EPA Awards Iowa $2 Million Grant for Environmental Programs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) a $2 million grant to help protect human health and the environment throughout the state.

This Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) is the fourth installment of incremental PPG funding provided to IDNR this year, bringing the total funds granted in fiscal year 2017 to $5,368,779.

Unlike traditional category grants, PPGs allow recipients to use EPA awards with greater flexibility for priority environmental problems or program needs, streamline paperwork and accounting procedures to reduce administrative costs, and try cross-program initiatives and approaches.

“This is what EPA grants are all about,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, “empowering states to protect the environment by giving them the flexibility to determine how best to solve their unique environmental challenges. Simply put, it’s how EPA ought to do business and demonstrates the value of state and federal partnerships.”

Funding from this PPG will support IDNR programs that prevent, reduce, and eliminate air and water pollution to protect the citizens of the Hawkeye State and their environment.

For many years, states wanted greater flexibility in how they use and manage the grant funds they receive from EPA. In 1996, Congress responded by authorizing EPA to award PPGs that allow states, certain interstate agencies, and tribes to choose a combination of two or more environmental program grants in a single PPG.