2025 NOAA Hawaii Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program | NOAA NOS ONMS 2025 28878

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA NOS ONMS 2025 28878

The 2025 NOAA Hawaii Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program is a competitive NOAA environmental education grant opportunity designed to advance NOAA's broader mission of science, service, and stewardship in the Hawaiian Islands. At its core, the program is meant to strengthen community resilience by helping develop well-informed students and educators who can participate in decisions that improve and protect coastal, marine, and watershed ecosystems across Hawaii. The program emphasizes locally relevant, hands-on learning in K-12 settings and supports a long-term vision in which both societies and ecosystems are healthier and better able to adapt to sudden shocks and longer-term changes, including those driven by climate.

This opportunity funds projects that provide Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) for students and professional development for teachers. In practice, that means NOAA is looking for proposals that move beyond classroom-only instruction and instead connect learners directly with real places, real environmental questions, and community-based stewardship. Funded work is expected to align with national and state school requirements while also elevating priority content areas, particularly science education with an emphasis on climate and Indigenous Knowledge (IK). The program also explicitly encourages new program development, innovative partnerships among environmental education providers, and geographically targeted efforts that address regional education and environmental priorities in the islands.

Eligible applicants include a wide range of organizations conducting projects in Hawaii, including K-12 public and independent schools and school systems, institutions of higher education, nonprofit and commercial organizations, state and local government agencies, and Indian tribal governments. Projects must take place in the Hawaiian Islands, including Hawaii Island, Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, Niihau, and/or the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Individuals are not eligible to apply, and federal agencies cannot receive funds through this announcement, although federal entities may participate as project partners by contributing services or expertise in-kind. If a federal agency will collaborate, the application is expected to clearly describe what the federal role will be (for example, serving on a working group or providing review or technical input). NOAA employees are not allowed to help prepare applications.

NOAA also signals a strong interest in broadening participation and encouraging proposals that promote inclusion. The agency highlights its commitment to cultural and gender diversity and specifically encourages engagement by organizations such as tribal colleges, minority-serving institutions, universities, and groups working with historically underserved communities. The notice ties the meaning of "underserved communities" to the definition used in Executive Order 13985, which focuses on populations and geographic areas that have been systematically denied full participation in economic, social, and civic life.

From an administrative standpoint, applicants need to plan ahead because eligibility depends on completing and maintaining registrations in three systems: SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. These registrations must be active before submitting an application, and NOAA emphasizes that the full process can take 4 to 6 weeks, so organizations should start as early as possible. A Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov may be required before registering in eRA Commons, and eRA Commons registration requires the organization to designate at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit. NOAA points applicants to Department of Commerce applicant and grantee training modules to reduce submission errors, and notes that organizations without internet access should contact the agency for submission instructions.

Key opportunity details from the listing include the funding instrument type (grant), the opportunity category (discretionary), and activity areas spanning natural resources and science and technology/research and development. The opportunity is identified as "2025 NOAA Hawaii Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program" with funding opportunity number NOAA NOS ONMS 2025 28878 and CFDA number 11.429. The application closing date is listed as January 31, 2025, and the maximum award amount (award ceiling) is $150,000. Additional program background and context are available through NOAA's B-WET program webpage at https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/bwet.

• The DOC NOAA - ERA Production in the natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2025 NOAA Hawaii Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.429.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-31. (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 $150,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for NOAA NOS ONMS 2025 28878

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: