rfa_2020_2.pdf

AGENCY: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)

TITLE: SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT GRANTS

ACTION: REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA)

RFA NUMBER: EPA-SMMS-2020-2

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NO.: 66.808

Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2019: Partnerships - Establishing and developing partnerships with states, local governments and other non-profit organizations to assist them in advancing their waste management programs, including recycling and reduction of wastes, appropriate management of wastes that are generated and developing integrated waste management plans.

Education and Outreach - Developing and providing education, training, and outreach materials to educate and inform Americans about the impact of waste on resource and energy use and pollution. Fostering a better understanding of the environmental ramifications of collective actions including how individual purchasing and manufacturing decisions are connected to the environment and to enable Americans to make better choices resulting in increased recycling, less waste and greater energy savings.

DATES: Due to difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the closing date and time for the receipt of applications has been extended to May 1, 2020, by 11:59 pm, Eastern

Time (ET) in order to be considered for funding. Application packages must be submitted electronically to Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov) on or before this date and time in order to be considered for funding. See Section III(C)(2) for more details about the deadline and Section

IV(B) for submission instructions.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits applications that support the EPA Sustainable Materials Management Program. Applications may benefit States or communities throughout EPA Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin

Islands) however, all applications must benefit Puerto Rico and/or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Sustainable materials management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources and environmental protection. By looking at a product's entire life cycle, we can find new opportunities to reduce environmental impacts, conserve resources and reduce costs. Developing markets for reused and/or recycled materials also falls under this domain.

Specifically, these funds will support training, demonstrations, and public education projects for the development of programs that support the sustainable management of organic waste and/or construction and demolition debris. While this RFA is open to cover all of EPA Region 2, i.e. New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, it is essential that Puerto Rico and/or the U.S. Virgin Islands benefit from the proposed project.

FUNDING/AWARDS: The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is approximately $100,000. We anticipate making one to three awards with the available funds.

CONTENTS BY SECTION

I. Funding Opportunity Description

II. Award Information

III. Eligibility Information, IV. Application and Submission Information

V. Application Review Information

VI. Award Administration Information

VII. Agency Contacts, Appendices

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Background

Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources and environmental protection. By examining how materials are used throughout their life cycle, an SMM approach seeks to:

• Use materials in the most productive way with an emphasis on using less,

• Reduce toxic chemicals and environmental impacts throughout the material life cycle,

• Assure we have sufficient resources to meet today’s needs and those of the future.

• Develop markets for reused or recycled materials.

How our society uses materials is fundamental to our economic and environmental future. Global competition for finite resources will intensify as world population and economies grow. More productive and less impactful use of materials helps our society remain economically competitive, contributes to our prosperity and protects the environment in a resource-constrained future.

The SMM program has a number of program foci and these serve as the basis for our structuring of grant competitions. This RFA derives its program justification from the Sustainable

Management of Food program priority and the Built Environment program priority.

Applications may address either or both priorities.

Sustainable Management of Food is a systematic approach that seeks to reduce wasted food and its associated impacts over the entire life cycle, starting with the use of natural resources, manufacturing, sales, and consumption and ending with decisions on recovery or final disposal.

EPA works to promote innovation and highlight the value and efficient management of food as a resource. Through the sustainable management of food, we can help businesses and consumers save money, provide a bridge in our communities for those who do not have enough to eat, and conserve resources for future generations. Building on the familiar concept of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," this approach shifts the view on environmental protection and more fully recognizes the impacts of the food we waste.

In addition, other organic wastes such as yard trimmings, organic disaster debris, manure, and other types organic materials can also be beneficially diverted, in conjunction with food waste, from the waste stream through SMM strategies (e.g., composting or anaerobic digestion).

EPA’s organics management program uses the food recovery hierarchy to represent an overarching philosophy of resource conservation: https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy. As such, we encourage organics diversion to take place with activities as high up on the hierarchy as possible. Source reduction, otherwise known as waste prevention, is always the most protective of resource expenditure.

Construction and Demolition (C&D) materials consist of the debris generated during the construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges. EPA promotes an

SMM approach that identifies certain C&D materials as commodities that can be used in new building projects, thus avoiding the need to mine and process virgin materials. EPA calls this program focus the Built Environment.

