Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for TUSC_29689.pdf

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

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Table of Contents

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Executive Summary

Full Text of Announcement

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

VIII. Other Information

Executive Summary Federal Agency Name Fisheries Habitat Conservation Program Office (HCPO)

Funding Opportunity Title Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Tribes and Underserved Communities, Under the BIL Round 3

Announcement Type Competitive

Funding Opportunity Number

NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2025-29689

Assistance Listing Number(s) 11.463

Dates The application deadline is May 12, 2025 at 11:59 PM Eastern time. Applications must be received by www.Grants.gov.

NOTE: We strongly encourage all prospective applicants to begin required registrations as early as possible. Applicant organizations must register for three different federal systems prior to submitting an application through Grants.gov (SAM.gov, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov). Applicant organizations individuals must first register with SAM.gov and obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). After you obtain your UEI, you can complete your Grants.gov and eRA Commons registrations concurrently. Completing the required registrations can take FOUR to SIX weeks, and possibly longer. Submission due dates will not be extended because of registration delays.

See Section IV(G) for detailed instructions on registration requirements. If you do not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts in Section VII for submission instructions.

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Funding Opportunity Description

The principal objective of this funding opportunity is to support opportunities for tribes, and/or tribal entities, and underserved communities to meaningfully engage in coastal habitat restoration activities.

NOAA anticipates up to $20 million will be available under this opportunity, of which up to 15% will specifically be available as direct awards and subawards to Indian tribes (as defined in 25 U.S.C. Section 5304 (e)) and Native American organizations that represent Indian tribes through formal legal agreements (e.g. tribal commissions, tribal consortia, tribal conservation districts, and tribal cooperatives). The remaining funding will be available to all eligible applicants. Funding will prioritize capacity building, meaningful engagement, and restoration project activities that enhance resilience of tribes, tribal entities, and underserved communities and have the greatest potential to lead to habitat restoration in coastal, estuarine, marine, and Great Lakes areas.

This funding opportunity is authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) (BIL, Public Law 117-58), 135 STAT. 1356 (Nov. 15, 2021). This funding opportunity does not have a formal matching requirement.

Projects that are most responsive to the program priorities will be more competitive. Potential activities include: 1) capacity building, which may include (but is not limited to) participation in municipal or regional-scale resilience planning, project planning and feasibility studies, stakeholder engagement, proposal development for future funding, and outreach and education, as well as hiring of staff to increase capacity to support the planning, design and implementation of restoration actions, as well as capacity to support overall award management including tracking, reporting, and project coordination/development;

2) meaningful engagement, which may include (but is not limited to) engaging the community through educational opportunities, community discussions, and/or paid experiences that support the successful execution of the proposed project activities; 3) restoration project activities, including for demonstration projects, which may include engineering and design, permitting, on-the-ground restoration, and pre- and post-project implementation monitoring. Competitive applications will directly benefit tribes or underserved communities. Applicants may apply for funding to support one or more of these activities.

This funding opportunity supports NOAA’s efforts to enhance coastal resilience. Coastal areas support the nation’s largest and often fastest-growing population centers, as well as key natural assets.

Strengthening coastal resilience means preparing and adapting coastal communities to mitigate the impacts of and more quickly recover after extreme events such as hurricanes, coastal storms, flooding, and sea level rise. Habitat restoration and natural and nature-based solutions are critical to doing so by:

protecting lives and property; sustaining commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing; recovering threatened and endangered species; and maintaining and fostering vibrant coastal economies and lifestyles. This funding opportunity – along with those for National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund Grants, Climate Resilience Regional Challenge Grants, Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants, Coastal Zone Management, and National Estuarine Research Reserves – aims to fund projects that enhance coastal resilience. This funding opportunity in particular focuses on building organizational and technical capacity and/or supporting restoration activities that benefit tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities and enhance their resilience to climate hazards.

Through this funding opportunity, NOAA offers funding for tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved community applicants to meaningfully engage their communities through outreach and education throughout the project. Meaningful engagement ensures community members are integral to the visioning, decision-making, and leadership for coastal habitat restoration projects that may affect their environment, and/or health and well-being. For applicants demonstrating a connection to tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities, meaningful engagement of tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities is intended to ensure that community members are integral to the visioning, decision-making, and leadership for coastal habitat restoration projects; to ensure that the scope of such projects are inclusive of the priorities and needs of communities; and/or to ensure that the benefits of such projects flow back to tribes, tribal entities, or underserved communities.

