MPCA-Wood Waste Utilization Grant

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) seeks project proposals that will build lasting capacity to preserve standing tree stock and manage the increasing volumes of wood waste being generated by, urban expansion, the Emerald Ash Borer infestation, other tree diseases and pests, and the increasingly frequent storm and disaster related tree removal activities resulting from climate change. This grant program aims to prevent wood waste and diversify the outcomes of wood materials waste while also significantly increasing higher and better uses of the volume of wood waste that we foresee occurring throughout the state. Projects that create or expand markets for wood waste by moving this material up the material management hierarchy (from open burning and direct land application into utilization for energy and fuels production, soil amendments, carbon storage, and durable wood products) will all be considered. Priority project types for this grant are listed under heading number 6 below, but any eligible project focused on preserving standing tree stock and utilizing wood waste above open burning/landfilling according to the wood waste hierarchy in section 4 will be considered.
For the purposes of this RFP, “wood waste and woody biomass” refer to any biomass component of standing tree stock and recently harvested tree components including limbs, tops, bark, slash, roots, and wood. This definition does not include lumber or other wood products and materials frequently found in construction and demolition applications.
The MPCA will be hosting a webinar for this RFP, date and time TBD.