Waste to Energy and Materials Technical Assistance for State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, entities representing multiple municipalities are eligible to apply and will receive up to 40 hours of technical assistance for all cities/towns they represent. Individual municipalities represented by these entities can also apply separately.

The goal of the Waste to Energy and Materials Technical Assistance Program is to mobilize data and information compiled about waste streams to (1) provide these data to local decision makers, (2) deploy the analyses that have been developed for a variety of energy/resource recovery strategies, and (3) foster local public–private partnerships. Ultimately, this program aims to enable waste energy and/or resource recovery at the state, local, and Tribal level by leveraging technical expertise and relevant data to address specific and unique issues each entity encounters with their waste streams.

Types of assistance and activities include providing resource, technology, market, and policy data information; analysis assistance; targeted discussions with stakeholders; assistance in strategic energy planning; education through webinars; consultations with technical experts; program review and evaluation; and request for proposal development support and review.

No, a technical assistance agreement is not required under this program.

Following the application time frame (typically late April), AFFO and other DOE staff will review requests and respond to the applicant within 2–3 months about whether their request is selected. The selection process considers geography, community size, demographic characteristics, and requested topic, as well as waste to energy and materials deployment opportunities, merit of the request, and potential project impact.

Technical assistance will be provided for as many applicants as budget allows. Due to limited resources, NLR may not be able to fulfill all received requests. However, each request will be reviewed, and a response will be provided to the applicant. If a request cannot be met, NLR will still provide useful information (e.g., links to existing analyses and/or data) to assist in the applicant’s efforts related to waste to energy and materials development.

If selected, NLR will schedule a call to discuss your needs. The call will include NLR waste to energy and materials team members with expertise related to your request. During the call, NLR will provide information on existing materials and resources, discuss activities related to your request, and outline next steps in the process. Our intent is for the technical assistance to be a collaborative process, and therefore we will be looking for active engagement.

If a request cannot be met, NLR will still provide useful information (e.g., links to existing analyses and/or data) to assist in the applicant’s efforts related to waste to energy and materials development. Also, applications that were not selected during the current round will be considered in the next round of applications.

The technical assistance is limited to 40 hours per request per entity.

Technical assistance can typically begin right away based on the initial call depending on the requested services, NLR staff availability, and urgency of the request.

Yes, as long as the total of all requests is within the 40-hour limit.

This assistance is provided through DOE’s Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office and does not support direct funding to state, local, or Tribal governments. Through this assistance, NLR provides information about project-level finance (e.g., terms, structures, innovations), financial policies such as feed-in tariffs, energy bonds, and power purchase agreements. DOE's funding opportunities website provides information on available funds from DOE for specific projects and programs, including how to apply.

The benefits of participating in the technical assistance program include access to subject matter experts at no cost to the applicant, access to data and information on the options available for energy/resource recovery, and support in waste management plan development and how to incorporate waste to energy and materials technologies.

We will provide an optional feedback form on this program (e.g., implications, usefulness, areas for improvement).

Yes, DOE offers technical assistance on other energy topics.