ej-smgrants-rfp-2015 (rev. 11.21.14).pdf

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

TITLE: Environmental Justice Small Grants Program

ACTION: Request for Applications (RFA) Amendment No. 2

FUNDING NO: EPA-OECA-OEJ-15-01

CFDA: 66.604

DATE: November 21, 2014

SUMMARY: This notice is issued to amend the 2015 Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program Request for Applications (RFA). This amendment serves as notice that the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program has extended the deadline for applications. The amended deadline for submitting applications under this announcement is January 9, 2015 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST).

This amendment supersedes all previous versions. All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM

APPLICATION GUIDANCE

FY 2015

United States Office of Enforcement and September 2014 Environmental Protection Compliance Assurance Agency http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-smgrants.html

Office of Environmental Justice (2201A)

FOR ADDITIONAL COPIES PLEASE CONTACT YOUR

RESPECTIVE EPA REGION. CONTACT INFORMATION MAY BE FOUND UNDER

SECTION VII “AGENCY CONTACT”

Inside Front Cover http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-smgrants.html

Office of Environmental Justice Small Grants Program Application Guidance FY 2015

OVERVIEW

AGENCY: U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

TITLE: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM

TYPE: REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA)

FUNDING NO.: EPA-OECA-OEJ-15-01

CFDA NO: 66.604

DATES: ANNOUNCEMENT DATE: September 23, 2014

CLOSING DATE: January 9, 2015

Hard copy application packages must be postmarked by USPS or time and date-stamped by courier service no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), January 9, 2015.

Application packages submitted electronically via http://www.grants.gov must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EST, January 9, 2015. Applications received after the closing date and time will not be considered for funding. Questions must be submitted in writing via e-mail to oejgrants.epa.gov before December 5, 2014. Written responses will be posted on EPA’s web site at:

http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-smgrants.html

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program provides funding for eligible applicants for projects that address local environmental and public health issues within an affected community. The EJSG Program is designed to help communities understand and address exposure to multiple environmental harms and risks.

What types of projects are eligible for funding?

Under this RFA, EPA will award grants that support activities designed to empower and educate communities to understand environmental and public health issues and to identify ways to address these issues at the local level.

The Environmental Protection Agency also recognizes that affected communities* often face disproportionate impacts from a changing climate. As a result, the fiscal year 2015 program will have a special emphasis on proposals supporting community-based preparedness and resilience efforts (community climate resiliency). The goal is to recognize the critical role of localized efforts in helping communities shape climate change strategies to avoid, lessen, or delay the risks and impacts associated with climate change. An overarching goal of including this emphasis is to help bolster the efforts of such communities to address climate change vulnerabilities and develop solutions. EPA anticipates awarding up to 25% of fiscal year 2015 awards to fund projects that support community climate resiliency. Projects with a focus on community climate resiliency must self-identify as such in their written work plans. Also, projects with a focus on community climate resiliency must include activities related to at least one of the qualified environmental statutes listed under section I.C.

* An “affected community,” for the purposes of this assistance agreement program, 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 application.

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Please note: Under this announcement, projects that do not focus on community climate resiliency are still eligible.

In an effort to enhance community outreach, EPA will designate up to 25% of fiscal year 2015 awards to eligible organizations that have not received an Environmental Justice Small Grants award during fiscal years 2009 through 2013.

The long-term goals of the EJSG Program are to help build the capacity of communities with environmental justice concerns and to create self-sustaining, community-based partnerships that will continue to improve local environments in the future.

What are examples of Community Climate Resiliency?

Community climate resiliency essentially focuses on strategies dealing with the risks and impacts associated with a changing climate including, but not limited to, preparedness strategies such as readying communities for the impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies.

Adaptation strategies recognize that because some degree of future climate change will occur regardless of future greenhouse gas emissions, developing strategies to help vulnerable communities adapt to or cope with climate change is a necessity. Applicants are encouraged to develop innovative projects that focus on adaptation strategies in relation to community climate resiliency in communities with environmental justice concerns.

