JFSP 2021 FSEN FOA Final.pdf

BLM-National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)

Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP)

Regional Fire Science Exchange Announcement

(One Task Statement)

Notice of Funding Opportunity Number: L20AS00104

JFSP Announcement No. FA-FOA0021-003

Federal Program: 15.232 – Wildland Fire Research & Studies Program

Authorizing Legislation: FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1976

(FLPMA), 43 USC §1737 (b), Public Law 94-579; Department of the Interior and Related

Agencies Appropriation Act for FY 1998 (P.L.105-83; H.R. Report 105‒163) and subsequent years (P.L. 106–291; H.R. 106‒914)

I. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Background: The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) is a partnership of seven federal wildland fire management and research agencies that have a shared need to address problems associated with managing wildland fuels, fires, and fire-impacted ecosystems.

The partnering agencies include the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service

(FS) and five bureaus in the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI): Bureau of Indian

Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and

Geological Survey. The DOI is also represented by the Office of Wildland Fire. Funding to support the program is provided by both DOI and FS.

For further background on the JFSP, those considering submitting proposals are encouraged to visit its website at www.firescience.gov.

Objectives: The U.S. Congress directed the DOI and USDA FS to develop a Joint Fire

Science Program and Plan to prioritize and provide sound scientific studies to support the land management agencies and other stakeholders in addressing issues associated with wildland fire. Current research priorities are identified as a task statement in this Funding

Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

Public Benefit: Scientific studies funded by JFSP help to:

• ensure the health and safety of public and other lands

• provide protection of life, infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources.

Program Strategic Goals: As a jointly funded program, JFSP research and science delivery priorities align strategically with the priorities of the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture.

Specifically, JFSP-funded work addresses the Secretary of Interior’s priority to “create a conservation stewardship legacy second only to Teddy Roosevelt [by using] science to identify best practices to manage land and water resources and adapt to changes in the environment.”

and

Secretary of Agriculture’s priorities to “foster productive and sustainable use of our National

Forest System lands and to strengthen the stewardship of private lands through technology and research.” In addition, with respect to wildland fire in particular JFSP research and science delivery priorities address both Secretaries’ goals of reducing the occurrence and impacts of catastrophic wildfire through active management by contributing to the underlying scientific understanding and decision support tools needed to make informed decisions.

Finally, JFSP science delivery priorities, as demonstrated by the task statement included in this FOA, directly and indirectly support the three goals of the 2014 National Cohesive

Wildland Fire Management Strategy (“Cohesive Strategy”):

• Resilient landscapes

• Fire-adapted communities

• Safe and effective wildfire response

II. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

The JFSP solicits and funds proposals from both government and non-government entities.

In accordance with the Legislative Authority, an inter-agency agreement will be used for federal awards.

A cooperative agreement will be used for non-federal awards and substantive Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) involvement will consist of the following:

• The BLM Program Officer (PO) will collaborate with the recipient's Project

Manager/Principal Investigator (RPM/PI) to manage technical execution of the project, recommended changes to objectives or technical execution.

• The JFSP program office is in contact with Principal Investigators to ensure projects are progressing according to the submitted proposals including occasional field trips and meetings with Project Manager/Principal Investigator.

• Responsibility for project management, control, and direction will be shared by the recipient and the BLM, however the BLM will have the right to intervene by modifying the project management plan if the project is not staying on schedule and/or technical issues arise.

A. Anticipated Federal Program Funding

Based on data from previous years, BLM anticipates up to $608,000 in funding for

FY 2021 and up to $1,520,000 through this announcement over its lifetime.

Individual award amounts will depend on the merit review process of application packages and proposed budget. Funding for this program is not guaranteed and is subject to the availability of funds.

BLM is not obligated to make any Federal award as a result of the announcement and only Grants Management Officers and Agreement Specialists can bind the Federal

Government to the expenditure of funds

B. Estimated Number of Agreement to be Awarded

Based on prior year data, BLM anticipates 2 agreements for FY 2021. The actual number of awards will depend on the number of meritorious applications and the availability of appropriated funds.

C. Estimated Amount of Funding Available Per Award

The award size will depend on the number of meritorious applications and the availability of appropriated funds. BLM anticipates the average dollar amount of awards made under this announcement to be between $304,000.

D. Anticipated Start Date:

Projects funded through this FOA will start once funding is secured and awards issued. Agreements are not effective until fully executed with signature from the

BLM Grants Management Officer (GMO). The JFSP anticipates a late-August to mid-September start date for awards.

E. Anticipated Term of the Agreement:

Initial funding will be for two years only; however, proposers may be asked to submit proposals for additional funding periods up to five years total, if funding is available.