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NOAA is committed to the goals of advancing equity and support for underserved communities. NOAA encourages applicants to include and demonstrate principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility through proactive, meaningful, and equitable community engagement in the identification, design, and/or implementation of proposed projects. NOAA also encourages applicants to appropriately consider and elevate local or Indigenous knowledge in project design, implementation, and evaluation.

Applicants should identify if the project is located within tribal or underserved communities and/or whether a portion of the resilience benefits from the proposed work will flow to tribal, tribal entities, or underserved communities. This program will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. Established by Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, the Justice40 Initiative set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments, such as climate, clean energy, and other areas, flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized and overburdened by pollution and underinvestment.

Proposals selected for funding through this opportunity will be funded through cooperative agreements.

NOAA encourages a period of performance of up to three years, with the potential for up to five years, if necessary and approved by NOAA. NOAA anticipates typical federal funding for awards will range from $250,000 to $1 million over three years. NOAA will not accept proposals with a total federal funding request of less than $75,000 or more than $2 million for the entire award. Projects requesting the upper limit of funding are expected to implement restoration actions in addition to capacity-building and meaningful engagement, versus being solely focused on capacity-building and/or meaningful engagement activities. Priority will be given to activities with the highest certainty to occur within a 2-3 year award period. Funds will be administered by the NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation, as directed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Full Text of Announcement I. Funding Opportunity Description A. Program Objective

Tribes, tribal entities, and underserved communities have been systematically denied meaningful opportunities to participate in decision-making affecting their communities and are disproportionately located in areas affected by climate hazards, such as flooding and coastal storms. This combination of factors increases the likelihood that tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities are impacted by and less resilient to such hazards.

The principal objective of this funding opportunity is to support opportunities for tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities to meaningfully engage in coastal habitat restoration activities. NOAA intends to support capacity building, meaningful engagement, and restoration project activities that enhance resilience of tribal and underserved communities and have the greatest potential to lead to habitat restoration in coastal, estuarine, marine, and Great Lakes areas. Up to 15% of the available funding will go to Indian tribes (as defined in 25 U.S.C. Section 5304 (e) or Native American organizations that represent Indian tribes through formal legal agreements (e.g., tribal commissions, tribal consortia, tribal conservation districts, and tribal cooperatives) through direct awards or subawards. For all projects, meaningful engagement of tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities is intended to ensure that community members are integral to the visioning, decision-making, planning, and/or leadership for coastal habitat restoration projects; to ensure that the scope of such projects are inclusive of the priorities and needs of communities; and/or to ensure that the benefits of such projects flow back to a tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved communities.

Strengthening the resilience of coastal ecosystems and coastal communities is critical in addressing the climate crisis. Ecosystem and community resilience are also essential to fulfilling the NOAA Fisheries mission of promoting the recovery of threatened and endangered species and enhancing the sustainability of subsistence, commercial and recreational fisheries. Improving ecosystem resilience

NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2025-29689 Page 4 of 32 through habitat restoration results in multiple co-benefits to human communities and fish and wildlife species. Increased ecosystem resilience can increase community resilience by alleviating negative effects from extreme weather and climate hazards, which can have significant impacts on human communities. Increased ecosystem resilience also improves the environment’s ability to recover from extreme weather events or climate hazards, while retaining or having the ability to preserve ecosystem structure and ecological function.

This funding opportunity will invest in building organizational and technical capacity; supporting meaningful engagement, and restoration activities that benefit tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities and enhance their resilience to climate hazards.

Capacity building may include (but is not limited to) participation in municipal or regional-scale resilience planning, project planning and feasibility studies, and proposal development for future funding. Capacity building may also include hiring staff to enhance capacity to support the planning, design, and implementation of restoration actions.

Meaningful engagement may include (but is not limited to) engaging the community through educational opportunities, community discussions, and/or paid experiences that support the successful execution of the proposed project activities.

Restoration project activities, including for demonstration projects, may include engineering and design, planning, permitting, on-the-ground restoration, and pre- and post-project implementation monitoring.

