Environmental Opportunities for Your Business

Protecting The Environment One Contract at a Time

Earth is our only home and it’s important to do what we can to protect it for future generations. There are many environmental remediation and conservation plans currently underway to help reverse the effects of what we humans have done to impact our environment in such a negative way and to preserve what remains. Some of the biggest concerns of today include climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and unnecessary waste to name a few. As a result, billions of dollars each year are spent to help fund green programs to help mitigate these issues and preserve our natural resources.

You too can contribute to the government’s initiatives of environmental sustainability by bidding on environmental opportunities that are issued every month by various state and local government agencies. There are many environmental issues that need to be addressed, below we will look at some of the funding being distributed to help save the environment.

Government Spending on The Environment

Finding alternative resources is one of the best ways to help combat climate change and pollution. Solar energy is becoming more popular as millions of Americans have started using it as an alternative power source. In 2019 over 2 million solar panels had been installed, offsetting over 70 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. At the end of 2020, the U.S. had enough solar energy panels installed to power over 16 million homes.[i] Currently solar power accounts for about 4% of U.S. electricity generation with forecasts of it reaching 5% by 2022.[ii] The hope will be for solar energy to continue growing to become a main source of power in the future.

There has also been a shift in the type of automobiles people choose to purchase, many are switching to the use of electric vehicles. Worldwide, over 4 million all-electric vehicles and over 2.1 million plug-in hybrids had been sold in 2021 alone, by switching types of vehicles, this can help contribute to the reduction of air pollution.[iii]

Access to clean water is another problem that needs to be tackled, as there are more than 60 million American’s exposed to unsafe tap water. The $55 billion from the Infrastructure Bill will go to the EPA to help improve our nation's drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater infrastructure including:

$11.7 billion to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF)
$15 billion to the Drinking Water SRF for Lead Service Line Replacement
$4 billion to the Drinking Water SRF for Emerging Contaminants
$11.7 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund SRF
$1 billion for the Clean Water SRF for Emerging Contaminants

(Source: Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). “Water Infrastructure Investments.” epa.gov)

This is just part of the money going towards improving our water infrastructure and many state and local governments have their own plans in place to do so as well.

State and Local Government Funding

State and local governments have taken initiative to develop green programs and funding for these programs is expected to increase over the next several years. If we look at funding for 2018, $32.3 billion was spent on natural resources, $58.8 billion on sewerage, $45.8 billion on park and recs, and $26 billion on solid waste management.[iv] Globally, across 2019-2020 the public sector spent approximately $321 billion to help fight climate change.[v]

Diving a little deeper into what’s going on at the state level right now, New York for example, just got their 2022-2023 budget passed by the Senate which includes $4.2 billion to fund environmental infrastructure, including climate change mitigation, zero emission school buses, green building projects, and air and water pollution mitigation in disadvantaged communities.[vi] California’s latest budget proposal includes $22.5 billion in climate related expenditures to help focus on clean cars and electric vehicle chargers, green public transportation, reducing gas consumption, and cleaning up electrical grids.[vii]

Many states like New York and California, are taking initiative to fund various green projects, because of this you will see more government opportunities for environmental sustainability being published across the country, that your business can get involved with.

EPA Funding

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also spends billions of dollars a year to protect human health and the environment, and a large sum of funding goes towards awarding contracts in this area. In FY 2021 the EPA spent a total of $11.87 billion on various projects and services, of that $6.1 billion was spent on a combination of contracts, grants, loans, and direct payments to help protect us and the environment. More specifically over $1.1 billion was spent on over 2,200 awarded contracts alone. Currently in FY 2022, $5.89 billion has been spent by the EPA so far, including over $490 million spent on contracts to date.[viii] As this year has just begun, this number will greatly increase over the next several months. Being that the EPA spends billions of dollars and awards thousands of contracts each year on environmental projects, your business has an opportunity to go after these specific bids being issued by the EPA.

Infrastructure Bill Funding

We also can’t forget that the $1 trillion Infrastructure Bill that was passed in November of 2021, has also set aside money to help combat climate change and other environmental issues. The bill provides $50 billion in funding for climate resilience and weatherization to protect against droughts, wildfires, heatwaves, and floods across the country. The bill also includes:

$65 billion for clean energy and grid related investments
$55 billion to expand access to clean drinking water
$21 billion to clean up Superfund and brownfield sites and cap orphaned oil and gas wells
$7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations
$350 million for wildlife crossings to help save animals habitats

(Source: The United States Government. “Fact sheet: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Boosts Clean Energy Jobs, Strengthens Resilience, and Advances Environmental Justice.” whitehouse.gov, 8. Nov. 21)

With all this funding that will be distributed over the next several years, there will be many different industries involved in these green initiatives to help make our environment a safer and healthier place for all. Be on the lookout for these infrastructure opportunities being issued that your business can bid on.

Finding Environmental Opportunities

Finding the right bids and keeping track of these opportunities can be difficult to keep up with on your own. That’s why bidnet direct is a perfect solution for your business. Bidnet direct does the work for you by helping you find and stay on top of the bidding opportunities that match with the goods and services your business sells, and you can do this all in one easy and convenient location. You can easily start receiving opportunities issued by federal, state, and local government agencies straight to your inbox daily and can follow the bids you’re interested in for any updates, changes, and reminders. Here are some examples of environmental opportunities that are currently open to bid on:

On-Call Environmental Services in California
Environmental Monitoring Equipment in Massachusetts
Environmental Consultants in Michigan
Energy Services Providers in Georgia
Electric Truck and Bus Challenge in New York
Seaport and Rail Yard Areas Emissions Reduction Program in Texas
Water System Improvements in Illinois

Keep in mind that through bidnet direct many agencies also allow the use of Electronic Bid Submissions (EBS) which is another way to participate in protecting our environment and reducing waste while also making it quicker and easier for you to submit your bids.

With billions of dollars going towards green programs and environmental remediation and conservations plans, your business can help support these initiatives by bidding on government opportunities and working on these projects that span across a variety of different industries to help preserve our planet.

Andrea Cortina | bidnet direct

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