F. Additional Funding Information

Funding for this project(s) is not guaranteed and is subject to the availability of funds and evaluation of proposals is based on the review criteria in this announcement. In appropriate circumstances, BLM reserves the right to partially fund proposals in discrete portions or phases of proposed projects. If BLM chooses to partially fund a proposal, it will do so in a manner that does not prejudice any applicants or affect the basis upon which the proposal or portion thereof was evaluated and selected for award and therefore maintains the integrity of the competition and selection process.

Funded proposals through this competitive announcement is not a guarantee of future funding.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants

• The JFSP encourages proposals from all eligible parties and partners. Funds will be awarded through a university, tribal government, non-governmental organization

(NGO), state agency or federal agency.

• Proposals with a PI from states or that have any international funding, also must identify a funding cooperator from the United States to receive and process the funds.

• Proposals with a university, tribal government, or NGO PI that do not include funding for federal agencies do not need a funding cooperator and funds will route through the PI’s institution.

• Proposals that include budgeted funds to be spent by a federal agency and that do not have a federal PI, must list a funding cooperator from the federal agency requesting funds. Any funds awarded to a federal agency will be issued under an Interagency Agreement.

• JFSP encourages proposals from any eligible party or partner that is part of a

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) program. CESUs are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education. If a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement, indirect costs are limited to a rate of no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner's Federal Agency-approved Negotiated Indirect Cost

Rate Agreement (NICRA).

JFSP will enter into only one agreement per project with the PI institution or the funding cooperator institution.

• The PI institution or funding cooperator institution will be responsible for entering into sub-agreements with collaborating institutions.

• Budgets must be reviewed and approved by the institution’s Budget contact and Agreements contact prior to proposal submission. If a funding cooperator is involved, the Agreements contact and Budget contact must be from the funding cooperator’s institution.

• If the funding cooperator is from the Forest Service, the cooperator must be from a Forest Service Research Station. Work with your station funding cooperator to ensure you meet the station requirements for submission.

• JFSP will not provide additional funds to cover budget errors discovered after the proposal submission deadline.

• The end date and indirect costs for all sub-awards must match the end date and indirect costs in the original funding award document. The PI’s institution should take into account any potential delays anticipated in executing sub-agreements when proposing project timelines. (See funding cooperator flowchart below)

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

Cost sharing or matching is not required for this funding opportunity; however, it is strongly encouraged.

CESU partners are encouraged to show the difference between their formal

Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate and the 17.5% rate agreed upon as a CESU partner as their voluntary cost share.

Applicants may attribute the difference between the JFSP approved indirect cost rate deviation and their formal negotiated indirect cost rate as a voluntary committed cost-share/match (see below).

C. Other Eligibility Restrictions:

JFSP approved indirect cost rate deviation: JFSP has an approved indirect cost rate deviation that limits proposals to a maximum of twenty (20) percent of the direct costs for each institution. Proposals requesting funds for indirect rates higher than twenty (20) percent will not be considered. This memo can be found on the JFSP website at this link:

http://www.firescience.gov/documents/BLM_Iindirect_cost_rate_exception_signed.p

df. Proposal funding through a federal funding cooperator must reflect either the prevailing indirect rate for the cooperating federal agency or the JFSP maximum limit of twenty (20) percent, whichever is less.

For non-federal institutions pass-through costs for subawards need to be included as a part of the direct cost calculation for each institution. Your institution must apply this reduced rate of no more than 20% against the same direct cost base identified on your approved indirect cost rate agreement. If your institution uses MTDC (modified total direct costs) as the direct cost base, the indirect cost rate can only be applied to all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and subawards and subcontracts up to the first $25,000 of each subaward or subcontract (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards and subcontracts under the award). MTDC excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs and the portion of each subaward and subcontract in excess of $25,000.

Federal institutions may include administrative costs for managing subawards of no more than 10% of the amount passed through to the subawardee.

Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM.gov)

Registration: All applicants are required to obtain a Data Universal Numbering

System (DUNS) number from Dun & Bradstreet and then register in SAM.gov prior to submitting a Federal award application. Federal award recipients must continue to maintain an active SAM.gov registration with current information through the life of their Federal award(s). See the “Submission Requirements” section of this document below for more information on SAM.gov registration. The BLM may not make a

Federal award to an applicant that has not completed the SAM.gov registration. If an applicant selected for funding has not completed their SAM.gov registration by the time the BLM is ready to make an award, the program may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive an award. The program can use that determination as a basis for making an award to another applicant. This requirement does not apply to individuals applying for funds as a private citizen (i.e., unrelated to any business or nonprofit organization you may own or operate in your name) or any entity with an exception approved by the BLM under 2 CFR 25.110(d).

