Land Cleanup Funding Authorities Available to Tribal Governments

There are several statutory authorities available to tribal governments to fund cleanup and prevention activities related to Superfund, brownfields, underground storage tanks, and solid and hazardous waste program areas.

On this page:

Superfund State, Political Subdivision, and Indian Tribe Site-Specific Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.802) 

Superfund State and Indian Tribe Core Program Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.809)

Statutory Authority

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act §104(d)

Description of Authority

Enter into cooperative agreements with Indian tribes to undertake investigations, monitoring, surveys, testing, and other information gathering to identify the existence and extent of a release or threat thereof, the source and nature of the hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants involved, and the extent of danger to the public health or welfare or to the environment. Conduct planning, legal, fiscal, economic, engineering, architectural, and other studies or investigations to plan and direct response actions (including cost recovery and enforcement).

For More Information

Superfund State, Political Subdivision, and Indian Tribe Site-Specific Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.802)

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management (SAM).
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

Superfund State and Indian Tribe Core Program Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.809)

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management (SAM).
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

Alternative or Innovative Treatment Technology Research, Demonstration, Training, and Hazardous Substance Research Grants (Assistance Listing 66.813) 

Statutory Authority

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Sections 311(b) and (c), as amended, Public Laws 95-510, and 99-499, 42 USC 9660

Description of Authority

To support grants and cooperative agreements for (1) a program of research, evaluation, testing, development, and demonstration of alternative or innovative treatment technologies which may be utilized in response actions to achieve more permanent protection of human health and welfare and the environment; (2) a technology transfer program including the development, collection, evaluation, coordination, and dissemination of information relating to the utilization of alternative or innovative treatment technologies for response actions; (3) a program of training and evaluation of training needs in the procedures for the handling and removal of hazardous substances for employees who handle hazardous substances and training in the management of facilities at which hazardous substances are located and in the evaluation of the hazards to human health presented by such facilities for State and local health and environmental agency personnel, and (4) a program of research with respect to the detection, assessment, and evaluation of the effects on and risks to human health of hazardous substances and detection of hazardous substances in the environment. 

For More Information

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management (SAM).
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

Hazardous Waste Management Grant Program for Tribes (Assistance Listing 66.812)

Statutory Authority

Departments of Veteran’s Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, Pub. L. No. 105-276 (112 Stat. 2461, 2499; 42 U.S.C. 6908a)

Description of Authority

EPA.... “is authorized to enter into assistance agreements with Federally recognized Indian tribes on such terms and conditions as the Administrator deems necessary for the development and implementation of programs to manage hazardous waste, and underground storage tanks.

For More Information

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management.
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Corrective Action Program (Assistance Listing 66.805)

Statutory Authority

Departments of Veteran’s Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, Pub. L. No. 105-276 (112 Stat. 2461, 2499; 42 U.S.C. 6908a)

Description of Authority

Authority specific to Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUST): EPA... “is authorized to enter into assistance agreements with Federally recognized Indian tribes on such terms and conditions as the Administrator deems appropriate for the same purposes as are set forth in section 9003(h)(7) of RCRA.

For More Information

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management (SAM).
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

Underground Storage Tank Prevention, Detection and Compliance Program (Assistance Listing 66.804) 

Statutory Authority

Solid Waste Disposal Act (RCRA) sections 9011 and 9013, and EPA's Annual Appropriations Acts

Description of Authority

Provides authority to issue LUST Prevention assistance agreements to tribes and intertribal consortia for activities authorized by EPA, RCRA Sections 9011 and 9013, and EPA's Annual Appropriation Acts, to support inspections and other release prevention and compliance assurance activities for Federally-regulated UST systems.  

For tribes, the LUST Prevention assistance agreements will assist with all aspects of the tribal programs, e.g., inspection capacity. High priority tasks include providing financial assistance to: 1) inspect UST facilities to complete the three-year inspection requirement; 2) develop inspection capacity for tribes; 3) develop leak prevention regulations and other program infrastructure; 4) help tribes develop the capacity to administer UST programs, such as providing funding to support training for tribal staff and educating owners and operators in Indian Country about UST requirements. These activities are geared toward bringing all UST systems into compliance with release detection and release prevention requirements and minimizing future releases. 

For More Information

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management.
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

Solid Waste Management Assistance Grants (Assistance Listing 66.808)

Headquarters and Regional Underground Storage Tanks Program (Assistance Listing 66.816)

Statutory Authority

Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) or (RCRA) §8001

Description of Authority

Render financial assistance to appropriate public authorities, agencies, and institutions, private agencies and institutions, and individuals in the conduct of, and promote the coordination of, research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, public education programs, and studies relating to –

