ej-cps-rfp-2016-final-updated-11 20 15 Amend2.pdf

AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Environmental Justice

TITLE: Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving

Cooperative Agreement Program

ACTION: Request for Proposals (RFP) Amendment

FUNDING NO: EPA-OECA-OEJ-16-01

CFDA: 66.306

DATE: November 24, 2015

SUMMARY: This notice is issued to amend the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem- Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program 2016 Request for Proposals (RFP). This amendment includes updated language and details for the “Partner and Collaborate” sections of the RFP, as well as clarification about the required “Training Workshop”.

This amendment supersedes all previous versions. The above mentioned changes are found accordingly:

1) On page 12, Section IV.A.2.b.1.d (Partner and Collaborate), the required number of partners was updated to read as follows:

Applicants must have at least THREE partners from at least THREE different stakeholder groups. Applicants must ensure a minimum of THREE signed letters of commitment.

2) On page 13, Section IV.A.2.b.2.c (Training Workshop), text was added to clarify the reasons and process for budgeting for travel to the workshop (if necessary).

3) On page 20, Section V.C.1.d (Partner and Collaborate), the required number of partners was updated to read as follows:

Describe how applicant collaborates with a diverse stakeholder partnership such as industry, business, academia, government, etc., to develop and implement solutions that will address their environmental and/or public health issues at the local level. Applicants must ensure three signed letters of commitment. Applicants must have partners from three different stakeholder groups.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING

COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROGRAM

APPLICATION GUIDANCE

FY 2015

United States Office of Enforcement and October 2015 Environmental Protection Compliance Assurance Agency

Office of Environmental Justice (2201A)

Inside Front Cover

AGENCY: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)

Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ)

TITLE: Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative

Agreement

ACTION: Request for Proposals (RFP)

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER (FON): EPA-OECA-OEJ-16-01

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER: 66.306

DATES: ANNOUNCEMENT DATE: October 23, 2015 CLOSING DATE: February 12, 2016

Translations available: To receive a Spanish translation of this announcement, call the Office of Environmental Justice at 1-800-962-6215. Contact Sheila Lewis in the Office of Environmental Justice at (202) 564-0152 or via email at lewis.sheila@epa.gov Please note that applications must be written in English only. Applications written in languages other than English will not be considered for award.

Hay traducciones disponibles de este anuncio en Español. Si usted esta interesado en obtener una traduccion de este anuncio en Español, por favor llame a La Oficina de Justicia Ambiental conocida como “Office of Environmental Justice,” linea gratuita (1-800-962-6215).

DATES: The closing date and time for receipt of proposal submission is February 12, 2016, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time (ET). Proposal packages submitted through grants.gov must be submitted by 11:59 p.m.

ET, February 12, 2016. Proposals received after the closing date and time will not be considered for funding.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program provides funding for eligible applicants for projects which demonstrate the use of the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Model. The purpose of the EJCSPS program is to support community-based organizations to collaborate and partner with other stakeholders (e.g., industry, government, academia, etc.) as they develop and implement solutions that address environment and/or public health issue(s) at the local level. Organizations are encouraged to have a connection between the proposed project activities and applicable neighborhood, local, city, or regional land use planning efforts.

FUNDING/AWARDS: The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is approximately $1,200,000. EPA anticipates awarding one cooperative agreement of $120,000 within each of the 10 EPA Regions, subject to availability of funds, the quality of proposals received, and other applicable considerations. Funded assistance agreements will have a two-year project period. Applicants should plan for projects to start September 1, 2016.

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY: who is eligible to receive an award under the EJCPS Program?

An eligible applicant MUST BE one of the following entities:

• Nonprofit organization

• Federally recognized tribal governments;

• Native American Organizations (includes Indian groups, cooperatives, partnerships, associations)

Eligible entities must be located within the same state, territory, commonwealth, or tribe that the proposed project will be located.

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

The following entities are INELIGIBLE to receive an award (but we encourage partnerships with these organizations):

• Colleges and universities;

• Hospitals;

• State and local governments and their entities;

• Quasi-governmental entities (e.g., water districts, utilities) *;

• National organizations and chapters of the aforementioned organizations **;

• Multi-state organizations; and

• Non-profit organizations that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the

Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.