D. Excluded Parties: The BLM conducts a review of the SAM.gov Exclusions database for all applicant entities and their key project personnel prior to award. The

BLM cannot award funds to entities or their key project personnel identified in the

SAM.gov Exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted or otherwise excluded from receiving Federal contracts, certain subcontracts, and certain Federal assistance and benefits, as their ineligibility condition applies to this Federal program.

IV. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

NOTE: It is recommended, prior to submitting an application, that proposers contact the program experts at JFSP if they have questions regarding the relevancy of their proposal to the task statements in this FOA.

http://www.firescience.gov/documents/BLM_Iindirect_cost_rate_exception_signed.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=66668a4d924572f2b7b5feaf237a6ea0&mc=true&node=pt2.1.25&rgn=div5

A. Requesting Paper Application Package All proposals must be submitted through the JFSP electronic submission process provided on the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov) not grants.gov. This announcement includes all information, documents, and information needed to submit an application. Paper copies will not be considered.

B. Application and Content Requirements

1. Proposal Submission and Agency Contact

All proposals must be submitted by September 30, 2020, 5:00 p.m. MDT, using the electronic submission process provided on the JFSP website

(www.firescience.gov). Proposals should not be submitted through

Grants.gov. No exceptions are allowed to this closing date and time.

All proposals must meet all requirements in this FOA (see especially Section D. V below). Proposals that do not meet all requirements in this section will not be considered for funding.

Direct questions to:

Administrative questions:

Becky Jenison, Program Analyst

Phone: 208-387-5958

Email: bjenison@blm.gov

Task statement questions:

Ed Brunson, Program Manager

Phone: 208-387-5975

Email: ebrunson@blm.gov

2. Steps to Create and Complete a JFSP Proposal

Multiple steps are necessary to create a JFSP proposal, some of which are dependent on prior steps. Proposals must be submitted electronically via the

JFSP website (www.firescience.gov). For full list of requirements see Section V below.

Step 1 – PI establishes profile, updates password.

Step 2 – PI initiates proposal (select task, receive proposal #, enter proposal title).

Step 3 – Enter contacts (all contacts establish profiles, update passwords; PI assigns roles). Once the PI enters a contact, they will have access to sign into the database and access the proposal. Note: For required contacts, see Section V. C

Step 4 – Proposal development (templates, requirements).

Step 5 – Complete budget (template, narrative).

http://www.firescience.gov/

Step 6 – Attach all documents (proposal overview, proposal body, literature cited, budget, budget narrative, science delivery, data management plan, CVs, list of acronyms (optional), support letters (optional).

Step 7 – PI enters final details (project location, budget summary, start/end dates, abstract, task statement relevancy, and project category).

Step 8 – Budget Contact and Agreements Contact sign into the database and certify review of budget and budget narrative.

Step 9 – PI submits proposal (you must convert to Final Draft status first before hitting the Submit Proposal Button).

Notes

• Many steps can be in progress concurrently

• All information, including attachments, can be saved as Draft and edited later

3. Task Statement(s)

Regional Science Exchange and Outreach

Objective

The objective of this task statement is to solicit proposals to lead and execute a particular regional fire science exchange for a period of two years. The JFSP funds and provides oversight to a national collaborative of 15 regional wildland fire science exchanges: the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN). The FSEN provides the most relevant, current wildland fire science information to federal, state, local, tribal, and private stakeholders within ecologically similar regions. The FSEN brings fire, fuel, natural resource, and land managers, practitioners, and scientists together to address regional wildland fire management needs and challenges. Please see the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov) for additional information about the FSEN.

This solicitation is seeking individual proposals (i.e., each proposal must be specific to one region) for the following two regions of the FSEN: Lake States and Tallgrass

Prairie (see map below). Initial funding will be for two years only; however, proposers may be asked to submit proposals for additional funding periods up to five years total if funding is available.

Note: The JFSP Board has set capped funding levels for proposals responding to this

FOA based on various criteria. Proposals responding for the Lake States and

Tallgrass Prairie regions are capped at no more than $152,000 per year including indirect costs. Proposals received that request more than the capped amount will not be considered.

Proposals submitted in response to the current announcement must include information regarding (1) responsiveness to the task statement; (2) region-specific science delivery and outreach activities tailored to the region of interest and how such activities are relevant to that region; (3) exchange partners; (4) interactions with any existing science delivery efforts within the region, including US

Geological Survey and US Forest Service activities; (5) end-user communities and interactions, (6) logic model (guidance for development of logic models is available at https://www.firescience.gov/documents/JFSP_Evaluation_Resource_Guide_2015.

pdf); 7) proposed governance structure for the exchange (e.g., advisors and advisory bodies, steering committees, etc.); and (8) proposed science delivery innovations. Proposals should specifically describe how end-user communities will be engaged to determine their information needs and priorities and they were involved in the development of the proposal. Proposed activities should be summarized in an activity/output table. See the proposal template and format associated with this announcement on the JFSP website for more information.

