Funding Opportunity Now Open

By Audrey Coyne

August 24, 2023

The Shellfish Strategic Initiative Lead (SIL) has opened a Request for Proposals (RFP) to increase harvestable shellfish bed acreage in Puget Sound.

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Visit the Shellfish SIL RFP webpage to apply: Shellfish Strategic Initiative Lead Request for Proposals.

Solicitation objectives include:

A. Support wastewater management from small On-site Sewage Systems (OSS) and Large On-site Sewage Systems (LOSS), and septage disposal needs to reduce fecal pollution impacts on shellfish growing area classification.

B. Advance technical assistance, education, and research to motivate agricultural land users to voluntarily reduce livestock/animal manure runoff impacting shellfish growing area classification, and support regulatory programs to effectively require compliance.

C. Fund, develop, establish, and implement effective local and tribal nations pollution identification and correction (PIC) programs.

D. Integrate shellfish growing area classification priorities in municipal and domestic (sewage) wastewater facility function, planning and/or upgrades in incorporated, unincorporated, and rural areas to reduce disease-causing bacteria and viruses impacting the Shellfish Beds Vital Sign target.

RFP Details

Opens August 24, 2023.
Solicitation will be open for 8 weeks, applications are due October 20, 2023, by 11:59pm.
Shellfish SIL has up to $4.5 million of EPA Puget Sound Geographic Program funds to award across the four priorities, $200,000 to $1 million per proposal.
Proposed project durations are 2-3.5yrs.

Eligible Applicants

Local governments, non-profit organizations, state agencies, tribes, tribal consortia, institutions of higher learning, special purpose districts, and municipal or domestic (sewage) wastewater treatment plant owners and operators are eligible to apply for this funding opportunity.

Save the Dates

Learn more at the applicant webinars:

A-C (Nonpoint) Applicant webinar: September 7, 2023, from 10:00 – 11:30am (Zoom link)
D (Outfall) Applicant webinar: September 18, 2023, from 10:00 – 11:30am (Zoom link)

Investments will be prioritized that contribute to the Shellfish Bed Vital Sign target in geographic areas with potential acreage gain and/or protection of areas threatened to be downgraded on the Threatened Growing Area List, especially those with a likelihood of success within the next five years.

Did you Know?

These investment priorities are actions in the Shellfish Beds Implementation Strategy to accelerate progress towards the Shellfish Beds Vital Sign indicator target. The indicator target for the Shellfish Bed Vital Sign is an annual net gain of at least 500 classified commercial shellfish acres approved for harvest, based on a three-year rolling average, with no negative net acreage in a single year. Net change is the result of total classified acres upgraded minus acres downgraded due to a decline in water quality. Department of Health developed this target in 2021 using historic classification data, an analysis of existing programs impacting water quality in commercial shellfish growing areas, funding availability, and acreage available for classification upgrades. The target was approved and adopted by the Puget Sound Partnership (PSP) Leadership Council as the Shellfish Beds Vital Sign indicator target as of 2021.