* Generally, a quasi-governmental entity is one that: (1) has a close association with the government agency, but is not considered a part of the government agency; (2) was created by the government agency, but is exempt from certain legal and administrative requirements imposed on government agencies; or (3) was not created by the government agency but performs a public purpose and is significantly supported financially by the government agency.

** National organizations are defined as comprising of one centralized headquarters or principal place of business that creates and deeply influences the mission, structure, and work carried out by its chapters.

CONTENTS BY SECTION

I. Funding Opportunity Description II. Award Information III. Eligibility Information IV. Proposal and Submission Information V. Proposal Review Information VI. Award Administration Information VII. Agency Contacts VIII. Other Information and Appendices

A – CPS Model B – Sample of Performance Measure/Milestones (Logic Model) C – EJCPS Detailed Budget example D – Quality Assurance Project Plan questionnaire

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION (back to Contents by Section)

A. Definition of Environmental Justice

EPA defines “environmental justice” as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no one group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal environmental programs and policies. Meaningful involvement means that: (1) potentially affected community residents have an appropriate opportunity to participate in decisions about a proposed activity that will affect their environment and/or health; (2) the public’s contribution can influence the regulatory agency’s decision; (3) the concerns of all participants involved will be considered in the decision-making process; and (4) the decision-makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected. An “affected community” for the purposes of this cooperative agreement, is defined as a vulnerable community that may be disproportionately impacted by environmental harms and risks and has a local environmental and/or public health issue that is identified in the applicant’s proposal.

B. Background and Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model

In 2003, the Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) initiated the first solicitation for the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program. To find the latest information about the EJCPS Program visit: http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-cps-grants.html

The purpose of the EJCPS Program is for EPA to provide financial assistance to support community-based organizations to collaborate and partner with other stakeholders (e.g., industry, government, academia, etc.) to develop and implement solutions that will significantly address environmental and/or public health issue(s) at the local level. The program’s objective is to support projects that demonstrate the utility of the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Model. Because this program http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-cps-grants.html requires substantial involvement and interaction between the applicant and EPA, these awards will be made in the form of cooperative agreements.

For the purposes of this EJCPS Program, collaborative problem-solving is defined as an effort to bring together groups and resources (e.g., information, labor, money) by three or more stakeholders to solve a set of problems that any single entity cannot solve individually. Collaborative problem-solving builds upon existing community understanding to establish and maintain partnerships capable of producing meaningful environmental and/or public health results. To provide a systematic approach towards collaborative problem-solving, OEJ has developed a Collaborative Problem-Solving Model (Model).

Such a Model is intended to assist vulnerable and underserved communities in developing proactive, strategic, and visionary approaches to address their environmental justice issues and achieve community health and sustainability.

Collaborative problem-solving also involves developing and implementing a well-designed strategic plan with a built-in evaluation component to measure and achieve results on local environmental and/or public health issues and to sustain the partnerships. These elements are cross-cutting and interdependent and should be utilized in a proactive, strategic, and iterative manner. Determining which elements to undertake, and in what order, can vary greatly, however, depending upon the unique facts and circumstances surrounding each environmental and/or publ ic health issue. Not all the elements are required to be used in every situation. Rather, the CPS Model and its seven elements can be viewed as a “tool box” filled with different tools that can be used as needed. The seven elements are as follows:

1. Issue Identification, Visioning, and Strategic Goal-Setting;

2. Community Capacity-Building and Leadership Development;

3. Development of Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships and Leveraging of Resources;

4. Consensus Building and Dispute Resolution;

5. Constructive Engagement with Other Stakeholders;

6. Sound Management and Implementation; and

7. Evaluation

For additional information about OEJ’s CPS Model, please see follow the link below:

http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/resources/publications/grants/cps-manual-12-27-06.pdf

A key starting point for any collaborative problem-solving project is the identification of an environmental and/or public health issue and the community’s leadership in formulating goals (e.g., diesel reduction, lead abatement, reducing high incidence of asthma, land use changes, pollution prevention, implementation of fish advisories, hazardous waste, emissions reduction, risk reduction, community cleanups, or compliance with local environmental and/or public health regulations, etc.).

