NOFO_CSEPP_2020_Final_3_4_20_final (002).docx

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program

NOTE: If you are going to apply for this funding opportunity and have not obtained a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and/or are not currently registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), please take immediate action to obtain a DUNS number, if applicable, and then to register immediately in SAM. It may take four weeks or more after you submit your SAM registration before your registration is active in SAM, then an additional 24 hours for Grants.gov to recognize your information. Information on obtaining a DUNS number and registering in SAM is available from Grants.gov at: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html. Detailed information regarding DUNS and SAM is also provided in Section D of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), subsection “Content and Form of Application Submission.”

Program Description Issued By U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Preparedness Directorate, Technological Hazards Division

Assistance Listings Number 97.040

Assistance Listing Title Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP)

Funding Opportunity Title Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program

Funding Opportunity Number

DHS-20-NPD-040-000-99

Authorizing Authority for Program Department of Defense Authorization Act of 1986, Title 14, Part B, Section 1412, Public Law 99-145 (50 U.S.C. § 1521).

Appropriation Authority for Program Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 115-245), Division A – Department of Defense— Appropriations Act, 2019, Title VI—Other Department of Defense Programs, Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction, Defense

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-93), Division A – Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2020, Title VI—Other Department of Defense Programs, Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction, Defense Announcement Type Continuation

Program Overview, Objectives, and Priorities

Program Overview CSEPP has supported communities near U.S. Army depots that store our nation’s stockpile of chemical warfare agents and munitions for more than 30 years. In 1985, Congress, as described in 50 U.S.C. § 1521(d)(1), directed the Department of Defense DOD to dispose of its lethal unitary (pre-mixed) chemical agents and munitions while providing “maximum protection for the environment, the general public, and the personnel who are involved.” FEMA joined the Army in implementing CSEPP through a memorandum of understanding originally signed in August 1988.

Under this agreement, the Army provides protection for personnel at its chemical depots (on-post), and FEMA assists state, local and tribal governments in executing the emergency preparedness and response functions in communities surrounding the Army’s remaining chemical stockpile sites (off-post). The Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD), Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) is responsible for overseeing CSEPP execution. FEMA executes through the Technological Hazards Division of the National Preparedness Directorate of FEMA, as well as, FEMA regional program offices where chemical installations are located.

Recognizing that preparedness is a shared responsibility, CSEPP presents a whole community approach to building a culture of preparedness. CSEPP accomplishes this by engaging with government at all levels, communities, individuals and the private sector, to protect the general public from the unlikely event of a chemical agent accident/incident at one of the Department of the Army’s remaining chemical stockpile sites. The CSEP Program aligns with and supports the FEMA 2018-2022 Strategic Plan through its own CSEPP 2019-2024 Strategic Plan and twelve CSEP Program benchmarks. The CSEPP goals and benchmarks contribute to the accomplishment of the three FEMA Strategic Plan Goals: create a culture of preparedness; ready the Nation for disasters; and reduce the complexity of FEMA. CSEPP also contributes to the National Preparedness Goal (Goal) by building and sustaining core capabilities within all five mission areas that address risk and vulnerabilities associated with chemical stockpile sites, and thereby strengthening community security and resiliency.

Program Goals The overarching CSEPP strategic goals are:

· Maintain and sustain CSEPP enhanced preparedness by ensuring the readiness and resilience of communities with facilities, equipment and systems to respond to a chemical stockpile incident.

· Reach successful CSEPP closeout through actions taken by the storage installations and CSEPP partners to cease program activities while leaving a legacy culture of preparedness.

Program Objectives The objectives of the CSEP Program are:

To establish and enhance emergency preparedness in nearby communities, including community alert and warning systems and protective action strategies for all citizens, including those with access and functional needs; and To institute protective measures and hazard mitigation strategies at the chemical stockpile sites, to lessen the vulnerability of the storage structures and their contents to any internally or externally generated accidents.

Program Priority The program priority is for CSEPP to sustain the statutorily mandated maximum protection for communities, near the two remaining chemical stockpile sites. CSEPP’s performance is measured against its two strategic goals and 12 preparedness benchmarks identified in the Strategic Plan. This approach guides the development and assessment of CSEPP’s capabilities, until DOD completes destruction of the stockpile, currently scheduled in FY24, thus eliminating the risk to the public. The CSEPP Strategic Plan specifies the actions required for recipients to achieve compliance and the performance measures for each benchmark identified in Appendix B.