Background

An often-heard phrase is “use the best available science”. But managers often do not know what information is already available nor the quality and applicability of that research to their management plans and projects. Another problem is the research may not be integrated in a context meaningful to management. And though the research may be of the highest quality and peer-reviewed, demonstration of science findings in the field is often lacking.

Everett M. Rogers, author of Diffusion of Innovations (Free Press-Simon &

Schuster, 2003) states, “Getting a new idea adopted, even when it has obvious advantages, is difficult. Many innovations require a lengthy period of many years from the time when they become available to the time when they are widely adopted. Therefore, a common problem for many individuals and organizations is how to speed up the rate of diffusion of an innovation”.

https://www.firescience.gov/documents/JFSP_Evaluation_Resource_Guide_2015.pdf https://www.firescience.gov/documents/JFSP_Evaluation_Resource_Guide_2015.pdf

The JFSP seeks to accelerate the awareness, understanding, and adoption of wildland fire science information by federal, tribal, state, local, and private stakeholders within identified regions. JFSP’s vision is a national network of regional fire science exchanges comprised of interested management and science stakeholders working together to tailor and actively demonstrate existing information to benefit management of a large ecologically similar region.

The JFSP has identified six overarching objectives for the FSEN. Proposals are not required to address all of these objectives but are encouraged to address as many as can be effectively managed or suggest additional objectives identified through interactions with practitioners and managers. The objectives, along with example activities that address the objective when applicable, are outlined below.

1. Share information and build relationships

It is essential that relationships be fostered between scientists, practitioners, and managers. A critical need is for regular, consistent, and timely dissemination of credible information tailored for a regional audience. This objective is central to building visibility, trust, and dialog among stakeholders in a region. The JFSP encourages the following example activities:

• provide periodic alerts or newsletters

• publish and disseminate publications to all stakeholders

• develop, promote, and manage regional communities of practice to support peer-to-peer networking and knowledge exchange

• develop and manage a regional, web-based National Environmental Policy

Act aid that allows fuels and resource planners to quickly access relevant research results

• identify “delivery” modes that are tailored to the manner in which different end-user groups acquire and process information.

2. List and describe existing research and synthesis information

Managers often are not aware of existing research, and research is often not conducted or presented in a form in which practical management implications are obvious. The following example activities could support this objective:

• develop and maintain a regional, quick-reference web catalog of applicable existing fire and fuels research results

• develop and maintain a regional, geo-spatial web catalog of new and ongoing research projects

• develop regional-specific information in the Fire Effects Information

System database.

3. Identify and develop methods to assess the quality and applicability of research

Although it is important to collect and display existing information and research in progress, managers also need to understand the quality and strength of available evidence relevant to specific management questions. The JFSP is interested in further development of systematic evidence reviews that address important regional fire and fuels management questions and in general for using evidence-based approaches for demonstrating the robustness of and confidence in research results.

4. Demonstrate research on the ground

Demonstrating application of research discoveries in the field is essential to the rapid understanding and adoption of wildland fire science information. These example activities could support this objective:

• develop and conduct regional roadshows and field discussions to showcase recent fire research findings, demonstrate innovative practices, or highlight a fire research need

• develop and manage a network of regional demonstration areas that highlight application of recent research findings

• develop cost models and performance metrics to show the trade-offs involved of implementing new research results versus traditional management approaches.

5. Support adaptive management

The JFSP is interested in funding place-based adaptive management partnerships that promote adoption of wildland fire science findings by fire, fuel, natural resource, and land managers. The goal is to support a program of adaptive management activities in a specific place executed by a sustained science-management partnership that could serve as illustrative examples of coproduced science. These activities could take any of the following forms and are intended to be implemented as a coherent program rather than as unconnected, individual activities:

• innovative project and/or landscape planning processes that illustrate application of recent wildland fire science findings

• application of innovative practices based on new science findings

• approaches to developing metrics of success, monitoring project effectiveness, and determining whether desired outcomes have been achieved

• management experiments implemented through ongoing fire, fuels, natural resource, and land management programs

• outreach efforts to share results through field tours, workshops, publications, websites, or other suitable means.

6. Identify new research, synthesis, or validation needs

Each regional exchange is expected to develop mechanisms through which stakeholders can provide input about future fire and fuels research needs relevant to the region. These research needs and their priorities are then incorporated by

JFSP into the JFSP Research Needs Database, which consolidates inputs from all of the exchanges and other sources. Exchanges could develop and conduct stakeholder roundtables to identify regional fire-related fire, fuels, natural resource, and land management research needs, identify specific questions and topics that might be included in systematic evidence reviews, or use other means to identify research needs and their priorities.

