Contaminated Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Lands Assistance Program

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 administers the Contaminated Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Lands Assistance Program to help address contamination on lands conveyed pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. ANCSA was enacted in 1971 and conveyed 44 million acres of land to Alaska Native regional and village corporations. Some conveyed lands were contaminated with metals, pesticides, asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, petroleum products, and other substances that can pose risks to human health, the environment, subsistence resources, and cultural, social, and economic activities. Congress established this assistance program through federal fiscal year 2023 appropriations and continued funding it through subsequent appropriations. The program is administered through cooperative agreements, reflecting substantial federal involvement during project performance. The program supports characterization, assessment, planning, community involvement, and cleanup of eligible contaminated ANCSA sites. Funding available per project is expected to range from 1 million dollars to 8 million dollars, depending on agency funding levels, priorities, and other programmatic considerations. Awards are expected to have project periods of up to five years, and EPA may partially fund discrete portions or phases of proposed projects. Allowable activities include community engagement, site assessment and characterization, environmental sampling and laboratory analysis, cleanup planning, contaminated material removal and disposal, confirmation sampling, environmental and regulatory compliance activities, grant management, and other activities directly supporting eligible assessment or cleanup work. Recipients may also issue subawards to other eligible entities. No matching funds are required. Eligible applicants are Federally Recognized Tribes in Alaska, Alaska Native Regional Corporations, Alaskan Native Village Corporations, intertribal consortia comprised of Alaskan Tribal Entities, Alaska Native Nonprofit Associations, and Alaska Native Non-Profit Organizations. An eligible site must be located on land conveyed pursuant to ANCSA or ANILCA Section 1302(h), must have been contaminated by eligible petroleum or hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants at the time of conveyance, and must be listed as Verified - Eligible on EPA's Contaminated ANCSA Sites Inventory. Sites not already in the Inventory must first be submitted for consideration, and verification may take several months or up to one year when field work is necessary. EPA generally will not fund work that duplicates activities or authorities of other federally funded cleanup programs. General solid waste remediation is generally ineligible, although limited circumstances involving documented pre-conveyance contaminant-bearing materials may qualify. The program operates on a rolling basis. Once a site is Verified - Eligible, applicants are instructed to notify EPA and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation of their intent to submit a proposal. EPA and ADEC plan a project scoping meeting with interested applicants to review proposed work, project goals, milestones, and applicable regulatory authorities. Initial funding requests are emailed to the EPA Region 10 project officer and must contain a narrative description, workplan components, and a detailed budget. EPA project officers review and negotiate the request, ADEC also reviews the project scope, and EPA subsequently provides instructions for submission of the final application through Grants.gov. Eligible organizations must have Grants.gov registration and must maintain a current SAM.gov registration and Unique Entity ID. Only an Authorized Organization Representative can submit the final Grants.gov application. The narrative should address the project or site title, project goal, site and land ownership, ANCSA Inventory identification, applicant and community background, community engagement, priority environmental or human health issues, previous assessment or cleanup work, and other federal grants being managed. Collaborating entities may also need to describe communication protocols and demonstrate landowner support. Workplans must identify environmental outputs and outcomes, estimated staff time and work years, funding associated with components, workplan commitments, completion timeframes, performance evaluation and reporting schedules, and recipient and EPA responsibilities. The detailed budget must provide sufficient information to connect planned expenditures to workplan activities and may include personnel, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual services, other costs, and indirect costs. Applicants requesting indirect costs must provide an approved Indirect Cost Rate Agreement when applicable. EPA administers this program non-competitively but may prioritize projects based on land ownership or unambiguous site access, eligible pre-conveyance contamination, demonstrated performance by current recipients, and documented regional or community priorities. EPA is prioritizing petroleum and CERCLA hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants rather than solid waste or environmentally stable disposal sites. Current recipients may receive priority when they have demonstrated timely reporting and delivery, regular expenditure of award funds, and compliance with cooperative agreement terms and conditions. Applicants must also demonstrate appropriate administrative and financial management systems. Projects involving environmental measurements, sampling, data compilation, or existing environmental data require an EPA Quality Assurance Project Plan and must comply with applicable environmental and regulatory requirements. There is no fixed application closing date because proposals are accepted on a rolling basis until available funding is obligated. Cooperative agreements may begin on October 1 for a federal fiscal year start or January 1 for a calendar year start, and EPA strongly encourages proposal submission at least six months before the anticipated start date. The guidance therefore identifies April 1 as the recommended proposal date for an October 1 start and July 1 for a January 1 start. Applicants should assume that the first field season may occur approximately one year after the award start date, and complex assessment and cleanup projects may require multiple field seasons. Technical questions concerning the Contaminated ANCSA Sites Inventory or site verification may be sent to ANCSAInventory@epa.gov. ADEC can also provide site verification assistance through DEC.ANCSAcleanup@alaska.gov, while the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Alaska Native Village Corporation Association provide additional technical and program support.

Confirm that each proposed site is Verified - Eligible before seeking funding and coordinate early with EPA and ADEC on project scope. Clearly document ownership or unambiguous site access and demonstrate that contamination existed at conveyance. Align every budget item with a workplan task and identify measurable outputs, outcomes, milestones, and reporting. Focus proposals on eligible petroleum and CERCLA hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants rather than general solid waste. Avoid duplication with other federally funded cleanup programs. For requests over 3 million dollars, prepare cleanup options and cost estimates or similar documentation by the final application. Submit proposals well ahead of the desired project start date because EPA strongly encourages at least six months of lead time.