C&D materials are generated when new building and civil-engineering structures are built and when existing buildings and civil-engineering structures are renovated or demolished (including deconstruction activities). Civil-engineering structures include public works projects, such as streets and highways, bridges, utility plants, piers, and dams. C&D materials often contain bulky, heavy materials such as concrete, wood, asphalt, bricks, and other energy-intensive resources. SMM practices to help manage the built environment include the following:

• Beneficially using industrial non-hazardous secondary materials as replacements for virgin materials in construction (e.g. coal ash, foundry sand, iron and steel slag, etc.)

https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-management-industrial-non-hazardous-secondary-materials;

• Sustainable management of C&D materials https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-management-construction-and-demolition-materials; and

• Best Practices for Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling C&D Materials https://www.epa.gov/smm/best-practices-reducing-reusing-and-recycling-construction-and-demolition-materials .

This RFA solicits applications for training, demonstration, and public education projects that address an SMM approach to managing either or both organics and C&D waste.

Submitted applications may address organics and/or C&D waste Region-wide but must benefit Puerto Rico and/or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

SMM follows the waste reduction hierarchy: https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-materials-management-non-hazardous-materials-and-waste-management-hierarchy As such, projects that support waste diversion strategies higher up on the hierarchy will receive extra points, as reflected in the evaluation criteria. Source reduction and donation/reuse will be valued more highly than other strategies.

Fundable projects must involve training, demonstrations, and/or public education programs that address strategies to beneficially use organics and C&D waste. Organizations may submit more than one application as long as each one is separately submitted. Projects may benefit States or communities throughout EPA Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands) however, all projects must benefit Puerto Rico and/or the U.S. Virgin

Islands.

B. Scope of Work

As noted above in Section I.A, this RFA solicits applications that support training, demonstrations or public education programs for delivering sustainable approaches to managing organics and/or C&D waste. Applications addressing other topic areas will not be reviewed.

C. EPA Strategic Plan Linkage & Anticipated Outcomes, Outputs & Performance

Measures

EPA’s Strategic Plan is available at https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan.html

The activities to be funded under this announcement are intended to further EPA’s current goal of

Cooperative Federalism, with the subobjective of Enhanced Shared Accountability, as SMM grants are intended to bolster and support State and local autonomy and the ability to improve human health and the environment in their jurisdictions with a sense of shared accountability to provide positive environmental results. All applications must demonstrate these connections to the current Strategic Plan. Applicants must show how their project will further these current priorities.

EPA also requires that grant applicants adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements (see EPA Order 5700.7, Environmental Results under Assistance Agreements, https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements ). Applicants must include specific statements describing the environmental results of the proposed project in terms of well-defined outputs and, to the maximum extent practicable, well-defined outcomes that will demonstrate how the project will contribute to the priorities described above.

Outputs. The term “output” means an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product related to an environmental goal and objective that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during an assistance agreement funding period. Expected outputs from the project(s) to be funded under this announcement may include the following: meetings, conference calls, training sessions, or other measurable efforts towards an environmental goal. Progress reports and a final report will also be required outputs, as specified in Section VI(C) of this announcement, “Reporting Requirements.”

Outcomes. The term “outcome” means the result, effect or consequence that will occur from carrying out an environmental program or activity that is related to an environmental or programmatic goal or objective. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related, or programmatic in nature, but must be quantitative. They may not necessarily be achievable within an assistance agreement funding period.

Projects to be funded under this announcement are expected to produce at least one of the following environmental outcomes: reduction in solid waste going to the landfill, conservation of natural resources, conservation of energy, reduced costs, improved air and/or water quality, or preserved land quality.

Performance Measures. The applicant must also develop performance measures they expect to achieve through the proposed activities and describe them in the application. These performance measures will help gather insights and will be the mechanism to track progress concerning successful process and outcome strategies and will provide the basis for developing lessons to inform future recipients. It is expected that the description of performance measures will include the following: a measure of how much solid waste will be diverted from the landfill and by what strategy and a description of how policy and behaviors will be permanently altered as a result of this project. The following are questions to consider when developing output and outcome measures of quantitative and qualitative results.

i) What are the measurable short term and longer-term results that the project will achieve?

ii) How does the plan measure progress in achieving the expected results (including outputs and outcomes) and how will the approach use resources effectively and efficiently?