Collaborative problem-solving involves the establishment and/or maintenance of partnerships between and among other stakeholders and the affected community to address the community’s local environmental and/or public health issues.

These partnerships can include, but are not limited to the following stakeholder groups:

• Other local community-based non-profit organizations;

• Local, regional, and national environmental non-profit organizations;

• State, local, and tribal governments;

• Federal government agencies;

• Health care providers;

• Faith-based organizations and local churches;

• Philanthropic organizations;

• Civic organizations;

• Local economic and/or community development corporations/organizations;

• Educational institutions (e.g. schools, colleges, and universities);

• State, local and tribal government agencies;

• Local Businesses and Industry;

• Elected officials (you may not use Federal grant funds or cost-sharing funds to conduct lobbying activities); and

• Labor and professional organizations.

This grant program provides financial support for project activities allowable under the following Qualified Environmental Statutes.

C. Qualified Environmental Statutes

Proposed project activities must relate to at least one of the following federal environmental statutes.

Failure to identify at least one of the federal statutes in the proposal narrative may result in your project not being considered for award. Proposals that address more than one statute will not benefit by receiving higher scores.

1. Clean Air Act, Section 103(b)(3): conduct research, investigations, experiments, demonstration projects, surveys, and studies (including monitoring) related to the causes, effects (including health and welfare effects), extent, prevention, and control of air pollution.

2. Clean Water Act, Section 104(b) (3): conduct and promote the coordination of research, investigations, training, demonstration projects, surveys, and studies (including monitoring) relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution.

3. Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20(a): conduct research, development, monitoring, public education, training, demonstration projects, and studies on pesticides.

4. Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, Section 203: conduct research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstration projects, surveys, and studies relating to the minimizing or ending of ocean dumping of hazardous materials and the development of alternatives to ocean dumping.

5. Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442(b)(3): develop and expand the capability to carry out a program (that may combine training, education, and employment) for occupations relating to the public health aspects of providing safe drinking water.

6. Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001(a): conduct and promote the coordination of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstration projects, surveys, public education programs, and studies relating to solid waste (e.g., health and welfare effects of exposure to materials present in solid waste and methods to eliminate such effects). Please note that proposals supporting brownfields work are not eligible for funding under this announcement.

7. Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10(a): conduct research, development, monitoring, public education, training, demonstration projects, and studies on toxic substances.

D. Program Objectives

Proposals submitted under this announcement should address the following program objectives (see Section IV.B.1 for further guidance):

1. Address local environmental and/or public health issue(s) – project activities must be related to one or more qualified environmental statues above. Proposals should outline strategies for addressing issue(s) identified.

2. Demonstrate the utility of the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Model (EJCPS Model) – identify and describe which of the seven elements of the EJCPS Model will be undertaken for the project, and the associated activities and timeline for each element selected.

3. Engage, educate and empower – include outreach to the affected underserved vulnerable communities/residents about environmental and/or public health issue(s) and engage them in activities to plan, access, improve, and benefit from their local environment. For purposes of this announcement, the term “affected communities” refers to communities that are impacted by disproportionate environmental harms and risks and/or susceptible populations.

4. Partner and collaborate - work with the community and other stakeholders to develop and implement solutions that will significantly address environmental and/or public health issues at the local level.

E. EPA Strategic Plan Linkage & Anticipated Outcomes, Outputs & Performance Measures:

Pursuant to Section 6a of EPA Order 5700.7, “Environmental Results under EPA Assistance Agreements,” (see http://www2.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements). EPA must link proposed assistance agreements to the Agency’s Strategic Plan. EPA also requires that grant applicants and recipients adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements. Guidance and examples of outputs, outcomes, performance measures, and logic models can be found at Office of Grants and Debarment’s website, Linking Assistance Agreements to Environmental Results (http://www2.epa.gov/grants/policy-regulations-and-guidance-epa-grants).

