20-08.pdf

COVID-19 Update: EPA is providing flexibilities to applicants experiencing challenges related to COVID-19. Please see the Flexibilities Available to Organizations Impacted by COVID-19 clause in Section IV. of EPA’s Solicitation Clauses available at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses and the instructions outlined in Section IV.B. of this announcement.

OVERVIEW SECTION

AGENCY: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)

TITLE: TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO BROWNFIELDS COMMUNITIES

ACTION: Request for Applications (RFA)

RFA NO: EPA-OLEM-OBLR-20-08

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NO.: 66.814

DATES: The closing date and time for receipt of applications is DECEMBER 22, 2020, 11:59 p.m.

Eastern Time (ET). Applications must be submitted through www.grants.gov. Applications received after 11:59 p.m. ET on DECEMBER 22, 2020, will not be considered. Please refer to the Due Date and Submission Instructions in Section IV. B. and Appendix 1 for further instructions.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits applications from eligible entities (including eligible non-profit organizations) to provide technical assistance to communities on brownfield issues.

In addition, prior to naming a contractor (including a consultant) or subrecipient in your application, please carefully review Section IV.G. of these guidelines.

FUNDING/AWARDS: The total estimated funding for the solicitation is $11,000,000. EPA anticipates award of up to 11 cooperative agreement(s). The maximum value of each agreement will be based on the technical assistance being provided but the funding for no geographical area will exceed $1,000,000 under this competitive opportunity. If a single entity is selected for multiple geographical areas, those applications may be combined into a single award so the total award may exceed $1,000,000. Cooperative agreements awarded will be funded incrementally. Additional funds may be added in each subsequent year of the agreement, subject to satisfactory performance, agency priorities, and the availability of funds. (Refer to Section II.A.)

https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses http://www.grants.gov/

CONTENTS BY SECTION

SECTION I. - FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

I.A. Project Description I.B. Description of Subject Areas for Technical Assistance I.C. Uses of Grant Funds I.D. EPA Strategic Plan Linkage I.E. Measuring Environmental Results: Anticipated Outcomes/Outputs I.F. Supplementary Information

SECTION II. - AWARD INFORMATION

II.A. What is the Amount of Available Funding?

II.B. How many Agreements will EPA Award in this Competition?

II.C. Will Applications be Partially Funded?

II.D. What is the Project Period for Award(s) Resulting from this Solicitation?

II.E. Substantial Involvement

SECTION III. - ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION AND THRESHOLD CRITERIA

III.A. Eligible Entities III.B. Voluntary Cost Share/Leveraging III.C. Threshold Eligibility Criteria

SECTION IV. - APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

IV.A. How to Obtain an Application Package IV.B. Due Date and Submission Instructions IV.C. Content and Form of Application Submission IV.D. Cover Letter IV.E. Narrative/Ranking Criteria IV.F. Attachments IV.G. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated in the Solicitation

SECTION V. - APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

V.A. Evaluation Criteria V.B. Review and Selection Process V.C. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into the Solicitation

SECTION VI. - AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

VI.A. Award Notices VI.B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements VI.C. Reporting Requirement VI.D. Disputes VI.E. Combining Applications Into One Award VI.F. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated in the Solicitation

SECTION VII. - AGENCY CONTACT

APPENDIX 1

A. Requirement to Submit Through www.grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures B. Submission Instructions C. Technical Issues with Submission

SECTION I. - FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) was amended by the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act in 2002 to include Section 104(k), which provides federal financial assistance authorities for brownfields revitalization. The Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act enacted in 2018 reauthorized EPA’s Brownfields Program and made additional amendments to CERCLA that affect EPA’s brownfield cooperative agreement authorities, and the statute’s provisions governing the definition of ownership and its liability provisions. (Note: References to CERCLA in this solicitation refer to CERCLA as amended by the 2002 Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act and the 2018 BUILD Act.)

A brownfield site is defined as real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, controlled substances, petroleum or petroleum products, or mine-scarred land.

A critical part of EPA’s Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program is to ensure that residents living in communities historically affected by economic disinvestment, health disparities, and environmental contamination have an opportunity to reap the benefits from brownfields redevelopment. The Program has a rich history rooted in a commitment to environmental justice and to helping communities revitalize brownfield properties, mitigate potential health risks, and restore economic vitality.

The EPA’s Brownfields Program is built upon four basic goals and principles – protecting the environment, partnering for success, stimulating the marketplace, and promoting sustainable reuse.

