Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction (CCFWR) Project | USDA NRCS NHQ CCFWR 20 NOFO0001018

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS NHQ CCFWR 20 NOFO0001018

The Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction (CCFWR) Project is a fiscal year 2020 funding opportunity run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), through its Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP). It is set up as a cooperative agreement program designed to help local governments launch pilot projects that test practical, locally driven approaches to community composting and food waste reduction. The program reflects OUAIP's broader mission of supporting urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural practices, with a specific emphasis here on turning wasted food and organic materials into usable compost and building the local systems needed to make that compost beneficial to producers and communities.

Funding for the CCFWR pilots in FY 2020 is expected to total about $900,000 across roughly 20 awards. Individual awards are capped at $90,000, and NRCS intends to fund projects in no fewer than 10 states, meaning the agency is aiming for geographic spread rather than concentrating all awards in a small number of places. Because this is a cooperative agreement (not a standard grant), awardees should generally expect a more collaborative relationship with the federal agency during the project, including coordination, reporting, and potentially shared planning expectations consistent with cooperative agreement structures.

Eligible applicants are local governmental entities, specifically county governments, city or township governments, and special district governments. Applications are open to eligible entities located anywhere in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories and affiliated areas listed in the notice, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Caribbean Area) as well as Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Pacific Islands Area). The program is oriented toward municipalities, counties, local governments, and city planners that can lead community-scale planning and implementation efforts, typically in partnership with other local organizations.

The core purpose of a CCFWR pilot project is to develop and test strategies that accomplish several connected outcomes: generating compost; increasing access to compost for agricultural producers (explicitly including community gardeners); reducing reliance on and limiting the use of fertilizer; improving soil quality; encouraging waste management and permaculture-related business development; increasing rainwater absorption (a soil health and stormwater co-benefit of improved organic matter); reducing municipal food waste; and diverting food waste away from landfills. In practice, this frames compost not only as a waste diversion tool, but as a soil health input that can strengthen local food production, reduce input costs over time, and deliver environmental benefits tied to water infiltration and landfill diversion.

Within the competition, NRCS signals several priorities that can strengthen an application. Preference is given to pilot projects that anticipate or demonstrate economic benefits, which could include reduced disposal costs, job creation, small business growth, or cost savings for growers through compost availability. Priority also goes to proposals that include clear plans to make compost easy to access for agricultural producers, suggesting that distribution, pricing (if any), delivery logistics, and partnerships with grower networks matter. NRCS also favors projects that integrate additional food waste strategies beyond composting, including food recovery efforts, which implies a more comprehensive approach that addresses edible food rescue and redistribution alongside composting for inedible scraps. Finally, proposals that collaborate with multiple partners are prioritized, pointing to the value of cross-sector coordination among local government, community organizations, urban farms and gardens, haulers, institutions generating food scraps, and other stakeholders.

Applications for this opportunity had to be submitted through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 26, 2020, with late submissions not considered. NRCS also scheduled an informational webinar for June 4, 2020 (2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) to walk potential applicants through the program purpose, eligible project types, eligibility rules, and basic submission requirements. Additional details and formal requirements were referenced as being available in the full announcement materials associated with the opportunity number USDA NRCS NHQ CCFWR 20 NOFO0001018 (CFDA 10.935), including the required application forms, instructions, and any specific compliance or reporting expectations tied to the cooperative agreement format.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction (CCFWR) Project" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.935.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 11, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 26, 2020 Applications must be received by 1159 p.m. Eastern Time on June 26, 2020. (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 $90,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments.

Apply for USDA NRCS NHQ CCFWR 20 NOFO0001018

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