If your watershed group has ever wanted to put a classroom on a streambank, Harrisburg just opened the checkbook. DEP’s Environmental Education Grants Program is taking applications for its 2027 round, with about $420,000 on the table and a deadline of November 13.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection opened its 2027 Environmental Education Grants round on October 5, with roughly $420,000 forecast for projects that run July 1, 2027 through June 30, 2028. Incorporated conservation groups, nonprofits, schools, colleges, and county conservation districts can apply for grants from $5,000 up to $65,000. Applications are due November 13, 2026, submitted electronically through Keystone Login.
Three tiers, from a field day to a full program
The program comes in three sizes. Seed Grants cover up to $5,000 for local projects, which is the right scale for a stream study day, a monitoring workshop series, or signage along a restored reach. Grow Grants run from $5,001 to $30,000 for larger efforts such as district-wide or multi-county programs. Impact Grants, from $30,001 to $65,000, are for first-time projects or past grantees building capacity, and they need to reach audiences at the county, regional, and state levels.
Water quality is squarely within scope. DEP lists air and water quality, land use, and climate change as eligible topics, and projects serving Environmental Justice areas or other underserved communities get funding priority. That last point matters in our corner of the state, where plenty of coal-patch and river towns qualify.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants include public and incorporated private schools, intermediate units, charter schools, colleges and universities, county conservation districts, incorporated conservation and education organizations, incorporated nonprofits, and businesses registered in Pennsylvania. Municipalities cannot apply directly but can partner with a group that can, which is a natural opening for watershed associations to team up with a borough or township on a stormwater or source water education project.
Forecast for 2027 Environmental Education Grants statewide. Applications close November 13, 2026.
A program paid for by polluters
The money has a fitting origin story. Under the Environmental Education Act of 1993, five percent of the pollution fines and penalties DEP collects is set aside for environmental education, and the program has moved more than $16 million into classrooms and watersheds since. DEP announced the new round on October 6 alongside more than $400,000 in awards from the previous cycle, so the pipeline is running on schedule.
Why it matters for the rest of us
Most watershed groups in our network run some kind of education work already, whether that is a macroinvertebrate day with the local school or a rain barrel workshop at the fire hall. This grant exists to pay for exactly that, and the small Seed tier keeps the paperwork proportional to the project. A $5,000 award will not restore a stream, but it will raise the next crop of people who want to. Applications in by November 13, and may your gauge nets be full.
Based on the Pennsylvania DEP newsroom announcement of October 6, 2026 and the DEP Environmental Education Grants Program page. Current as of October 16, 2026.