Performance Metrics The CSEPP Strategic Plan outlines the actions required to achieve program goals and the performance indicators within the 12 benchmark capabilities. States are required to report expenditures and performance on a quarterly basis using these benchmarks. These benchmarks apply across the program and are also reflected in CSEPP’s guidance, life cycle cost estimates (LCCEs), annual budgets, and employee work plans. FEMA, Army and communities assess compliance by benchmark as measured against these performance indicators:

Conduct community profile/capability self-assessments that demonstrate project execution and document benchmark capability status and challenge(s) at each community Integrated Process Team (IPT) and other interactive opportunities.

Use test results of functioning automation systems that provide for rapid exchange of chemical hazard modeling and protective action analysis; public alerting to communicate and execute protective actions to assess capability and maintenance needs.

Continuous assessments of the public’s awareness of the risk associated with the chemical stockpile, how to obtain emergency information, and potential actions to take in a chemical emergency through implementation of agency public outreach programs.

Conduct a CSEPP exercise program that annually tests and validates integrated response capabilities and documents results in an after-action report (AAR).

Quarterly performance and financial progress reports demonstrate capability of benchmarks and indicate execution status of funds/projects/activities.

Federal Award Information

1. Available Funding for the NOFO: $27,300,000

Projected Number of Awards: Two

Period of Performance:

The period of performance is for an overall period of 60 months, to be allocated amongst five budget periods. The award under this NOFO is for budget period one and the period of performance is for 24 months. Pre-award costs are authorized.

Extensions to the period of performance are allowed. For additional information on period of performance extensions, please refer to Part H: Period of Performance Extensions.

Projected Period of Performance Start Date: 10/01/2019

Projected Period of Performance End Date: 09/30/2021

Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement

FEMA will be substantially involved in the activities of the recipient throughout the period of performance. FEMA’s involvement in post-award activity is to provide ongoing programmatic and technical guidance and support to the CSEPP recipients to reduce risk to the Government and ensure the achievement of programmatic goals.

Specifically, FEMA will maintain the authority to direct or suspend the recipient’s federally funded activity where FEMA deems the activity inconsistent with or counter to the purposes and goals of the program.

FEMA will manage Integrated Process Teams (IPTs), mandated under Section 1076 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 (P.L. 104-201), and implemented under an Army/FEMA Joint Memorandum for the Record Use of Integrated Process Teams (IPTs) (May 1998). IPTs, as implemented in CSEPP, require Army, FEMA, Federal, State, and local CSEPP personnel to collaboratively address integration and compatibility of on-post and off-post emergency preparedness and response procedures.

FEMA will limit the recipient’s discretion over the scope of the services performed, and the recipient’s organizational structure, staffing, mode of operation and other management processes.

FEMA will maintain final approval of recipient’s key positions, including number of authorized personnel and functional allocations of personnel, who will work on activities funded through the CSEPP Cooperative Agreement and will establish training requirements for key personnel.

FEMA will require the recipient to obtain FEMA approval of any one stage of program activity before recipients can begin work on subsequent stages or steps.

FEMA may provide additional project oversight to recipients and subrecipients for capital and other projects based on FEMA’s assessment of project business and technical risks. FEMA may, at its discretion or at the request of recipients/subrecipients, provide technical expertise to assist in the preparation of acquisition documentation and selection of vendors. In addition, FEMA may continue to provide risk-based oversight and monitoring of the recipient’s selections through the project life cycle to the level FEMA deems necessary to achieve program goals and objectives.

Overall, FEMA will provide direct and continuing oversight of the recipient’s activities to ensure that the activities enhance emergency preparedness in communities near the two remaining U.S. Army chemical agent storage sites as identified by the Department of Defense.

Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants Government of the State of Colorado Government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

Applicant Eligibility Criteria Pursuant to 50 U.S.C. § 1521(e)(2)(A), the DOD has identified the State of Colorado and the Commonwealth of Kentucky as the two jurisdictions, being at risk from the storage of lethal chemical agents and munitions at military installations in the continental United States.

Other Eligibility Criteria

a. National Incident Management System (NIMS) Implementation Prior to allocation of any Federal preparedness awards in FY 2020, recipients must ensure and maintain adoption and implementation of NIMS. Emergency management and incident response activities require carefully managed resources (personnel, teams, facilities, equipment and/or supplies) to meet incident needs. Utilization of the standardized resource management concepts such as typing, credentialing and inventorying promote a strong national mutual aid capability needed to support the delivery of core capabilities. Additional information on resource management, NIMS resource typing definitions, job titles, and position qualifications is on FEMA’s website at http://www.fema.gov/resource-management-mutual-aid.

FEMA developed the NIMS Guideline for the Credentialing of Personnel to describe national credentialing standards and to provide written guidance regarding the use of those standards. This guideline describes credentialing and typing processes and identifies tools which Federal Emergency Response Officials and emergency managers at all levels of government may use both routinely and to facilitate multijurisdictional coordinated responses.