1. Linkage to EPA 2014-2018 Strategic Plan and Cross-Agency Strategies (Evaluation Criteria, Section V.C.). All proposals must support EPA Strategic Plan Goal 3”Cleaning up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development” and EPA’s Cross Agency Strategy, “Working to Make a Visible Difference in Communities”. The plan is available at http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan.

2. Outputs (Evaluation Criteria, Section V.B.) The term “output” means an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product related to an environmental goal and objective that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during the funding period. Examples of some expected outputs from the project(s) may include the following:

• The number of residents trained by an environmental and/or public health program to reduce resident exposure to environmental and/or public health hazards (e.g., number of residents trained on safe shellfish harvesting) http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan

• Creation of an environmental and/or public health program to achieve and sustain environmental and/or public health improvements (e.g., a community-wide asthma coalition)

3. Outcomes (Evaluation Criteria, Section V.C.) The term “outcome” means the result, effect or consequence that will occur from carrying out an environmental program or activity that relates 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 within an assistance agreement funding period. EPA encourages recipients to identify outcomes wherever possible because they lead to environmental and/or public health improvement more clearly than outputs.

4. Performance Measures (Evaluation Criteria, Section V.C.) The applicant should develop performance measures to be achieved through the proposed activities and describe them in their proposal. These performance measures will help gather insights, will be the mechanism to track progress concerning successful progress, output and outcome strategies, and will provide the basis for developing lessons learned to inform future recipients. A logic model is useful in developing performance measures. See Appendix B for an example and links to logic model resources. Examples of expected outcomes may include but are not limited to the following:

1. The number of residents that actually adopt safe shellfish harvesting

2. The number of community members that utilize an asthma action plan to manage asthma at home, work, and/or school

3. The number of families that have reduced exposure to lead paint as result of their homes undergoing a lead abatement program

4. Reduction of carbon emissions/pollution

The following are questions to consider when developing output and outcome measures of quantitative and qualitative results:

1. What are the measurable short term and longer term results the project will achieve?

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

II. AWARD INFORMATION (back to Contents by Section)

A. Funding Availability, Number of Anticipated Awards, Funding Type, and Project Period.

i) Total estimated funding expected to be available for awards under this competitive opportunity is approximately $1,200,000. Cooperative agreements are fully funded at time of award.

ii) EPA anticipates awarding one cooperative agreement of $120,000 in each of the 10 EPA

Regions (Section VII), subject to availability of funds, the quality of proposals received, and other applicable considerations. The funding for selected projects will be in the form of a cooperative agreements because this program requires substantial involvement and interaction between the applicant and EPA. EPA will negotiate the precise terms and conditions of “substantial involvement” as part of the award process. Federal involvement may include: close monitoring of the recipient’s performance to verify the results proposed by the applicant;

collaboration during the performance of the scope of work; in accordance with 2 CFR 2 CFR

200.317 and 2 CFR 200.318, as appropriate, review of proposed procurements; reviewing qualifications of key personnel; and/or review and comment on the content of printed or electronic publications prepared. EPA does not have the authority to select employees or contractors employed by the recipient. The final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient.

iii) Proposed projects are for two years. The estimated project period start date for awards is September 1, 2016.

iv) EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than six months from the date of the original selections. EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards under this announcement.

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

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION (back to Contents by Section)

A. Eligible Entities based on CFDA. In accordance with CFDA 66.306, an eligible applicant must be one of the following:

• Nonprofit organization

• Federally recognized tribal governments;

• Native American Organizations (includes Indian groups, cooperatives, partnerships, associations)

Eligible entities must be located within the same state, territory, commonwealth, or tribe that the proposed project will be located.

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

The following entities are INELIGIBLE to receive an award (but we encourage partnerships with these organizations):

• Colleges and universities;

• Hospitals;

• State and local governments and their entities;

• Quasi-governmental entities (e.g., water districts, utilities)*;

• National organizations and chapters of the aforementioned organizations**;

• Multi-state organizations; and

• Non-profit organizations that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.

* Generally, a quasi-governmental entity is one that: (1) has a close association with the government agency, but is not considered a part of the government agency; (2) was created by the government agency, but is exempt from certain legal and administrative requirements imposed on government agencies; or (3) was not created by the government agency but performs a public purpose and is significantly supported financially by the government agency.

