Community Development Block Grant Program

Who is Grant For: Any City or County Government

What is Grant For: Community Improvements

Grant Description: The government entity may apply on behalf of other non-profits or units of governments, for such projects as water, sewer, fire halls, community centers, health care clinics, rural water expansion projects, libraries, storm sewer/water etc. Funds may also be utilized for infrastructure to serve new or expanding businesses/manufacturing facilities. Applications will usually require preliminary engineering report with drawing and cost estimates, plus there are public hearing requirements and income eligibility requirements.

Grant Deadline: There are no deadlines

For more information contact CSDED Staff.

Industrial Park Grant Program

Who is Grant For: An Industrial Development Corporation, or an equivalent organization, or local unit of government shall file an application through the sponsoring local governing body to the Secretary of Transportation. The sponsor must be a local government body (city, town, tribe, township, or county).

What is Grant For: Road Construction for Industry Parks

Grant Description: Industrial Park Grants are state funds which provide assistance to communities when they have a new or expanding industry, and they need to provide street access. The grant program works in cooperation with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. The program pays for 80% of the construction costs of the project, not including engineering or utility work. Applications are received on an as-needed basis. The program is funded at $1,000,000 per year and there is no grant size limit.

Grant Deadline: Applications are accepted any time

More Grant Information        For more information contact CSDED Staff.

Community Access Grant Program

Who is Grant For: These are state funds for towns less than 5,000 in population.

What is Grant For: Construction or reconstruction of major streets in town such as Main Street, the road to the elevator, schools, hospitals, etc

Grant Description: This program provides for 60% of the construction costs of the project, not including engineering or utility work. The program is funded at $1,500,000 per year.
- Grant size is limited to $400,000
Any incorporated City with a population of less than five thousand (5,000) residents, township, county, or tribal government may file an application to the Secretary of Transportation.
Projects will be selected and grant amounts determined by the DOT based on need, population and economic impact.

Grant Deadline: Applications are usually due around August of each year.

More Grant Information        For more information contact CSDED Staff.

Waste and Water Funding Programs

Who is Grant For: Any government municipality

What is Grant For: Water, Wastewater, and Watershed Projects

Grant Description: The Water and Waste Funding Program staff conduct technical and financial reviews of projects seeking funding through the Board of Water and Natural Resources.

The South Dakota Legislature established the State Water Plan in 1972.
The State Water Plan is intended to implement state policy on water resources management, to serve as the principal guide for state policies and priorities, and to identify areas for project assistance.

Projects requesting funding MUST be on the State Water Plan.
Projects must have completed a preliminary engineering study or a watershed assessment and be able to initiate construction within two years. Staff conducts site visits and discuss the proposed project and alternatives with the applicant and its engineer. The project is then presented to the board with a staff recommended funding level for the board’s consideration. The board is responsible for several funding programs which include:

*  The Consolidated Water Facilities Construction program that provides grants and loans for small water, wastewater, and watershed projects;

*  The Clean Water State Revolving Fund program that provides low interest loans for wastewater, storm sewer, and nonpoint source projects;

*  The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program that provides low interest loans for drinking water projects;

*  The Solid Waste Management program that provides grants and loans for solid waste and recycling projects;

*  The State Water Resources Management System that provides grants and loans for projects that have been established by the Legislature as a priority objective for water resources management in South Dakota.

Grant Deadline:

More Grant Information        For more information contact CSDED Staff.

Economic Development Administration

Who is Grant For: Any government municipality

What is Grant For: Economic Development

Grant Description: The Economic Development Administration was established to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically-distressed areas of the United States. EDA assistance is available to rural and urban areas of the Nation experiencing high unemployment, low income, or other severe economic distress.

In fulfilling its mission, EDA is guided by the basic principle that distressed communities must be empowered to develop and implement their own economic development and revitalization strategies. Based on these locally- and regionally-developed priorities, EDA works in partnership with state and local governments, regional economic development districts, public and private nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes. EDA helps distressed communities address problems associated with long-term economic distress, as well as sudden and severe economic dislocations including recovering from the economic impacts of natural disasters, the closure of military installations and other Federal facilities, changing trade patterns, and the depletion of natural resources.