Applicants may apply for funding to support one or more of these activities. This funding opportunity is authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) (BIL, Public Law 117-58), 135 STAT. 1356 (Nov. 15, 2021).

Entire segments of our society have been marginalized, underserved, or underrepresented in efforts to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and adapt to weather and climate impacts, despite being at greater risk due to lack of resources, accessibility constraints, and systemic institutional barriers. This includes tribes and Indigenous people, who are disproportionately affected by climate change and face additional institutional barriers in order to adapt to the most severe impacts (Fourth National Climate Assessment).

Executive Order 14096 on “Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All” (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/26/2023-08955/revitalizing-ournations-commitment-to-environmental-justice-for-all) and Executive Order 13985 on “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government” (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racialequity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government), emphasize the need for federal agencies to take actions to redress unfair disparities and remove barriers to government programs and services.

Executive Order 14096 places even greater urgency on the federal government to “. . . build upon and strengthen its commitment to deliver environmental justice to all communities across America.” This program will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. Established by Executive Order 14008 on “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” the Justice40 Initiative sets the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments, such as climate, clean energy, and other areas, flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized and overburdened by pollution and underinvestment.

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The following definitions of key terms apply to this funding opportunity.

Tribes. For this funding opportunity, this term refers to Indian tribes (as defined in 25 U.S.C. Section 5304 (e)) and Native American organizations that represent Indian tribes through formal legal agreements (e.g., tribal commissions, tribal consortia, tribal conservation districts, and tribal cooperatives). 25 U.S.C Section 5304 (e) states that “Indian tribe” or “Indian Tribe” means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688) [43 U.S.C.

1601 et seq.], which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.’

Tribal Entities. For this funding opportunity, this term refers to any tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community, and any organization that self-identifies as an Indigenous or Native organization.

Underserved communities. Underserved communities are defined in the Executive Order 13985 and in this funding opportunity as populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life.

Meaningful engagement. This term refers to communities having an opportunity to be an integral part of the visioning, decision-making, and/or leadership for activities that may affect their environment and/or health and well-being. Meaningful engagement relies on the involvement of those potentially affected in a manner that builds trust and addresses barriers to community participation. This ensures that the scope of the activities is inclusive of the priorities and needs of communities, and that the benefits of the activities flow back to the community. Meaningful engagement concepts and examples of activities are described in the NOAA Restoration Center Meaningful Engagement of Tribes and Underserved Communities overview document available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-05/meaningful-engagement-05-2023.pdf.

Indigenous Knowledge (including Tribal Knowledge and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)). This term refers to the cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment. NOAA recognizes the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge for understanding the environment, adapting to environmental change, and mitigating negative environmental impacts. Our definition is drawn from NOAA guidance and is consistent with the November 15, 2021 Executive Memo on Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Federal Decisions Making, found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/111521-OSTP-CEQ-ITEK-Memo.pdf

Community resilience. This term refers to the capacity of a human community to absorb, withstand, respond to, and/or recover rapidly from disturbances linked to extreme weather events and climate hazards. Community resilience can also include the ability to plan and prepare for adverse effects of extreme weather events or climate hazards, and the capacity to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

Ecosystem resilience. This term refers to the capacity of an ecosystem to absorb, withstand, respond to, and/or recover rapidly from disturbances linked to extreme weather events andclimate hazards.

Resilient ecosystems can resist damage from extreme weather events or climate hazards, while retaining or having the ability to recover their inherent structure and ecological function.

Habitat restoration. This term applies to techniques or strategies that aim to directly improve the quality and function of habitats, for the purpose of supporting the recovery or sustainability of the target species or fisheries and/or improving community and ecosystem resilience. A variety of habitat types are eligible within this funding opportunity, ranging from marine, estuarine, and coastal ecosystems at the land-sea interface (including coastal rivers), to the freshwater coastal ecosystems of the Great Lakes. Example

NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2025-29689 Page 6 of 32 habitats include, but are not limited to: coral reefs; oyster reefs; coastal wetlands and marshes;

freshwater or tidal rivers and streams; shoreline and near-shore ecosystems; seagrass beds; kelp forests and rocky reefs; and mangroves. Applicants with proposals focusing exclusively on fish passage techniques that remove in-stream barriers, such as dams or culverts, are encouraged to reach out to agency contacts (see Section VII) to discuss additional funding opportunities that could be applicable to the proposed work.