D. Supplemental Information

The statutory authority for this action is the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), Section

8001(a)(5), 42 U.S.C. Section 6981(a)(5) which authorizes grants to public authorities, agencies, and institutions, private agencies and institutions, and individuals (no profit makers) for purposes which include conducting and promoting the coordination and acceleration of, research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, public education programs and studies relating to the reduction of the amount of solid waste and unsalvageable waste materials.

Applications selected for funding under this solicitation must be consistent with the authorizing statute above. Under this solicitation, appropriate projects for funding by our program are limited to training, demonstrations, and public education projects. Demonstrations must involve new or experimental methods or approaches where the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project.

A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or established training practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not considered a demonstration project; such activities are not eligible for funding under this announcement. You must specify how your training, demonstration or public education project fits within the above statutory authority.

E. Minority Serving Institutions:

EPA recognizes that it is important to engage all available minds to address the environmental challenges the nation faces. At the same time, EPA seeks to expand the environmental conversation by including members of communities which may have not previously participated in such dialogues to participate in EPA programs. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages all eligible applicants identified in Section III, including minority serving institutions (MSIs), to apply under this opportunity.

For purposes of this solicitation, the following are considered MSIs.

1. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1061). A list of these schools can be found at https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/

2. Tribal Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059c.

A list of these schools can be found at https://sites.ed.gov/whiaiane/tribes-tcus/tribal-colleges-and-universities/

3. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1101a(a)(5)). HSIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25% Hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application for this grant.

A list of these schools can be found at https://www.hacu.net/assnfe/CompanyDirectory.asp?STYLE=2&COMPANY_TYPE=1%2C5

4. Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions; (AANAPISIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059g(b)(2)). AANAPISIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate students that is not less than 10 % students who are Asian American or Native American Pacific Islander. A list of these schools can be found at https://www.aanapisi.net/; and

5. Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs), incorporated into the Higher Education Act in 2008 (codified in Section 318(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. 1059e.). PBIs are defined as institutions that: serve at least 1,000 undergraduate students; have at least 50% low-income or first-generation degree-seeking undergraduate enrollment; have a low per full-time undergraduate student expenditure in comparison with other institutions offering similar instruction; and, enroll at least 40% African-American students. A list of these schools can be found at https://pnpi.org/predominantly-black-institutions-pbis/

II. Award Information

A. What is the amount of funding available?

The total estimated funding expected to be available for awards under this competitive opportunity is approximately $100,000.

B. Partial Funding Provision

In appropriate circumstances, EPA reserves the right to partially fund an application by funding discrete portions or phases of proposed projects. If EPA decides to partially fund an application, it will do so in a manner that does not prejudice any applicants or affect the basis upon which the application was evaluated and selected for award, and therefore maintains the integrity of the competition and selection process.

C. How many agreements will EPA award in this competition?

EPA anticipates award of one to three grants or cooperative agreements under this announcement for the entire available amount of funds available, subject to the availability of funds, quality of evaluated applications, and other applicable considerations. EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards under this announcement. In addition, EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than six months from the date of the original selections.

D. What is the project period for awards resulting from this solicitation?

The estimated project period for the award resulting from this solicitation will begin in June

2020. Proposed project periods will be one year.

E. Funding Type

The funding for the selected project will be in the form of a grant and/or cooperative agreement, as appropriate to the nature of the project proposed.

A grant is an assistance agreement in which the EPA is not substantially involved in carrying out the project.

Cooperative agreements permit substantial involvement between the EPA Project Officer and the selected applicant(s) in the performance of the work supported. The anticipated substantial

Federal involvement for this project will be:

• Close monitoring of the successful applicant’s performance to verify the results proposed by the applicant;

• Collaboration during performance of the scope of work; and

• Review and comment on reports prepared under the cooperative agreement (the final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient).