Although state, local, tribal and private sector partners (including nongovernmental organizations) are not required to credential their personnel in accordance with these guidelines, FEMA strongly encourages them to do so to leverage the Federal investment in the Federal Information Processing Standards 201 infrastructure and to facilitate interoperability for personnel deployed outside their home jurisdiction.

Additional information is available at http://www.fema.gov/nims-doctrine-supporting-guides-tools.

b. Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) Membership Recipients must belong to, be located in, or act as a temporary member state of EMAC. In support of the National Preparedness Goal, recipients must belong to, be in, or act as a temporary member of EMAC, except for American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which are not required to belong to EMAC at this time. All assets supported in part or entirely with FEMA funding under this program must be readily deployable and NIMS-typed when possible to support emergency or disaster operations per existing EMAC agreements.

Cost Share or Match There is no cost share or match requirement.

Application and Submission Information

1. Key Dates and Times

The appropriate FEMA Regional Office must receive application packages via mail, electronic submittal, or personal/courier delivery by the date and time specified as the deadline for submission. The FEMA Program Manager will make a determination of submission date and time based upon electronic time/date stamps or by the stamped time/date receipt on mail or personal/courier delivery submissions. Regional Offices will confirm receipt of all applications via telephone, e-mail or regular mail.

FEMA will consider late applications only if notification of a late submission is provided to the FEMA Regional CSEP Program Manager prior to the submission deadline stating the circumstances leading to the late submission.

c. Anticipated Funding Selection Date: April 10, 2020 or one business day after all eligible applications have been received.

d. Anticipated Award Date: No later than April 30, 2020

e. Other Key Dates

2. Agreeing to Terms and Conditions of the Award:

By submitting an application, applicants agree to comply with the requirements of this NOFO and the terms and conditions of the award, should they receive an award.

3. Address to Request Application Package Application forms and instructions are available through CSEPPWebCA (https://www.cseppwebca.net) or from the FEMA Regional office.

FEMA Region IV National Preparedness Division/CSEP Program Manager Attn: Kevin Wells 3003 Chamblee Tucker Road Atlanta, GA 30341

(202) 702-7605 kevin.wells@fema.dhs.gov

FEMA Region VIII National Preparedness Division/CSEP Program Manager Attn: Cheryl Layman Denver Federal Center Bldg. 710, Box 25267 Denver, CO 80225-0267

(303) 235-4761 cheryl.layman@fema.dhs.gov

Hard copies of the NOFO can be downloaded at Grants.gov or via email from the applicant’s FEMA Regional CSEP Program Manager.

In addition, the following Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD) or Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) number available for this Notice is (800) 462-7585.

4. Steps Required to Submit an Application, Unique Entity Identifier, and System for Award Management (SAM)

To apply for an award under this program, all applicants must:

a. Apply for, update, or verify their Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number from Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) and Employer ID Number (EIN);

b. In the application, provide a valid Data Universal Numbering System DUNS number, which is currently the unique entity identifier;

c. Have an account with login.gov;

d. Register for, update, or verify their SAM account and ensure the account is active before submitting the application;

e. Create a Grants.gov account;

f. Add a profile to a Grants.gov account;

g. Establish an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) in Grants.gov;

h. Create the required documents for the application in CSEPPWebCA and

i. Submit the final application in the CSEPPWebCA and;

j. Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a federal awarding agency.

Applicants must print a complete application package in CSEPPWebCA and then sign and submit the package in hard copy or electronically to the applicants’ FEMA Regional CSEP Program Manager. The required documents for the application are available through CSEPPWebCA (https://www.cseppwebca.net) or from the FEMA Regional Office.

Applicants are advised that DHS may not make a federal award until the applicant has complied with all applicable DUNS and SAM requirements. Therefore, an applicant’s SAM registration must be active not only at the time of application, but also during the application review period and when DHS is ready to make a federal award. Further, as noted above, an applicant’s or recipient’s SAM registration must remain active for the duration of an active federal award. If an applicant’s SAM registration is expired at the time of application, expires during application review, or expires any other time before award, DHS may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a federal award to another applicant.

5. How to Register to Apply

a. DUNS and SAM registrations may take several weeks. Therefore, an organization's registration should be done in sufficient time to ensure it does not impact the entity's ability to meet required application submission deadlines. Applicants must also ensure they have access to submit applications through CSEPPWebCA. Useful information for obtaining or updating DUNS and SAM registration is available on Grants.gov.

1) All entities applying for funding, including renewal funding, must have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number from Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). Applicants must enter the DUNS number in the data entry field labeled "Organizational DUNS" on the SF-424 form.

For more detailed instructions for obtaining a DUNS number, refer to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-1-obtain-duns-number.html

2) All organizations must register with the System for Award Management (SAM). Failure to register with SAM may prevent your organization from applying. SAM registration must be renewed annually.