Co-benefits of restoration. This term refers to the multiple benefits of restoration that extend beyond biologically relevant benefits to fish and wildlife. This may include contributions to ecosystem and community resilience, increases to business opportunities, revitalization of public communities;

improvements in access to recreational, subsistence, and/or culturally important fishing opportunities;

reductions to safety hazards, and/or reductions in operation or maintenance costs. Co-benefits are often measured through socioeconomic methods.

Nature-based solutions. This term refers to actions that protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use, and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems. These solutions effectively and adaptively address social, economic, and environmental challenges, while simultaneously providing benefits for human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience, and biodiversity.

Coastal areas. This term refers to geographies within coastal shoreline counties (or parishes) or within coastal watershed counties (or parishes). Coastal shoreline counties are directly adjacent to the open ocean, estuaries, or the Great Lakes. Coastal watershed counties are located along inland rivers and streams with a significant impact on coastal and ocean resources.

B. Program Priorities

Successful proposals will be those that meet the evaluation criteria (Section V.A.) most closely, including those criteria related to the program priorities described here. Applicants should address the following program priorities: 1) Enhancing habitat in support of ecosystem and community resilience and/or 2) Increasing organizational and technical capacity of tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities to lead and/or participate in habitat restoration activities. Applicants may apply for funding to support one or more of these priorities for a range of activities connected to each priority.

Additional resources for Program Priorities are available at:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/funding-and-financial-services/program-priorities-habitat-restoration-grants

NOAA Restoration Center Meaningful Engagement of Tribes and Underserved Communities overview document available at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-05/meaningful-engagement-05-2023.pdf.

1) Enhancing habitat in support of ecosystem and community resilience.

ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE. Applicants should describe the project activities within the context of the local watershed, or geographically defined boundary and how the benefits from the proposed work will strengthen the resilience within the ecosystem and flow to tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities. Proposals should be as specific as possible in identifying the anticipated benefits to habitats and species (under NOAA jurisdiction) that will result from the proposed activities, their level of importance or priority for the tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved community, and why those benefits are of importance to the relevant tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved community, and define the timeframe near-term or long-term in which the benefits are expected to be realized.

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE. Applicants should describe how the proposed actions will enhance the ability of the tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved community to plan, prepare for, and recover from adverse

NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2025-29689 Page 7 of 32 effects of extreme weather events or climate hazards (e.g., storms, flooding, erosion), why the actions are of highest priority and/or most threatening to the local tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities, how they will strengthen community resilience, and/or the co-benefits (e.g., economic vitality, increased access to natural resources) that will be provided to the tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved community once the project is completed, see co-benefits Section I.A. This is a Justice40 covered program, and applicants should review Section IV.B. “Project Narrative” for information pertaining to the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) to assist in identifying disadvantaged communities.

2) Increasing organizational and technical capacity of tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities, to lead and/or participate in habitat restoration activities.

CAPACITY BUILDING. Applicants should describe their status as, or connection to a tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved community, The applicant should fully describe the tribe, tribal entity, and/or community’s capacity needs and how their capacity will be increased in the near-term or long-term.

Options for increasing capacity may include, but are not limited to: participation in municipal or regional-scale resilience planning, project planning and feasibility studies, and proposal development for future funding. Capacity building may also include hiring staff (including contracts) to enhance capacity to support the planning, design, and implementation of restoration actions; the community’s leadership or engagement in the project; and/or contracting for technical expertise to advance the community’s habitat restoration goals.

MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT. Applicants should describe how they have (in the past) and will (in the future) meaningfully engage with the tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities in ways that ensure they are integral to the vision and execution of all phases of habitat restoration; ensure that the scope of such projects are inclusive of the priorities and needs of communities; and/or ensure that the benefits of such projects flow back to tribes, tribal entities, or underserved communities. Options for meaningfully engaging the tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved community in leading and/or participating in habitat restoration activities may include, but are not limited to: removing barriers to participation, holding workshops or town hall meetings to discuss project priorities, educational opportunities, focus groups, establishing community advisory groups, and/or providing compensation to decision-makers, project internships, and/or other training opportunities that engage the community in the project work. This can also include funding office or meeting space needed to engage the community;

and/or partnerships and mentoring to support the community’s engagement in current and/or future projects. In order to help remove barriers for public participation in feedback activities, applicants can include requests for compensation to support tribal and underserved community participation in public feedback activities.