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Entities

Consistent with CFDA No. 66.808, the following entities are eligible to compete under this solicitation: States, local, Tribal, interstate, and intrastate government agencies and instrumentalities, and non-profit organizations that are not 501(c)(4) organizations that lobby, including non-profit educational institutions and non-profit hospitals. Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible. Non-profit organizations, as defined by 2 CFR Part 200, means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative or other organization that: (1) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable or similar purposes in the public interest; (2) is not organized primarily for profit; and (3) uses its net proceeds to maintain, improve and/or expand its operations. Note that 2 CFR Part 200 specifically excludes the following types of organizations from the definition of “non-profit organization” because they are separately defined in the regulation: (i) institutions of higher education; and (ii) state, local and federally recognized

Indian tribal governments. While not considered to be a “non-profit organization(s)” as defined by 2 CFR Part 200, Institutions of Higher Education and state, local and federally recognized

Indian tribal governments are, nevertheless, eligible to submit applications under this RFA.

Hospitals operated by state, tribal, or local governments or that meet the definition of nonprofit at

2 CFR 200.70 are also eligible to apply. For-profit colleges, universities, trade schools, and hospitals are ineligible.

For-profit organizations are not eligible for this funding opportunity. Additionally, non-profit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

This competition does not require matching funds or cost sharing.

C. Threshold Eligibility Criteria

These are requirements that if not met by the time of application submission will result in elimination of the application from consideration for funding. Only applications from eligible entities (see above) that meet all of these criteria will be evaluated against the ranking factors in

Section V of this announcement. Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration as a result of the threshold eligibility review will be notified within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

1. Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or else they will be rejected.

Where a page limit is expressed in Section IV with respect to the narrative proposal, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed.

2. In addition, initial applications must be submitted through https://www.grants.gov as stated in Section IV of this announcement (except in the limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically allowed for as explained in Section IV) on or before the application submission deadline published in Section IV of this announcement.

Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV of this announcement to ensure that their application is timely submitted.

3. Applications submitted after the submission deadline will be considered late and deemed ineligible without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was late due to EPA mishandling or because of technical problems associated with www.grants.gov or relevant www.SAM.gov system issues. An applicant’s failure to timely submit their application through www.grants.gov because they did not timely or properly register in www.SAM.gov or www.grants.gov will not be considered an acceptable reason to consider a late submission. Applicants should confirm receipt of their application with Dale Carpenter, carpenter.dale@epa.gov, as soon as possible after the submission deadline—failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

4. The applicant must be an eligible entity as described in Section III (A) above.

5. Applications must support current administration priorities as described in Section I.C.

of this solicitation. These priorities must be explicitly identified.

6. All applications must specify and promote the Sustainable Materials Management program priorities described in Section I.A, that is, organics and/or construction and demolition debris, with a priority focus on Puerto Rico and/or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

7. All applications submitted under this solicitation must conduct or promote the coordination and acceleration of training, demonstrations, and public education programs relating to the reduction of the amount of solid waste and unsalvageable waste materials as described in Section I. of this announcement.

8. Projects that are demonstrations must involve new or experimental methods or approaches, where the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not considered a demonstration project. If a proposal is submitted that includes any ineligible tasks or activities, that portion of the proposal will be ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent to which it affects the proposal, render the entire proposal ineligible for funding. State clearly how the statutory authority supports your training, demonstration or public education project.

9. Applications are required to benefit Puerto Rico and/or the U.S. Virgin Islands but may also benefit states or communities elsewhere in EPA Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands).

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Requirement to Submit Through Grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures

Applicants, except as noted below, must apply electronically through https://www.grants.gov under this funding opportunity based on the https://www.grants.gov instructions in this announcement. If an applicant does not have the technical capability to apply electronically through https://www.grants.gov because of limited or no internet access which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials to https://www.grants.gov, the applicant must contact OMS-ARM-OGDWaivers@epa.gov or the address listed below in writing (e.g., by hard copy, email) at least 15 calendar days prior to the submission deadline under this announcement to request approval to submit their application materials through an alternate method.

Mailing Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Jessica Durand

USEPA Headquarters

William Jefferson Clinton Building 1200

Pennsylvania Ave., N. W.