Grant Deadline: Variable

FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant

Who is Grant For: Fire Departments and Non-Affiliated EMS Organizations

What is Grant For: Vehicle Acquisition, Operations and Safety, Regional Projects

Grant Description: The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) is administered by FEMA and is intended to help Fire Departments and Non-Affiliated EMS Organizations meet their firefighting and emergency response needs.
AFG includes three program categories. General funding priorities for all three categories include: Call volume and population; Training levels within department; Activities producing an immediate impact on safety; and new risks that have materialized within a department’s existing area of responsibility. Each category has additional priorities and considerations to be addressed.
Fundable activities in the Operations and Safety category include: training, equipment, personal protective equipment, wellness and fitness programs, and facility modifications. No modification may change the profile or footprint of the building. Smoke alarms and sprinkler systems are the highest priority modification. Facilities in use 24-hours-per-day, 7-days-per-week receive the highest competitive rating.

Examples of eligible training activities are Hazmat response, Firefighter I, Firefighter II, First Responder EMS, Driver/Operator, Fire Officer, or CBRNE awareness. In Rural departments basic operational-level firefighting training, safety officer training, operational-level rescue, driver training, or first-responder EMS has a greater benefit than officer training, or other specialized training, and is a higher priority. Instructor led training leading to national or State certification or statutory compliance is a priority, as well as training involving or open to personnel from several departments.

Types of equipment eligible for funding in the operations and safety category include: fire suppression, rescue, fire-based EMS, and CBRNE response equipments. Priorities for equipment acquisition include: Replacing obsolete or outdated firefighting, rescue, EMS, or CBRNE equipment; equipment supporting or expanding capabilities within existing missions or to equip for new risks; equipment that will bring a department into compliance with national standards; and equipment having a direct effect on firefighters' lives and safety receives a higher competitive rating. Applications that fail to demonstrate the users of the requested equipment either are, or will be, sufficiently trained to use it.

Eligible types of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) include: Turnout gear, Self-contained breathing apparatus, Personal alert safety system, Hazmat protective equipment, and Wildland fire protective gear. All must meet NFPA or OSHA standards.
Eligible wellness and fitness activities include: Costs for personnel, medical physicals, physical fitness equipment (including shipping charges and sales tax as applicable), and supplies directly related to performance of physicals or physical fitness activities; and medical services and examinations.

Fundable activities in the Vehicle Acquisition category include: acquiring new or used firefighting vehicles or ambulances or refurbishing existing vehicles.
In the Regional Projects category participating jurisdictions may receive funding for training and equipment which improve regional interoperability and efficiency.

The population size of the applicant’s service area determines the required cash match for the request. A local match that exceeds minimum required levels improves the final score of the request.
- <20,000 requires a 5% match
- 20,000 to 50,000 requires a 10% match
- >50,000 requires a 20% match

Grant Deadline: Friday May 28th, 2010

More Grant Information        For more information contact CSDED Staff.

USDA & Rural Development

Who is Grant For: Any government municipality

What is Grant For:

Grant Description:

USDA Rural Development consists of the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS), Rural Utilities Service (RUS), Rural Housing Service (RHS), and Community Development Service who provide funding and services to rural communities and individuals.

*  RBS provides loans, grants and guaranteed loans that will help to enhance the quality of life for all rural Americans. RBS technical assistance and loan programs continue to provide meaningful support for the private sector.

*  Water and waste disposal loan and grant programs promote economic development in rural America and they are administered by RUS. Grants are also made for medical and distance learning purposes.

*  RHS administers direct loans and grants to credit worthy residents who would otherwise be unable to obtain financing for a family home. Guaranteed loans are made by commercial lenders for single family housing. Direct and guaranteed loans are made to provide multi-family housing or apartments for low-income rural residents. The Community Facility Program provides loans, grants, and loan guarantees to fund a variety of public improvements, such as centers for healthcare, day care, public safety, and other public facility projects.

*  Community Development activities include assisting rural residents in their efforts to implement Presidential, Departmental, and South Dakota Rural Development initiatives. Goals are achieved through the promotion of self-sustaining, long-term economic development in areas of pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress. Technical assistance provided to local communities and groups in planning rural development activities, partnership building, and essential community projects. Assistance often includes helping communities inventory their resources and identify the resources of others for local use.

Grant Deadline: Variable

Montana Dakota Utilities Environmental Opportunity Fund

Who is Grant For: non-profit organizations or units of governments in MDU’s service area

Grant Description:
Montana-Dakota Utilities Company has a small grant program available for environmentally related projects—city-wide cleanup, nature trail development, wildlife area enhancement, recycling programs, programs at school, etc. The maximum grant amount is $2,500. MDU service the communities and surrounding areas of Agar, Onida, Ft. Pierre and Pierre. The deadline for this grant is October 20 and awards are anticipated to be announced by November 30. MDU also has a foundation which accepts larger applications for community projects.