The following is a nonexclusive list of examples of the types of community climate resiliency projects that would be consistent with this intent.

• Educating residents about lung health impacts potentially exacerbated by increased pollution levels which result from climate change. in relation to the Clean Air Act

• Implementing strategies to protect a vulnerable community’s water supply in relation to the Safe Drinking Water Act

• Community education and training for emergency response, prevention and control in relation to the Toxic Substances Control Act.

• Improving water use efficiency, planning for alternative water sources (in the event of an emergency) and making changes to water allocation in relation to the Clean Water Act

• Adopting a green infrastructure plan to upgrade wastewater and sewage systems to better cope with heavy storms in relation to the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Who is eligible to receive an award under the EJSG Program?

An eligible applicant MUST BE one of the following entities:

• incorporated non-profit organizations—including, but not limited to, environmental justice networks, faith based organizations and those affiliated with religious institutions;*

• federally recognized tribal governments; OR

• tribal organizations

* Applicant organizations claiming non-profit status must include documentation that shows the organization is either a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization as designated by the Internal Revenue Service; OR a non-profit organization recognized by the state, territory, commonwealth or tribe in which it is located. For the latter, documentation must be on official state government letterhead.

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Applicants must be located within the same region, territory, commonwealth, or tribe in which the proposed project is located. In addition, eligible applicants must demonstrate that they have worked directly with the affected community.

An “affected community,” for the purposes of this assistance agreement program, 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 application.

The following entities are INELIGIBLE to receive an award, but we encourage partnerships with these organizations for technical assistance:

• 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**;

• non-profit organizations supporting lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; and***

• organizations acting only as “fiscal agents”

* 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 controls the mission, structure and work carried out by its chapters or affiliates.

*** Funds awarded under this announcement may not be used to support lobbying activities or any activities related to lobbying or the appearance thereof.

How much funding is available?

The total estimated available funding for awards under this competitive opportunity is $1,200,000 for projects related to one of the seven statutes listed in Section I.C. EPA anticipates awarding up to four grants per EPA region in amounts of up to $30,000 per award for one year. EPA anticipates awarding up to 25% of fiscal year 2015 awards to fund projects that support community climate resiliency. Also, in an effort to enhance community outreach, EPA will designate up to 25% of fiscal year 2015 awards to eligible organizations that have not received an Environmental Justice Small Grants award during fiscal years 2009 through 2013.

EPA reserves the right to increase or decrease the total number of grants awarded or reject all applications and make no awards under this announcement. Such changes may be necessary as a response to the quality of applications received by EPA or the amount of funds available.

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Translations Available A Spanish translation of this announcement may be available. To receive translations of this document in Spanish or other languages, please contact Sheritta W. Taylor in the Office of Environmental Justice at (202) 564-1771 or via email at oejgrants.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 4spañol, por favor llame a La Officina de Justicia Ambiental conocida como “Office of Environmental Justice,” linea gratuita (1-800-962- 6215).

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FULL TEXT 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 /Appendices

SECTION I – FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (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.

B. BACKGROUND

The EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) established the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program in fiscal year (FY) 1994. The purpose of this grant program is to support activities designed to empower and educate communities to understand environmental and public health issues and to identify ways to address these issues at the local level.

The EJSG Program has funded projects that support collaborative partnerships that address local environmental issues such as exposure to air toxics and lead, farm worker and residential exposure to pesticides, youth involvement in education, etc. Summaries of all EJSG projects funded from FY 2000 to 2013 are available on the OEJ website:

http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-smgrants.html

All proposed projects should include activities designed to empower and educate communities to understand environmental and public health issues and to identify ways to address these issues at the local level.

All projects considered for funding under this announcement must include a work plan. All work plans should include strategies for addressing local environmental or public health issues, educating and empowering the community about those issues, and approaches to building consensus and setting community priorities. In addition, the work plan should demonstrate collaboration with other stakeholders (e.g., other community-based organizations, environmental groups, businesses, industry, federal, tribal, state and local governments, and academic institutions) in an effort to realize project goals and objectives.