Mail Code: 3903R

Washington, DC 20460

Courier Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Jessica Durand

Ronald Reagan Building 1300

Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Rm # 51278

Washington, DC 20004

In the request, the applicant must include the following information:

- Funding Opportunity Number (FON)

- Organization Name and DUNS

- Organization’s Contact Information (email address and phone number)

- Explanation of how they lack the technical capability to apply electronically through https://www.grants.gov because of 1) limited internet access or 2) no internet access which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials through https://www.grants.gov

EPA will only consider alternate submission exception requests based on the two reasons stated above and will timely respond to the request -- all other requests will be denied. If an alternate submission method is approved, the applicant will receive documentation of this approval and further instructions on how to apply under this announcement. Applicants will be required to submit the documentation of approval with any initial application submitted under the alternative method.

In addition, any submittal through an alternative method must comply with all applicable requirements and deadlines in the announcement including the submission deadline and requirements regarding proposal content and page limits (although the documentation of approval of an alternate submission method will not count against any page limits).

If an exception is granted, it is valid for submissions to EPA for the remainder of the entire calendar year in which the exception was approved and can be used to justify alternative submission methods for application submissions made through December 31 of the calendar year in which the exception was approved (e.g., if the exception was approved on March 1, 2019, it is valid for any competitive or non-competitive application submission to EPA through December 31, 2019. Applicants need only request an exception once in a calendar year and all exceptions will expire on December 31 of that calendar year. Applicants must request a new exception from required electronic submission through https://www.grants.gov for submissions for any succeeding calendar year. For example, if there is a competitive opportunity issued on December 1, 2018 with a submission deadline of

January 15, 2019, the applicant would need a new exception to submit through alternative methods beginning January 1, 2019. Please note that the process described in this section is only for requesting alternate submission methods. All other inquiries about this announcement must be directed to the Agency Contact listed in Section VII of the announcement. Queries or requests submitted to the email address identified above for any reason other than to request an alternate submission method will not be acknowledged or answered.

B. Grants.gov Application Submission Instructions (see Appendix A)

Your organization’s authorized official representative (AOR) must submit your complete application electronically to EPA through Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov ) no later than

11:59 pm Eastern Time, May 1, 2020 (extended from the original submission date of April

17).

Please submit all of the application materials described below using the www.grants.gov application package accessed using the instructions above.

C. Content of Application Package Submission

All application submissions must contain the following completed and signed grant application forms, as well as a Narrative Proposal, as described below:

• Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance

Please note that the organizational Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Number

System (DUNS) number must be included on the SF-424. Organizations may obtain a

DUNS number at no cost by calling the toll-free DUNS number request line at 1-866705-

5711.

• Standard Form (SF) 424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs

• EPA Form 5700-54, Key Contacts Form

• EPA Form 4700-4, Preaward Compliance Review Report for All Applicants and

Recipients Requesting Federal Financial Assistance

• Narrative Proposal Attachment Form (including Detailed Budget Description)

The Narrative Proposal (sections 1-2 below) cannot exceed a maximum of 10 single spaced typewritten pages, including the Summary Page. Supporting materials, such as resumes and letters of support, can be submitted as other attachments and are not included in the 10-page limit. Excess pages will not be reviewed.

1. Narrative Proposal Work-Plan

The narrative proposal work-plan must explicitly describe how the proposed project meets the guidelines established in Sections I-III of this announcement (including the threshold eligibility criteria in Section III.C.) and must address each of the evaluation criteria set forth in Section V including:

Summary Information Page (recommended not to exceed one page)

a. Project Title.

b. Applicant Information. Include applicant (organization) name, address, contact person, phone number and e-mail address.

c. Funding Requested. Specify the amount you are requesting from EPA.

d. Total Project Cost. Specify total cost of the project. Identify funding from other sources.

e. Project period. Provide beginning and ending dates. (Projects are anticipated to begin date and end no later than date.)

f. DUNS number.

