Welcome. In this lesson you'll learn how to sell to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA spends about one point seven billion dollars a year on contracts, and it aims to give a large share to small businesses. By the end, you'll know what EPA buys and why, which office buys it, the tools EPA uses to post its work, how EPA talks to industry, and the steps to your first quote or proposal.

EPA is a mid-size federal buyer. Its contract dollars grew from about one point six billion in fiscal 2022 to two point two billion in 2024, then fell to about one point seven billion in 2025, as the agency cut staff and reorganized. Here's what matters for you: for fiscal 2026, EPA's goal is to send forty-four and a half percent of its direct contract dollars to small businesses. That's nearly double the government-wide goal of twenty-three percent. EPA also sets five percent goals each for small disadvantaged, women-owned, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, and three percent for HUBZone firms.

Why does EPA buy what it buys? Its mission is to protect human health and the environment. Under Administrator Lee Zeldin, EPA's new strategic plan for fiscal 2026 through 2030 follows five goals: clean air, land and water for every American; restoring American energy dominance; permitting reform and cooperative federalism; making America the artificial intelligence capital of the world; and bringing back American auto jobs. Follow the money, too. Congress gave EPA eight point eight two billion dollars for fiscal 2026, slightly less than the year before, and regular Superfund funding was cut almost in half, so EPA is relying on Superfund tax receipts for cleanups. The White House's 2027 request asks for even less, and pushes EPA to consolidate labs, offices and IT systems. Here's how to use this: describe your work in the plan's own words. If you help speed up permits, cut IT costs, or apply AI to chemical reviews, you're selling to a goal EPA has already promised to meet.

What does EPA buy? The biggest category by far is remediation services: Superfund cleanups and emergency response. Next is environmental consulting, things like technical support, studies and regulatory analysis. Third is information technology. For a new small business, there's also a quick lane: lab supplies, lab equipment, and some IT hardware and software, which EPA often buys through reverse auctions under two hundred fifty thousand dollars. EPA's largest contractors, such as Environmental Restoration, EA Engineering, and Eastern Research Group, are good teaming targets, because they need small subcontractors to meet EPA's subcontracting goals.

Who actually buys? EPA's contracts are written by the Office of Acquisition Solutions. It sits under the Chief Procurement Officer, inside EPA's new Office of Finance and Administration, which EPA created in its twenty twenty-five reorganization. Contracting staff work at headquarters in Washington, D.C., in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and in Cincinnati, Ohio, plus regional and field offices. Separately, EPA's Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Division is your advocate. It doesn't award contracts, but it will guide you to the right buyer. You can reach it at S D B U D at epa dot gov.

EPA posts its work through five tools. First, the Acquisition Forecast lists planned buys for this year and next, with set-aside plans and contacts. Second, SAM dot gov carries the public notices; set daily alerts for your NAICS codes. Third, and this one is special to EPA: FedConnect. EPA uses FedConnect as its portal for solicitations and contracts above the micro-purchase threshold, so register there before you need it. Fourth, SNAP: reverse auctions for simple products under two hundred fifty thousand dollars, run on the Unison Marketplace. And fifth, EPA's Active Awards list shows every active contract, its buyer, ceiling and end date, which is how you find primes to team with and spot recompetes.

How does EPA communicate with industry and the public? For vendors, the most direct channel is EPA's vendor engagement calendar: matchmaking events where EPA's small business staff meet companies. Coming up are a virtual matchmaking on October fifteenth, Procurement Night Out in Maryland on October twenty-second, and the SAME Small Business Conference in Charlotte, November fourth through sixth. Second, the Acquisition Forecast and SAM dot gov notices announce planned buys, sources sought and industry days. Third, for rules, EPA uses the Federal Register and Regulations dot gov, where you can read dockets and comment, and its Unified Agenda previews a year of coming rules. Fourth, the strategic plan and budget documents show where money is moving. And finally, EPA's Office of External Affairs speaks for the agency through news releases, email subscriptions and social media.

A few dates and changes to watch. EPA's new strategic plan has been posted in its final form for publication this month. In February twenty twenty-six, EPA told Congress it is eliminating its Office of Research and Development and moving that work to program offices, so research buying is changing hands. EPA's SBIR Phase One solicitation is open now and closes November eighth, twenty twenty-six, at eleven fifty-nine p.m. Eastern. Free small business counseling sessions run about every two months. In July twenty twenty-five, EPA announced a reorganization that created a new Office of Finance and Administration, and contracting now sits under it, so office names on older pages may be out of date. Contract dollars fell to about one point seven billion in fiscal 2025, which means fewer and more competitive buys. And EPA's contracting innovation lab, called CECIL, is testing faster methods like oral presentations and phased down-selects, so some EPA buys may not need a long written proposal.