For more detailed instructions for registering with SAM, refer to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-2-register-with-sam.html.

3) Applicants must have a login.gov account in order to register with SAM or update their SAM registration. Applicants can create a login.gov account here: https://secure.login.gov/sign_up/enter_email?request_id=34f19fa8-14a2-438c-8323-a62b99571fd3.

Applicants only have to create a login.gov account once. For applicants that are existing SAM users, use the same email address for the login.gov account as with SAM.gov so that the two accounts can be linked.

For more information on the login.gov requirements for SAM registration, refer to: https://www.sam.gov/SAM/pages/public/loginFAQ.jsf.

6. How to Submit an Application Recipients must print a complete application package in CSEPPWebCA, and then sign and submit the package in hard copy or electronically to the applicants’ FEMA Regional CSEP Program Manager. Applicants will be prompted to submit the standard application information required as described below.

7. Submitting the Final Application in CSEPPWebCA

The required documents for the application (available through CSEPPWebCA (https://www.cseppwebca.net) or from the FEMA Regional office) include:

· SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance

· Certification Regarding Lobbying

· SF-424A, Budget Information (Non-construction)

· For construction under an award, submit SF-424C, Budget Information (Construction), in addition to or instead of SF-424A

· SF-424B, Standard Assurances (Non-construction)

· For construction under an award, submit SF-424D, Standard Assurances (Construction), in addition to or instead of SF-424B

· SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

· Indirect Cost Agreement or Proposal, if the budget includes indirect costs and the applicant is required to have an indirect cost rate agreement or proposal. See further information below regarding allowability of indirect costs and documentation requirements, including if the applicant does not have or is not required to have an indirect cost rate agreement or proposal, or contact the relevant DHS/FEMA staff identified in Section G, “DHS Awarding Agency Contact Information” for further instructions.

· Program Narrative Statement

· Work Plans for all CSEPP-funded personnel

· Request for Funding Worksheets

The forms are required to be submitted in hard copy or electronically to the applicants’ FEMA Regional CSEP Program Manager. The Standard Forms (SF), filled out in CSEPPWebCA, are also available at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/sf-424-family.html.

8. Timely Receipt Requirements and Proof of Timely Submission All complete applications must be received in CSEPPWebCA by the established deadline. Regional Offices will confirm receipt of all applications via telephone, e-mail or regular mail.

9. Content and Form of Application Submission Generally, applicants have to submit either the non-construction forms (i.e., SF-424A and SF-424B) or construction forms (i.e., SF-424C and SF-424D), meaning that applicants that only have construction work and do not have any non-construction work need only submit the construction forms (i.e., SF-424C and SF-424D) and not the non-construction forms (i.e., SF-424A and SF-424B), and vice versa. However, applicants who have both construction and non-construction work under this program need to submit both the construction and non-construction forms.

For technical assistance with CSEPPWebCA, call the customer support hotline between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. central time Monday - Friday at (888) 784-6610 or e-mail at helpdesk@cseppwebca.net.

10. Other Submission Requirements

a. Program Narrative The program narrative for non-construction programs provides a brief description of the objective, approach, and results or benefits expected to be obtained from the assistance as outlined in 2 C.F.R. Part 200.

A program narrative statement must be prepared for each applicable CSEPP National Benchmark (CNB). Each CNB aligns with the National Preparedness Goal core capabilities by mission area. The Help Pre-Award Section of CSEPPWebCA provides guidance for preparing narratives in the Cooperative Agreement. A suggested template for CNB program narratives is available from the Regional CSEP Program Manager.

Narratives should be constructed in accordance with the following guidance:

b. Objective (Goal) Performance goal is defined as “a target level of performance expressed as a tangible, measurable objective, against which actual achievement can be compared, including a goal expressed as a quantitative standard, value or rate” (2 C.F.R. § 200.76). The measure associated with this program should monitor ongoing progress toward program success and should include a target that defines success.

c. Approach (Plan of Action)

i. Outline a plan of action pertaining to the scope and detail how you will accomplish the proposed work for each Cooperative Agreement program. Organize the plan of action by mission area or core capability, as appropriate.

ii. Cite factors that might accelerate or decelerate the work and your reason for taking this approach as opposed to others.

iii. Describe any unusual features of the program such as design or technological innovations, reductions in cost or time or extraordinary social and community involvement.

iv. Provide projections of the accomplishments that you will achieve through the Cooperative Agreement. List a schedule, in chronological order, of accomplishments.

v. Identify the kinds of data that you will collect and maintain and discuss the criteria you will use to evaluate the results and successes of the project.

vi. Explain the methodology to determine if you have met the needs identified and discussed and if you are achieving the results and benefits identified.

vii. List each organization, consultant, or other key individuals who will work on the project, along with a short description of the nature of their effort or contribution.

d. Results or Benefits Expected (Expected Outcomes) Identify results and benefits and annotate how these outcomes address more broadly the reliant mission area, or more narrowly the relevant core capability.

e. Work Plans

1. Each CSEPP employee must submit an annual work plan using CSEPPWebCA. In developing work plans, the following must be considered:

1. Fully CSEPP-funded positions are restricted in their availability to perform non-CSEPP activities and must work full time on CSEPP.

