Although IDEM does not currently have an open pollution prevention funding opportunity, additional information about the grant program is available below.

Many businesses are interested in pollution prevention but encounter barriers to successful implementation. A common barrier is financial restrictions to conduct research or develop new pollution prevention opportunities.

Historically, IDEM has provided two types of Pollution Prevention Grants when funds are available:  state funded grants and federally funded grants. Federally funded grants generally are awarded to IDEM from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

State Pollution Prevention Grant Program (IC 13-27-2-10)

The IDEM Pollution Prevention Grant Program was established to support and sustain pollution prevention.

• What is the definition of pollution prevention?

In years where the state legislature appropriates money to IDEM for pollution prevention grants, IDEM may award grants for the following purposes:

1. Grants to nonprofit organizations to establish free or low cost technical assistance programs.
2. Grants to assist trade associations that represent manufacturers; business organizations; labor organizations; and educational institutions in developing training materials and making those training materials available to workers for in-plant use that will foster clean manufacturing.
3. Grants to assist industry; business organizations; educational institutions; labor organizations; and local units of government in establishing programs or materials to train and assist personnel in developing methods to measure and plan for pollution prevention.
4. Grants to assist industry or business organizations, local units of government, and educational institutions in creating programs to train and certify environmental auditors; engineers; and industrial hygienists to identify, evaluate, and implement pollution prevention measures and alternatives in audits, plans, and programs.
5. Grants to any organization for generic research and development, pilot tests, and demonstration projects that involve commonly used manufacturing processes or materials; and will produce results that will be of use to manufacturers other than manufacturers that may be involved in the research and development, pilot tests, or demonstration projects.

In most cases, grantees provide matching money and grant money may not be spent for capital improvements or equipment.

2021 Water, Air, Solid Waste, Toxics, and Energy (W.A.S.T.E.) Stream Mapping Grants

W.A.S.T.E. Stream Mapping can reveal substantial opportunities to reduce costs, improve production flow, save time, improve worker safety, reduce inventory, and improve environmental performance. These assessments take a broad look at manufacturing processes by focusing on all environmental areas including Water, Air, Solid Waste, Toxics, and Energy (W.A.S.T.E).

In 2018, U.S. EPA partnered with IDEM and the Purdue Manufacturing Extension Partnership to fund W.A.S.T.E. Stream Mapping assessments to 15 Indiana manufacturers at a significantly reduced cost. Following these audits, each of the 15 participating facilities received a report outlining various opportunities for pollution prevention (P2). Each facility worked alongside Purdue MEP to devise solutions to facility issues and create plans to implement new P2 projects.

• See for yourself! Watch a short video about the IDEM/Purdue (W.A.S.T.E.) Stream Mapping project.

The project participants were eligible for additional seed funding from the U.S. EPA and IDEM. In October 2021, IDEM awarded five of the Indiana businesses a total of $50,000 in grant money through this partnership. The grant funding project provided up to 50% of the cost to implement P2 initiatives, which were developed with the results of their W.A.S.T.E. (water, air, soil, toxics, energy) assessments in mind.

Below is a list of recipients selected to receive funding:

1. BCI Solutions, Inc. (Bremen, Ind.) received grant funding to train staff on compressed air basics and energy savings to improve institutional knowledge. Also, BCI Solutions, Inc. will switch to more efficient light fixtures at their facility and anticipate to save 50,000 kilowatt hours annually.
2. Ameri-Can Engineering (Argos, Ind.) received grant funding to improve the layout of their plant, reduce the use of forklifts, reduce heating and cooling losses, and upgrade to more efficient equipment. Ameri-Can Engineering expects to see an annual reduction of more than 12,000 kilowatt hours in electrical use, reductions in natural gas consumption, reductions in hazardous materials used and waste generated, and a reduction in air emissions and water use.
3. Kokomo Transmission Plant (Kokomo, Ind.) received grant funding to eliminate a waste stream by recovering and separating metal and oil for reuse and recycling. This will result in a reduction of approximately 240,000 pounds of waste per year that is currently being incinerated.
4. ALOM Technologies (Indianapolis, Ind.) received grant funding to install electric vehicle chargers for its fleet, digitize processes instead of using paper, and train staff on the benefits of pollution prevention and sustainability.
5. Kokomo Casting Plant (Kokomo, Ind.) received grant funding to retrofit their current cooling process, which will result in the reduction of 305,000 gallons of water per year.

To learn more about these facilities and the P2 initiatives they implemented, check out their Success Stories here!