Weekly Funding Digest

OPENING SUMMARY — WEEK OF OCTOBER 26 – 30, 2026

Week at a Glance:

A light week on the federal side: 27 Grants.gov postings between October 23 and 29, eleven of them with a GMA client path, plus the opening of the FY2027 DoD SBIR/STTR Release 1 and a $5 billion USDA loan-guarantee program for meat, poultry and seafood processing. The largest new item landed on Friday October 30, after the window closed: DOE's $237 million Grid SCALED cooperative-agreement opportunity for domestic grid-component manufacturing, with concept papers due November 20. Themes: forest and landscape restoration (Forest Service LSR and its tribal set-aside, both due January 26), defense basic research (two AFOSR solicitations, one with a November 18 pre-proposal date), and financing over grants (SPUR guarantees; two multibillion-dollar DOE Energy Dominance Financing actions). California opened its $27.5 million LWCF local cycle, released the HOMES pay-for-performance implementer RFP and started the Prop 4 land-repurposing guidelines; Texas TERP has a first-come port program open and a public-fleet round coming in December. Policy was dominated by Section 232 actions, a proposed tribal Build America, Buy America waiver extension (comments November 23) and a proposed rewrite of the HHS block-grant rules (comments November 30).

Grid Supply Chain Manufacturing:

DOE Office of Electricity / NETL Grid Supply Chain Alternatives to Lead Energy Dominance (Grid SCALED, DE-FOA-0003641) — $237,000,000 in cooperative agreements, about 70 awards: up to $50,000,000 for refurbishment and reuse of existing grid equipment and up to $187,000,000 for U.S.-sourced alternative materials and subcomponents. Grants.gov lists eligibility as unrestricted and cost share as required (percentage in the NOFO, which did not render). Concept papers due November 20, 2026 to qualify for a full application; full applications February 8, 2027. First notice under DOE's $375 million Grid Supply Chain Program; solid-state transformer funding expected in 2027.

DOE SBIR/STTR — Fall 2026 Phase I:

DOE Office of Technology Commercialization Fall 2026 (FY26 Fall) SBIR/STTR Phase I — the first full cycle under the restructured pitch-first program run through the ConnectWerx hub: 25 topics across EERE successor offices, CESER, HGEO, Nuclear Energy, Office of Electricity, Office of Science and NNSA (critical minerals, manufacturing scale-up, batteries, grid innovation, cybersecurity, nuclear, fusion, detectors, proliferation and detonation detection). Hub page: about 160 awards, up to $50,000,000 in Phase I, up to $300,000 per award ($306,500 with TABA), Fast-Track with Phase II at a go/no-go; DOE's release says "more than $200 million" across phases. Up to three pitches per company. Pitches due December 16, 2026, 2:00 p.m. ET via the AMP portal; office hours November 19 and December 1.

Forest and Landscape Restoration:

USDA Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration (USDA-FS-2026-LSR) — $11,340,000, $100,000–$300,000 per project ($600,000 multistate), 1:1 match, states, local governments, tribes, nonprofits and universities; every non-tribal applicant needs State Forester sponsorship, with drafts due to the State Forester (CAL FIRE in California) by December 17; applications due January 26, 2027, 11:59 p.m. ET. A companion tribal notice (USDA-FS-2026-LSR-TRIBAL, $100,000–$300,000, emailed application, same deadline) needs no sponsor.

Climate, Coastal and Hazard Science:

NOAA Climate Program Office FY2027 AI and machine-learning competition (NOAA-OAR-CPO-2027-33392) — up to $250,000 per year for up to 15 awards to universities, nonprofits, companies and local or tribal governments; LOIs encouraged by November 17, applications due February 9, 2027, 11:59 p.m. PT; foreign institutions and state governments are not listed as eligible. NOAA National Ocean Service FY2026–2028 BAA (NOAA-NOS-MB-2027-33927) is open to September 30, 2028 but carries no appropriated funds; CESU partner institutions have the cleanest path.

Transportation Safety:

FMCSA FY2027 Crash Causal Factors Program (FM-CCFP-27-001) — $7,000,000, up to $500,000 per award, no match, cooperative agreements to state and local law enforcement collecting fatal heavy-truck crash data. Only the 30 Heavy-Duty Truck Study sample states and named local agencies are eligible; California is not a participating state (Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Washington are). Due December 28, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET.

Justice:

BJA FY2026 Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence (O-BJA-2026-172771) — up to $11,179,802, up to $1,000,000 per award, 14 awards, to states, local governments and public universities. Chief-executive certification (Appendix 1) required for state and local applicants. Grants.gov December 8; JustGrants December 15, 2026, 8:59 p.m. ET.