NOTE: Proposed activities may connect to both capacity building and meaningful engagement. There is not always a clear distinction between capacity building and meaningful engagement activities. To address this, they are considered together (see Section V.A for details on the evaluation of Meaningful Engagement & Capacity Building).

HABITAT RESTORATION. Activities might include, but are not limited to, support for stakeholder participation in municipal or regional-scale resilience planning, project scoping and goal-setting, project planning, project location evaluation and selection, engineering and design plan review and comment, permitting and feasibility studies, and/or staff to manage multi-faceted habitat restoration project design and construction, and/or pre- or post-restoration monitoring (see Section III.C for details on monitoring).

Activities might also include facilitating public feedback on all phases of habitat restoration scoping and implementation through such mechanisms as public meetings, public site visits, etc.

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C. Program Authority

The Secretary of Commerce is authorized under the following statutes to provide grants and cooperative agreements for habitat restoration and conservation: Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 16 U.S.C. 661, as implemented by the Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970; Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, 16 U.S.C. 1891a; and Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C.

1535. The NOAA Administrator is authorized under the following statute to support formal and informal educational activities at all levels: the America COMPETES Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 893a. This funding opportunity announcement is authorized under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Public Law 117- 58).

II. Award Information A. Funding Availability

NOAA anticipates up to $20 million will be available under this opportunity, of which up to 15% will be specifically available to Indian tribes (as defined in 25 U.S.C. Section 5304 (e)) and Native American organizations that represent Indian tribes through formal legal agreements (e.g. tribal commissions, tribal consortia, tribal conservation districts, and tribal cooperatives), as direct awards or subawards. The remaining will be available to all eligible applicants (see Section III.A). NOAA will not accept proposals with a federal funding request of less than $75,000 or more than $2 million for the entire award. NOAA anticipates typical federal funding awards will range from $250,000 to $1 million over three years.

Projects requesting the upper limit of funding are expected to implement restoration actions in addition to capacity-building, versus being solely focused on capacity-building.

Funds will be administered by the Community-based Restoration Program within the NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation. The exact amount of funds that may be awarded will be determined in pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA. Neither NOAA nor the Department of Commerce are responsible for direct costs of application preparation. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds. The number of awards to be made as a result of this funding opportunity will depend on the number of eligible applications received, the amount of funds requested, and the merit and ranking of the applications.

B. Project/Award Period

NOAA encourages a period of performance of up to three years, with the potential for up to five years, if necessary. Award periods may be extended, at the discretion of NOAA and based on project needs, up to the extent legally allowable. This is typically a maximum award length of five years.

The earliest anticipated start date for awards will be January 1, 2026.

Both federal and non-federal match pre-award costs, incurred up to 90 days prior to the award start date, may be requested and will be considered during pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA. Incurring pre-award costs before NOAA GMD offers a grant is at the applicant's own risk.

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C. Type of Funding Instrument

Selected applications will be funded through cooperative agreements, as described in 2C.F.R. Sec.

200.1, meaning that NOAA expects to be substantially involved in many aspects of the awards.

Substantial involvement may include, but is not limited to, collaboration on the scope of work, providing assistance with technical aspects of the habitat restoration project, review and comment on design plans, and review of procurement materials to the extent authorized by 2 C.F.R. Sec. 200.325.

III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are tribes, applicants that can demonstrate status as a tribal entity, an underserved community (see definitions in Section I.A.), or entities that partner with tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities such as institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, commercial (for profit) organizations, U.S. territories, and state, local, and Native American and Alaska Native tribal governments. As part of their applications, applicants must demonstrate their status as, or connection to, a tribe, tribal entity, and/or an underserved community. This status or connection will be reviewed by NOAA as part of the initial eligibility review, and through the application merit review process. NOAA will validate the applicant’s description against publicly available demographic and economic data.

Up to 15% of the funding in this opportunity is only available to Indian tribes (as defined in 25 U.S.C.

Section 5304 (e)) and Native American organizations that represent Indian tribes through formal legal agreements (e.g. tribal commissions, tribal consortia, tribal conservation districts, and tribal cooperatives).