4. Budget and Funding Policy

a) Funding Cooperator

Proposal may require a funding cooperator. See Section III.A above.

b) Indirect Costs

The JFSP recognizes that agencies and organizations participating in the program need to recover reasonable indirect costs. Budget feasibility (cost effectiveness) of the individual projects, however, is a determining factor in the final selection process. JFSP has an approved indirect cost rate deviation that limits proposals to a maximum of twenty (20) percent of the direct costs for each institution.

Proposals requesting funds for indirect rates higher than twenty (20) percent will not be considered. This memo can be found on the JFSP website at this link:

http://www.firescience.gov/documents/BLM_Iindirect_cost_rate_exception_signe d.pdf. Proposal funding through a federal funding cooperator must reflect either the prevailing indirect rate for the cooperating federal agency or the JFSP maximum limit of twenty (20) percent, whichever is less.

For non-federal institutions pass-through costs for subawards need to be included as a part of the direct cost calculation for each institution. Your institution must apply this reduced rate of no more than 20% against the same direct cost base identified on your approved indirect cost rate agreement. If your institution uses

MTDC (modified total direct costs) as the direct cost base, the indirect cost rate can only be applied to all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and subawards and subcontracts up to the first $25,000 of each subaward or subcontract (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards and subcontracts under the award). MTDC excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs and the portion of each subaward and subcontract in excess of $25,000.

Federal institutions may include an administrative costs for managing subawards of no more than 10% of the amount passed through to the subawardee.

Unrecovered indirect costs can be used as contributed funds in the budget.

Indirect costs example

Scenario

• The PI is from a university or federal agency (lead institution)

• Co-PI is from a cooperating university or NGO (cooperating institution)

• The calculated expenses in the Budget for the lead institution are $200,000

(salary, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, etc.)

• The calculated expenses in the Budget for the cooperating institution are

$40,000

Calculation of indirect costs

1. Cooperating institution

Maximum allowed indirect costs (20%)

$40,000 * 0.20 = $8,000

Total Budget for cooperating institution

$40,000 + $8,000 = $48,000

Note: If multiple cooperating institutions are involved this calculation would be performed for each institution.

2. Lead institution

Maximum allowed indirect costs (20%) their direct costs

$200,000 - $23,000 (difference between $48,000 - $25,000 subaward allowed) = $177,000

$177,000 * 0.20 = $35,400

3. Total Budget = $244,800 + $48,000 = $292,800

Points of emphasis

• Lead institutions can include pass-through costs for each cooperating institution in their budget.

• Pass-through costs are calculated based on the total budget for each cooperating institution, including the indirect costs calculated by the cooperating institution.

• Cooperating institutions typically do not include pass-through costs in their budgets.

• Institutions should use their negotiated indirect cost rates with their cooperating institutions but cannot exceed JFSP maximums.

c) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Costs

Certain proposals may be required to pay a percentage of the project’s costs into the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Proposals for which the funds are transferred to a Forest Service institution and subsequently a portion of the total budget is awarded to a non-federal entity through a sub-agreement or sub-contract may be required to pay the prevailing rate of the total funds awarded externally to the SBIR program. PIs should check with their Agreements contact to determine if this applies to your proposal and to determine the current rate.

d) Equipment Policy Investigators are encouraged to contribute equipment (see 2 CFR Part 200.313) to conduct research studies funded by JFSP from existing equipment inventories.

Contributed equipment should be included as “contributed costs” in JFSP budget spreadsheets and on the budget tab.

If necessary, equipment is not available, JFSP will partially or fully fund equipment needed to conduct research funded by JFSP. In no case will JFSP pay more than $5,000 for a piece of equipment. If a new piece of equipment costing more than $5,000 is needed for the proposed project, proposal investigators are expected to contribute the remaining costs in excess of $5,000.

This criterion is to be applied for each and every piece of equipment.

e) Salary Policy Salaries of permanent full-time employees are not paid by JFSP and must be provided by employing institutions. This includes university faculty on 12-month tenure-track appointments that have contracted salary.

JFSP will provide salary funding for university research appointment, part-time, temporary, term, and post-doctoral employees, as well as graduate and undergraduate students. JFSP will pay salary for academic employees on a 9-month appointment, but only for the months they are not funded by their institution and only for the time focused on their JFSP project. JFSP will not pay salary for other personnel to fill in for employees working on a JFSP project.

Contractors can request salary support to complete contracted work. Salary costs must be limited to only salary and fringe. Other salary cost burdens must be included as indirect costs and are subject to the indirect rate exception that cannot exceed in total 20% of direct costs. See https://www.firescience.gov/documents/BLM_Iindirect_cost_rate_exception_sign ed.pdf

Student stipends are acceptable costs, but tuition and other university fees will not be funded.

f) Budget The budget spreadsheet and narrative must be reviewed by the Budget contact and

Agreements contact to ensure all costs have been included and the budget is correct, including indirect charges. JFSP will not provide additional funds to cover errors discovered after the proposal submission deadline.