EPA is committed to supporting technical assistance that will further the goals of the program and provide enhanced knowledge, tools, and processes to a broad range of stakeholders (e.g., tribal, state, local and other non-governmental entities), especially to small, rural and underserved communities.

I.A. Project Description

EPA’s Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) is soliciting applications from eligible entities to provide technical assistance within the geographic areas delineated in Section I.B.6. to assist communities facing brownfields challenges. Cooperative agreements awarded under this announcement will help communities tackle the challenge of assessing, cleaning up and preparing brownfield sites for redevelopment, especially underserved/rural/small and otherwise distressed communities. The technical assistance provided through these agreements will cover technical support on various brownfields subject areas. Regardless of the mechanism by which the technical assistance is made available, it should be geared toward results and in helping the community to move its brownfield sites forward in the process toward cleanup and reuse. In addition, understanding the underlying technical issues associated with a brownfield site will enable communities to participate substantively in brownfield site decisions. For the purposes of this solicitation, technical assistance is defined as providing advice and support, in the form of specialized knowledge, to a person or organization with the goal of guiding them through the https://www.epa.gov/brownfields brownfield assessment, cleanup and revitalization process or helping them understand complex brownfields-related subject matter. The recipient will provide technical assistance, consistent with EPA policy and procedures, and serve as an independent source of information to assist communities. TAB cooperative agreement recipients may provide the following types of activities:

• Review and explain technical reports (such as those related to site sampling and analysis, site assessment, and government regulations);

• Provide information about environmental science, environmental policy, and other technical matters;

• Help communities understand and communicate health risks associated with a brownfield site;

• Provide information to assist the community to better understand environmental issues and how these issues affect brownfield cleanup and redevelopment;

• Facilitate meetings between the local community, developers, lenders, and others involved in the cleanup and reuse of brownfield properties;

• Facilitate brownfield redevelopment efforts by supporting community and other stakeholder involvement activities;

• Facilitate community visioning and reuse sessions;

• Provide assistance to communities dealing with brownfields-issues related plant closures, or other significant economic disruptions, adversely affected by natural disasters, or impacted by other sector-based issues;

• Provide assistance in understanding and complying with state Brownfields/Voluntary Cleanup Program requirements, including land use restrictions and other land use Controls;

• Provide application review services and host cooperative agreement writing workshops (but TAB recipients are not to provide cooperative agreement writing services); and

• Host workshops and community engagement events to help establish a connection between the city and the community to build strong community relationships.

The TAB cooperative agreement recipients are encouraged to collaborate with EPA staff in the respective EPA regional office(s) on those activities that are beneficial to each TAB recipient’s EPA-approved workplan and may also be on incidental benefit to EPA’s Brownfield and Land Revitalization Programs.

Applicants may propose other types of technical assistance activities that meet the needs of communities affected by brownfields in the geographic areas they propose to serve as long as they are eligible. In the event of social distancing or other restrictions as a result of COVID-19, applicants must provide a backup plan for delivering all in-person technical assistance activities.

I.B. Description of Subject Areas for Technical Assistance

Under CERCLA § 104(k)(7), EPA is authorized to provide financial assistance that facilitates “the inventory of brownfield sites, site assessments, remediation of brownfield sites, community involvement, or site preparation.” The following are general subject areas for which EPA will fund brownfields technical assistance to support communities.

Applications must include technical assistance in each of the six subject areas described below or else they will be rejected and not considered for award. While applications must address all six areas, applicants may propose approaches to addressing each area that differ from or supplement the activities EPA describes.

1. Community Involvement

Activities supporting this subject area should look at brownfield issues from a community-based perspective. Projects should aim to provide communities (people, residents, community groups, businesses, schools, etc.) with information, tools and technology to better understand or participate in an informed way in decision making related to brownfields area-wide planning, assessment, cleanup, environmental workforce development and job training, and the redevelopment process, or to foster a better understanding of the impacts of living near a potentially contaminated brownfields property. The assistance may include arranging and organizing meetings of community groups or others that contribute to the meaningful involvement of community members in brownfields efforts.

2. Health Impacts of Brownfield Sites

Technical assistance supporting this subject area should address the connection between health issues and brownfields. The assistance should focus on the impacts to health and quality of life related to health impacts when brownfields are not cleaned up and redeveloped or examine effects on health and quality of life as a result of brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. The assistance should strive to improve the health of individuals living near brownfields (particularly, those belonging to sensitive and environmental justice populations) and to increase the level of understanding of brownfields-related health issues and to foster interaction and partnerships with local public health departments.