a. Project Summary/Approach: The summary shall contain the following components:

i. Detailed project summary, description of specific actions and methods to be undertaken and the responsible institutions, including estimated time line for each task;

ii. Description of the associated work products to be developed;

iii. Explanation of project benefits to the public, and specifically the potential audience(s) served;

iv. Description of the roles of the applicant and partners, if any;

v. Description of the applicant’s organization and experience related to the proposed project; and

vi. Description of staff expertise/qualifications, staff knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project.

b. Environmental Results—Outcomes, Outputs and Performance Measures

Identify the expected quantitative and qualitative outcomes and outputs of the project (See

Section I), including what performance measurements, timeline of milestones, or other means will be used to track and measure your progress towards achieving the expected outcomes and outputs and how the results of the project will be evaluated.

c. Programmatic Capability and Past Performance

Submit a list of federally funded assistance agreements (assistance agreements include Federal grants and cooperative agreements but not Federal contracts) similar in size, scope and relevance to the proposed project that your organization performed within the last three years (no more than 5 agreements, and preferably EPA agreements) and describe (i) whether, and how, you were able to successfully complete and manage those agreements and (ii) your history of meeting the reporting requirements under those agreements including whether you adequately and timely reported on your progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes of those agreements (and if not, explain why not) and whether you submitted acceptable final technical reports under the agreements. In evaluating applicants under these factors in Section V, EPA will consider the information provided by the applicant and may also consider relevant information from other sources, including information from EPA files and from current/prior grantors (e.g., to verify and/or supplement the information provided by the applicant). If you do not have any relevant or available past performance or reporting information, please indicate this in the proposal and you will receive a neutral score for these factors (a neutral score is half of the total points available in a subset of possible points). If you do not provide any response for these items, you may receive a score of 0 for these factors.

d. Sustainability:

Describe how the project will be successfully implemented and will enact changes to an organization, community, or the society at large in a lasting and sustainable manner. This means that the changes implemented during this project period will be able to be retained by the organization or community without further input of financial assistance from EPA.

e. Innovation:

Describe how the application proposes a project that encompasses innovative (e.g., not usual, routine or established practices) solid waste reduction measures that have the capacity to institute real change.

2. Detailed Budget Narrative (See Recipient/Applicant Information Notice 2019-G02, RAIN-

2019-G02, Interim General Budget Development Guidance for Applicants and Recipients of EPA

Financial Assistance.)

This section provides an opportunity for a narrative description of the budget found in the SF- 424A. Clearly explain how EPA funds will be used. Selected applicant(s) will need to submit a copy of their current indirect cost rate that has been negotiated with a federal cognizant agency prior to award. Provide the following.

A. Description of the budget and estimated funding amounts for each work component/task.

B. Description of the applicant’s approach, procedures, and controls for ensuring that awarded grant funds will be expended in a timely and efficient manner.

C. Applicants must itemize costs related to personnel, fringe benefits, contractual costs, travel, equipment, supplies, other direct costs, indirect costs, and total costs. Selected applicant(s) will need to submit a copy of their current indirect cost rate that has been negotiated with a federal cognizant agency prior to award.

(OPTIONAL) Attachments. These are optional and are not included in the 10-page limit.

a. Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. (Note: If your proposal includes indirect costs and is selected for funding, you will be asked to provide proof of a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement or other documentation in accordance with

EPA’s Indirect Cost Policy for Recipients of EPA Assistance Agreements.

Additional guidance documents are available in Recipient/Applicant Information

Notice 2018-G02, Indirect Cost Guidance for Recipients of EPA Assistance Agreements.)

b. Biographical Sketch. Provide resumes or curriculum vitae for all Principal

Investigators and any other key personnel.

c. Quality Assurance Narrative Statement.

d. Support Letters - These should indicate how the supporting organization will assist in the project.

e. If applicable, approval letter to use alternate means to submit initial application.

D. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into the Solicitation

Additional provisions that apply to this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation, including but not limited to those related to confidential business information, contracts and subawards under grants, and application assistance and communications, can be found at www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses. These, and the other provisions that can be found at the website link, are important, and applicants must review them when preparing applications for this solicitation. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please communicate with the EPA contact listed in this solicitation to obtain the provisions.