** National organizations are defined as comprising of one centralized headquarters or principal place of business that creates and deeply influences the mission, structure and work carried out by its chapters.

B. Cost Sharing/matching: No matching funds are required under this competition.

C. Threshold Eligibility Criteria: These are requirements that, if not met by the time of proposal submission, will result in elimination of the proposal from consideration for funding. Only proposals from eligible entities (Section III) that meet all of these criteria will be evaluated against the ranking factors in Section V. Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration because of the threshold eligibility review will be notified within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

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

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

In addition, initial proposals must be submitted through Grants.gov as stated in Section IV of this announcement (except in the limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically allowed for as explained in Section IV) on or before the proposal submission deadline published in Section IV of this announcement. Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV of this announcement to ensure that their proposal is timely submitted.

2. Proposals 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 proposal 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 proposal with Jacob Burney, burney,jacob@epa.gov, as soon as possible—failure to do so may result in your proposal not being reviewed.

3. Qualified Environmental Statutes: Projects must include activities related to at least one of the Qualified Environmental Statutes listed under Section I.C. Projects must explain how it is tied to the local environmental and/or public health issue in the affected community. Any http://www.sam.gov/ http://grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ http://grants.gov/ failure to clearly and conclusively identify and cite at least one of the federal statutes in your work plan may result in your project not being considered for award. Projects must not be used for the purposes of routine program implementation, implementation of routine environmental protection restoration measures, or completion of work which was to have been completed under a prior EPA grant.

4. Ineligible activities: If a proposal includes any ineligible tasks or prohibited activities, that portion of the proposal will be ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent to which it affects the proposal, render the entire proposal ineligible for funding.

5. Multiple Proposals: Applicants may submit only one application under this solicitation.

However an applicant organization may be a partner on an application from another organization.

IV. PROPOSAL AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION (back to Contents by Section)

A. Content of Proposal Submission:

Proposals are due Monday, February 12, 2016, 11:59 pm (ET). The proposal package should include all of the following:

1. Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance: Complete the form. There are no attachments. Please be sure to include your organization’s fax number and email address in Block 5 of the form. Please note that the organizational Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number must be included on the SF 424.

Organizations may obtain a DUNS number at no cost by calling the toll-free DUNS number request line at 1-866-705-5711 or by visiting the website at www.dnb.com. The authorized representative identified (Section 21) will be the point of contact for EPA correspondence.

2. Proposal Narrative: The proposal narrative must clearly and concisely describe how the proposed project meets the guidelines established in Sections I and III of this announcement, and should address each of the evaluation criteria set forth in Section V. Under this announcement, applicants must submit a project focused on activities related to at least one Qualified Environmental Statute. Applicants should identify the chosen Qualified Environmental Statute in the cover page. Proposals will be evaluated on the extent and quality of how well the project addresses program objectives and allowable activities. Types of eligible activities are those described within the Qualified Environmental Statutes, as discussed in Section I of this announcement. The Proposal Narrative (Sections A and B below) should not exceed a maximum of 14 single-spaced 8.5” x 11” typewritten pages, including the Summary Page. Pages should be numbered consecutively. Supporting materials, such as resumes and partnership letters, can be submitted as attachments and are not included in the 14-page limit. Any pages over 14 pages will not be read by the review panel.

a. Summary Information Page (Not to exceed one page).

1. Project Title

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

3. Project Period. Provide ending dates if project is anticipated to be less than two years.

4. Environmental Statute(s) for which project activities are related.

5. Project Type(s) such as training, monitoring, demonstration, public education (related to statute identified in #5 above). Projects should be focused on achieving results.

6. Project Partners. Provide list of partners including partner type. (For example State

University (academic); County commissioner (local government); Facility, Utility, etc. (industry)).

7. Abstract. Provide a brief (250 words or less) description of the main objective, activities, and outputs/outcomes of the project, including the specific geographic areas of focus.