3. Science and Technology Relating to Brownfields Assessment, Remediation, and Site Preparation

Technical assistance in this subject area should focus on various aspects of brownfields assessment, cleanup and subsequent redevelopment, including: assessment and inventory methods, site prioritization, development of a site prioritization scheme/methodology, sampling and cleanup methods, institutional controls and long-term stewardship to ensure long-term protection of human health and the environment, and risk assessment methods and policies.

4. Integrated Approaches to Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment

Technical assistance in this subject area should address linkages between environmental, economic, and social issues at brownfields sites, including: green revitalization, cleanup and redevelopment, port and waterfront utilization, energy issues, air and water quality issues, leveraging partner agency resources, sustainable development climate impacts, floodplain mitigation, green building design approaches, and quality of life related to social issues such as equitable development, affordable housing and environmental justice. Technical assistance outputs should aim to increase stakeholder knowledge of the linkages among various types of cleanup, redevelopment and planning efforts, and to increase stakeholder coordination to both address current issues and prevent the creation of future brownfields.

5. Brownfields Finance

Technical assistance in this area should address the financial and quality of life issues related to brownfields. Technical assistance also should assist communities in understanding and addressing economic issues associated with brownfields cleanup, including assisting communities in working with federal, state, tribal and local governmental departments/agencies, lenders, investors, developers, and insurers to establish and leverage partnerships for funding assessment and cleanup that is consistent with plans for subsequent redevelopment. Technical assistance activities should increase state, local, and tribal stakeholders' knowledge of finance instruments such as tax incentives, loan funds, insurance, government funding programs, and other available financing tools for brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. Technical assistance may be in the form of helping to organize or develop interagency workgroups to assist in developing plans, implementing financial instruments, leveraging resources or developing documents necessary to obtain additional funding for brownfields activities. Applicants should note, however, that general fundraising costs are unallowable under Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.

6. State, Territorial Tribal, and Local Government Brownfields Programs

Technical assistance in this area should focus on providing brownfield-related information to state, territorial, tribal (including Alaskan native tribes), local government representatives and other stakeholders about brownfields-related government programs, and brownfields funding opportunities (e.g., financial, technical assistance) for brownfields cleanup and redevelopment efforts. Technical assistance should also provide support for identifying and understanding state and tribal response programs and assistance to communities that have brownfield cooperative agreement funding and need technical assistance to move their projects forward.

Due to the high number of communities requiring support nationwide, EPA divided the support to be provided through these cooperative agreements into 11 different geographical areas. Ten of the cooperative agreements awarded under this solicitation will provide technical assistance to brownfields stakeholders in the geographic areas associated with the ten EPA regions (EPA intends to award one cooperative agreement for each of the ten regions). An additional cooperative agreement will be awarded to provide technical assistance nationwide. This additional cooperative agreement is intended to cover technical assistance activities that cross all regions and that are not regional or state specific in nature. Such technical assistance could include basic brownfields 101 workshops and webinars, electronic tools that serve communities nationwide, or those activities that must be provided nationwide such as cooperative agreement application assistance. The geographic areas are:

• Geographic Area #1 includes EPA Region 1 (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)

• Geographic Area #2 includes EPA Region 2 (NJ, NY, PR, VI)

• Geographic Area #3 includes EPA Region 3 (DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV)

• Geographic Area #4 includes EPA Region 4 (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN)

• Geographic Area #5 includes EPA Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI)

• Geographic Area #6 includes EPA Region 6 (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX)

• Geographic Area #7 includes EPA Region 7 (IA, KS, NE, MO)

• Geographic Area #8 includes EPA Region 8 (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY)

• Geographic Area #9 includes EPA Region 9 (AZ, CA, HI, NV, AS, GU)

• Geographic Area #10 includes EPA Region 10 (AK, ID, OR, WA)

• Geographic Area #11 includes nationwide coverage to all regions and states

Applicants must provide technical assistance to communities throughout their entire geographic area. Please note that the amount of funding provided to selected recipients will be commensurate with the level and amount of technical support being proposed. Those recipients proposing to provide less technical assistance may receive less funding than recipients proposing to provide a greater amount of technical assistance or serving a larger geographic area.