2. CSEPP-funded employees can respond and support emergencies or non-federally declared disasters within their jurisdictions for a period of up to two weeks.

3. For federally declared disasters, the recipient/subrecipient should charge employees’ time directly to the disaster code for the entire time worked.

4. If CSEPP partially funds a position, the recipient/subrecipient must ensure that the individual’s time performing CSEPP-related work is proportional to the percentage paid by CSEPP.

1. Identify tasks that the individual staffing each fully or partially CSEPP-funded position will perform.

1) Describe tasks in measurable terms.

2) Identify expected results of task performance.

3) Identify schedules for performance of tasks.

iii. If there is no other agreement in place, FEMA will offer to extend funding for personnel performing preparedness-focused activities through the end of the quarter in which demilitarization ends (rather than just up to the exact date that demilitarization operations end at the associated stockpile site). After that point, all funded CSEPP personnel must have clearly defined closeout roles in their annual work plans.

11. Funding Restrictions All costs charged to awards must comply with the grant program’s applicable statutes, policies, requirements in this NOFO as well as with the terms and conditions of the award. If FEMA staff identify costs that are inconsistent with any of these requirements, these costs may be disallowed, and FEMA may recover funds as appropriate, consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and policies.

As part of those requirements, grant recipients and subrecipients may only use federal funds or funds applied to a cost share for the purposes set forth in this NOFO and the terms and conditions of the award, and those costs must be consistent with the statutory authority for the award. Grant funds may not be used for matching funds for other federal grants/cooperative agreements, lobbying, or intervention in federal regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings. In addition, federal funds may not be used to sue the federal government or any other government entity.

Recipients are also expected to conform, as applicable, with accepted engineering practices, established codes, standards, modeling techniques, and best practices and participate in the development of case studies demonstrating the effective use of grant funds as requested.

CSEPP recipients may only fund activities and projects that were included in the CSEPP application package, that the recipient submitted, and that FEMA approved or subsequently authorized changes. Activities and projects may include the sustained capabilities supported by previous CSEPP funds.

Appendices A and B are general restrictions on the use of CSEPP award. Table B-1 of Appendix B is CSEPP specific allowable cost principles.

12. Allowable Costs All costs charged to awards covered by this NOFO must comply with the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, unless otherwise indicated in the NOFO, or the terms and conditions of the award.

In general, the Cost Principles establish standards for the allowability of costs, provide detailed guidance on the cost accounting treatment of costs as direct or administrative costs, and set forth allowability principles for selected items of cost. More specifically, except as otherwise stated in this NOFO, the terms and condition of an award, or other program materials, costs charged to awards covered by this NOFO must be consistent with the Cost Principles for Federal Awards located at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart E. In order to be allowable, all costs charged to a FEMA award or applied to the cost share must be reasonable in nature and amount and allocable to the particular FEMA award.

a. Pre-Award Costs Pre-award costs are authorized to recipients and subrecipients.

b. Management and Administration (M&A) Costs FEMA determined that costs associated with M&A of this award are allowable by recipients and subrecipients. FEMA has not established any pre-determined limits on the amount of M&A funding that recipients may request. However, recipients must negotiate all M&A costs with their respective FEMA Regional Office. Management and Administration activities are those directly related to managing and administering the award such as financial management and monitoring. Refer to Table B-1 in Appendix B for guidance on allowable costs.

c. Indirect Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs Indirect costs are allowable under this program as described in 2 C.F.R. Part 200, including 2 C.F.R. § 200.414. Applicants with a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement that desire to charge indirect costs to an award must provide a copy of their negotiated indirect cost rate agreement at the time of application. Applicants that are not required by 2 C.F.R. Part 200 to have a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement but are required by 2 C.F.R. Part 200 to develop an indirect cost rate proposal must provide a copy of their proposal at the time of application. Post-award requests to charge indirect costs will be considered on a case-by-case basis and based upon the submission of an agreement or proposal as discussed above.

