Opportunity Overview
The FY27 Keep Maryland Beautiful Community Stewardship Grant is an open statewide Maryland funding opportunity administered by the Chesapeake Bay Trust in partnership with the Maryland Environmental Trust, Maryland Department of Transportation, and Maryland Department of Agriculture. Track 1 supports community engagement, environmental education, hands-on stewardship, place-based learning, litter reduction, stormwater solutions, native planting, rain gardens, and related projects that improve Maryland communities and natural resources. Schools are expressly included among eligible applicants in the State’s program announcement.
Funding, Deadline and Geography
Track 1 funding pool: approximately $54,074.
Maximum request: $5,000.
Deadline: December 1, 2026 at 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Geography: Maryland statewide.
Project period: approximately one year.
Match/cost share: Matching funds are encouraged but not required.
The FY27 Keep Maryland Beautiful program opened September 3, 2026. Across all tracks, Maryland announced approximately $349,000 in available Keep Maryland Beautiful funding.
Eligibility
Track 1 eligible applicants include qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, community associations, homeowner associations, service and civic groups, public agencies, and schools. The RFP recognizes a school principal as an eligible Executive Officer. Applicants must satisfy the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s organizational and compliance requirements and provide applicant-controlled documentation where applicable. Dr. Miltie, LLC does not qualify merely as a for-profit commercial vendor and is therefore NOT ELIGIBLE / No Bid as a direct applicant on currently verified facts.
Eligible and Ineligible Costs
Eligible costs may include directly allocable personnel and fringe, supplies, contractors, Maryland travel, field-trip fees, equipment, software, cloud storage, meeting costs, and indirect costs up to 10% of direct costs. Projects may include Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience-aligned environmental education, hands-on stewardship, place-based learning, rain gardens, litter cleanup, stormwater practices, native planting, and related environmental problem-solving.
Examples of ineligible costs include overnight accommodations, staff training or professional-development travel outside Maryland, non-native plants where vegetation is being planted, alcohol, and costs incurred outside the approved one-year performance period.
Application, Forms and Submission
Applications must be submitted through the Chesapeake Bay Trust online award portal. Email submissions are not accepted. The application requires separate Executive Officer and Project Leader roles, narrative responses, an online budget and budget justification, and applicable organizational documentation. Supporting materials may include Maryland SDAT good-standing documentation unless exempt, financial documentation, maps or photos, partner commitments where relevant, and a W-9 if selected for award. Contractors cannot serve as the official correspondence contact.
Applicants must make the required employment, nondiscrimination, debarment, fraud/default, and related compliance acknowledgments. Applications are competitively reviewed using the criteria in the RFP. Award notification is anticipated around March 20, 2027.
Vendor and Procurement Rules
This is an applicant grant, not a direct vendor solicitation. Contractors and other vendors may be included as project costs when legitimate and directly allocable, but the applicant remains responsible for the proposal, project oversight, organizational eligibility, and all applicant-controlled certifications and documentation. Atlas will not fabricate applicant qualifications or commitments.
Atlas Fit Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 82/100. The opportunity is highly relevant to Maryland schools and qualifying community organizations with environmental education or stewardship projects, with a manageable application structure and no mandatory match.
N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. Nonagon N9+ is a remote physical examination platform and has no legitimate connection to the verified environmental stewardship and education objectives. Atlas will not force a telehealth fit.
QC Healthcare / Dr. Miltie fit: 0/100. Dr. Miltie direct-applicant status: NOT ELIGIBLE / No Bid. The verified Track 1 applicant classes do not include ordinary for-profit commercial vendors, and no qualifying nonprofit or public-agency applicant status is established.
Contact and Source Control
Program contact: Marylin Veiman Echeverría, Chesapeake Bay Trust, mveiman@cbtrust.org, 410-974-2941 ext. 130.
No separate public solicitation or opportunity number was identified in the controlling FY27 Track 1 materials; Atlas uses internal ID MD-KMB-FY27-TRACK1 for record continuity.
Official program page: Chesapeake Bay Trust — Keep Maryland Beautiful.
Official FY27 RFP: FY27 Keep Maryland Beautiful Track 1 and Track 2 RFP.
Maryland program source: Maryland Environmental Trust.
Last verified September 12, 2026.