Recipients selected for award in geographic areas 1-10, may also provide, with EPA’s approval and on a limited basis, technical assistance to communities in other geographical areas. For example, a recipient may provide technical assistance to a community outside its geographic area if it is uniquely qualified to provide a specific type of technical assistance as determined by EPA.

Such unique technical assistance may be provided at national conferences, through webinars, and similar events, or when EPA decides that the type or nature of the technical assistance must be made available nationwide. The final scope of work that EPA negotiates with successful applicants will specify the terms under which recipients may provide technical assistance outside of their geographic areas on a limited basis.

Note to Applicants: Applicants may submit applications to provide technical assistance in multiple geographic areas and receive awards for multiple areas, including the national award. Applicants wishing to provide technical assistance in multiple geographical areas must submit a separate application for each geographic area they plan to serve.

I.C. Uses of Grant Funds

Eligible uses of cooperative agreement funds include direct costs necessary to provide brownfields technical assistance identified in the approved workplan. This includes eligible programmatic costs necessary to perform your project, such as: costs for personnel, technical experts, materials, supplies, room rentals, travel, and transportation expenses.

Funds cannot be used for the payment of:

1. Conducting site assessments or actual cleanups;

2. construction and land acquisition;

3. foreign travel;

4. direct costs for application preparation;

5. a penalty or fine;

6. a federal cost share requirement (for example, a cost share required by other federal funds);

7. administrative costs, including all indirect costs and direct costs for cooperative agreement administration, in excess of five (5) percent of the total amount of EPA cooperative agreement funding, with the exception of financial and performance reporting costs (which are considered allowable programmatic costs and not subject to the 5% limitation);

8. a cost of compliance with any federal law, excluding the cost of compliance with laws applicable to environmental cleanup; or

9. unallowable costs (e.g., lobbying) under 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E.

Administrative Costs. Under CERCLA § 104(k)(5)(B), cooperative agreement recipients (CARs) and subrecipients may use up to 5% of the amount of federal funding for this cooperative agreement for administrative costs, including indirect costs under 2 CFR § 200.414. As required by 2 CFR § 200.403(d), the CAR and subrecipients must classify administrative costs as direct or indirect consistently and may not classify the same types of cost in both categories. Eligible cooperative agreement and subaward administrative costs subject to the 5% limitation include direct costs for:

a. Costs incurred to comply with the following provisions of the Uniform Administrative Requirements for Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 CFR Parts 200 and 1500 other than those identified as programmatic.

i.Preparing revisions and changes in the budgets, scopes of work, program plans, and other activities required under 2 CFR § 200.308;

ii.Maintaining and operating financial management systems required under 2 CFR § 200.302;

iii.Preparing payment requests and handling payments under 2 CFR § 200.305;

iv.Financial reporting under 2 CFR § 200.327;

v.Non-federal audits required under 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart F; and b.Closeout under 2 CFR § 200.343 with the exception of preparing the recipient’s final performance report. Costs for preparing this report are programmatic and are not subject to the 5% limitation on direct administrative costs.

I.D. EPA Strategic Plan Linkage

The activities to be funded under this announcement support EPA’s FY 2018-2022 Strategic Plan1.

Awards made under this announcement will support Goal 1 – Core Mission, Objective 3 – Revitalize Land and Prevent Contamination of EPA’s Strategic Plan. All applications must be for projects that support the goal and objective.

I.E. Measuring Environmental Results: Anticipated Outcomes/Outputs

EPA requires that applicants adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements.2 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 goals and objectives described above in Section I.E.

Applicants are required to describe how funding will help EPA achieve environmental outputs and outcomes in their responses to the ranking criteria in Section V. Outputs and outcomes specific to each project will be identified as deliverables in the negotiated workplan if the application is selected for award. Recipients will be expected to report progress toward the attainment of expected project outputs and outcomes during the project performance period. Outputs and outcomes are defined as follows:

1. Outcomes. The term “outcomes” refer to 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, must be quantitative, and may not necessarily be achievable during the project period. EPA anticipates outcomes from projects awarded under this announcement will include increasing the capacity of nonfederal governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, and brownfields stakeholders to:

a. increase the grantee’s capacity to assess, cleanup and bring about sustainable reuse of brownfield properties;

b. communities are better informed and equipped with the capacity to effectively address and be involved in brownfield activities;

c. focus attention on the environmental and human health conditions in low income communities and socio-economically disadvantaged communities unable to draw on alternative sources of funding for assessment or cleanup of brownfields and their subsequent redevelopment;

d. improve community involvement, communication, and the development of partnerships among differing stakeholders and increase partnerships for leveraging necessary funding; and

e. enable communities to stimulate economic and other beneficial reuses of brownfield sites in order to improve environmental conditions and human health.