E. Intergovernmental Review Act

Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs, may be applicable to awards resulting from this announcement. EPA implemented the Executive Order in 40 CFR Part

29. EPA may require applicants selected for funding to provide a copy of their application to their State Point of Contact (SPOC) for review as provided at 40 CFR 29.7 and 40 CFR 29.8. The SPOC list can be found on the webpage below.

• Office of Federal Financial Management Resources and Other Information

EPA may require successful applicants from states that do not have a SPOC to provide a copy of their application for review to directly affected state, area-wide, regional and local government entities as provided at 40 CFR 29.7 and 40 CFR 29.8. These reviews are not required before submitting an application. Only applicants that EPA selects for funding under this announcement are subject to the Intergovernmental Review requirement.

V. Application Review Information

Only eligible entities whose application(s) meet the threshold criteria in Section III of this announcement will be reviewed according to the evaluation criterion set forth below. Applicants should explicitly address these criteria as part of their application package submittal. Each application will be rated under a points system, with a total of 100 points possible.

Additional provisions that apply to this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation including the clause on Reporting and Use of Information Concerning Recipient Integrity and Performance can be found https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses. These, and the other provisions that can be found at the website link, are important, and applicants must review them when preparing applications for this solicitation. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please communicate with the EPA contact listed in this solicitation to obtain the provisions.

A. Evaluation Criteria

Criteria Points

1. Project Summary/Approach: Under this criterion, the Agency will evaluate the following factors: (i) (32 pts) the extent and quality to which the narrative proposal includes a well-conceived strategy for addressing the requirements in Section I, Parts B (Scope of Work) and C (EPA Strategic Plan Linkage), (ii) (6 pts) whether the narrative proposal sets forth a reasonable time schedule for the execution of the tasks associated with the project and for achieving the project goals and objectives by project end.

2. Environmental Results—Outcomes, Outputs and Performance Measures:

Under this criterion, the Agency will evaluate the effectiveness of the applicant’s plan for tracking and measuring its progress toward achieving the expected project outputs and outcomes, including those identified in Section I of this announcement. In addition, the Agency will evaluate the performance measures proposed by the applicant and how they will be used to help track and measure the

Applicants progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes.

3. Programmatic Capability and Past Performance: Under this criterion, applicants will be evaluated based on their ability to successfully complete and manage the proposed project taking into account their:

I. (6 points) Past performance in successfully completing and managing the assistance agreements identified in the narrative proposal as described in Section IV.C of the announcement, II. (6 points) history of meeting the reporting requirements under the assistance agreements identified in the narrative proposal as described in Section IV.C of the announcement including whether the applicant submitted acceptable final technical reports under those agreements and the extent to which the applicant adequately and timely reported on their progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes under those agreements and if such progress was not being made whether the applicant adequately reported why not, III. (6 points) staff expertise and qualifications, staff knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project.

Note: In evaluating applicants under items I and II of this criterion, the Agency will consider the information provided by the applicant and may also consider relevant information from other sources including agency files and prior/current grantors

(e.g., to verify and/or supplement the information supplied by the applicant). If you do not have any relevant or available past performance or reporting information, please indicate this in the proposal and you will receive a neutral score for these sub-factors (items I and II above-a neutral score is half of the total points available in a subset of possible points). If you do not provide any response for these items, you may receive a score of 0 for these factors.

4. Budget: Under this criterion, the Agency will evaluate the proposed project budget to determine whether:

I. (4 pts) costs are reasonable to accomplish the proposed goals, objectives, and measurable environmental outcomes, II. (4 pts) the proposed budget provides a detailed breakout of the approximate funding used for each major activity.

An applicant’s budget and budget narrative must account for both federal funds and any non-federal funds.

5. Sustainability (8 points): Applications will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which the applicant’s project, if successfully implemented, will enact changes to an organization, community, or the society at large in a lasting and sustainable manner.

6. Waste Hierarchy (8 points): SMM follows the waste reduction hierarchy, that is to say, source reduction is considered the best option. Donation and/or reuse is also valued very highly. Projects that utilize source reduction strategies to achieve waste diversion will receive 8 extra points. Projects utilizing donation and/or reuse will receive 5 extra points.

