Prince George's County, Maryland, USA
Interior Nat Harbor

Stormwater Stewardship Grants

Background

In 2012, the Prince George’s County Council established the Stormwater Management Retrofit Program to provide property owners with incentives to incorporate stormwater management practices on private property, including rebates for rain barrel installation. In 2013, the County Council established the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund for the purposes of making capital improvements for stormwater management; providing public education and outreach relating to stormwater management or stream and wetland restoration; and distributing grants to nonprofit organizations for program or project cost.

In 2014, the County, through the Department of the Environment ("DoE"), entered into a Cooperative Agreement with the Chesapeake Bay Trust ("CBT" or "Trust") to develop and implement the Prince George's County Stormwater Stewardship and Rain Check Rebate Programs. The Trust is a State agency established by the Maryland General Assembly in 1985 to promote public awareness and participation in the restoration and protection of water quality, aquatic and land resources of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

The Trust is authorized to provide grants to nonprofit organizations, community associations, civic groups, schools, or public agencies for citizen involvement projects.

 

Program Purpose 

The Prince George’s County Stormwater Stewardship Grant Program (PGCSSGP) funds on-the-ground restoration and program activities that improve communities and water quality and engages County residents in the restoration and protection of local waterways.

Eligible Recipients
Funding is made available to all qualified tax-exempt or other 501(c) nonprofit organizations, municipalities, faith-based organizations, educational institutions, community associations, civic groups, homeowners and businesses.

Eligible Activities
Eligible activities include water quality improvement, citizen awareness and engagement, technical assistance to churches, tree planting, environmental education and trash reduction in the Anacostia. Programs must be implemented in Prince George’s County.

Application Process
The PGCSSGP process is competitive. Funding partners and an external Technical Review Committee evaluate all applications, considering:

  • General quality and consistency with the request for proposal/application
  • Justification and need
  • Appropriate partners that demonstrate support
  • Cost-effective project and appropriate budget items
  • Match, both cash and in-kind, is not required; however, match is considered in the review process
  • Projects that have matching funds or in-kind services to support the work are preferred
  • Likelihood of success and sustainability
  • Demonstration value

The application process and package is implemented and managed by CBT. In addition to Prince George’s County, CBT manages and implements grant administration in Anne Arundel, Montgomery and Charles Counties.

For more information about the Prince George’s County Stormwater Stewardship Grant Program, visit cbtrust.org.

**Stormwater Stewardship Grant Fact Sheet**

 

Diversity and Inclusion

Guided by a Diversity and Inclusion Initiative since 2008, the Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT) is committed to providing a regional nonprofit grant-making organization. The Trust believes that all residents of the region benefit from healthy natural resources, and, in turn, all residents can help improve natural resources. As a result, the Trust’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee has identified three audiences of particular interest: communities of color, communities of faith, and communities in the human health sector.

Strategies to engage communities of color include:

  • Transforming one grant program away from repeat grantees to be only accessible to new applicants in an attempt to engage more diverse communities.
  • Hiring “connector” groups to relay opportunities to key communities. In 2016, two connector groups were hired to engage predominantly African-American groups and one that focused on the faith community. In 2017, groups were hired to reach Latino audiences, faith communities, and organizations working on human health.
  • Providing incentives for more experienced grantees to serve as mentors to new applicants.
  • Implementing a procurement policy for our non-grant work requiring outreach to disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) firms that is more stringent than that of the federal government.
  • Leading 8 other members of the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network to embark on a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion effort to survey environmental funders and watershed organizations in the region to assess commitment to diversity issues.
  • Incorporating diversity on Technical Review Committees: Every grant proposal submitted to the Trust over $5,000 is sent for external peer review to members of a Technical Review Committee. All Technical Review Committees must include people of color. Proposals are reviewed and scored quantitatively by at least three external peer reviewers as part of a Technical Review Committee composed of experts in their fields. These reviewers provide not only funding recommendations but feedback on any proposal’s drawbacks and comments on how to improve it. Every applicant is offered the opportunity to receive reviewer feedback.

 

Some of the organizations receiving the funds/grants include:

Accokeek First Church of God
Central Kenilworth Avenue Revitalization Community Development Corporation, Inc. (2 grant awards)
CENTRO DE APOYO FAMILIAR (2 awards)
City of District Heights
City of Greenbelt
City of Hyattsville
End Time Harvest Ministries
DuVal High School
Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. (2 awards)
Parkdale High School
People for Change Coalition (4 awards)
Suitland Civic Association
The Empowerment Institute
Town of Cheverly
Town of Edmonston
Town of Forest Heights
Town of Landover Hills
Union Bethel AME Church

To view a complete list of grant awardees, visit cbtrust.org/prince-georges-stormwater-stewardship-2.