1 EPA’s Strategic Plan is available at https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2018-2022-epa-strategic-plan.

2 EPA Order 5700.7, EPA’s Policy for Environmental Results under EPA Assistance Agreements is available at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements.

https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2018-2022-epa-strategic-plan https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2018-2022-epa-strategic-plan https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2018-2022-epa-strategic-plan https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements

2. Outputs. The term “output” refers to an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work products related to an environmental goal or 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.

EPA anticipates the outputs from the projects awarded under this announcement will include, but not be limited to:

a. number of brownfields one-on-one technical assistance provided;

b. technical assistance workshops and webinars; and

c. resource centers, factsheets, and case studies.

I.F. Supplementary Information

The statutory authority for this action is Section (104)(k)(7) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended by the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, and the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act. 42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(7).

SECTION II. - AWARD INFORMATION

II.A. What is the Amount of Available Funding?

The total estimated funding available under this competitive opportunity is $11,000,000 subject to the availability of funds, quality of applications received and other applicable considerations. The maximum value of each cooperative agreement will be based on the needs of the geographic area and the number of applications selected for funding. The maximum funding for applications per any single geographic area shall not exceed $1,000,000 although an award itself may exceed $1,000,000 if it contains combined proposals as described in II.B below.

Additional funds may be added in each subsequent year of the agreement, subject to satisfactory performance, agency priorities and the availability of funds.

EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this competition, consistent with EPA policy and guidance, if additional funding becomes available. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than six months from the date of original selection decisions. EPA reserves the right to not fund any applications under this competition or fund applications in some areas and not others. There is no guarantee that each area will be funded or that the nationwide award will be made.

II.B. How many Agreements will EPA Award in this Competition?

EPA anticipates selecting up to 11 recipients, one for each of the geographic areas delineated under Section I.B.6. of this announcement. If an entity applies for more than one geographical area, and is selected for award in multiple geographical areas, EPA may combine those selections into one cooperative agreement award.

EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards under this announcement, make less awards than expected, not to make awards for each area, or make multiple awards in an area.

II.C. Will Applications be Partially Funded?

In appropriate circumstances, EPA reserves the right to partially fund applications by funding discrete activities, portions, or phases of proposed projects. To maintain the integrity of the competition and selection process, should EPA decide 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, or portion thereof, was evaluated and selected for award.

II.D. What is the Project Period for Award(s) Resulting from this Solicitation?

The project period for the TAB cooperative agreements is five years. It is anticipated that the cooperative agreement recipient will complete all deliverables under its award during the final year of its project to allow time for reporting accomplishments data and disseminating final reports as applicable.

II.E. Substantial Involvement

This assistance agreement will be awarded in the form of a cooperative agreement. A cooperative agreement permits the EPA Project Officer to be substantially involved in overseeing the work performed by the selected recipient. The TAB recipients are encouraged to coordinate and collaborate with EPA staff in their respective EPA regional office(s) on those activities that support communities. Although EPA will negotiate precise terms and conditions relating to substantial involvement as part of the award process, the anticipated substantial federal involvement for this project includes:

• close monitoring of the recipient’s performance to verify the results proposed;

• collaborating and communicating during the performance of the scope of work, especially when identifying community support activities;

• reviewing substantive terms of proposed contracts, in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.317 and

2 CFR § 200.318, as appropriate;

• reviewing qualifications of key personnel (EPA will not select employees, consultants, or contractors employed by the award recipient);

• reviewing and commenting on reports prepared under the cooperative agreement (the final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient); and

• reviewing and concurring on project outputs for consistency with the EPA approved scope of work.

SECTION III. - ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION AND THRESHOLD CRITERIA

III.A. Eligible Entities

The following information indicates which entities are eligible to apply for this cooperative agreement

• General Purpose Unit of Local Government. [For purposes of the EPA Brownfields cooperative agreement Program, a “local government” is defined as stated under 2 CFR § 200.64.: Local government means a county, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority (including any public and Indian housing agency under the United States Housing Act of 1937), school district, special district, intrastate district, council of governments (whether or not incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under state law), any other regional or interstate government entity, or any agency or instrumentality of a local government.]