8. Applicant Organization. Provide a brief (100 words or less) description of the applicant organization, including its mission and key ongoing projects/activities in which it is involved.

b. Project Narrative

Project Description: Address the following categories outlined below in parts 1-5. Use the same headings for your proposal and in the same order. Proposals will be evaluated according to the selection criteria described in Section V.

1. Program Objectives (Section I.D.):

(a) Address the local environmental and/or public health issue(s). Provide a clear and concise description about the:

• environmental and/or public health issue(s) (for example, air quality, water quality in local water body, illegal dumping) affecting the local environment/community;

• how this issue is related to the environmental statute selected

• nature of the issue(s), for example, is this an issue(s) that is persistent or acute;

• source(s), known or perceived;

• location of the environmental and/or public health issue;

• location of the issue(s) in regards to the location of the project community (for example, is the issue a facility in the community, or a water body that community residents use for recreation, etc.);

• adverse environmental and/or public impacts of these issue(s) on the community;

• benefits to the public and/or environment, specifically the potential audience(s) served; and

• process for addressing the issue(s).

Describe how the project will address the environmental quality and/or public health issue(s)/threats and how the project proposes to address the adverse environmental and/or public health impacts on the community.

(b) Demonstrate the utility of the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem

Solving Model (EJCPS Model) (Section I.B) Provide a clear and concise description about:

• which of the seven elements of the EJCPS Model will be undertaken for this project,

• which EJCPS Model element(s) associated with this project may have already begun or accomplished, for example EJCPS Model Element 1 – Community Vision and Strategic Planning may have occurred prior to applying. The EJCPS program focus is on developing and implementing solutions; it is anticipated that applicants may have accomplished some aspects of EJCPS Model elements.

(c) Engage, educate and empower – Provide a clear and concise description about how the proposed project engages community residents in activities to plan, access, improve, and benefit from the project activities and includes outreach to communities/residents about environmental and/or public health quality issues.

Proposals should describe how the project involves underserved and vulnerable communities.

(d) Partner and collaborate – Provide a clear and concise description of how the proposed project collaborates with other stakeholders to develop and implement solutions that will address their environmental and/or public health issues at the local level. We encourage applicants to seek diversity in partnerships in an effort to enhance the process of achieving the project’s goals.

• Describe how the project will accomplish its goals through the use of appropriate and diverse partnerships, such as industry, business, academia, government, etc. Identify and list all partners involved, including those partnerships that may be under development.

• Describe the roles or planned roles of each partner in the project, and how each partner will contribute to the goals of the project. Each partner must be from a different stakeholder group (i.e. academia, state and/or local government, industry, nonprofit, etc.).

Applicants must have at least THREE partners from at least THREE different stakeholder groups. Applicants must ensure a minimum of THREE signed letters of commitment.

Partnership letters of commitment should describe specific activities partners will assist with or lead during the project. All partnership letters of commitment should be on the official letterhead of the supporting agency or organization, and should be addressed to the applicant. Please do not send general letters of endorsement, recommendation, or support; they will not be considered.

If an applicant is in the process of engaging a partner, proposals should describe how the applicant plans to engage that partner and establish a working relationship to successfully complete the project. In the letters of commitment, partners should identify estimated cost of supporting resources, including in-kind and/or monetary.

Partnership letters of commitment should be included as supporting materials.

When submitting your proposal via grants.gov, consolidate all letters of commitment into one document, label this document “Partners” and submit under the “Other Attachments Form”.

2. Project Activities/Milestone Schedule/ Detailed Budget Narrative – describe the following:

(a) Project Activities – Outline the steps the applicant will take to meet the project objectives. Describe the detailed project activities or components and the anticipated products associated with each activity.

b) Milestone Schedule – Provide a projected milestone schedule that covers the two years of the grant period and provide a breakout of the project activities and CPS Model elements into phases with associated activities, a timeframe for completion of activities, and an approach for ensuring that awarded funds will be expended in a timely and efficient manner. The project start date will follow award acceptance by the successful applicant.

c) Detailed Budget Narrative – Provide a detailed budget and estimated funding amount for each project component/activity. Identify the requested federal dollars.