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All EJSG recipients will be required to attend a two-day training workshop tentatively held at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The training workshop is designed to help award recipients with strategic planning and grant management. The workshop will also afford an opportunity for award recipients to network with other community representatives and stakeholders.

C. QUALIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL STATUTES

The EJSG Program is designed to address multi-statute environmental and/or public health issues. For this reason, each project, including projects with an emphasis on community climate resiliency, must include activities related to at least one of the following federal environmental statutes. Any 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.

1) 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.

2) Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442I (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.

3) 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.

4) 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.

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

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

7) 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.

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D. EPA STRATEGIC PLAN LINKAGE AND ANTICIPATED OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES

1) Linkage to EPA 2014 -2018 Strategic Plan and Cross-Agency Strategies. Tasks under this project should support EPA’s 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.” A copy of EPA’s Strategic Plan is available online at http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2014-2018-strategic-plan

2) Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes. In general, EJSG project activities should lead to outputs and outcomes that result in the reduction of harmful exposures and health risks to children and/or of potentially disproportionate health and environmental impacts or effects on communities, including overburdened, low-income, minority, and/or tribal communities, and support community efforts to build healthy neighborhoods. These activities are designed to support, empower and educate communities to understand environmental and public health issues and to identify ways to address these issues at the local level.

Outputs. The term “output” means an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product related to an environmental/public health goal and objective that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during an assistance agreement funding period.

Expected outputs for this program include but are not limited to the following:

• The number of residents trained by an environmental/public health program to reduce resident exposure to environmental/public health hazards (e.g., number of residents trained on safe shellfish harvesting)

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

Outcomes. The term “outcome” means the result, effect, or consequence that occurs from carrying out an environmental/public health program or activity that is related to an environmental/public health programmatic goal or objective. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related, or programmatic in nature, but must be quantitative.

However, unlike outputs, outcomes may not necessarily be achievable within an assistance agreement funding period.

Examples of expected outcomes may be:

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

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

• Reduction of energy used in buildings (school/apartment building/business/homes)

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SECTION II – AWARD INFORMATION

A. FUNDING AVAILABILITY AND PROJECT PERIOD

The total estimated amount of funding available for awards under this solicitation for FY 2015 is approximately $1,200,000. Awards will be made in the form of a one-year federal grant in amounts of up to $30,000 per award for projects related to at least one of the seven statutes listed in Section I.C. All awards will be fully funded at the time of award.

B. NUMBER OF ANTICIPATED AWARDS

EPA anticipates awarding up to four grants per EPA region for projects related to at least one of the seven statutes listed in Section I.C. EPA also anticipates awarding up to 25% of fiscal year 2015 awards to fund projects that support community climate resiliency.

Also, in an effort to enhance community outreach, EPA will designate up to 25% of fiscal year 2015 awards to eligible organizations that have not received an Environmental Justice Small Grants award during fiscal years 2009 through 2013. All awards are subject to the availability of funds and the quality of the applications submitted.

For a listing of EPA’s ten regions and the states for which they are responsible, please see Section VII. EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards under this announcement. If additional funding becomes available after the original selections are made, EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement consistent with Agency policy and guidance. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than six months after the original selections have been made.

SECTION III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY BASED ON CFDA

An eligible applicant MUST BE one of the following entities:

• incorporated non-profit organizations—including, but not limited to, environmental justice networks, faith based organizations and those affiliated with religious institutions;*

• federally recognized tribal governments; OR

• tribal organizations

* Applicant organizations claiming non-profit status must include documentation that shows the organization is either a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization as designated by the Internal Revenue Service; OR a non-profit organization recognized by the state, territory, commonwealth, or tribe in which it is located. For the latter, documentation must be on official state government letterhead.

Applicants must be located within the same region, territory, commonwealth, or tribe in which the proposed project is located. In addition, eligible applicants must demonstrate that they have worked directly with the affected community.

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An “affected community,” for the purposes of this assistance agreement program, 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 application.