• Land Clearance Authority or another quasi-governmental entity that operates under the supervision and control of, or as an agent of, a general-purpose unit of local government.

• Government Entity Created by State Legislature.

• Regional Council or group of General-Purpose Units of Local Government.

• Redevelopment Agency that is chartered or otherwise sanctioned by a state.

• State.

• Indian tribe other than in Alaska. (The exclusion of Alaskan Tribes from Brownfields cooperative agreement eligibility is statutory at CERCLA § 104(k)(1)). Intertribal Consortia, comprised of eligible Indian tribes, are eligible for funding in accordance with EPA’s policy for funding intertribal consortia published in the Federal Register on November 4, 2002, at 67 Fed. Reg. 67181.)

• Alaska Native Regional Corporation, Alaska Native Village Corporation, and Metlakatla Indian Community. (Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Alaska Native Village Corporations are defined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 and following.)

• Nonprofit organization exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

• Limited liability corporation in which all managing members are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or limited liability corporations whose sole members are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.

• Limited liability partnership in which all general partners are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or limited liability corporations whose sole members are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.

• Qualified community development entity as defined in Section 45D(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

• Other Nonprofit organizations. (For purposes of this cooperative agreement program, the term “nonprofit organization” means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization that is operated mainly for scientific, educational, service, charitable, or similar purpose in the public interest; is not organized primarily for profit; and uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the operation of the organization. The term includes nonprofit colleges, universities, and other educational institutions.)

Note, individual entities, for-profit organizations, and nonprofit organizations exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that lobby are not eligible to receive Brownfields cooperative agreements.

III.B. Voluntary Cost Share/Leveraging

Matching funds are not required under this competition. Although cost-sharing or matching is not required as a condition of eligibility under this competition announcement, EPA will evaluate responses to the Leveraging criterion (Section IV.E.). Leveraging is when an applicant proposes to provide its own additional funds/resources or those from third party sources to support or complement the project awarded under the competition that are above and beyond the EPA cooperative agreement funds awarded. Any leveraged funds/resources, and their source, must be identified in the application. Leveraged funds and resources may take various forms as noted below.

Voluntary cost share is a form of leveraging. Voluntary cost sharing is when an applicant voluntarily proposes to legally commit to provide costs or contributions to support the project when a cost share is not required. Applicants who propose to use a voluntary cost share must include the costs or contributions for the voluntary cost share in the project budget on the SF-424.

If an applicant proposes a voluntary cost share, the following apply:

• A voluntary cost share is subject to the match provisions in the cooperative agreement regulations (2 CFR § 200.306, as applicable).

• A voluntary cost share may only be met with eligible and allowable costs.

• The recipient may not use other sources of federal funds to meet a voluntary cost share unless the statute authorizing the other federal funding provides that the federal funds may be used to meet a cost share requirement on a federal cooperative agreement.

• The recipient is legally obligated to meet any proposed voluntary cost share that is included in the approved project budget. If the proposed voluntary cost share does not materialize during cooperative agreement performance, then EPA may reconsider the legitimacy of the award and/or take other appropriate action as authorized by 2 CFR § 200.338.

Other leveraged funding/resources that are not identified as a voluntary cost share. This form of leveraging may be met by funding from another federal grant, from an applicant's own resources, or resources from other third-party sources. This form of leveraging should be discussed in the application but should not be included in the budget narrative or table. Costs covered by this form of leveraging need not be eligible and allowable project costs under the EPA cooperative agreement. While this form of leveraging should not be included in the budget, if selected, the grant work plan should include a statement indicating that the applicant is expected to produce the proposed leveraging consistent with the terms of the announcement and the submitted application.

If applicants propose to provide this form of leveraging, EPA expects them to make the effort to secure the leveraged resources described in their applications. If the proposed leveraging does not materialize during grant performance, then EPA may reconsider the legitimacy of the award and/or take other appropriate action as authorized by 2 CFR Parts 200 or 1500.

III.C. Threshold Eligibility Criteria

This section contains the threshold eligibility criteria that ensure applicants are eligible to receive a cooperative agreement under this competition. Threshold criteria are evaluated on a pass or fail basis. Only those applications that specifically address and pass each of the threshold criteria listed below will be evaluated against the ranking criteria in Section V.A. of this announcement.

