The U.S. Economic Development Administration announced on April 24 that it is providing funding for regions that have been hit by environmental disasters in 2021 and 2022.
According to a release, the EDA Disaster Supplemental Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) was published at grants.gov and eda.gov, and the awards were through NOFO to address the economic challenges where Presidential declarations were made. It is intended for long-term recovery projects involving construction and non-construction projects.
“EDA anticipates strong demand for this program and encourages applicants to work with their Economic Development Representatives to prepare and submit a competitive proposal in a timely manner,” the release stated.
The funding is for regions impacted by Hurricane Ian and Fiona, as well as wildfires, floods and natural disasters that may have occurred. The EDA is taking applications through the Economic Adjustment Assistance program. The focus of the program is to provide flexible and responsive economic development support to meet the needs of a region after these disasters.
Applicants that can apply include Tribal nations, non-profit organizations, colleges, universities, district organizations of an Economic Development District, as well as state, county and city subdivisions engaged in economic or infrastructure activities. For-profit entities and individuals are not eligible for this type of funding.
It is expected by the EDA that there will be plenty of demand for the program. Applicants are expected to work with the Economic Development Representatives to prepare and submit proposals as soon as possible. The EDA has worked since the early 1990s to lead recovery and resiliency projects as part of the Disaster Supplemental Funding program. Since then the EDA has received $3 billion in supplemental appropriations from Congress to support long-term economic recovery after disasters have occurred.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and the EDA expects the award to be made in August. There is no deadline stated in the announcement.
