healthier outcomes for aquatic life, not just better chemical numbers on paper.

The grant’s core research agenda is framed around two practical questions. First, it seeks to determine how long a particular bioretention soil media blend described as “60/40” can prevent toxic effects to aquatic animals. In other words, the study is looking at the longevity and durability of the media’s treatment performance over time, which is critical because many stormwater controls perform well when new but can lose effectiveness as they age, clog, or become saturated with contaminants. Second, it aims to determine what soil depths are necessary to provide adequate treatment. Depth matters because deeper media can potentially capture and transform more pollutants, but it also increases construction costs, space requirements, and maintenance complexity. The point of the research is to find the depth that is “enough” to protect aquatic organisms without overbuilding the system.

To answer these questions, the project combines chemical and biological evaluation methods. Chemical effectiveness will be assessed using analytical chemistry to measure contaminants in stormwater before and after treatment through the bioretention media, allowing the researchers to quantify pollutant reduction and understand which compounds are being removed, retained, or potentially breaking through the system. Biological effectiveness will be tested by looking directly at organism health responses, using two fish models: juvenile salmon, which are ecologically and regionally important and can be sensitive to stormwater pollutants, and zebrafish embryos, which are widely used in toxicology because they provide a sensitive and well-established way to detect developmental and sublethal effects. Using both chemical measurements and biological endpoints is important because stormwater is a complex mixture, and reductions in individual chemicals do not always perfectly predict whether the treated water is actually less harmful to living organisms.

In terms of basic award details, the opportunity anticipated a single award with an award ceiling of $316,213 and an expected number of awards listed as 1. Eligibility was listed as unrestricted, meaning it was open to a wide range of applicant types, subject to any additional clarifications that may have appeared in the full announcement. The opportunity was created on October 19, 2018, with an original closing date of October 26, 2018. The associated CFDA (now commonly referred to as Assistance Listing) number provided is 15.664, linking the funding to the broader Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance program area. Overall, the grant supports applied research intended to refine stormwater bioretention design in a way that is both cost-conscious and directly tied to protecting fish and aquatic biological communities.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.664.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 19, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 26, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $316,213.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for F19AS00026

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