Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF) | EPA I R1 LISCIF 22 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA I R1 LISCIF 22 01

The Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF) is a discretionary federal funding opportunity from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that supports projects aimed at restoring and protecting the Long Island Sound ecosystem while making sure community benefits, climate resilience, and environmental justice are built into the work. The program is rooted in decades of water quality progress that began after the Clean Water Act of 1972, when permit programs and major investments helped reduce obvious pollution sources. Over time, improvements such as protecting tidal wetlands, upgrading wastewater treatment plants, and controlling industrial discharges produced measurable gains. Even with that progress, the opportunity recognizes that fully restoring the Sound requires coordinated, ecosystem-wide strategies rather than isolated fixes.

This grant is closely tied to the Long Island Sound Study (LISS), a bi-state partnership created in 1985 by EPA along with New York and Connecticut. LISS brings together federal and state agencies, user groups, organizations, and residents to guide restoration and protection efforts across the region. A key foundation for this work is the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), first developed in 1994 and revised in 2015. The updated 2015 CCMP set 20 ecosystem targets intended to drive measurable progress through 2035, and it explicitly weaves three cross-cutting principles into all activities: building resiliency to climate change, ensuring long-term sustainability of results, and advancing environmental justice so that underserved communities are meaningfully included and equitably benefit from restoration outcomes.

The opportunity is offered as a cooperative agreement, meaning recipients should generally expect substantial federal involvement and coordination during project implementation compared with a standard grant. It is also categorized under Environment and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) activity, aligning it with broader national investments in environmental infrastructure and resilience. The program’s assistance listing is associated with CFDA (now commonly referred to as Assistance Listing) number 66.437, which helps applicants and partners identify the federal program area tied to the funding.

In terms of scale and competitiveness, EPA anticipated making a single award, with an award ceiling of up to $5,000,000. The funding opportunity was originally posted July 8, 2022, with an original closing date of September 12, 2022, under Funding Opportunity Number EPA I R1 LISCIF 22 01. Eligibility is listed generally as "Others," with the expectation that applicants consult the opportunity’s eligibility clarification language for details on which types of organizations can apply (for example, this category often signals that eligibility may include certain nonprofit organizations, institutions, or other non-traditional governmental entities, but the exact scope is defined in the full notice).

A notable feature of the LISCIF framing is its explicit emphasis on environmental justice and community engagement. In 2020, LISS formalized an Environmental Justice Work Group (EJWG) that meets quarterly and includes a subgroup focused specifically on outreach and engagement with underserved communities. That structure signals that projects supported under this fund are expected to do more than deliver technical environmental improvements; they should also demonstrate intentional partnership with communities that have historically been left out of planning and benefits, and they should incorporate engagement practices that are ongoing, accessible, and responsive to community priorities.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment, infrastructure investment and jobs act (iija) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.437.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 08, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 12, 2022. (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 $5,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for EPA I R1 LISCIF 22 01

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