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

For purposes of the threshold eligibility review, EPA, if necessary, may seek clarification of applicant information that is included in the application and/or consider information from other sources, including EPA files. Such communications shall not be used to correct application deficiencies or material omissions, materially alter the application or project proposed, or discuss changes to the applicant’s responses to any evaluation or selection criteria. The applicant’s responses to the threshold criteria must be included in the cover letter submitted to EPA or the application will be rejected.

If an application is submitted that includes any ineligible tasks or activities, that portion of the application will be ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent to which it affects the application, render the entire application ineligible for funding.

The threshold criteria are as follows:

1. Applicants must be eligible entities. Applicants should describe how they are an eligible applicant as described in Section III.A. Eligible Entities. Eligible non-profit entities must attach documentation/evidence of nonprofit status under Federal, state or tribal law, as applicable.

2. Applications must address all six of the project subject areas as described in Section I.B, Description of Subject Areas for Technical Assistance, of this announcement.

3. Applications must include technical assistance to communities within the entire geographical area that the project addresses.

4. Applications must substantially conform to the outline and content detailed in Section IV.C., Content and Form of Application, of this announcement or they will be rejected. Pages in excess of the page limitations expressed in Section IV.C., Content and Form of Application, will not be reviewed. If you want to apply for more than one geographical area, you must submit a separate application for each geographical area you are interested in serving.

5. In addition, initial applications must be submitted through Grants.gov as stated in Section IV of this solicitation (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 solicitation. Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV of this solicitation to ensure that their application is timely submitted.

6. 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 Grants.gov or relevant SAM.gov system issues. An applicant’s failure to timely submit their application through Grants.gov because they did not timely or properly register in SAM.gov or Grants.gov will not be considered an acceptable reason to consider a late submission. Applicants should confirm receipt of their application with Sahar Rana (rana.sahar@epa.gov) as soon as possible after the submission deadline-- failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

7. In the event that in-person activities are restricted as a result of COVID-19 (e.g. under quarantine situations, if social distancing is required in a community locale), applicants must include a backup plan for any in-person activities proposed as a part of their technical assistance project. A backup plan should include information such as how you will structure your technical assistance, what format(s) you propose to use (e.g. reducing meeting size, switching to an online format), how participants will have access to the meeting format, and what advisories you will follow regarding restrictions of in-person meetings (e.g. state, county or city government, etc.).

Applications that do not propose a backup plan as a part of their response to “Narrative/Ranking Criteria 2. Project Description” will be rejected. When addressing this threshold criterion, indicate on which page(s) of the application your backup plan for in-person activities can be found.

SECTION IV. - APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

IV.A. How to Obtain an Application Package

A copy of these guidelines can be obtained from the EPA Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program website3 or through www.grants.gov.

IV.B. Due Date and Submission Instructions

Your organization’s Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) must submit your complete application package electronically to EPA through www.grants.gov. Applications must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on DECEMBER 22, 2020. Please allow enough time to successfully submit your application package and allow for unexpected errors that may require you to resubmit.

Occasionally, technical and other issues arise when using www.grants.gov.

Applications received after 11:59 p.m. ET on DECEMBER 22, 2020, will not be considered for funding.

In order to submit an application through www.grants.gov, you must:

• Have an active DUNS number;

• Have an active System for Award Management (SAM) account in www.sam.gov;

3 EPA Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program website is available at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.

mailto:rana.sahar@epa.gov http://www.epa.gov/brownfields http://www.epa.gov/brownfields http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ http://www.epa.gov/brownfields

• Be registered in www.grants.gov; and

• Be designated as your organization’s AOR.

The registration process for all the above items may take a month or more to complete.

The electronic submission of your application must be made by the AOR of your institution who is registered with www.grants.gov and is authorized to sign applications for federal assistance. Refer to Appendix 1 for specific instructions on how to apply through www.grants.gov

If you do not have the technical capability to apply electronically through www.grants.gov because of limited or no Internet access which prevents you from being able to upload the required application materials to www.grants.gov, please refer to the procedures in Appendix 1.

You should make every effort to complete the registration process in order to apply through www.grants.gov. However, if you are experiencing technical difficulties in applying through www.grants.gov because of operational or other issues related to COVID-19, you may request to submit the application by email. Email your request (which must include an explanation of the COVID-19 related issue you are experiencing and the specific reason you are unable to submit the application through www.grants.gov) and the complete application to Sahar Rana (rana.sahar@epa.gov) by DECEMBER 15, 2020. Requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. There is no guarantee EPA will accept the submission outside of www.grants.gov. Requests received after DECEMBER 15, 2020 will not be reviewed or considered.

