Mosquito Control Grant Program

Ohio EPA's Mosquito Control Grant Program (MCG) provides funding to local governments and health departments to monitor and reduce the potential for outbreaks of mosquito-borne viruses, including West Nile virus and La Crosse Encephalitis. The program is administered by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and is intended to strengthen mosquito surveillance, mosquito control, breeding source reduction, and community education activities in Ohio. Ohio EPA describes surveillance data as critical for evaluating mosquito-borne disease risk because it can help agencies monitor mosquito populations, identify species and breeding grounds, detect the presence or absence of mosquito-borne disease, select effective control activities, evaluate control results, and create detailed maps. The program also responds to reductions in local mosquito surveillance capacity that have affected the collection and submission of mosquito samples to the Ohio Department of Health. MCG funding may support seven project categories. Mosquito Surveillance may include mapping equipment and software, replacement bulbs and batteries, gravid trap supplies, directly associated mileage, field supplies and personal protective equipment, shipping materials, dry ice, coolers, cleaning supplies, and insecticide resistance testing, with a category maximum of $15,000. Grant funds may not purchase mosquito traps because ODH provides traps upon request at no charge. Larval Control has a $15,000 category maximum and may include granules, pellets, tablets, dunks, bacterial insecticides, larvicides, and backpack sprayers. Adult Mosquito Control has a $15,000 maximum and may cover insecticides, adulticides, pesticide applicator license fees, mosquito sprayers, and foggers, but vehicles may not be purchased. Community Education and Outreach has a $10,000 maximum and can support educational materials, translation, qualifying community-distribution items, and staff professional development. Repellents and similar products must contain US EPA registered active ingredients, and generic promotional merchandise or general mosquito advertisements without an actionable prevention purpose are not eligible. Breeding Source Reduction has a maximum of $10,000 and can fund the abatement of illegally dumped scrap tires or solid waste, including collection, transportation, and proper disposal. Ohio EPA emphasizes breeding source reduction because discarded tires and other containers can provide breeding habitat for disease-carrying mosquitoes. Seasonal Employee activities have a maximum of $15,000 and may cover wages for seasonal employees assisting with surveillance, mosquito control, source reduction, and related program implementation; MCG funds cannot pay any portion of salaries or benefits for permanent full-time or part-time staff. Contracted Services have a $15,000 maximum and can support mosquito surveillance, plan preparation, larval control, adult control, and community education and outreach. Contracted breeding source reduction must instead be requested under the Breeding Source Reduction category. Regardless of categories selected, the maximum request per grant application is $25,000. Eligible applicants are local health departments and other government agencies, including solid waste management districts, mosquito control boards, and local government. A government agency that is not a local health department must provide a letter of support from a local health department. An agency must also demonstrate that it has a current mosquito surveillance program or submit a new mosquito surveillance plan for implementation. Grant funds may be used to establish a new surveillance plan or augment or enhance an existing program. The required application attachments depend on the project categories requested. A project budget and quotes are identified for the listed project categories, while a surveillance plan is required for surveillance, larval control, and adult mosquito control. A surveillance plan is also required when seasonal employees or contractors will perform mosquito surveillance, larval control, or adult control. For the 2026 grant cycle, the Mosquito Control Grant opened on November 10, 2025, and applications were due January 30, 2026. The supplied materials identify a 2026 MCG Application Instruction Manual, 2026 MCG Application Layout, and MCG Project Budget Template. The source also provides an Apply Now link for the Mosquito Control Grant Program but does not provide the underlying application URL in the supplied text. The recurring presentation of annual MCG awardees from 2016 through 2024, together with materials for both the 2025 and 2026 grant cycles, supports treating MCG as an annually recurring opportunity. As of August 13, 2026, the stated January 30, 2026 application deadline has passed, so the program is best treated as anticipating its next round rather than currently accepting applications. The source does not state a required matching or cost-share contribution, total program funding, number of awards, award notification date, or performance period for the 2026 application cycle. It does identify administration dates associated with the prior 2025 grants: those grants closed April 30, 2026, after which funds could not be spent, and closeout reports were due July 1, 2026. For program information, the source specifically directs applicants to Jeff Montavon, Environmental Specialist 2, at 614.728.5357. Other Grants and Outreach contacts listed are Chet Chaney, Manager, at 614.728.5377; Holly Hillyer, Supervisor, at 614.728.5348; and Sarah Fink, Environmental Specialist 2, at 614.644.3065. No contact email address or explicit downloadable PDF URL is contained in the supplied source text.

Maintain or establish a mosquito surveillance program because surveillance is a key qualification criterion; use surveillance data to target control activities and resources; follow the attachment requirements for each selected project category; do not budget for mosquito traps or vehicles; ensure community-distribution repellents contain US EPA registered active ingredients and avoid generic promotional materials.