7. Expenditure of Awarded Grant Funds (5 points): Under this criterion, applicants will be evaluated based on their approach, procedures, and controls for ensuring that awarded grant funds will be expended in a timely and efficient manner.

B. Review and Selection Process

Applications will first be evaluated against the threshold factors listed in Section III. Only those applications which meet all of the threshold factors will be evaluated using the evaluation criteria listed above by an EPA evaluation team. Each application will be given a numerical score and will be rank-ordered according to the numerical score. Preliminary funding recommendations will be provided to the Selection Official based on this ranking.

C. Other Factors

Final funding decisions will be made by the Selection Official based on the rankings and preliminary recommendations of the EPA evaluation team. In making the final funding decisions, the Selection Official may also consider programmatic priorities and geographic diversity of funds. Once final decisions have been made, a funding recommendation will be developed and forwarded to the EPA Award Official.

D. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated Into the Solicitation

Additional provisions that apply to this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation including the clause on Reporting and Use of Information Concerning Recipient Integrity and Performance can be found at EPA Solicitation Clauses. These, and the other provisions that can be found at the website link, are important, and applicants must review them when preparing proposals for this solicitation. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please communicate with the EPA contact listed in this solicitation to obtain the provisions.

VI. Award Administration Information

Following evaluation of applications, all applicants will be notified regarding their status.

Application Notifications

1. EPA anticipates notification to successful applicants will be made via e-mail. The notification will be sent to the original signer of the application or the project contact listed in the application. This notification, which informs the applicant that its application has been selected and is being recommended for award, is not an authorization to begin work. The official notification of an award will be made by the

EPA Region 2 Award Official.

Applicants are cautioned that only an Award Official is authorized to bind the

Government to the expenditure of funds; selection does not guarantee an award will be made. For example, statutory authorization, funding or other issues discovered during the award process may affect the ability of EPA to make an award to an applicant. The award notice, signed by an EPA Award Official, is the authorizing document and will be provided through electronic mail. The successful applicant may need to prepare and submit additional documents and forms, which must be approved by EPA, before the grant can officially be awarded. The time between notification of selection and award of a grant can take up to 90 days or longer.

2. EPA anticipates notification to unsuccessful applicant(s) will be made via email. The notification will be made to the original signer of the Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance.

Debriefings

Unsuccessful applicants interested in requesting a debriefing should refer to the procedures for debriefings in the Dispute Resolution Procedures, which can also be found at 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005). Copies of these procedures may also be requested by contacting the person listed in Section VII of the announcement. Please note that the FR notice referenced above refers to regulations at

40 CFR Parts 30 and 31 that have been superseded by regulations in 2 CFR parts 200 and 1500. Notwithstanding this, the procedures for competition-related debriefings and disputes remains unchanged from the procedures described at 70 FR 3629, 3630, as indicated in 2 CFR Part 1500, Subpart E.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirement

A listing and description of general EPA Regulations applicable to the award of assistance agreements may be viewed at: http://www.epa.gov/grants/policy-regulations-and-guidance-epagrants.

C. Reporting Requirement

Quarterly progress reports and a detailed final technical report will be required. Quarterly reports summarizing technical progress, planned activities for next quarter and summary of expenditures are required. The final technical report shall be completed within 90 calendar days of the completion of the period of performance. The final technical report should include: summary of the project or activity, advances achieved and costs of the project or activity. In addition, the final technical report shall discuss the problems, successes, and lessons learned from the project or activity that could help overcome structural, organizational or technical obstacles to implementing a similar project elsewhere. The schedule for submission of quarterly reports will be established by EPA at the time of award as part of the grant-specific terms and conditions of the assistance agreement.

In addition to the quarterly progress reports discussed above, administrative and financial reports will be required in accordance with the schedules and standard forms also stipulated in the grant specific terms and conditions of the assistance agreement.

D. Disputes

Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005) which can be found at Grant Competition Dispute Resolution Procedures. Copies of these procedures may also be requested by contacting the person listed in Section VII of the announcement. Note, the FR notice references regulations at 40 CFR Parts 30 and 31 that have been superseded by regulations in 2 CFR parts 200 and 1500.