Budget spreadsheet must use the provided template and have a separate worksheet for each institution requesting or contributing funds, including all sub-agreements and contracted costs over $10,000. Identify all work that will be accomplished, including a breakdown of all tasks to be completed, and provide a detailed budget estimate in accordance with 2 CFR Parts 200.317 through 200.326. Contracted indirect costs and fees are subject to the indirect rate exception. Contracted costs under $10,000 must still be explained in detail in the budget narrative but do not require a separate worksheet in the budget template.

Budget narratives must have the level of detail provided in the example in the budget narrative template. Lump sum costs are not acceptable in any category, without a detail breakdown of how the costs were determined. Funded proposals will be closely scrutinized for allowable and reasonable costs before an award is issued. The JFSP also reserves the right to negotiate final budget numbers based on the final approved work scope.

The Budget contact and Agreements contact must sign in to the JFSP system and certify the budget is correct and that they understand their role in receiving funds and facilitating agreements. Proposals cannot be submitted by the PI if both contacts have not completed this task in the database. (See screen print below) https://www.firescience.gov/documents/BLM_Iindirect_cost_rate_exception_signed.pdf https://www.firescience.gov/documents/BLM_Iindirect_cost_rate_exception_signed.pdf

Proposals will be funded via cooperative agreement or Interagency Agreement.

Budget contact and agreements contact must ensure that budgets have the correct indirect rates for your circumstances.

The JFSP does not fund projects that are, or should be, funded internally from existing accounts (such as routine agency monitoring) or operational portions

(such as the installation of fuels treatments or development of fire management plans) of other projects.

Funding is usually distributed in late summer or early fall. Budgets should be planned with this timing in mind.

5. Data Management Plan (DMP) Not applicable to this Funding Opportunity Announcement.

6. Indirect Costs

Required Indirect Cost Statement and Documentation:

All applicants must include in their budget justification narrative the following indirect cost rate statement and attach to their application any required documentation identified in the applicable statement:

A [insert your organization type] that is submitting this proposal for consideration under the “Wildland Fire Research and Studies” which has a Department of the

Interior-approved indirect cost rate cap of 20% rate. If we have an approved indirect cost rate with our cognizant agency, we understand that we must apply this reduced rate against the same direct cost base as identified in our approved indirect cost rate agreement. If we do not have an approved indirect cost rate with our cognizant agency, we understand that we must charge indirect costs against the modified total direct cost base defined in 2 CFR 200.68 “Modified

Total Direct Cost (MTDC)”. We understand that we must request prior approval from the BLM to use the 2 CFR 200 MTDC base instead of the base identified in our approved indirect cost rate agreement. We understand that

BLM approval of such a request will be based on: 1) a determination that our approved base is only a subset of the MTDC (such as salaries and wages); and

2) that use of the MTDC base will still result in a reduction of the total indirect costs to be charged to the award. In accordance with 2 CFR 200.405, we understand that indirect costs not recovered due to a voluntary reduction to our federally negotiated rate are not allowable for recovery via any other means.

7. Single Audit Reporting Statement All U.S. states, local governments, federally recognized Indian tribal governments, and non-profit organizations expending $750,000 USD or more in Federal award funds in the applicant’s fiscal year must submit a Single Audit report for that year through the Federal Audit Clearinghouse’s Internet Data Entry System. U.S. state, local government, federally recognized Indian tribal government, and non-profit applicants must state if your organization was or was not required to submit a Single

Audit report for the most recently closed fiscal year. If your organization was required to submit a Single Audit report for the most recently closed fiscal year, provide the EIN associated with that report and state if it is available through the

Federal Audit Clearinghouse website.

8. Certification Regarding Lobbying Applicants requesting more than $100,000 in Federal funding must certify to the statements in 43 CFR Part 18, Appendix A-Certification Regarding Lobbying. If this application requests more than $100,000 in Federal funds, and is ultimately funded via cooperative agreement the Authorized Official’s signature on the appropriate SF-

424, Application for Federal Assistance form will be required when submitted at a later date and will also represents the entity’s certification of the statements in 43

CFR Part 18, Appendix A.

9. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Applicants and recipients must not use any federally appropriated funds (annually appropriated or continuing appropriations) or matching funds under a Federal award to pay any person for lobbying in connection with the award. Lobbying is influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any U.S. agency, a Member of the U.S. Congress, an officer or employee of the U.S. Congress, or an employee of a

Member of the U.S. Congress connection with the award. Applicants and recipients must complete and submit the SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities if the

Federal share of the proposal or award is more than $100,000 and the applicant or recipient has made or has agreed to make any payment using non-appropriated funds for lobbying in connection with the application or award. See 43 CFR, Subpart

18.100 for more information on when additional submission of this form is required.

