Advancing Sustainable Chemistry | EPA G2024 STAR B1

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA G2024 STAR B1

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering a discretionary research grant opportunity titled "Advancing Sustainable Chemistry" (Funding Opportunity Number: EPA G2024 STAR B1; CFDA: 66.509). The focus of this program is to accelerate progress toward chemicals, materials, and chemical products that are intentionally designed to be more sustainable across their full lifecycle, from initial design and manufacturing through use and end-of-life management. In practical terms, the EPA is looking to support work that helps move the field from isolated improvements to changes that can be applied broadly and repeatedly, with measurable real-world impact.

At the center of the opportunity is the idea that sustainable chemistry is not just about making a product that is "less harmful" at one stage. Instead, it is about designing chemicals and materials in ways that promote circularity (keeping resources in use longer, reducing waste, enabling reuse, recycling, or safer degradation), meet societal needs (performance, safety, accessibility), and strengthen economic resilience (processes and supply chains that are more reliable and less dependent on high-risk inputs). The EPA frames this as a response to current and emerging pressures, including climate action goals, environmental justice concerns, and broader economic challenges tied to how chemicals are produced and managed.

The solicitation is specifically seeking research that develops or improves the data, methods, and systems needed to drive actionable and scalable change. That emphasis matters: the EPA is signaling interest in work that can be translated into decisions and implementation, such as better ways to evaluate chemical sustainability, generate decision-ready datasets, build tools or frameworks that manufacturers and policymakers can use, and create systems approaches that enable sustainable design and end-of-life outcomes at scale. Rather than funding only incremental lab advances, the RFA highlights research pathways that can shift practices across industries and product categories.

Funding is structured with an award ceiling of $1,500,000 per award, and the EPA expects to make about 4 awards under this competition. The original application closing date listed is May 29, 2024, and the opportunity was created on March 18, 2024. The eligible applicant types are listed as "Others," and the announcement directs applicants to consult Section III of the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the precise eligibility rules and any constraints (for example, what kinds of organizations qualify, whether there are partnership requirements, or limits on foreign involvement).

Overall, this opportunity is aimed at building the practical scientific and technical foundation that makes sustainable chemistry easier to adopt and harder to ignore: better information, better evaluation methods, and better system-level approaches that can be used to design, produce, and manage chemicals and products in ways that reduce harm, support circular economic models, and advance climate and environmental justice objectives.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Advancing Sustainable Chemistry" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.509.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-03-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-29. (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 $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for EPA G2024 STAR B1

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