Measurement and Monitoring Methods for Air Toxics and Contaminants of Emerging Concern in the Atmosphere | EPA G2021 STAR C1

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA G2021 STAR C1

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is offering funding for research that improves how air toxics and contaminants of emerging concern are measured and monitored in the atmosphere. The focus is on developing stronger, more practical monitoring tools that can better detect and quantify harmful air pollutants, especially in situations where current methods are too slow, not sensitive enough, or not well suited to capturing emissions close to their source.

This opportunity is aimed at two main technical advances. First, EPA is looking for new or improved measurement techniques that can deliver real-time, continuous concentration data, with detection limits low enough to fall below typical background levels or below health risk-based thresholds. In other words, the goal is not just to measure pollutants when they are high, but to reliably detect them at very low concentrations that still matter for health and risk assessment. Projects in this area would likely emphasize continuous monitoring approaches, improved sensors or analytical methods, and strategies to reduce noise and uncertainty so that small concentration changes can be captured with confidence.

Second, the solicitation prioritizes advancements in near-source monitoring methods, either stationary or mobile, that can quantify emission rates from fugitive emissions. Fugitive emissions are releases that do not come from a single exhaust stack or vent, such as leaks, evaporative losses, or emissions escaping from equipment, storage, or industrial processes. EPA is specifically encouraging methods that can be deployed close to sources and that can translate measured concentrations into emission rate estimates, which is often the harder step but is critical for enforcement, inventory development, and mitigation planning. This could include research on mobile monitoring platforms, fence-line monitoring strategies, inverse modeling approaches, or other techniques that improve the ability to track down and quantify hard-to-measure releases.

The funding mechanism allows projects to be supported as either grants or cooperative agreements under a discretionary environmental research program (CFDA 66.509). The opportunity number is EPA G2021 STAR C1, and the EPA expected to make about four awards, with a maximum award size (ceiling) of $800,000. The original application closing date listed for this announcement was June 2, 2021, with additional submission timing details referenced in the full announcement instructions.

A notable feature of this solicitation is that it explicitly allows proposals that may involve human subjects research, but it also makes clear that any such work must comply with EPA human subjects protections under 40 CFR Part 26. These rules incorporate the Common Rule requirements and include extra protections and restrictions for vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, fetuses, nursing women, and children. The announcement highlights that intentional exposure research, as defined by the regulation, is prohibited for pregnant women, nursing women, and children. Observational research involving pregnant women/fetuses or children is not automatically prohibited, but it is subject to additional regulatory safeguards and heightened review. Every applicant must include a Human Subjects Research Statement (HSRS), and any project that includes human subjects components will undergo an extra level of review before final funding decisions are made.

Finally, in addition to the regular awards, EPA is offering early career awards under this same solicitation. These are intended for early career principal investigators proposing projects that are smaller in scope and budget, with the expectation that most of the work will be performed by early career investigators and that a meaningful share of project resources will be directed to supporting their research role. The detailed eligibility criteria and expectations for early career proposals are described in the solicitation’s Section III.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Measurement and Monitoring Methods for Air Toxics and Contaminants of Emerging Concern in the Atmosphere" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.509.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 26, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 02, 2021 See Section IV of funding opportunity announcement for additional close date information.. (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 $800,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for EPA G2021 STAR C1

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