10. Overlap or Duplication of Effort Statement Bureau of Land Management will not fund any project for which any overlap

(duplication of effort) exists between this Federal application and any other Federal application, or funded project, in regards to activities, costs, or time commitment of key personnel.

11. APPLICANTS MAY BE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING

FORMS:

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=d895657111bac319a04f1aca7c949f39&mc=true&node=se2.1.200_1405&rgn=div8 http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=683823273fc0da6a1060883eda593fb8&mc=true&node=pt43.1.18&rgn=div5 http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/post-award-reporting-forms.html#sortby=1 http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=683823273fc0da6a1060883eda593fb8&mc=true&node=pt43.1.18&rgn=div5 http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=683823273fc0da6a1060883eda593fb8&mc=true&node=pt43.1.18&rgn=div5

If a proposal is selected for funding and the award mechanism is a cooperative agreement the following forms will be required at a later date by the issuing

Grants Management Officer:

Form Name and Number ✓

SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance

SF-424A Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs

SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (when applicable)

Project Proposal

Budget Detail

Indirect Cost Statement and related Federal Agency-approved

Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) (when applicable)

Overlap or Duplication of Effort Statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosure (when applicable)

Single Audit Reporting Statement (when applicable)

NOTE: Failure to provide complete information may cause delays, postponement, or rejection of the application.

V. Submission Requirements

Proposals must meet all of the following requirements to be considered. Incomplete proposals will not be considered. No exceptions will be made to either the submission deadline or other submission requirements.

A. Proposal Submission Proposals must be submitted electronically via the JFSP website

(www.firescience.gov). Proposals cannot be submitted in Grants.gov. Hard copy, email, or facsimile proposals will not be accepted. Proposals can be created in the database at any time and saved as a draft for submission any time prior to the closing date and time.

• A JFSP database login and password is required to submit a proposal (see section b below). Requests for profiles will be processed in approximately 24 hours.

• The Budget contact must sign into the system and certify the budget is correct before the proposal can be submitted. Note that the PI will not be able to complete this task for the Budget contact. The PI must assign this contact on the contact tab before the Budget contact can sign in to complete this process.

• The Agreements contact must sign into the system and certify the budget is correct before the proposal can be submitted. Note that the PI will not be able to complete this task for the Agreements contact. The PI must assign this contact on the contact tab before the Agreements contact can sign in to complete this process. Only the PI can submit the proposal.

• Proposals can be saved in the JFSP system and submitted prior to the closing date and time. Submitted proposals can be reverted back to Final Draft by the PI prior to the closing date. If you revert a proposal back to Final Draft you must resubmit the proposal before the closing date and time.

• The JFSP proposal submittal system will not allow proposals to be submitted after the closing date and time.

B. Profiles

• All contacts must have a profile in the JFSP database that must be entered on the contacts tab by the PI.

• Proposals cannot be submitted if all required contacts (see Contacts below) are not entered on the contacts tab by the PI.

• It can take up to 24 hours to get a profile created. It is advisable to request profiles early in the process.

• To request a profile or password reset go to the JFSP website and click on the sign in link in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Use the appropriate link for requesting a password reset or requesting a new user registration.

C. Contacts Proposals may be required to have the following contacts on the contacts tab (see Section

IX. Other Information for definitions to understand the role of each contact) assigned to a proposal:

• Principal Investigator (required, only one Principal Investigator can be assigned)

• Funding Cooperator (may be required, see Section III.A)

• Budget Contact (required); in some cases this may be the same as the Agreements contact

• Agreements Contact (required); in some cases this may be the same as the Budget

Contact

• Co-PIs and Collaborators (required, when applicable).

It is the PI’s responsibility to ensure all correct contacts are entered into the proposal database. Please read Section IX. Other Information for definitions carefully to ensure you have the correct contact from the correct institution listed.

D. Confirmation Page When the PI submits the proposal they will receive a confirmation page. It is highly recommended that PIs save or print that page for their records. If this confirmation page is not received the proposal has not been submitted correctly. It is the responsibility of the

PI to ensure the proposal has been submitted correctly by the closing date and time.

E. Abstract Proposers must copy and paste the first three subsections of the proposal overview template (Problem Statement, Objectives, and Benefits) into the Abstract field in the

Details tab of the JFSP database. The Abstract will become the publicly accessible description of the project.

F. Task Statement Relevancy Proposers must copy and paste the fourth subsection of the proposal overview template

(Task Statement Relevancy) into the Task Statement Relevancy field in the Details tab.

