MassDEP bureau details grant programs and application tips for water projects

Staff from the Bureau of Water Resources at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on a virtual workshop outlined a suite of grant and loan opportunities for water-quality monitoring, stormwater and sewer work, drinking-water infrastructure and cybersecurity, and offered application guidance for prospective applicants.

The presentation matters because the grants support projects that affect drinking-water safety, wastewater and stormwater management, PFAS and other emerging-contaminant responses, and compliance with federal Clean Water Act and state water-management requirements.

Courtney Starling, a grant administrator for the bureau, began the session with general application guidance, emphasizing that applicants should follow submission instructions and evaluation criteria exactly. “The only things we score on are in the criteria,” Starling said, noting page limits, platform-specific submission methods and the need to use the right substitute W-9 when contracting with the state.

Program staff then summarized individual funding opportunities. Judy Rondo, nonpoint source outreach coordinator in the Watershed Planning Program, described a state-funded water-quality monitoring grant that supports volunteer and organized monitoring programs. “We have $200,000 available for fiscal year 25,” Rondo said; the program is open to federally recognized tribal nations and nonprofit organizations, does not require a matching contribution, and the bureau anticipates a request-for-proposals in fall 2025.

Rondo also introduced two federally funded Clean Water Act programs: the Section 604(b) water-quality management planning grant, which funds assessment and watershed planning and is open to all units of government (RFP expected fall 2025; funding…