EEA launches Eco One Stop pilot to simplify climate and environment grant applications

The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs on the Eco One Stop webinar introduced a consolidated application portal intended to streamline access to seven environmental and climate grant programs and to reduce duplicate submissions across programs.

Kara Runston, MVP Grant program director, said the pilot combines MVP action grants, coastal resilience and habitat grants, cooling corridors, planning assistance, dams and seawalls, Division of Ecological Restoration projects, and municipal assistance and training into a single application pathway. "It streamlines the grant application process into a single point of entry," Runston said, and added the portal is designed to "link projects to the best source of funding."

Under Secretary for Environment Stephanie Cooper said the combined application and new grants management system aim to make the process easier for applicants and improve program alignment. She noted robust early interest: 541 expressions of interest from 286 distinct applicants and roughly 260 feedback calls between October and January. "We're really heartened by all the interest," Cooper said.

The RFR (Request for Responses) and an accompanying Grants Catalog are posted on Combi's and include program eligibility, evaluation criteria and attached templates. Runston advised applicants to consult the RFR and Grants Catalog for program-specific eligibility and scoring details and to use the Grants Management System (GMS) webinar for a platform walkthrough.

Key administrative changes announced include a uniform 10% local match requirement calculated on the amount of state grant funding requested rather than total project cost. Runston gave an example: a $100,000 grant request requires a $10,000 match. She also emphasized that the match requirement is waived for communities designated as rural or small towns by the Office of Rural Affairs and for tribal governments. "No match is required for rural and small towns as designated by the Office of Rural Affairs and tribal governments," Runston said.

For culvert and small bridge projects, the agency strongly encouraged using a designer prequalified by the MassDOT Architects and Engineers Review Board for design work valued above $50,000 to maximize eligibility across related state programs; EEA said it may make that requirement mandatory in future rounds.

Practical application notes: the Grants Management System requires applicants to create a business account (not a personal account); applications will be available in applicants' GMS portals for record retention; and applicants should avoid last-minute submissions because the system is being piloted. The RFR opened the week of the webinar; questions are due by Feb. 18, compiled answers will be posted Feb. 25, and the application closes March 20 at 11:59 p.m. Awards are expected to be announced in summer with projects underway by July 2026.

Runston and panelists closed by pointing applicants to webinar recordings, the posted RFR and Grants Catalog on Combi's, and to a GMS webinar and Mass and Virus Screen office hours for more technical questions. "Please look through everything and send us any further questions you have by that February 18th deadline," Runston said.

The agency did not announce final funding amounts for every program during the webinar; one panelist later said funding for the EEA planning assistance grant is "TBD" but anticipated at about $1 million for FY27. Additional program-specific details are available in the RFR and Grants Catalog on the agency posting.