Fiscal Year 2024 Chesapeake B-WET Program - School District Programming | NOAA NMFS HCPO 2024 2008219

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA NMFS HCPO 2024 2008219

The Fiscal Year 2024 Chesapeake B-WET Program - School District Programming grant is a NOAA-funded education opportunity focused on getting K-12 students engaged in hands-on, locally relevant learning about their watersheds and the Chesapeake Bay. It supports programs that use Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs), which are structured learning sequences that blend classroom instruction with outdoor fieldwork. Students typically move through an arc that includes defining an environmental issue, participating in field experiences, analyzing and drawing conclusions from what they observed, and then completing an environmental action project that connects learning to real-world stewardship. The overall purpose is to build stronger understanding and long-term stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay system and local waterways, including rivers, streams, and surrounding habitats, while advancing the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement environmental literacy goals and aligning with the NOAA Education Strategic Plan.

The announcement is organized around two main priorities (listed without implying one is more important than the other). The first priority is implementing MWEEs in school districts, meaning projects that directly deliver these experiences to students through instruction, outdoor investigations, and action components. The second priority is supporting school district capacity for environmental literacy, which covers efforts that help districts build the internal systems needed to sustain high-quality watershed education over time (for example, strengthening district-level planning, curriculum integration, educator support structures, and partnerships that make MWEEs easier to run consistently). It is also clarified that a separate B-WET funding opportunity exists for statewide K-12 environmental literacy capacity building, and applicants should distinguish this school-district-focused competition from that statewide track.

Eligibility is broad in terms of who can apply, but the target audience and geography are specific. Eligible applicants include K-12 public and independent schools and school systems (including independent school districts), institutions of higher education (public or private), community-based and nonprofit organizations (including 501(c)(3)s), and state, local, interstate, and federally recognized tribal governments. While for-profit organizations and foreign organizations (and foreign public entities) cannot apply as the lead applicant, they are allowed to participate as partners under an eligible applicant, and federal agencies similarly cannot receive funds but may participate as project partners. A key constraint for school districts is geographic: only school districts with more than 25% of their land area within the Chesapeake Bay watershed are eligible under this announcement, reflecting the program's watershed-based mission and service area.

This opportunity is offered by the Department of Commerce through NOAA as a discretionary cooperative agreement, which generally implies an active federal role during the project (such as coordination, technical involvement, or collaborative oversight) compared to a more hands-off grant structure. The CFDA/Assistance Listing number tied to the program is 11.457, and the listed award ceiling is $100,000. The opportunity was posted with an original closing date of February 16, 2024. NOAA also signals a strong interest in expanding participation from Minority Serving Institutions and organizations working in underserved communities, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribal colleges and universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, and other entities serving historically underserved populations. Proposals that meaningfully involve these institutions or communities are explicitly encouraged, reinforcing the program's emphasis not only on environmental learning outcomes but also on equitable access to high-quality, place-based STEM and environmental education across the Chesapeake Bay watershed region.

• The Department of Commerce in the education, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fiscal Year 2024 Chesapeake B-WET Program - School District Programming" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.457.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-11-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-16. (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 $100,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for NOAA NMFS HCPO 2024 2008219

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: