A.07.23 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Announcment.pdf

Funding Opportunity Announcement

SEDIMENT AND EROSION CONTROL ASSESSMENT

FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI

Funding Agency : Funding Instrument: Cooperative Agreement

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

KANSAS CITY DISTRICT

601 E 12TH STREET, ROOM 647

KANSAS CITY, MO 64106

Funding Opportunity No:

W912DQ-19-2-0004

CFDA No: 12.114

Program Title: Sediment and Erosion Control Assessment, FLW, MO

Issue Date: 20190802 Application Due Date: 20190902

Overview:

SUMMARY OF WORK: This Program Description is for a to provide a study and final report of site-specific recommendations for sediment and erosion control measures, storm water improvements, and best management practices (BMPs) for Training Areas (TAs), ranges, and other identified sites at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

BACKGROUND: Fort Leonard Wood is located in Pulaski County, MO approximately 120 miles southwest of St.

Louis, MO and 85 miles northeast of Springfield, MO. The installation consists of 61,411 acres. Much of the land surrounding FLW is part of the Mark Twain National Forest.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS: All responsible, non-federal entities submitting funding requests that meet the requirements in the program description will be considered for this funding opportunity.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Title 16 U.S.C. Section 670c-1 provides, in part, that “[t]he Secretary of a military department may enter into cooperative agreements…with nongovernmental organizations” for the purposes of “[t]he maintenance and improvement of natural resources on, or to benefit natural and historic research on, military installations and State-owned National Guard installations.”

Estimated Total Funding: $80,000 Estimated Number of Awards: 1

Contents of Full Text Announcement I Funding Opportunity Description V Application Review Information II Award Information VI Award Administration Information III Eligibility Information VII Agency Contacts IV Application & Submission Information VIII Other Information

Contact Information: Questions relating to Grants.gov including the registration process and system requirements should be directed to the Grants.gov Contact Center at 1-800-518-4726. For assistance with the requirements of this Funding Opportunity Announcement, please contact Ms. Mandy Ashmore by email at mandy.ashmore@usace.army.mil or by phone at (816) 389-3839.

Instructions to Applicants:

The complete funding opportunity announcement, application forms, and instructions are available for download at Grants.gov.

Applications in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement shall be submitted by the application due date.

Applications may be submitted by mail, email, or via the internet through Grants.gov.

Applicants shall have a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, register with the System of Award Management (SAM), and if submitting application via the internet, register with Grants.gov.

See Section IV of the Funding Opportunity Announcement for complete application submission information.

Section I: Funding Opportunity Description

The scope of the proposed Sikes Act Cooperative Agreement is for a selected Non-Federal entity to provide a study of site-specific recommendations for sediment and erosion control measures, storm water improvements, and best management practices (BMPs) at Training Areas (TAs), ranges, and other identified sites at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The study area encompasses small arms ranges 02, 03, 06, 09, 20, 21, 22, sites within TA 244 and TA 256, and areas that have extensive sediment and erosion control issues at Fort Leonard Wood.

The project purpose, to be completed under this agreement, is to conduct a storm water assessment of each area and identify proposed site-specific sediment and erosion control BMPs for implementation. The recommended BMPs must account for the upstream and downstream watershed conditions, existing site conditions, the training activity of each site, characteristic flow and runoff, sediment loading, lead abatement and mitigation on ranges, and design features and revegetation requirements.

Task 1 Project Meetings

Project Meetings shall take place as needed throughout the project, but at a minimum at project kickoff and at major milestones during the period of performance.

Task 2 Field Survey

A field survey at each identified site shall be conducted to analyze the existing conditions and conduct a site assessment for erosion conditions and factors that are contributing sediment and excessive runoff to surface waters. The overall purpose of the fieldwork is to identify the operations and maintenance requirements for implementation of storm water BMPs at each site.

Soil sampling and slope / topographic measurements may be required to support metals / constituent levels, soil properties, fertility requirements, etc. and support the appropriate erosion control structure or system.

Task 3 Sediment and Erosion Control Study

The Sediment and Erosion Control Study deliverable will describe the existing conditions (including photographs, data collected of any problem areas, and sampling results), identify the erosion control needs and treatment objectives, measurement estimates (including seed, soil amendments, and design features) at each site. The study will identify the BMP to be implemented, and provide an analysis of the watershed benefits based on the treatment objective.

BMPs may include, but are not limited to, soil stabilization structures, runoff management structures, sediment control, and revegetation.

Both erosion control structures / systems and revegetation requirements (including physical / structural control standard designs and species and planting specifications) shall be provided for each site. In addition, the final report will provide a rough order magnitude cost estimate for the recommended treatment for each site investigated.

The study will be provided in draft and final deliverables in electronic and paper copies to the Kansas City District and Fort Leonard Wood Environmental Division. All native files, including design and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), will be provided for each draft and final deliverable.

The lead personnel designated to conduct the sediment and erosion control study will, at a minimum, have at least a four year degree in Environmental Science, appropriate Engineering discipline, Soil Science, Agronomy, Natural Resources, or closely related field and five years of professional experience in assessing sediment and erosion control issues with demonstrated ability to carry research to completion. Professional Certification in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC), Professional Engineering (PE), Certified Professional Soil Scientist, or Certified Professional Agronomist or advanced degrees in soil and water conservation are desired.

The qualifications define minimum education and experience required to perform investigation, evaluation, and treatment. A year of full-time professional experience need not consist of a continuous year of full-time work but may be made up of discontinuous periods of full-time or part-time work adding up to the equivalent of a year of full-time experience.

Section II: Award Information

One Cooperative Agreement with estimated funding of $80,000 for the base program period.

The Period of Performance shall commence upon award and expire on 30-SEP-2020.

If the parties agree, the period of performance for the agreement may be extended if funds are available and the extension would not exceed any applicable limitations. Any extension shall be formalized through modification of the agreement by the Grants Officer and the Recipient.

The Fort Leonard Wood DPW government employees and USACE employees will be substantially involved in the agreement by providing oversight and task distribution to the agreement personnel. The Non-Federal Entity (NFE) will collaborate with the government employees to accomplish Sediment and Erosion Control Assessment. The NFE may be requested to advise the government on the best path forward on certain tasks and collaborate with the government on program decisions. Government employees will provide guidance, review completed work, and provide approval of work within agreement.

Section III: Eligibility Information

Eligible Applicants – All qualified, non-federal entities submitting funding requests that meet the requirements in the program description will be considered for this funding opportunity.

Cost Sharing – The action will be 100% funded by USACE.

Section IV: Application and Submission Information

A. Content and Form of Application Submission

All mandatory forms and any applicable optional forms must be completed in accordance with the instructions on the forms and the additional instructions below.

a. SF 424 - Application for Federal Assistance

b. SF 424 A – Budget Information for Non-construction Programs

c. SF 424 B – Assurances – Non-Construction Programs

d. Program Narrative – The program narrative should include a program description illustrating applicant’s ability to meet the goals and objectives described in Section I of the announcement. The narrative should provide an overview of the organization.

The narrative should also describe the methods the applicant will use to monitor project progress and what accountability measures will be used to evaluate the project results.

e. Proposed Project Staff – Provide a biographical sketch of each key person who will be working on the project, including their relevant experience and particular qualifications for the proposed project.

f. Organization chart – Provide an organizational chart detailing the key personnel involved in performance and oversight of performance, including names and titles.

g. Past Performance Information – Applicant will submit examples of recent relevant experience to demonstrate ability to successfully and satisfactorily meet the requirement. Applicants will provide information regarding why they believe any submitted past performance information is relevant to the current application.

Experience is considered recent if it has been completed within five years from the due date for applications.

h. Budget narrative – Provide a budget narrative that justifies the direct costs for the proposed project. The budget narrative should discuss the necessity, reasonableness, and allocability of all proposed costs. Applicants should provide a copy of either their latest indirect cost agreement or state their indirect cost rate. The narrative should identify resources and needs required for the proposed project, including equipment, facilities, and training among others. The written budget shall be rounded to whole dollars and will need to demonstrate the NFE’s costs to complete the required staffing and tasks described herein. A budget should be prepared for each task that the budget is being proposed for. The budget application should be itemized and reflect specific cost elements (i.e. man-hours, labor costs, materials, equipment, overhead and fees) to complete each task. Any assumptions made in development of the budget should be documented. The budget to execute the work does not need to be overly complicated or detailed. We encourage straightforward budgets. The budget needs to show line items and F&A with a clear understanding that the NFE can provide the required position / technical assistance at Fort Leonard Wood.

The administrative point of contact is Jo Ann McCue (816) 389-3822, jo.a.mccue@usace.army.mil.

Application shall be submitted NO LATER THAN September 2, 2019 at 2:00 PM CDT.

If any portion of a proposal received by our office electronically is unreadable, the grants officer will notify the applicant and permit the applicant to resubmit the unreadable portion of the application. The method and time for resubmission will be prescribed by the grants officer after consultation with the applicant. The resubmission shall be considered as if it were received at the date and time of the original unreadable submission for the purpose of determining timeliness, provided the applicant complies with the time and format requirements for resubmission prescribed by the grants officer. Applicants are responsible for submitting applications so as to reach our office by the application deadline

Any application that is received by our office after the exact time specified for receipt of applications is “late” and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made, the grants officer determines that accepting the late application would not unduly delay the acquisition; and—

-If it was transmitted by email, it was received at the initial point of entry to the Government infrastructure not later than 5:00 p.m. one working day prior to the date specified for receipt of applications; or

-There is acceptable evidence to establish that it was received by our office and was under the Government’s control prior to the time set for receipt of applications; or

-It was the only application received.

Acceptable evidence to establish the time of receipt at our office includes the time/date stamp of the Bolling Federal Building mailroom on the proposal wrapper, other documentary evidence of receipt maintained by the mailroom, or oral testimony or statements of Government personnel.

If an emergency or unanticipated event interrupts normal Government processes so that applications cannot be received at the Government office designated for receipt of applications by the exact time specified, and urgent Government requirements preclude amendment of the closing date, the time specified for receipt of applications will be deemed to be extended to the same time of day specified in the solicitation on the first work day on which normal Government processes resume.

Applications may be withdrawn by written notice at any time before award.

The grants officer will promptly notify any applicant if its application was received late, and will inform the applicant whether its application will be considered.

B. Submission Instructions

Applications may be submitted by mail, e-mail, or via the internet. Choose ONE of the following submission methods:

i. Mail one unbound copy of your complete proposal to:

US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District Attn: Jo Ann McCue 601 E. 12th Street, Room 647 Kansas City, MO 64106

ii. E-mail:

Format all documents to print on Letter (8 ½ x 11”) paper. E-mail proposal to jo.a.mccue@usace.army.mil with courtesy copy to mandy.ashmore@usace.army.mil.

iii. Internet:

Applicants are not required to submit proposals through Grants.gov. However, if applications are submitted via the internet, applicants are responsible for ensuring that their Grants.gov proposal submission is received in its entirety. The Government bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission of conversion processes associated with electronic submissions. The Government will bear no responsibility for delays in submissions due to technical difficulties at or with the Grants.gov website. All applicants choosing to use Grants.gov to submit proposals must be registered and have and account with Grants.gov. It may take up to three weeks to complete Grants.gov registration. For more information on registration, go to http://www.grants.gov/ForApplicants.

Section V: Application Review Information

Timely applications will be evaluated in accordance with the process outlined below.

A. Initial Review

The Government will perform an initial review to determine if an applicant is (1) eligible in accordance with Section III of the announcement; (2) all information required by Section IV has been submitted; and (3) all mandatory requirements are satisfied.

B. Merit Review

Each eligible application will be evaluated by a federal awarding technical team based on the following criteria utilizing the merit descriptions below and ranked in order from most-highly rated to least. These criteria are listed in decreasing order of weight.

Technical Merit (heavyweight criterion) – Applicant demonstrates how performance of the program description (Section I) will be accomplished.

Qualifications of Key Personnel (middleweight criterion) – Applicant demonstrates the qualification for personnel who will be working on the requirement. Resumes or qualifications statements may be submitted for key personnel. NOTE: The recipient must receive prior approval from the Grants Officer for any changes in key personnel during the life of the agreement.

Management (lightweight criterion) – Applicant demonstrates how internal quality controls will take place and accounting or bookkeeping procedures as well as the organizational structure for performance and oversight of the program description (Section I).

Each merit review criteria will be rated with the following descriptions:

- Exceeds – Exceeds the program support requirements listed in Section A

- Meets – Meets the program support requirements listed in Section A

- Does Not Meet – Does not meet the program support requirements listed in Section A

C. Budget Review

Each qualified application budget will be evaluated as described below:

- Cost Reasonableness – Cost analysis will be conducted to determine if the applicant’s budget is reasonable and realistic with allocable and allowable costs and if the applicant demonstrates the ability to comply with all financial regulatory requirements and financial reporting.

D. Pre-award risk survey

A pre-award risk survey will be conducted to determine the qualification of the applicant and to determine if the level of risk of the most highly ranked applicant is too high to allow for award of a federal assistance agreement, if the risk is such that special terms and conditions are necessary to mitigate risk, or if the risk is low enough to award without any special terms and conditions.

The Government will review for each applicant the following:

-Single Audit Act audit (if applicable) -FAPIIS Report -Dun & Bradstreet Report -SAM Exclusions (EPLS)

-Past Performance – Past performance information will be reviewed to determine the applicant’s probability of meeting the program description requirements.

Section VI: Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices Written notice of award will be given in conjunction with issuance of a cooperative agreement signed by a Grants Officer. The cooperative agreement will contain the effective date of the agreement, the period of performance, funding information, and all terms and conditions. The recipient is required to sign and return the document before work under the agreement commences. Work described in this announcement SHALL NOT begin without prior authorization from a Grants Officer.

B. Administrative Requirements The cooperative agreement issued as a result of this announcement is subject to the administrative requirements in 2 CFR Subtitle A; 2 CFR Subtitle B, Ch. XI, Part 1103; and 32 CFR Subchapter C, except Parts 32 and 33.

C. Reporting The cooperative agreement issued under this announcement will establish reporting requirements which, in general, will consist of the following:

Biannual Reporting

(1) SF-425 Federal Financial Report

(2) Progress Reports

Annual Reporting

(1) SF-428 Tangible Personal Property Report

(a) SF-428 A – Annual Report (reporting Federally-owned property)

(b) SF-428 B – Final Report

(c) SF-428 C – Disposition Request

(2) RPSR – Real Property Status Report (if applicable)

(a) RPSP Attachment A – General Reporting

(b) RPSR Attachment B – Request to Acquire, Improve or Furnish

(c) RPSR Attachment C – Disposition Request

(3) Recipient shall submit an annual inventory report to the Government listing all federally owned property in their custody.

D. Payments The Government will reimburse the NFE up to the negotiated amount for performance under this agreement. The Government is not liable for any expenditure in excess of this amount unless agreed to by modification.

Payments will be made on a reimbursable basis for actual and allowable costs incurred.

The NFE shall submit a “Request for Advance or Reimbursement” (SF-270) along with an itemized breakdown of costs and the corresponding back-up documentation to support the actual costs incurred other required documentation no more frequently than quarterly to:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ATTN: CENWK-EC-DT/Payment Coordinator 601 East 12th Street, Room 505 Kansas City, MO 64106-2896

E. Government Furnished Information and Materials The government will furnish the following materials, information, and support:

Access to installation written documents and electronic files relevant to sites.

The necessary access to enter and conduct field investigations.

E. Government Project Personnel

Kansas City District Corps of Engineers Project Manager (PM): Mr. Kale Horton (816-389- 3906, e-mail kale.e.horton@usace.army.mil is the PM responsible for execution of this agreement.

Fort Leonard Wood Program Manager: Mr. Kenton Lohraff (573 -596-2814, e-mail kenton.m.lohraff.civ@mail.mil) is the Fort Leonard Wood Natural Resource Branch Chief and is responsible for program management of the work requirements.

Section VII: Agency Contact

Mandy Ashmore, Grants Officer, Contracting Division

USACE, NWK District 601 E 12th Street, Room 647 Kansas City, MO 64106 E-mail: mandy.ashmore@usace.army.mil Tel: 816-389-3839

Section VII: Other Information Nothing follows

ATTACHMENT A – LOCATION MAP

ATTACHMENT B – RANGES AND TRAINING AREAS