A host of federal agencies in recent months notified local governments, businesses and nonprofits that they will no longer be able to access certain previously approved grants for environmental work.
The grants were slated to fund projects ranging from flood infrastructure to student field trips.
In total, Hampton Roads is set to lose at least $47 million in federal funding, not including statewide grants, loans or clean energy tax credits that are currently on the chopping block in Congress.
WHRO compiled a list of local environmental grants that were canceled so far:
Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation: $300,000 for flood mitigation from the National Endowment for the Humanities
The money from the endowment’s Climate Smart initiative would have funded site surveys and a resiliency plan for the historic site, which leaders say is seriously threatened by flooding. “If we don’t take action now, more than 60% of the archaeological site, containing the untold history revealed in artifacts lost or left behind, will be permanently underwater in just 50 years,” foundation president James Horn said after receiving the grant last year.
Elizabeth River Project: $75,000 for environmental education from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The nonprofit said this is its first-ever loss of a federal grant and “an unexpected blow that will impact environmental education programs for hundreds of Portsmouth school children.” The grant supported classroom lessons, teacher training at local universities, supplies for school science projects and field trips to Paradise Creek Nature Park.
City of Hampton and nonprofit Wetlands Watch: $20 million for flood mitigation at Aberdeen Gardens from the Environmental Protection Agency
This grant was set to jumpstart a massive, three-year effort to protect the historic Hampton neighborhood from increasing issues with flooding. “This action is unjust, unlawful, and needlessly places hundreds of residents at increased risk,” Mary-Carson Stiff, executive director of Wetlands Watch, said in a statement this week.
Rural Energy for America Program: $1.9 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for farmers and rural small businesses in southeastern Virginia to cut energy costs and consumption
The USDA announced in March it would let recipients resubmit grant applications to better align with Trump’s executive order on “unleashing American energy.”
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program
One of the biggest hits for Hampton Roads is the termination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program under the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
When ending the program in April, FEMA called it “wasteful and ineffective” and “more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.”
Some Hampton Roads localities were already awarded money through the program, including $25 million to Virginia Beach for drainage improvements on Eastern Shore Drive and $114,000 to the town of Tangier to study microgrid power.
But other projects were further behind in FEMA’s process and will no longer be able to access funding, according to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management:
City of Portsmouth: $24 million for improvements to the Lake Meade Dam
Officials said the dam at Lake Meade, which supplies drinking water to several localities and military facilities, is in need of significant repairs and could fail during a major storm. The city recently told WHRO media partner WTKR that it is searching for alternate funding sources in collaboration with the state.
Hampton Roads Planning District Commission: $200,000 for updates to Hazard Mitigation Plan
The HRPDC represents 17 localities, which are covered in the regional disaster plan, last updated in 2022. The commission says it has applied for other funding opportunities.
Newport News: $517,000 for Stoney Run flood reduction improvements
The state separately awarded the city about $4.2 million toward the project.
Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission: $95,000 for a flooding study of Coleman Island Road in Essex County, and $120,000 for working through policy and legal questions on building resilient shorelines
This list will be updated over time. If your organization has lost an environmental grant not listed here, please contact katherine.hafner@whro.org.