Funding to Indian tribes and Native American organizations may be direct awards or subawards. 25 U.S.C Section 5304 (e) states that “Indian tribe” or “Indian Tribe” means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688) [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.

Applicants demonstrating a connection to a tribe, tribal entity and/or an underserved community may do this through proposed subawards, contracts, informal collaboration, or other engagement with, or approval of, one or more tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities. The application will be evaluated based on the strength of the partnership with the underserved community or communities. The partner submitting the application is required to provide supporting documentation in the application demonstrating that they have been endorsed by one or more tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities for the specific work proposed. The documentation may be provided in the form of letters of support from one or more tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities for the specific work proposed, and should be attached with other Supplemental Materials.

Applications from federal agencies or employees of federal agencies will not be considered. However, federal agencies or employees may serve as unfunded collaborative project partners. Foreign entities should participate as partners (contractors, sub-recipients, or informal collaborators) of a prime recipient based in the U.S.

Applicants must propose work in coastal, estuarine, marine, or Great Lakes areas (see Section I.A. for a definition of coastal areas). Eligible applicants for Great Lakes projects must propose work within the Great Lakes basin within one of the eight U.S. Great Lakes states (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota). Applications that propose projects in the Commonwealth and Territories of the United States, for this funding opportunity defined as American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, are eligible, but those in the Freely Associated States (the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Palau, and the Federated

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States of Micronesia) are not eligible to submit an application.

B. Cost Share or Matching Requirement

There is no non-federal matching requirement for this funding. However, NOAA does encourage partnerships among government, community, industry, and academia, which can be represented in letters of support (see Section IV.B for details) and may result in informal leverage for the project. NOAA encourages applicants whose proposed initiatives exceed the budgetary limits for this competition to apply to this competition and other, complementary federal funding for separate components of their larger initiatives. In these situations, NOAA will coordinate as necessary with other agencies to assure that funding is not duplicated and that the complementary components will support completion of the larger initiative.

Non-federal match funds may be optionally included within the application to demonstrate stakeholder support for the proposed work. Non-federal match is not included in the evaluation criteria, and therefore not included in scores during the technical review process. Applicants should refer to 2 C.F.R. 200.306 for cost sharing or matching policies.

Applicants whose proposals are selected for funding will be bound by the percentage of match reflected in the award document signed by NOAA's Grants Management Division. The Grants Officer may amend the match amount based on extenuating circumstances. NOAA is under no obligation to amend the matching contributions once the award document is signed by the recipient. Successful applicants should be prepared to carefully document matching contributions.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

NOAA will not accept proposals with a federal funding request of less than $75,000 or more than $2 million during the award period.

All applications must be submitted by the due date and time provided in Section IV.D. Application submission date and time should be documented by the applicant by electronic submission to Grants.gov, a U.S. Postal Service postmark, or a delivery service receipt.

Late applications will not be considered for funding. Paper applications received by NOAA later than seven business days following the closing date of this opportunity may not be accepted, if the application is too late to be integrated into the merit review process.

Applicants should consider the possibility of unforeseen impacts from natural hazards that could affect internet access and use of Grants.gov on or before application due dates. Applicants should be aware that localized hazardous weather, monthly scheduled Grants.gov weekend maintenance, or other situations that impact the ability to submit application packages may not result in changes to the application deadline. Information regarding electronic submission through Grants.gov and regarding submitting paper applications is contained in Section IV.G.

All applications MUST contain ALL required forms. Applications will be reviewed for eligibility, completeness, and responsiveness to this funding announcement. Failure to submit forms may result in disqualification from this competition. See Section IV.G for more details.

The following information describes INELIGIBLE project proposal types and activities:

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1. Proposals that focus solely on marine debris prevention and removal are not eligible. To find out more about funding opportunities related to marine debris, please check those provided by the NOAA Marine Debris Program at https://www.marinedebris.noaa.gov and by the National Sea Grant College Program at https://seagrant.noaa.gov/Funding.

