diff --git a/api/.gitignore b/api/.gitignore
index 2b1784734..3db52578e 100644
--- a/api/.gitignore
+++ b/api/.gitignore
@@ -29,3 +29,6 @@ coverage.*
 
 #e2e
 /test-results/
+
+# localstack
+/volume
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/Makefile b/api/Makefile
index e6a87c819..f78767ab4 100644
--- a/api/Makefile
+++ b/api/Makefile
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ start-debug:
 run-logs: start
 	docker compose logs --follow --no-color $(APP_NAME)
 
-init: build init-db init-opensearch
+init: build init-db init-opensearch init-localstack
 
 clean-volumes: ## Remove project docker volumes (which includes the DB state)
 	docker compose down --volumes
@@ -191,7 +191,17 @@ start-opensearch:
 	docker compose up --detach opensearch-dashboards
 	./bin/wait-for-local-opensearch.sh
 
+##################################################
+# Opensearch
+##################################################
+
+init-localstack: start-localstack setup-localstack
+
+start-localstack:
+	docker-compose up --detach localstack
 
+setup-localstack:
+	$(PY_RUN_CMD) setup-localstack
 
 ##################################################
 # Testing
diff --git a/api/bin/setup_localstack.py b/api/bin/setup_localstack.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f9107bf89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/bin/setup_localstack.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import logging
+
+import botocore.client
+import botocore.exceptions
+
+import src.logging
+from src.adapters.aws import S3Config, get_s3_client
+from src.util.local import error_if_not_local
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def does_s3_bucket_exist(s3_client: botocore.client.BaseClient, bucket_name: str) -> bool:
+    try:
+        s3_client.head_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)
+        return True
+    except botocore.exceptions.ClientError as e:
+        # We'll assume that if the error code is a 404 that means
+        # it could not find the bucket and thus it needs to be created
+        # as there are not more specific errors than this available
+        error_code = e.response.get("Error", {}).get("Code")
+        if error_code != "404":
+            raise e
+
+    return False
+
+
+def setup_s3() -> None:
+    s3_config = S3Config()
+    s3_client = get_s3_client(s3_config)
+
+    if s3_config.s3_opportunity_bucket is None:
+        raise Exception("S3_OPPORTUNITY_BUCKET env var must be set")
+
+    if not does_s3_bucket_exist(s3_client, s3_config.s3_opportunity_bucket):
+        logger.info("Creating S3 bucket %s", s3_config.s3_opportunity_bucket)
+        s3_client.create_bucket(Bucket=s3_config.s3_opportunity_bucket)
+    else:
+        logger.info("S3 bucket %s already exists - skipping", s3_config.s3_opportunity_bucket)
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    with src.logging.init("setup_localstack"):
+        error_if_not_local()
+        setup_s3()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/api/docker-compose.yml b/api/docker-compose.yml
index 30a7df050..cbe007185 100644
--- a/api/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/api/docker-compose.yml
@@ -44,6 +44,22 @@ services:
       - 'OPENSEARCH_HOSTS=["http://opensearch-node:9200"]'
       - DISABLE_SECURITY_DASHBOARDS_PLUGIN=true # disables security dashboards plugin in OpenSearch Dashboards
 
+  localstack:
+    container_name: "${LOCALSTACK_DOCKER_NAME:-localstack-main}"
+    image: localstack/localstack
+    ports:
+      - "127.0.0.1:4566:4566"            # LocalStack Gateway
+      - "127.0.0.1:4510-4559:4510-4559"  # external services port range
+    environment:
+      # LocalStack configuration: https://docs.localstack.cloud/references/configuration/
+      - DEBUG=${DEBUG:-0}
+      # To improve startup time, only add services we use
+      - SERVICES=s3
+      - EAGER_SERVICES_LOADING=1
+    volumes:
+      - "${LOCALSTACK_VOLUME_DIR:-./volume}:/var/lib/localstack"
+      - "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"
+
   grants-api:
     build:
       context: .
@@ -61,6 +77,7 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       - grants-db
       - opensearch-node
+      - localstack
 
 volumes:
   grantsdbdata:
diff --git a/api/local.env b/api/local.env
index 498c89324..a2cb295f6 100644
--- a/api/local.env
+++ b/api/local.env
@@ -88,6 +88,20 @@ AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=DO_NOT_SET_HERE
 
 AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
 
+############################
+# Localstack
+############################
+
+# If you want to connect to localstack outside of docker
+# use localhost:4566 instead
+S3_ENDPOINT_URL=http://localstack:4566
+
+############################
+# S3
+############################
+
+S3_OPPORTUNITY_BUCKET=local-opportunities
+
 ############################
 # Feature Flags
 ############################
diff --git a/api/pyproject.toml b/api/pyproject.toml
index 0f3c2f10b..1fabc3afa 100644
--- a/api/pyproject.toml
+++ b/api/pyproject.toml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ db-migrate-down-all = "src.db.migrations.run:downall"
 db-seed-local = "tests.lib.seed_local_db:seed_local_db"
 create-erds = "bin.create_erds:main"
 setup-postgres-db = "src.db.migrations.setup_local_postgres_db:setup_local_postgres_db"
-
+setup-localstack = "bin.setup_localstack:main"
 
 [tool.black]
 line-length = 100
diff --git a/api/src/adapters/aws/__init__.py b/api/src/adapters/aws/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3f55ab312
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/adapters/aws/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from .s3_adapter import S3Config, get_s3_client
+
+__all__ = ["get_s3_client", "S3Config"]
diff --git a/api/src/adapters/aws/s3_adapter.py b/api/src/adapters/aws/s3_adapter.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ad43d20dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/adapters/aws/s3_adapter.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import boto3
+import botocore.client
+
+from src.util.env_config import PydanticBaseEnvConfig
+
+
+class S3Config(PydanticBaseEnvConfig):
+    # We should generally not need to set this except
+    # locally to use localstack
+    s3_endpoint_url: str | None = None
+
+    ### S3 Buckets
+    # note that we default these to None
+    # so that we don't need to set all of these for every
+    # process that uses S3
+
+    # TODO - I'm not sure how we want to organize our
+    #        s3 buckets so this will likely change in the future
+    s3_opportunity_bucket: str | None = None
+
+
+def get_s3_client(s3_config: S3Config | None = None) -> botocore.client.BaseClient:
+    if s3_config is None:
+        s3_config = S3Config()
+
+    params = {}
+    if s3_config.s3_endpoint_url is not None:
+        params["endpoint_url"] = s3_config.s3_endpoint_url
+
+    return boto3.client("s3", **params)
diff --git a/api/src/util/file_util.py b/api/src/util/file_util.py
index a7b604dbf..cc4c15619 100644
--- a/api/src/util/file_util.py
+++ b/api/src/util/file_util.py
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
 from typing import Any, Optional, Tuple
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
-import boto3
-import botocore
 import smart_open
 from botocore.config import Config
 
@@ -40,19 +38,6 @@ def join(*parts: str) -> str:
     return os.path.join(*parts)
 
 
-##################################
-# S3 Utilities
-##################################
-
-
-def get_s3_client(boto_session: Optional[boto3.Session] = None) -> botocore.client.BaseClient:
-    """Returns an S3 client, wrapping around boiler plate if you already have a session"""
-    if boto_session:
-        return boto_session.client("s3")
-
-    return boto3.client("s3")
-
-
 ##################################
 #  File operations
 ##################################