Application and Review Information

1. Application Evaluation Criteria

a. Programmatic Criteria FEMA will select applications for funding that clearly demonstrate the applicant’s ability to enhance and sustain emergency preparedness programs in communities near the two U.S. Army chemical weapons stockpiles as qualified by 50 U.S.C. § 1521.

b. Financial Integrity Criteria Prior to making a federal award, FEMA is required by 31 U.S.C. § 3321 note, 41 U.S.C. § 2313, and 2 C.F.R. § 200.205 to review information available through any OMB-designated repositories of government wide eligibility qualification or financial integrity information. Therefore, application evaluation criteria may include the following risk-based considerations of the applicant:

c. Supplemental Financial Integrity Review Prior to making a federal award where the anticipated total federal share will be greater than the simplified acquisition threshold, currently $250,000 (see Section 805 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-91, OMB Memorandum M-18-18 at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/M-18-18.pdf):

1) FEMA is required to review and consider any information about the applicant that is in the designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM, which is currently the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) and is accessible through the SAM website.

2) An applicant, at its option, may review information in FAPIIS and comment on any information about itself that a federal awarding agency previously entered.

3) FEMA will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to the other information in FAPIIS, in making a judgment about the applicant’s integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 2 C.F.R. § 200.205.

2. Review and Selection Process Submitted applications will undergo a complete content review within their respective FEMA Region. Each FEMA Regional CSEP Program Manager will be responsible for coordinating the review of the completed application package for their respective state. Section C of Appendix B provides detailed guidance on applicable community emergency preparedness capabilities. The results from the review process may require applicants to revise submissions before the release of CSEPP funding.

Federal Award Administration Information

1. Notice of Award Before accepting the award, the AOR and recipient should carefully read the award package. The award package includes instructions on administering the grant award and the terms and conditions associated with responsibilities under federal awards. Recipients must accept all conditions in this NOFO as well as any special terms and conditions in the Notice of Award to receive an award under this program.

The FEMA Regional Offices will provide an award package to the recipient. Award packages will include a final award letter signed by the FEMA Regional Administrator, SF-112-0-7, and the Articles of Agreement (see Appendix A). The award letter is the authorizing document for the award and will be sent to the signatory of the recipient’s application package via postal mail and electronically. The recipient must sign the SF-112-0-7 and return the document to FEMA before the recipient can draw down funds.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

a. DHS Standard Terms and Conditions All successful applicants for all DHS grant and cooperative agreements are required to comply with DHS Standard Administrative Terms and Conditions, which are available online at: DHS Standard Terms and Conditions.

The applicable DHS Standard Terms and Conditions will be those in effect at the time the award was made, unless the application is for a continuation award. In that event, the terms and conditions in effect for the fiscal year that award was originally made will apply. What terms and conditions will apply for the award will be clearly stated in the award package at the time of award.

b. Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation (EHP) Compliance As a federal agency, DHS/FEMA is required to consider the effects of its actions on the environment and historic properties to ensure that all activities and programs funded by DHS/FEMA, including grant-funded projects, comply with federal EHP laws, Executive Orders, regulations and policies as applicable.

Recipients and subrecipients proposing projects that have the potential to impact the environment, including, but not limited to, the construction of communication towers, modification or renovation of existing buildings, structures and facilities or new construction including replacement of facilities must participate in the DHS/FEMA EHP review process. The EHP review process involves the submission of a detailed project description along with supporting documentation so that DHS/FEMA may determine whether the proposed project has the potential to impact environmental resources or historic properties.

In some cases, DHS/FEMA is also required to consult with other regulatory agencies and the public in order to complete the review process. The EHP review process must be completed before funds are released to carry out the proposed project; otherwise, DHS/FEMA might not be able to fund the project due to noncompliance with applicable EHP laws, Executive Orders, regulations and policies.

The EHP screening form is located at https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/90195, and DHS and FEMA directives and instructions are available at https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/118323.

c. Substantial Involvement The use of a cooperative agreement allows for substantial involvement between FEMA and the non-federal entity carrying out activities of the federal award. The principal purpose of which is to transfer a thing of value from FEMA to the non-federal entity to carry out a public purpose and not to acquire property or services for FEMA’s direct benefit per 2 C.F.R. § 200.24. Substantial involvement is maintained throughout the life cycle of the award, from joint reviews of the budget and application processes; through the analysis of risks and the prioritization of projects; and through the quarterly review of financial and program performance. Recipients are expected to adhere to and support the substantial involvement clause of their cooperative agreement award. Criteria may be found in section B., 6. Funding Instrument Type.

d. SAFECOM Recipients and subrecipients using CSEPP funds to support emergency communications activities must comply with the current SAFECOM Guidance for Emergency Communication Grants, including provisions on technical standards that ensure and enhance interoperable communications. Emergency communications activities include the purchase of interoperable communications equipment and technologies such as voice-over-Internet protocol bridging or gateway devices. Digital voice systems, including radios, must be compliant with the P25 suite of standards, capable of AES encryption, and operate in accordance with the recipients’ Statewide Interoperability Communications Plan. SAFECOM guidance is available at https://www.dhs.gov/safecom. P25 guidance is available at http://www.project25.org. Additional information may also be found at https://www.dhs.gov/publication/funding-documents.