If you submit more than one application for the same, identical project (either in error or to replace a previously submitted application), EPA will only review the most recently received application for that project unless you notify Sahar Rana (rana.sahar@epa.gov) and specify which application you want EPA to review.

IV.C. Content and Form of Application Submission

Any pages exceeding the page limits described below will not be reviewed. Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for substantial conformity with the format requirements and page limits listed below, per the threshold eligibility criteria in Section III.C. All application materials must be submitted in English. Photos and graphics will not be considered. The Narrative and cover letter must be typed on letter-sized (8½ x 11 inch) paper, be single-spaced, and should use Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri font, sized no smaller than 11-point font. Attachments are limited to those identified below and are limited to one scanned image per page. Applicants are responsible for submitting a complete application, as described below, by the due date.

Application Content All applications must substantially conform to the following outline and content (pages in excess of the stated page limitations will not be reviewed):

• The cover letter, including responses to threshold eligibility criteria in Section III.C.

(3-page limit, single-spaced) http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:rana.sahar@epa.gov mailto:rana.sahar@epa.gov

• The Narrative, which includes the responses to all ranking criteria (15-page limit, single-spaced)

• Attachments

- Milestones schedule

- Documentation of applicant eligibility, if applicable

Note: Documentation of nonprofit applicant eligibility must be included with the required attachments but does NOT count towards the attachments page limitation.

IV.D. Cover Letter

The applicant’s responses to the threshold criteria must be included in the cover letter submitted to EPA or the application will be rejected. The cover letter shall only address the information below and shall not exceed three, single-spaced pages. Any pages submitted over the page limit will not be considered. EPA does not consider information in the cover letter to be responses to the ranking criteria. Each cover letter must be on the applicant’s official letterhead and should be addressed to the EPA Contact listed in Section VII.

i.Applicant information - provide the name and full address of the applicant applying for funds.

This is the agency or organization that will be receiving the cooperative agreement and will be accountable to EPA. This is also the person EPA will notify regarding the outcome of your application (selection/non-selection).

ii.Location - city, country, and state or reservation, tribally owned lands, tribal fee land, etc., of your organization.

iii.Contacts - provide phone/fax numbers, e-mail address, and mailing address of the Project

Director and head of organization/Executive Director responsible for the project application.

These individuals may be contacted if other information is needed.

iv.Cooperative partners - provide names and phone numbers of individuals and organizations that have agreed to participate in the implementation of the project, if any.

v.Funding requested and Geographic Area - specify the amount of funding you are requesting from EPA and the geographic area described in Section I.B. that you propose to support.

Please note that if you are proposing to support more than one geographical area, then a separate application MUST be submitted for each geographic area.

IV.E. Narrative/Ranking Criteria

The narrative must include responses to all five ranking criteria in Section V. The narrative (including citations) shall not exceed 15 single-spaced pages. Any pages submitted over the page limit will not be evaluated.

The narrative must be clear, concise, and specifically address all the applicable ranking criteria.

Responses to the criteria should include the criteria number and title but need not restate the entire text of the criteria. Applications must provide sufficient detail to allow for an evaluation of the merits of the application. Any criterion left unanswered may result in zero points given for that criterion. Factual information about your proposed project and the communities you intend to serve must be provided. Do not include discussions of broad principles that are not specific to the proposed work or project covered by your application. Do not provide photos or extraneous materials.

i. Project Description - The project description must provide the information below on how the applicant will implement and conduct its proposed project.

• Describe the current problem(s), and then your proposed solution for addressing these problems including the benefits of the technical assistance you plan to provide.

Include a summary of your overall project goals, activities and milestones for providing technical assistance, the type of technical assistance you plan to provide, and your strategy to accomplish the overall project goals.

• Include the types of technical assistance that will be provided to communities in the geographic area described in Section I.C. and the number (and geographic variability) of the communities you estimate will be supported. Include a description of how your project will ensure the fair distribution of assistance between urban and non-urban areas, and the extent the technical assistance will promote community engagement and active involvement in brownfields prioritization, assessment, cleanup and redevelopment decisions of an area in which one or more brownfield sites are located, including brownfields adjacent to a body of water or a federally designated flood plain (including decisions affecting environmental justice, rural…