Clearly explain how EPA funds will be used. Applicants must itemize costs related to personnel, fringe benefits, contractual costs, travel, equipment, supplies, other direct costs, indirect costs, and total costs. All subgrant funding should be located under the “other” category. This section provides an opportunity for narrative description of the budget or aspects of the budget such as “other” and contractual. Describe itemized costs in sufficient detail for EPA to determine the reasonableness and allowability of costs for each work plan component/activity. Helpful tips on writing a budget can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/ogd/recipient/ogd_budget_detail_guidance.pdf

If the applicant does not have a current negotiated indirect cost (IDC) rate, the applicant may include a flat IDC rate of 10% of salaries and wages (see 2 CFR Part 230, Appendix A). Please note: Recipients that opt to use the 10% flat rate are obligated to use the flat rate for the life of the grant award.

Total estimated costs in the budget breakdown should reflect federal funding only.

Include in the narrative how/if partners will contribute to the project via in-kind or financial support.

Training workshop: All EJCPS recipients will be required to attend a two-day virtual training workshop, in early January 2017. Recipients will need to identify one authorized official to participate. If recipients do not have the technical capability to attend the virtual workshop (e.g. a slow internet connection or insufficient software), then recipients will be permitted to use awarded funds to pay for travel to EPA Regional Offices to participate. If applicants anticipate the need for travel to EPA Regional Offices, then applicants should include those travel costs in proposed budgets. The purpose of this training is to help the recipient with strategic planning and management of cooperative agreements, as well as afford recipients opportunities to learn from their peers and other experts

Timely Expenditure of funds: Applicants will be evaluated based on their approach, procedures and controls for ensuring that awarded grant fund will be expended in a timely and efficient manner.

http://www.epa.gov/ogd/recipient/ogd_budget_detail_guidance.pdf

3. Environmental Results—Outcomes, Outputs and Performance Measures - Identify the expected quantitative and qualitative outcomes and outputs of the project (See Section I.E), including performance measurements or other means are planned to track and measure the progress towards achieving the expected outcomes and outputs, and how the results of the project will be evaluated.

4. Programmatic Capability – Describe the following elements:

(a) Organizational Experience – Provide a brief description of your organizational experience related to the project and your infrastructure as it relates to the ability to successfully achieve the objectives of the proposed project.

(b) Staff Expertise/Qualifications – Provide list of key staff and briefly describe their expertise/qualifications and knowledge, and describe your resources or the ability to obtain them to successfully achieve the goals of the project. Annotated resumes of key staff (no more than two pages each) are also required.

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

6. Required Attachments: These are not included in the 14-page limit of the proposal narrative.

Biographical Sketch: Provide annotated resumes or curriculum vitae for principal managers and any other key personnel.

Letters of Commitment from Partners (at least three): These should indicate how the supporting organization would assist in the project, such as providing resources or in-kind support. Please do not include generic letters of support.

Quality Assurance Narrative Statement: Indicate whether you believe that your project will involve the use of existing environmental data or the collection of new data (use the checklist in Appendix D to assist you in making this determination). For more information about Quality Assurance Project Plans, please consult the following websites: http://www2.epa.gov/quality/epa-quality-management-tools-projects and http://www2.epa.gov/quality/guidance-quality-assurance-project-plans-epa-qag-5

B. Additional Submission Provisions: The following list of provisions that apply to this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation, include but not are limited to:

Confidential Business Information, Contracts and Subawards under grants, and Management Fees, can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses . Applicants are strongly encouraged to review these and other grant provisions when preparing proposals for this solicitation. If there is difficulty in accessing the provisions electronically at the website above, please communicate with the EPA contact listed in this solicitation to obtain the provisions.

C. You should submit your application to your SPOC at the same time as you submit your application to the EPA in order to prevent delay. The intergovernmental review process can be lengthy, so it is encouraged that applicants submit application packages to their designated SPOCs as early as possible.

D. Pre-Application Assistance

Applicants are invited to participate in conference calls with EPA to address questions about the EJCPS Program and this solicitation. Interested persons may access the pre-application assistance calls by dialing 1-866-299-3188 and entering the code 202-564-0152 when prompted. The following are the conference call dates and times.