G. Attachments All required documents and templates must be attached before the proposal can be submitted. All attachments except the budget must be attached as an adobe pdf document;

the budget template is in an Excel format. The PI should ensure that no loss of information occurred upon conversion to a pdf document. Attachments over the page limits cannot be submitted. All information in a template must be included as part of that attachment and must be within the page limit. Extraneous materials (e.g., extra graphs and text) are not permitted and will not be reviewed.

Required attachments for all proposals must use templates provided to be considered:

• Proposal overview

• Proposal body

• Planned activities/outputs/outcomes

• Literature cited

• Budget spreadsheet (Excel spreadsheet; include a separate worksheet for each institution or contracted costs greater than $10,000)

• Budget narrative (explanation of specific budget assumptions and costs by institution)

• Curriculum Vitae for PIs and Co-PIs (two pages maximum for each person;

include relevant publications)

Additional attachments:

• Letter(s) of support (optional, but recommended)

• List of acronyms (optional, but recommended)

• Specific to a task statement (check this year’s task statement for additional requirements, if any)

H. Data Management Plan Not applicable to this Funding Opportunity Announcement.

I. Budget Budget summary numbers summarized by institution type requesting funds must be entered in the JFSP database on the Budget tab. The budget spreadsheet and budget narrative must be attached on the attachments tab using the spreadsheet template provided.

Proposals cannot be submitted without completing these required fields and attachments.

Do not edit spreadsheet formulas and formatting without first contacting Becky Jenison

(bjenison@blm.gov).

J. Task Statement Intent Proposals that do not clearly and directly meet the intent of the task statement will not be forwarded to peer review or considered for funding. The PI for a proposal that does not meet the intent of the task statement will receive a rejection notice after the administrative review has been completed. In addition, PIs should ensure they are submitting their proposal for the correct task statement in the JFSP database.

K. Format Proposals not following the required template(s) will not be considered. Proposals must use an 11 point font or larger. Additional guidance is included in the beginning of each template.

L. Page Limits Attachments exceeding the page limits cannot be submitted. Check the page limit in the template and JFSP database. Everything required as part of the template is included in the page limit.

file:///C:/Users/j2hall/Downloads/bjenison@blm.gov

M. Project Location Project location fields must be completed on the location tab for a proposal to be successfully submitted. Instructions are listed on the project location tab.

N. Signatures Handwritten signatures are not required. When Principal Investigators (PIs) submit proposals they will be prompted to enter their password. By typing in the password and submitting a proposal, PIs are certifying that all contacts on the proposal have reviewed the proposal and understand the requirements of their respective roles.

O. Indirect Costs Proposals must follow JFSP indirect cost guidelines. (See Section III.C above)

P. Contributed Costs See Section III. B above.

Q. Support Letters Support letters are encouraged, but not required. Support letters are useful if they show understanding of the proposed work and the letter author articulates how the work will benefit them. Support letters that appear to be ghost-written by the PI or are form letters are much less useful. If submitted, letters must be combined into one pdf document and attached on the attachments tab. Support letters sent by hard copy or email directly to

JFSP will not be considered.

R. Past-Due Projects No proposals will be considered if the work includes a PI or Co-PI who is a PI or Co-PI on a JFSP project that is past due as of the closing date of this announcement. See the

JFSP website for the complete JFSP past-due and extension request policy.

VI. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. SAM.gov Registration

The BLM may not make a Federal award to an applicant that has not completed the

SAM.gov registration. If an applicant selected for funding has not completed their

SAM.gov registration by the time the BLM is ready to make an award, the program may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive an award. The program can use that determination as a basis for making an award to another applicant.

B. Automated Standard Application for Payment (ASAP)

Projects awarded via cooperative agreement cannot be finalized until awardee finalizes their enrollment in the Department of the Treasury, ASAP System. See the following website: http://www.fms.treas.gov/asap.

If your organization is not enrolled in ASAP contact the GMO in Section VIII. Federal

Awarding Agency Contacts of this funding opportunity.

C. Review and Section Process:

The Government reserves the right to reject any and all proposals that do not meet the requirements of this FOA and are determined to be outside the scope of the authority under which this announcement is posted.

http://www.fms.treas.gov/asap

The evaluation process will consist of the following four screening levels:

1. First Level Screening—Basic Eligibility

a. Applications will be screened to ensure that applications meet basic eligibility requirements. Depending on the specifics of the opportunity, screening may include, but is not limited to, the following:

1) Program administrative requirements are met, including task statement intent;

2) Submission is timely;

3) Complete and properly executed application package documents (see Sections

IV and V) are included;

b. Applications must satisfy basic eligibility screening requirements to be considered for further review.

Note: The relevancy check includes assessing whether the proposal (1) responds to the intent of the task statement and (2) falls within JFSP’s mission to support fundamental and applied research and science delivery. The relevancy check is a threshold review and if determined not to be relevant, no further evaluation of the proposal will occur.

2. Second Level Evaluation—Merit Review…