Defense Research and SBIR:

AFOSR University Center for High-Speed Aerothermoelasticity (FA955027S0001) — one award, $2,750,000 per year for up to five years ($13,750,000), U.S. universities only, $750,000 per year of it contingent on three HBCU investigators; white papers required January 22, 2027, full proposals April 2, 2027. AFOSR–Taiwan NSTC Frontiers in Materials (FA955027S0002) — about eight pairs at $150,000 per year per U.S. PI; pre-proposals due November 18, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET and each must name a Taiwan co-investigator. DoD SBIR/STTR FY2027 Release 1 opened October 28 and closes November 25 (25 topics; Air Force Direct-to-Phase-II awards up to $2,000,000).

Gulf Coast Restoration (restricted pool):

Treasury RESTORE Act Direct Component Non-Construction (GR-RDC-26-002) and Centers of Excellence (GR-RCE-26-001) — allocation-based, rolling to October 31, 2027, no match. Only the designated Gulf state entities, Florida counties and Louisiana parishes may apply; Texas and Gulf university clients reach the Centers of Excellence money through state subaward competitions.

School Nutrition Equipment:

USDA FNS Harvest to Hallways NSLP Equipment Assistance Grants (USDA-FNA-CN-HTH-NSLP-EAG-2027) — $50,000,000 by formula to the 54 state agencies (California $5,554,836), due January 11, 2027, 11:59 p.m. ET; state agencies only — school districts and county offices of education compete for subgrants from their state in 2027.

Agricultural Processing Finance:

USDA SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program FY2027 (91 FR 67540) — at least $5,000,000,000 in loan level, 90% guarantees up to $175,000,000 per borrower, terms to 40 years, for meat, poultry and seafood processing by companies, cooperatives, nonprofits, tribes and public bodies; nationally dominant beef, pork and poultry processors excluded. Rolling from October 23 (NOFO) or October 27 (Federal Register) until funds run out.

Research and Education:

NSF 27-011 Dear Colleague Letter — supplements of up to $100,000 per PI for existing EDU and ExLENT awardees only, requests due November 10, 2026, for Presidential SI Challenge activities. NIH Kids First U24s (RFA-RM-27-008, $3,500,000 direct costs per year; RFA-RM-27-010, $900,000) due January 8, 2027, domestic institutions only; NIBIB NextTech R18 (RFA-EB-28-004, $6,000,000 for 8–12 awards, direct costs rarely above $750,000 per year, for-profits eligible) first due February 1, 2027.

California:

State Parks LWCF 2027 local cycle (Portal 194175) — $27,500,000, up to $6,000,000 per applicant, 50% match, cities, counties, tribes and park districts, due January 14, 2027, 11:59 p.m.. CEC RFP-26-501 HOMES Pay-for-Performance Statewide Implementer — one contract to run more than $90,000,000 in rebates; pre-bid November 10, questions November 16, proposals January 22, 2027. CDFW Mojave Desert Tortoise Recovery (Portal 193758) — $2,000,000, no match, six desert counties, workshop November 9, due December 3, 2026 (not previously covered). Department of Conservation Multibenefit Land Repurposing Prop 4 draft guidelines — $200,000,000, comments due December 7, first round projected winter 2026–27.

Texas:

TCEQ TERP SPRY — up to 80% of drayage-truck and cargo-handling replacement costs at Texas seaports and rail yards, first-come through March 12, 2027, 5:00 p.m. CT (not previously covered). TERP Governmental Alternative Fuel Fleet (GAFF) — public fleets over 15 vehicles, per-vehicle caps $17,000–$80,000, applications expected to open December 2026 (forecast).

Policy & Compliance Updates:

Eight agencies propose extending the tribal BABA manufactured-products waiver through December 31, 2026 (91 FR 66871; comments November 23). HHS proposes stripping substantive provisions from the block-grant rules at 45 CFR 96 (91 FR 68097; comments November 30). A Section 232 proclamation on robotics and industrial machinery (October 28) imposes no tariff but starts a 180-day negotiation clock, as did last week's wind-turbine proclamation (now 91 FR 68001). NRC finalized a rule letting reactor applicants rely on DOE or Department of War demonstration authorizations (effective November 25); DOE added helium to its Critical Material List; EPA proposed Alaska Class VI primacy (comments December 14) and a further rollback of the oil and gas methane rules (comments December 16). OMB/OPM rescinded the 2025 shutdown RIF guidance (M-27-01) ahead of the December 11 CR expiration; BLM terminated the Section 368 energy-corridor EIS; DOE's Energy Dominance Financing office announced a $5 billion nuclear-uprate commitment and closed a $5.1 billion utility loan; EPA launched its PFAS TECH research strategy and $26 million in school lead-reduction allotments.

