ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT INITIATIVE (EMRTAI) | EPA OLEM OMDP 23 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA OLEM OMDP 23 01

The Environmental Monitoring and Remediation Technology Assessment Initiative (EMRTAI) is an EPA funding opportunity focused on evaluating how well environmental monitoring and remediation technologies work in real-world conditions at contaminated legacy mining sites, with a specific emphasis on technologies that can help identify and recover critical minerals (CMs). The program is designed to support careful, credible assessments and tests of both newer innovations and established commercial tools, with the broader aim of improving how legacy mining contamination is characterized, managed, and potentially leveraged for critical mineral recovery where feasible and environmentally responsible.

This opportunity is offered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a discretionary cooperative agreement, meaning the EPA expects to have substantial involvement during the project rather than simply providing funds with minimal interaction. The activity area is environmental, and it is associated with CFDA number 66.511. The funding opportunity title is "ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT INITIATIVE (EMRTAI)" and the opportunity number is EPA OLEM OMDP 23 01. The program was created on June 21, 2023, with an original application closing date of July 31, 2023 (with applicants directed to confirm exact timing in Section IV of the official announcement).

The EPA is looking for applicants that can credibly run technology assessments and testing programs, including the ability to provide quality assurance support. In practice, that means the selected recipient should be able to plan and execute evaluations that produce defensible performance data on monitoring and remediation technologies, including technologies developed under EPA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program at Phase 2 and Phase 3, as well as commercial technologies already on the market. The emphasis on quality assurance signals that EPA wants testing to follow structured procedures, generate reliable datasets, and meet expectations for documentation, data integrity, and reproducibility, rather than informal demonstrations.

A major theme of EMRTAI is the intersection of cleanup and resource recovery. The technologies under consideration are tied to identifying and recovering critical minerals at contaminated mining sites, which are often complex environments with acid mine drainage, metal-laden sediments, tailings, or other legacy wastes. The program reflects the idea that better monitoring and remediation tools can simultaneously reduce environmental risk and improve understanding of whether valuable critical minerals can be recovered as part of a cleanup or treatment approach, while still prioritizing protection of human health and the environment.

In terms of who should apply, eligibility is described broadly as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the full announcement. Even without the detailed eligibility text here, the narrative makes clear that EPA wants a qualified entity with demonstrated, relevant experience. Applicants are expected to show that they have done similar assessment and testing work before, or can otherwise prove they have the technical capability, staff expertise, facilities, and management systems needed to evaluate technologies in the field and/or controlled test settings. The solicitation also highlights that familiarity with federal assistance agreements is a plus: applicants are encouraged to demonstrate competence in cooperative agreement or grant management, and to show productivity and successful performance on current or past federal awards. That typically means providing examples of meeting milestones, maintaining compliance, producing high-quality deliverables, and managing budgets and reporting requirements effectively.

Funding under this opportunity is substantial but limited in the number of awards. The award ceiling is $3,000,000, and EPA anticipates making one award. This structure suggests a single lead organization will likely coordinate the initiative's assessment activities, potentially working with partners, technology developers, site stakeholders, laboratories, or other specialists as needed, while remaining accountable to EPA for technical performance, quality assurance, and overall project management.

Overall, EMRTAI can be understood as an EPA-led effort to accelerate and validate practical environmental technologies that can be deployed at legacy mining sites, especially those that can support both contamination management and the identification and recovery of critical minerals. The ideal applicant is an experienced testing and evaluation organization that can run rigorous assessments, maintain strong QA practices, and successfully operate within the administrative and reporting framework of a federal cooperative agreement.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT INITIATIVE (EMRTAI)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.511.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 21, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 31, 2023 See Section IV of funding opportunity announcement for closing date information.. (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 $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for EPA OLEM OMDP 23 01

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