2. Proposals that focus solely on acquisition of real property are not eligible.

3. Proposals that focus solely on beach renourishment for recreational purposes are not eligible.

4. Proposals addressing hard infrastructure only for water quality improvement are not eligible.

Ineligible activities include, but are not limited to, wastewater treatment plant upgrades, elimination of combined sewer outfalls, replacement of failing septic systems, and implementation of agricultural animal waste management plans. However, projects that improve water quality through the creation or enhancement of fisheries habitat are eligible, as are projects that increase the amount of streamflow (i.e., storage and forbearance).

5. Activities that are required by a separate local, state, or federal consent decree, court order, statute, or regulation are not eligible. Applicants planning to combine grant or matching funds with mitigation should review the Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources; Final Rule at 73 Fed. Reg. 19594 (April 10, 2008). NOAA plans to follow the approach adopted by some other federal agencies on Page 19636 that describes scenarios where mitigation credits may or may not be obtained in association with federal financial incentives.

IV. Application and Submission Information A. Address to Request Application Package

Complete application packages, including required federal forms and instructions, can be found on www.Grants.gov. If a prospective applicant is having difficulty downloading the application forms from www.Grants.gov, contact Grants.gov Customer Support at 1-800- 518-4726 or support@Grants.gov.

Instructions for these forms are available at https://grants.gov/forms/forms-repository/sf-424-family.

Information about the recommended format for applications is contained in Section IV.B.

B. Content and Form of Application

A complete, standard NOAA financial assistance application package should be submitted, as described below. Each proposal must include the following federal application forms. The Standard Form (SF)-424 family and form instructions are available in the Grants.gov application package, but may be downloaded from https://www.grants.gov/forms/forms-repository/sf-424-family.

1) SF-424: Application for Federal Assistance

2) SF-424A: Budget Information for Non-construction Programs

3) SF-424B: Assurances for Non-construction Programs

4) CD-511: Certification Regarding Lobbying

5) SF-LLL (if applicable): Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

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In addition to the federal application forms, NOAA recommends the following components as part of a complete application package. Page limits assume an 11- or 12-point font and 1- inch margins. If possible, components should be organized into a maximum of three (3) flattened PDF files outlined below, with a maximum of 75 combined pages. It is recommended that file sizes not exceed 100MB in order to preserve the applicant’s formatting. Additional information on formatting attachments can be found here: https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/how-to-apply-application-guide/format-attachments

PDF 1. Proposal Summary and Project Narrative (20 page limit) PDF 2. Budget Narrative (10 page limit) PDF 3. Supplemental Materials and Project Designs (up to 45 page limit)

Reviewers WILL ONLY EVALUATE the first 75 pages of the submitted materials (in addition to required forms). The application should follow the organization of the evaluation criteria (see Section V.A) to receive a consistent review against competing applications. The information provided below may help to address the evaluation criteria.

PDF 1. PROPOSAL SUMMARY and PROJECT NARRATIVE (20 page limit)

PROPOSAL SUMMARY (2 page limit)

1) Proposal Title

2) Applicant Organization and relationship to tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved community or communities.

3) Tribes, Tribal Entities, and/or Underserved Communities (as defined in Section I. A.). Please describe the tribe(s), tribal entities, and/or community(s) that are included in the proposal and how they have been historically underserved.

4) Location. Include the nearest town or watershed and, when available, include the geographic coordinates of the restoration activities. Describe the relationship of the project location to the tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved community. If multiple sites are proposed, please include a map or description of all sites. Proposals describing capacity building for a tribe or underserved community should describe the area that will be benefitted by the increased capacity.

5) Brief Project Description. Describe the extent to which the proposed work aligns with the stated program objective (Section I.A) and program priorities (Section I.B). The description should outline the expected role of tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities, benefits for the tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities, and how ecosystem and community resilience will be strengthened. Describe the proposed work within the context of the local watershed, or other geographically defined boundary, and if the proposed actions are high priority for tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities.

6) Timeline. Provide a timeline of all proposed activities, if applicable include the status of any project designs in progress. This includes all work to be supported with requested NOAA funds, and any non-federal formal matching contributions or informal leverage.

7) Landowner and Stakeholder Outreach. Describe progress in conducting outreach to land owners, in-stream barrier owners, land managers, and stakeholders, including permitting agencies. Include the status of access agreements necessary to complete the project. THIS ONLY APPLIES TO

PROJECTS THAT WILL BE IMPLEMENTING AN ON-THE-GROUND RESTORATION PROJECT.

