LINCOLN- Following several months of decline in the amount of grant applications it receives, the Nebraska Environmental Tr4sut has scheduled three questions-and-answer events in an attempt to make clearer the grant process. The director of the Trust said the sessions are about the agency's "ongoing process improvement effort," and not solely about increasing the amount of grant applications.

Annually, the Trust awards around $20 million in grants for local recycling programs, environmental research, and habitat projects, but faced a bout of criticism last year for declaring many of the applications it had received "ineligible." This year, the Trust only awarded 81 grant applications, as opposed to last year's 118, a decline of nearly 31%.

The surplus of funding left by the decline in grant awards prompted Gov. Jim Pillen to obtain a controversial approval from the Nebraska Legislature to transfer $14 million of the Trust's funds to a fund run by the Natural Resources Commission. Advocates of the Trust called the transfer "a mockery," and argued that it might have even been unconstitutional. The three events will be held this Friday at 10:00am via Zoom, Monday at 10:00am via Zoom, and Monday at 1:00pm at the Environmental Trust's State Office.

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