3. Reporting Recipients are required to submit various financial and programmatic reports as a condition of award acceptance. Future awards and funds drawdown may be withheld if these reports are delinquent.

b. Federal Financial Reporting Requirements Recipients must report obligations and expenditures on a quarterly basis through the FFR (SF-425) to DHS/FEMA. Recipients must file the FFR electronically within the Payment and Reporting Systems (PARS) and CSEPPWebCA. An FFR must be submitted quarterly throughout the period of performance, including partial calendar quarters, as well as for periods where no grant award activity occurs. If there is no activity during a calendar quarter, the recipient must transmit a performance report noting the inactivity. If reports are delinquent, PARS will automatically prohibit the recipient’s ability to request reimbursement for expenses and FEMA may withhold future awards and fund drawdowns. The final FFR is due 90 days after the end of the performance period.

The Federal Financial Reporting (FFR) form is available online at: SF-425 OMB #4040-0014

c. Programmatic Performance Reporting Requirements The recipient is responsible for using CSEPPWebCA for quarterly performance reporting. The recipient can require subrecipients to provide performance data using the CSEPP Cooperative Agreement quarterly worksheet in the Tools section of CSEPPWebCA or another tool as negotiated with FEMA. The subrecipient can upload performance-reporting worksheets to the CSEPPWebCA Filing Cabinet.

Performance reporting is required for each funded benchmark for all open cooperative agreements that have expended and/or unexpended funds in the reporting quarter. CSEPPWebCA automatically determines which benchmarks are subject to reporting.

The following reporting periods and due dates apply for financial and performance reporting:

d. Closeout Reporting Requirements Within 90 days after the end of the period of performance, or after an amendment has been issued to close out a grant, recipients must submit the following:

1) The final request for payment, if applicable;

2) The final FFR (SF-425)

3) The final progress report detailing all accomplishments

4) A qualitative narrative summary of the impact of those accomplishments throughout the period of performance

5) An SF-429C, Real Property Status Report, Disposition or Encumbrance Request: and

6) Other documents required by this NOFO, terms and conditions of the award, or other FEMA guidance.

If applicable, an inventory of all construction projects that used funds from this program must be reported with the final progress report. Use SF-428, Tangible Personal Property Report, for annual reporting, closeout and a disposition request/report.

After these reports have been reviewed and approved by FEMA, a closeout notice will be completed to close out the grant. The notice will indicate the period of performance as closed, list any remaining funds that will be de-obligated, and address the requirement of maintaining the grant records for at least three years from the date of the final FFR, unless a longer period applies, such as due to an audit or litigation, for equipment or real property used beyond the period of performance, or due to other circumstances outlined in 2 C.F.R. § 200.333. See Appendix B Part G. Cooperative Agreement Closeout for more program specific details.

In addition, any CSEPP recipient that issues subawards to any subrecipient is responsible for closing out those subawards as described in 2 C.F.R. § 200.343. As further described in Appendix B, Section J, CSEPP recipients acting as pass-through entities must ensure that they complete the final program closeout of their subawards in time to submit all necessary documentation and information to FEMA during the closeout of their prime grant award.

The recipient is responsible for returning any funds that have been drawn down but remain as unliquidated on recipient financial records.

e. Disclosing Information per 2 C.F.R. § 180.335 This reporting requirement pertains to disclosing information related to government-wide suspension and debarment requirements. Before a recipient enters into a grant award with FEMA the recipient must notify FEMA if it knows if it or any of the recipient’s principals under the award fall under one or more of the four criteria listed at 2 C.F.R. § 180.335:

1) Are presently excluded or disqualified;

2) Have been convicted within the preceding three years of any of the offenses listed in 2 C.F.R. § 180.800(a) or had a civil judgment rendered against it or any of the recipient’s principals for one of those offenses within that time period;

3) Are presently indicted for or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a governmental entity (federal, state or local) with commission of any of the offenses listed in 2 C.F.R. § 180.800(a); or

4) Have had one or more public transactions (federal, state, or local) terminated within the preceding three years for cause or default.

At any time after accepting the award, if the recipient learns that it or any of its principals falls under one or more of the criteria listed at 2 C.F.R. § 180.335, the recipient must provide immediate written notice to FEMA in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 180.350.

f. Reporting of Matters Related to Recipient Integrity and Performance Per 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Appendix I § F.3, the additional post-award reporting requirements in 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Appendix XII may apply to applicants who, if upon becoming recipients, have a total value of currently active grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from all federal awarding agencies that exceeds $10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of an award under this funding opportunity. Recipients that meet these criteria must maintain current information reported in FAPIIS about civil, criminal, or administrative proceedings described in paragraph 2 of Appendix XII at the reporting frequency described in paragraph 4 of Appendix XII.

