FY2025 Sea Grant Contaminants of Emerging Concern | NOAA OAR SG 2025 30385

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA OAR SG 2025 30385

The FY2025 Sea Grant Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) opportunity (NOAA-OAR-SG-2025-30385; CFDA 11.417) is a NOAA National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) funding call designed to strengthen regional, multi-institution research and monitoring on contaminants that may pose ecological and human health risks in coastal and estuarine environments. Rather than directly funding individual research projects right away, this award is intended to support a Sea Grant Program in running a future, competed research competition that will then select and fund multiple projects focused on CECs across a shared geography, biogeography, or watershed. The overarching goal is to leverage the Sea Grant network and university-based expertise to address emerging contaminant issues in ways that are relevant to coastal communities, fisheries, and public health.

NOAA anticipates making one cooperative agreement award, with expected federal funding ranging from $400,000 to $1,400,000. Proposals must be scalable up to the full $1.4 million federal amount, and the project period can be up to three years. Like standard Sea Grant awards, this opportunity requires a 50% non-federal match, meaning applicants must secure matching funds or eligible in-kind contributions equal to half of the federal request. This is described as a stand-alone (non-omnibus) award. NOAA also signals that, if appropriations allow and performance is strong, the selected Sea Grant Program may be well positioned for additional future funding to address priority gaps and new challenges related to CECs, but that future support is not guaranteed.

The program emphasis is on developing and administering a future competitive process that funds projects researching and monitoring CECs, explicitly including PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). NOAA is looking for work that is regionally coordinated and ecosystem-based, especially where contaminant sources, transport, and exposure pathways are connected across watersheds and coastal systems. If the applying region has previously participated in Sea Grant CEC competitions, the proposal is expected to show continuity and added value, explaining how the new effort builds on past collaborations, lessons learned, and previously funded projects rather than duplicating them.

Within the competed projects that the applicant would later select and fund, NOAA highlights several priority directions. Projects should focus on species of ecological importance that also matter to people economically or for health reasons, such as subsistence, recreational, or commercial shellfish and finfish. Projects are encouraged to examine the prevalence, transport, and biogeochemical transformation of contaminants across a watershed or ecosystem, with special attention to pathways linked to drinking water and wastewater systems. NOAA also wants research that reflects real-world conditions, including in situ multi-stressor or interactive effects, recognizing that organisms are rarely exposed to a single chemical in isolation and may face combined pressures (for example, contaminant mixtures alongside temperature stress, salinity changes, hypoxia, or disease). In addition, the opportunity supports short-term monitoring assessments that can help refine and target longer-term monitoring strategies, essentially using near-term data collection to guide smarter, more sustained observation programs.

All funded work must take place within the United States or U.S. territories, or in their respective waterways. Eligibility is limited to Sea Grant College Programs, Sea Grant Institutional Programs, and Sea Grant Coherent Area Programs (collectively referred to in the notice as Sea Grant Programs). Federal agencies cannot receive federal funds under this competition, but federal scientists may participate as unfunded partners or uncompensated co-investigators, and federal facilities or equipment may be made available without charge. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies NOAA expects active involvement in coordination, oversight, or collaboration as the work proceeds.

Applications are due by May 23, 2025. NOAA emphasizes that applicants must have active registrations in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons by the time of submission, and notes that completing all registrations can take 4 to 6 weeks. A Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) obtained through SAM.gov is a prerequisite step if the organization does not already have one. For eRA Commons submission, organizations must designate at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account. NOAA also points applicants to Department of Commerce applicant/grantee training resources and NOAA guidance (including eRA submission tips) to reduce submission errors and formatting problems.

• The DOC NOAA - ERA Production in the natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY2025 Sea Grant Contaminants of Emerging Concern" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.417.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-03-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-05-23. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,400,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for NOAA OAR SG 2025 30385

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