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8) Funding Request. Include the total request for NOAA funds for each year of the project. If other leveraged funds are necessary to complete the project, include the status of the funds (e.g., not applied for, pending, secured) and outline the sources and amounts. If space islimited, provide a summary here and include a full description in the Project Narrative, Budget Narrative, or Supplemental Materials.

If you have submitted (or plan to submit) your proposal to other relevant funding opportunities, please identify the funding source and/or title(s) of the competition(s), amount of funds requested, and approximate decision date(s) for anticipated award selection. If space is limited, provide a summary here and include a full description in the Supplemental Materials.

PROJECT NARRATIVE (18 page limit).

Proposals are evaluated based on the criteria described in Section V.A. Please review the Evaluation Criteria for a full description of topics to include in the project narrative, and the types of detail reviewers will evaluate your proposal against. The application should follow the organization of the evaluation criteria to receive a consistent review against competing applications. The information provided below may help you address the evaluation criteria.

1) IMPORTANCE / RELEVANCE AND APPLICABILITY TO PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

(a) Explain how the project’s outcomes will strengthen ecosystem and community resilience (see Section I.A) in the short and long term. Include habitat and species that will benefit, and co-benefits of the restoration activities to be provided. Examples of co-benefits include, but are not limited to:

protection from flooding and extreme weather events; reduction in erosion impacts; increases in job opportunities, improvements in access to recreational, subsistence, and cultural fishing opportunities;

and creation of public spaces. Proposals should include descriptions of anticipated resilience benefits and other co-benefits that will result from habitat restoration within the spatial and temporal context of the proposed activities. Co-benefits are defined in Section I.A.

(b) Describe the tribe, tribal entity or underserved community targeted by the project. For an underserved community describe how this community qualifies as an underserved community (see the definition in Section I.A). How will the tribe, tribal entity or underserved community benefit from these capacity building, meaningful engagement, and/or restoration activities? For an underserved community, include demographic and economic data as one way to describe how the community qualifies as underserved. As needed, to assist with identifying and assessing the marginalized, underserved and/or underrepresented communities that are connected to their proposed restoration actions, NOAA encourages the use of the Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) (at https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en/#3/33.47/-97.5) as the primary mapping tool.

Applicants are encouraged to use the information available through CEJST, other relevant tools and direct engagement of tribes and underserved communities to assist in assessing how the benefits of a project will reverse or mitigate the burdens of disadvantage.

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CEJST is a tool provided by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) that aims to help federal agencies identify disadvantaged communities as part of the Justice40 initiative to accomplish the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits from certain federal investments reach disadvantaged communities. Further, all federally recognized tribes and tribal entities are Justice40 communities, whether or not they have land, in addition to Alaska Native Villages.

(c) Explain how the project will meaningfully engage (see the definition - meaningful engagement in Section I.A.) the community (tribe, tribal entity, and/or underserved) throughout the project period in ways that are integral to the vision, decision-making, planning, and/or execution of the phases of habitat restoration activities proposed; and is inclusive of the needs and priorities of the community.

When applicable, describe how the activities will increase the organizational and/or technical capacity of tribes, tribal entities, and/or underserved communities to lead and/or participate in habitat restoration activities in the near and long term. Include past activities for context when applicable.

Proposals should include how any barrier to engaging in project activities or accessing the project benefits will be addressed, with a focus on tribal, indigenous, and/or underserved communities, when relevant.

2) TECHNICAL / SCIENTIFIC MERIT

(a) Project Detail.

Describe the project’s activities and goals, including a timeline with annual key milestones identified for each activity, clear deliverables, and relevant details about permitting and environmental compliance. Include a description of existing NOAA participation or engagement in related project activities, if applicable, and consider including key times for NOAA collaboration in the project timeline.

For implementation projects, provide evidence to support the feasibility of the techniques, address whether the methods are technically sound and safe for the public, and the details for proposed actions at each proposed project location.

(b) Outcomes and Performance Measures Describe the project(s) expected outcomes and their associated performance measures. Applicants should describe the habitat-based metrics or other quantitative performance measures that will be used to evaluate the success of the proposed restoration actions toward achieving the expected project outcomes. Include targets for metrics or measures, as appropriate, that will be used to evaluate success.

(c) Project Monitoring For…