The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently opened the application period for $1 million in 2021 Small Business Advantage Grant funding.
The grants are available to small-business owners and farmers with 100 or fewer full-time employees for increasing energy efficiency, pollution prevention, and natural resource protection.
Eligible projects include fencing to keep livestock out of streams, high-efficiency LED lighting, agricultural storm water runoff management projects that reduce sediment and nutrient pollution, solvent recovery and waste recycling systems, auxiliary power units that eliminate truck engine idling, streambank buffers, and HVAC and boiler upgrades.
Eligible businesses and farms will receive a 50 percent match for funding up to $5,000.
Environmental justice projects will receive extra consideration.
“Many small business owners with an innovative mindset see the economic opportunity in energy efficiency and sustainability,” DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said. “DEP is committed to assisting small business owners and small farmers in Pennsylvania who want to improve their operations, reduce operating costs, and increase profitability, while helping to improve the natural resources all Pennsylvanians depend on.”
More than $950,000 in funding was awarded to 212 small businesses and farms last year.
The Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act of 1988 funds the Small Business Advantage Grants program.