Superfund Hazardous Substance Research and Training Program (P42) | RFA ES 15 019

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA ES 15 019

The Superfund Hazardous Substance Research and Training Program (P42), run by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) under the National Institutes of Health, funds multi-project Superfund Research Program (SRP) Centers that focus on real-world hazardous substance problems and practical solutions. The intent is to support center-level efforts that bring together biomedical research with environmental science and engineering, so that questions about exposure, health effects, and cleanup are tackled in an integrated way rather than through isolated studies. A defining feature of this opportunity is that applicants are expected to build a coordinated Center made up of multiple connected research projects plus shared “core” functions that keep the program cohesive and outward-facing.

These SRP Centers are designed to be problem-based and solution-oriented, meaning the research is expected to connect clearly to hazardous substances and contaminated environments and to produce outputs that can inform public health decisions, risk management, and remediation. In addition to scientific projects, Centers include cores that cover essential infrastructure and impact activities: administrative coordination, community engagement, research translation (moving findings toward practical use by stakeholders such as regulators, communities, and practitioners), training, and other research support functions. The overall model emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaboration and intentional pathways for communicating results beyond academia.

The program scope is explicitly grounded in the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 and centers on four major areas. First, it supports advanced techniques to detect, assess, and evaluate how hazardous substances affect human health, including improved ways to measure exposures and biological responses. Second, it supports methods to assess risks to human health posed by hazardous substances, which can include toxicology, epidemiology, exposure science, and risk modeling approaches. Third, it supports methods and technologies to detect hazardous substances in the environment, such as monitoring tools, analytical chemistry methods, and field-deployable sensing approaches. Fourth, it supports fundamental biological, chemical, and physical methods to reduce the amount and toxicity of hazardous substances, aligning with remediation science and engineering and strategies to mitigate harm.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and governmental entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city/township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (when not institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The opportunity also highlights additional eligible categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as primary applicants, and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which generally means a U.S. applicant organization can include certain well-justified international elements in the work when permitted under NIH policy, even though the award itself is made to an eligible U.S. entity.

From the posted opportunity details, this was a discretionary grant funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number RFA ES 15 019) in the education, environment, and health space, associated with CFDA 93.143. The listed award ceiling was $1,750,000, with an anticipated 10 awards, and the original closing date was April 11, 2016. Overall, the grant is structured to build sustained, interdisciplinary Center programs that not only generate high-quality research on hazardous substances but also train the next generation of researchers and translate findings into information and tools that communities, decision-makers, and technical professionals can use.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Superfund Hazardous Substance Research and Training Program (P42)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.143.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2015-09-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-04-11. (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 $1,750,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA ES 15 019

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