4. Monitoring Per 2 C.F.R. § 200.336, FEMA, through its authorized representatives, has the right, at all reasonable times, to make site visits to review project accomplishments and management control systems to review award progress and to provide any required technical assistance. During site visits, FEMA will review grant recipients’ files related to the grant award. As part of any monitoring and program evaluation activities, grant recipients must permit FEMA, upon reasonable notice, to review grant-related records and to interview the organization’s staff and contractors regarding the program. Recipients must respond in a timely and accurate manner to FEMA requests for information relating to the grant program.

G. DHS Awarding Agency Contact Information

1. Contact and Resource Information

a. Program Office Contact

Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program FEMA Headquarters administers CSEPP in partnership with the CSEPP Regional Offices.

FEMA Headquarters, National Preparedness Directorate, CSEP Program Office (Washington, DC, 07:30 – 4:00PM EST) Terrance Hobbs, Branch Chief, (202) 212-7961, terry.hobbs@fema.dhs.gov Thomas K. Warnock, Deputy Chief, (202) 657-2301Thomas.warnock@fema.dhs.gov Jonathan Evans, Financial Management Specialist, (202) 802-2457, jonathan.evans@fema.dhs.gov

b. FEMA Regional Offices FEMA Regional Offices provide fiscal support, including pre- and post-award administration, monitoring, and technical assistance.

Region IV (Atlanta, 7:30AM – 4:00PM EST) Kevin Wells, CSEP Program Manager

(202) 702-7605 kevin.wells@fema.dhs.gov Elton A. Newton, Grants Management Division Director

(770) 220-5231 EltonAndrew.Newton@fema.dhs.gov

Region VIII (Denver, 7:30AM – 4:00PM MST) Cheryl Layman, CSEP Program Manager

(303) 235-4761 cheryl.layman@fema.dhs.gov

Bradford Hufford, Grants Division Director

(303) 235-4871 bradford.hufford@fema.dhs.gov

c. Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation (OEHP) The FEMA Office of Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation OEHP provides guidance and information about the EHP review process to FEMA programs and its recipients and subrecipients. All inquiries and communications about EHP compliance for FEMA grant projects under this NOFO or the EHP review process should be sent to Portia.Ross@fema.dhs.gov.

2. Systems Information

a. CSEPP WebCA For technical assistance with WebCA, call the customer support hotline at (888) 784-6610 or e-mail at helpdesk@cseppwebca.net. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. central time.

b. Payment and Reporting System (PARS) DHS/FEMA uses the Payment and Reporting System (PARS) for financial reporting, invoicing, and tracking payments. DHS/FEMA uses the Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer (DD/EFT) method of payment to recipients. To enroll in the DD/EFT, recipients must complete a Standard Form 119A, Direct Deposit Form.

H. Additional Information

1. Period of Performance Extensions Extensions to the period of performance (POP) for this program are allowed. Extensions to the POP identified in the award will only be considered through formal, written requests to the recipient’s FEMA Regional Assistance Officer and must contain specific and compelling justifications as to why an extension is required. Recipients are advised to coordinate with the FEMA Regional Assistance Officer as needed when preparing an extension request.

All extension requests must address the following:

a. The grant program, fiscal year, and award number;

b. Reason for the delay—this must include details of the legal, policy or operational challenges being experienced that prevent the final outlay of awarded funds by the applicable deadline;

c. Current status of the activity(ies);

d. Approved POP termination date and new project completion date;

e. Amount of funds drawn down to date;

f. Remaining available funds, both federal and, if applicable, non-federal;

g. Budget outlining how remaining federal and, if applicable, non-federal funds will be expended;

h. Plan for completion, including milestones and timeframes for achieving each milestone and the position or person responsible for implementing the plan for completion; and

i. Certification that the activity(ies) will be completed within the extended POP without any modification to the original statement of work, as described in the [investment justification, application or other relevant document] and as approved by FEMA.

Extension requests will be granted only due to compelling legal, policy, or operational challenges. Extension requests will only be considered for the following reasons:

· Contractual commitments by the grant recipient with vendors or subrecipients prevent completion of the project, including delivery of equipment or services, within the existing POP;

· The project must undergo a complex environmental review that cannot be completed within the existing POP;

· Projects are long-term by design, and therefore acceleration would compromise core programmatic goals; or

· Where other special or extenuating circumstances exist.

Recipients should submit all proposed…