Watch List / Upcoming:

Federal Register citations are now published for three items covered last week: Proclamation 11074 on wind turbines (91 FR 68001), EO 14438 Decreasing Housing Costs (91 FR 68007; the Manufactured Housing Task Force must report by about April 20, 2027 on whether federal grant funds can be conditioned on state and local permitting reform) and Presidential Determination 2027-01 on petroleum logistics under DPA Title III (91 FR 68011). DARPA: Proposers Day for the Nassau critical-infrastructure resilience program (IPTO) is December 10, 2026 in Arlington, registration due November 7, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET (DARPA-SN-27-08; utilities and universities should register as teaming prospects); RFI DARPA-SS-27-01 on solid-state heat-to-electricity conversion closes November 23; Special Notice DARPA-SN-27-14 on utility-scale quantum-computing workshops takes responses to December 30. Expected within 30–90 days: EPA FY2027 Brownfields Assessment, RLF and Cleanup NOFOs are still "fall 2026" with nothing posted as of October 30 (no Multipurpose round in FY27; applications due about 60 days after posting; 20% cost share for Cleanup and RLF; prior Assessment grantees needed 70% drawdown by October 1); EPA Clean School Bus promises "additional information later in 2026" (page updated October 26); SERDP/ESTCP FY2028 BAAs (none posted; prior years released October–January); NASA ROSES-27 by January 2027 (about 50 elements, no ROSES-26) and OSTEM's planned Next Gen STEM TEAM II ($4.0 million) and EPSCoR Rapid Response ($2.6 million) NOFOs in FY27 Q1; the DOE AFFO NOFO (NOI DE-FOA-0003648, expected November); CARB CORE FY 2026-27 (calendar shows opens December 1, closes March 1, 2027); DOT FY2027 BUILD (calendar row added October 29 from a newsletter forecast — no DOT statement found); Texas Clean Fleet Program (TCEQ projects January 2027). NSF MRI still has no FY2027 solicitation. Deadline cluster, next three weeks: NSF 26-510/26-511 SBIR/STTR, NSF 26-513 AI Infrastructure Hubs and 26-512 AI Datasets November 4; CEC DEBA workshop November 5 and questions November 13; DURIP November 6; NRCS California batching November 6; Nassau registration November 7; NSF 27-011 and NMTC CY2026 November 10; USGS 104(g) November 12; USGS CESU agreements November 14; FEMA C-UAS and ONR Communications and Networking November 16; NTIA TBCP and NEGP November 17; NOAA CPO LOIs November 17; CTC SB 1 programs November 18–20; FCC NEPA comments and ETIPP November 18; NASA B.7 Step-1, ARPA-E UNLOCK concept papers and RUS ARC LOIs November 20; tribal BABA waiver comments November 23; DoD SBIR Release 1 November 25; HHS block-grant comments November 30. Awards and signals: USDA MPPEP $57.4 million (147 awards) and RCPP $325 million (42 projects) on October 26; MARAD PIDP $498 million to 35 ports on October 27 (debrief unsuccessful applicants); Commerce CHIPS R&D letters of intent totaling $389 million to four firms with a government minority equity stake as an award condition (October 22), a model advanced-manufacturing clients should understand; a Forest Service PRA notice for Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance (comments November 27) signals continued rounds; USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine is still not accepting applications. ACL forecasts posted October 26–27: UCEDD core funding (HHS-2027-ACL-AOD-DDUC-0001, $26.4 million, 42 awards, est. post December 1, due February 1, 2027, existing UCEDD grantees only); Strengthening the Direct Care Workforce technical-assistance center (HHS-2027-ACL-AOD-DNDP-0016, one $2,000,000 cooperative agreement, est. post March 14, 2027, open to states, local governments, tribes, universities and nonprofits); National Center for Law and Elder Rights (HHS-2027-ACL-AOA-LMRC-0019, $1,500,000, four awards, est. post January 5, 2027, national nonprofits). California: CEC GFO-26-503 DEBA shows no addendum and its award range, eligibility and match remain only in the .docx manual (workshop November 5, 1:00–4:00 p.m.); DWR Dam Safety and Climate Resilience ($228.2 million; 50% match) is still a forecast although the portal said "anticipated opening October 2026"; CalRecycle Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup FR93 (Portal 163104; cities, counties, RCDs and tribes; LOI required; up to $200,000 per applicant; due January 6, 2027) was never profiled; SWRCB 319(h) 2027 is due December 18; GFO-26-601 Charger Service Skills Accelerator closed October 30. Texas: the THIVE page still says applications were expected "September 2026" while the TERP landing page lists THIVE as open — confirm with TERP before advising fleets. Inconsistencies to confirm: FA955027S0001's "$150,000 annually" budget line versus $2,750,000 per year elsewhere in the NOFO; LSR Tribal match (fact sheet 1:1, listing "No"); RFA-EB-28-004 close date (listing December 1, 2030 vs. announcement February 2, 2030); SPUR's open date (October 23 vs. 27) and a fee schedule dated "October 1, 2027"; Treasury's 26-series RESTORE FOA texts not yet posted (eligibility taken from the 25-series FOAs). The continuing resolution expires December 11, 2026 and OMB's 2 CFR 200 rewrite stays blocked until then; IRB 2026-44 carried no energy-credit guidance. Empower Innovation pages did not render this week — check its October newsletter manually; no Open Grant daily limit was hit, and its sweep surfaced nothing new beyond items already in the calendar.