Date Time (Eastern Standard) Tuesday, November 10, 2015 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, December 3, 2015 (en Español) 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 14, 2016 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

In accordance with EPA's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy (EPA Order 5700.5A1), EPA staff will not meet with individual applicants to discuss draft proposals, provide informal comments on draft proposals, or provide advice to applicants on how to respond to ranking criteria.

Applicants are responsible for the contents of their applications/proposals. However, consistent with the provisions in the announcement, EPA will respond to questions from individual applicants regarding threshold eligibility criteria, administrative issues related to the submission of the proposal, and requests for clarification about the announcement.

Responses to frequently asked questions (FAQs) will be available on OEJ’s webpage. In addition, if necessary, EPA may clarify threshold eligibility issues with applicants prior to making an eligibility determination.

E. Requirement to Submit through Grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures:

i) Applicants, except as noted below must apply electronically through Grants.gov under this funding opportunity based on the grants.gov instructions in this announcement.

If an applicant does not have the technical capability to apply electronically through grants.gov because of limited or no internet access which prevents them from being able to upload the required http://www2.epa.gov/quality/epa-quality-management-tools-projects http://www2.epa.gov/quality/guidance-quality-assurance-project-plans-epa-qag-5 http://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses application materials to Grants.gov, the applicant must contact OGDWaivers@epa.gov or the address listed below in writing (e.g., by hard copy or email) at least 15 calendar days prior to the submission deadline under this announcement to request approval to submit application materials through an alternate method.

Mailing Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Barbara Perkins USEPA Headquarters William Jefferson Clinton Building 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N. W.

Mail Code: 3903R Washington, DC 20460

Courier Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Barbara Perkins USEPA Headquarters Ronald Reagan Building 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Rm # 51267 Washington, DC 20004

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

• Funding Opportunity Number (FON)

• Applicant Organization Name and DUNS

• Organization’s Contact Information (Name for POC), email address and phone number)

• Explanation of how applicant lacks technical capability to apply electronically through

Grants.gov because of: 1) limited internet access or 2) no internet access which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials through www.Grants.gov.

EPA will only consider alternate submission exception requests based on the two reasons stated above and will respond timely to the request. If an alternate submission method is approved, the applicant will receive documentation of this approval and further instructions detailing how to apply under this announcement. Applicants will be required to submit the documentation of approval with any initial application submitted under the alternative method. In addition, any submittal through an alternative method must comply with all applicable requirements and deadlines in the announcement including the submission deadline and requirements regarding proposal content and page limits (although the documentation of approval of an alternate submission method will not count against any page limits).

If an exception is granted, it is valid for submissions to EPA for the remainder of the entire calendar year in which the exception was approved and can be used to justify alternative submission methods for application submissions made through December 31 of the calendar year in which the exception was approved (e.g., if the exception was approved on March 1, 2015, it is valid for any competitive or non-competitive application submission to EPA through December 31, 2015). Applicants need only request an exception once in a calendar year and all exceptions will expire on December 31 of that calendar year. Applicants must request a new exception from required electronic submission through Grants.gov for submissions for any succeeding calendar year. For example, if there is a competitive opportunity issued on December 1, 2015 with a submission deadline of January 15, 2016, the applicant would need a new exception to submit through alternative methods beginning January 1, 2016. Please note that the process described above is only for requesting alternate submission methods.

ii) Grants.gov Submission Instructions:

The electronic submission of your application must be made by an official representative of your institution/organization who is registered with Grants.gov and is authorized to sign applications for

Federal assistance. For more information on the registration requirements that must be completed in order to submit an application through Grants.gov, go to http://www.grants.gov and click on “Applicants” tab on the top of the page and then go to the “Get Registered” link on the page.

If your organization is not currently registered with Grants.gov, please encourage to designate an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) and ask that individual to begin the registration process as soon as possible. Please note that the registration process also requires that your organization have a DUNS number and a current registration with the System for Award Management (SAM). The process of obtaining both could take a month or more. Applicants need to ensure that the AOR who submits the application through Grants.gov and who’s DUNS number is listed on the application is an AOR for the applicant listed on the application.