Grant Deadline: The deadline is usually around October 1 of each year.

2010 Healthy Communities Grant

Who is Grant For: South Dakota or Iowa based organizations or coalitions interested in improving the health of communities in Iowa and South Dakota through wellness and prevention projects. Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) or a governmental entity.

What is Grant for: The Wellmark Foundation's 2010 Healthy Communities Grant will fund projects in two priority areas:

1) Childhood obesity prevention
2) Community-based wellness and prevention

Grant Description Maximum award amount is $150,000. Matching funds equal to at least 25% of the cost of proposed activites are required, either in cash or in-kind. Funding must be used in South Dakota or Iowa.

Grant Deadline: Letters of Interest are due Wednesday, August 25, 2010

More Grant Information        For more information contact CSDED Staff.

2010 Healthy Community Grant Guidelines

Recreational Trails Program

The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks generally accepts grant applications annually near the end of April for the Recreational Trails Program (RTP). The program provides up to 80% of eligible costs for recreational trails. The 20% match maybe in the form of cash, in-kind, and or other federal, state, and local grants. Federal grants used as match must be approved in advance. While SDGF&P has $900,000 of funds available for the program, with most grants amounts between $40,000 to $60,000. Trails may be utilized for motorized, non-motorized, or for both. Examples of recreational trail uses include, but are not limited to, pedestrian, bicycling, in-line skating, equestrian, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-road motorcycling, all-terrain vehicle riding, four wheeling, etc.

Local units of government, private non-profit organizations, state and federal agencies are all eligible applicants and project sponsors. Eligible project categories include:
a. Maintenance and Restoration—any kind of trail maintenance, restoration, rehabilitation or relocation, including trail bridges and signs.
b. Trailside and Trailhead Facilities—development and or rehab of facilities to bring them up to standards for public use, not routine maintenance. Facilities should have a direct relationship with a recreational trail. A highway rest area or visitor center is not an appropriate use of RTP funds.
c. Trail Construction Equipment—the purchase and lease of trail construction, maintenance, or assessment equipment including lawn mowers and trail grooming machines which will only be used on the trail. NOTE: THIS AREA DOES NOT RANK HIGH AND IS THEREFORE, USUALLY NOT FUNDED.
d. New Trail Construction—new trail construction, including trail bridges and signs.
e. Land or Easement Acquisition—purchase of trail easements across private property and property acquisition for trail corridors or trail systems, including areas intended for future trail development. There must be a willing seller.
f. Trail Accessibility Assessment—trail assessments to determine the level of accessibility for people who have disabilities, to develop programs to provide trail access information, and to assess trails for current or future maintenance needs.
g. Educational Projects—development and dissemination of publications and operation of educational programs to promote safety and environmental protection.
Projects Not Eligible include: sidewalks, condemned land, campgrounds, feasibility studies, insurance, picnic facilities; legal fees, law enforcement, playground equipment, skateboard parks, and roads. Sidewalks that resemble park sidewalks will normally not be funded. A trail that goes through a city park or connects several city parks might be considered eligible, as long as it, has aesthetic qualities, and is not a sidewalk from point A to point B.
Prior costs incurred for the project cannot be considered as part of the project prior to project approval, except for such items as project development and environmental assessment costs which may have been incurred less than 18 months prior to grant approved. This is taken on a case-by-case basis and should be approved in advance.

Grant Deadline: Usually near the end of April.

More Grant Information        For more information contact CSDED Staff.

Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)

Who is Grant For: City, county, township and tribal governments are eligible to receive the grant money.

What is Grant for:Land Aquisition, Renovation and Development of outdoor recreational facilities. Examples of eligible projects include:

Ball fields, Park Roads, Ampitheaters, Boat ramps and fishing facilities, Swimming pools and beaches, Picnic facilities, Playgrounds, Fencing, Lighting, Parking, Landscaping, Ice rinks, Golf courses, Restroom buildings, Sanitation and utility systems, and Trails.

Grant Description: Recreation projects must be supported by the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) or a local recreation needs assessment. The LWCF is administered in South Dakota by the Department of Game Fish and Parks, and can fund up to 50% of eligible project costs. The remaining match must be local. The maximum grant amount is $50,000 and minimum grant amount is $10,000.

Grant Deadline: Applications are due Wednesday, June 30, 2010

More Grant Information        For more information contact CSDED Staff.