  1. any adverse health and welfare effects of the release into the environment of material present in solid waste, and methods to eliminate such effects;
  2. the operation and financing of solid waste management programs;
  3. the planning, implementation, and operation of resource recovery and resource conservation systems and hazardous waste management systems, including the marketing of recovered resources;
  4. the production of usable forms of recovered resources, including fuel, from solid waste;
  5. the reduction of the amount of such waste and unsalvageable waste materials;
  6. the development and application of new and improved methods of collecting and disposing of solid waste and processing and recovering materials and energy from solid wastes;
  7. the identification of solid waste components and potential materials and energy recoverable from such waste components;
  8. small scale and low technology solid waste management systems, including but not limited to, resource recovery source separation systems;
  9. methods to improve the performance characteristics of resources recovered from solid waste and the relationship of such performance characteristics to available and potentially available markets for such resources;
  10. improvements in land disposal practices for solid waste (including sludge) which may reduce the adverse environmental effects of such disposal and other aspects of solid waste disposal on land, including means for reducing the harmful environmental effects of earlier and existing landfills, means for restoring areas damaged by such earlier or existing landfills, means for rendering landfills safe for purposes of construction and other uses, and techniques of recovering materials and energy from landfills;
  11. methods for the sound disposal of, or recovery of resources, including energy, from, sludge (including sludge from pollution control and treatment facilities, coal slurry pipelines, and other sources);
  12. methods of hazardous waste management, including methods of rendering such waste environmentally safe; and
  13. any adverse effects on air quality (particularly with regard to the emission of heavy metals) which result from solid waste which is burned (either alone or in conjunction with other substances) for purposes of treatment, disposal or energy recovery. (see footnote 1, items 1-13 of SWDA §8001). 

For More Information

Solid Waste Management Assistance Grants (Assistance Listing 66.808)

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management (SAM).
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

Headquarters and Regional Underground Storage Tanks Program (Assistance Listing 66.816)

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management (SAM).
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing. 

Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (GAP) (Assistance Listing  66.926)

Statutory Authority

Indian Environmental General Assistance Program Act of 1992; Public Law 102-497, Section 11, 42 U.S.C. 4368b, as amended; Public Law 103-155

Description of Authority 

Section (f) Expenditure of general assistance: “Any general assistance under this section shall be expended for the purpose of planning, developing, and establishing the capability to implement programs administered by the Environmental Protection Agency and specified in the assistance agreement. Purposes and programs authorized under this section shall include the development and implementation of solid and hazardous waste programs for Indian lands…Such programs and general assistance shall be carried out in accordance with the purposes and requirements of applicable provisions of law, including the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.)” (Emphasis added).

For More Information

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management (SAM).
  • Find GAP opportunities in your EPA Region.

Direct Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.473)

Statutory Authority

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2006, Pub. L. 109-54 (2006)

Description of Authority

Direct Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreements (DITCAs) enable EPA to award cooperative agreements to federally recognized Indian tribes and eligible intertribal consortia to carry out the Agency's function to implement directly, Federal environmental programs required or authorized by law in the absence of an acceptable tribal program, notwithstanding the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act.

EPA may award DITCAs to fund activities for environmental programs that meet either one of the following criteria: 1) federal programs under environmental laws that clearly require EPA to directly implement in the Tribal context; or 2) federal programs under environmental laws that in the state context EPA is required to directly implement in the absence of an acceptable state program.

For More Information

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management.
  • Contact the tribal office in your Region to find out more about DITCAs.

State and Tribal Response Program Grants (Assistance Listing 66.817) 

Statutory Authority

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Section 128(a), as amended, Public Law 107-118; Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act

Description of Authority

EPA's CERCLA Section 128(a) grant program funds activities that establish or enhance state and tribal response program capacity, capitalize revolving loan funds, and support insurance mechanisms. The goals of this funding are to provide financial support for elements of an effective state or tribal response program as specified in CERCLA Section 128 and to ensure that states and tribes maintain a public record of sites included in their programs.

For More Information

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management.
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

​Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.818)

Statutory Authority

The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002, (Pub .L.No. 107-118, 115 stat. 2356, "the Brownfields Law") Sections 101(39) and 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended by, 42 U.S.C. 9601(39) and 42 U. S.C.9604(k)

Description of Authority

The objectives of the brownfield assessment, revolving loan fund and cleanup cooperative agreements (project grants) are to provide funding: (1) to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community involvement related to brownfield sites; (2) to capitalize a revolving loan fund and provide subgrants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites; and (3) to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites that are owned by the grant recipient.

For More Information

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management.
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

Brownfields Training, Research, and Technical Assistance Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.814)

Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.815)

Statutory Authority

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Sections 101(39) and 104(k)6), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(6)

Description of Authority

CERCLA 104(k)(6) provides EPA with authority for a program of training, research, and technical assistance to individuals and organizations to facilitate the inventory of brownfields properties, assessments, cleanup of brownfields properties, community involvement, or site preparation. The objective of the Brownfield Job Training Cooperative Agreement is to provide training to facilitate assessment, remediation, or preparation of brownfield sites. Brownfield sites are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

For More Information

Brownfields Training, Research, and Technical Assistance Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.814)

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management.
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Cooperative Agreements (Assistance Listing 66.815)

  • Detailed information, including criteria, eligibility, application instructions, for this program in the System for Award Management.
  • View available opportunities on Grants.gov related to this Assistance Listing.

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Last updated on May 31, 2024