The following entities are INELIGIBLE to receive an award, but we encourage partnerships with these organizations for technical assistance:

• 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**;

• non-profit organizations supporting lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; and ***

• organizations acting only as “fiscal agents”

* 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 controls the mission, structure and work carried out by its chapters or affiliates.

*** Funds awarded under this announcement may not be used to support lobbying activities or any activities related to lobbying or the appearance thereof.

B. THRESHOLD ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration will be notified within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

Before an application is scored by the Review Panel, it must satisfy the seven conditions below:

1. Applicant Eligibility: Under this announcement, applicants must demonstrate eligibility.

Please refer to Section III of this announcement to review applicant eligibility requirements. An eligible applicant must be either an incorporated nonprofit organization, federally recognized tribal government or a tribal organization. Threshold Reviewers will determine if the applicant organization meets the eligibility requirements as outlined in Section III. Applications received from entities not considered eligible under this solicitation will not be reviewed or scored.

2. General Guidelines:

a. Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or else they will be rejected. However, where a page limit is expressed in Section IV with respect to the application or parts of the application, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed.

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b. Applications must be postmarked or received through www.grants.gov as specified in Section IV of this announcement on or before the application submission deadline published in Section IV of this announcement. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that their application reaches the designated person/office specified in Section VII of the announcement by the submission deadline. With respect to www.grants.gov issues, applicants would need to demonstrate that issues or problems attributable to www.grants.gov affected the timely submission of their proposal and not issues with their own systems or failure to follow instructions or submission requirements.

Accordingly, applicants are encouraged to retain all receipts, tracking information and help desk ticket numbers.

c. Applications postmarked after the submission deadline will be considered late and may be returned to the sender without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was late due to EPA mishandling or because of technical problems associated with www.grants.gov. Applicants should confirm receipt of their application as soon as possible after the submission deadline—failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

Applicants may confirm receipt of their application by contacting Sheritta W. Taylor at 202-564-1771 or oejgrants.epa.gov.

3. Project Purpose: As referenced in Section I, the primary purpose of the project must be to help communities understand and address environmental justice and/or public health challenges on a local level. Applicants must explain how the proposed project will address local environmental and/or public health issue(s) in the affected community.

4. Qualified Environmental Statutes: Each project, including projects addressing community climate resiliency, must include activities related to at least one of the Qualified Environmental Statutes listed under Section I.C. Any 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.

5. Budget: EPA will make one-year awards of up to $30,000 for projects related to at least one of the seven statutes listed in Section I.C. Applications submitted with budgets over $30,000 for projects related to the seven statutes listed in Section I.C, may not be considered for award.

6. 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.

7. 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.

C. COST-SHARING OR MATCHING FUNDS

No cost-sharing or matching is required as a condition of eligibility or otherwise considered for evaluating applications for award.

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SECTION IV – APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION FORMS REQUIRED FOR THIS SOLICITATION

Applicants can request a hard copy of the forms or template by contacting their Regional Coordinator. Please refer to “SECTION VII – AGENCY CONTACTS” for a complete listing containing contact information for each region. All required forms are also available at:

http://www.epa.gov/ogd/AppKit/application.htm

Optional templates and samples are available in Appendices A – H.

B. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

Applications may be submitted via U.S. Postal Service (USPS), courier service or electronically www.grants.gov.

The following forms and documents are required under this announcement:

1) EJSG One-Page Threshold Eligibility Form (Appendix A)

2) SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance (Appendix B)

3) Key Contacts List EPA Form 5700-54 (Appendix C)

4) Work plan (Optional template in Appendix D)

5) Detailed Budget (Appendices E and F)

6) Resumes of the project manager (PM) and other key personnel

7) Project Performance Measures (Appendices G & H)

8) Proof of Non-Profit Status

The following is a detailed description of all the required forms and documents.

1) EJSG ONE-PAGE THRESHOLD ELIGIBILITY FORM (Appendix A) The One-Page Threshold Eligibility Form is a helpful checklist to ensure that all eligibility criteria are met and required documents are included in the application package.

2) SF-424 APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE, with original signature (Appendix B): The SF-424 is the official form required for all federal grants and cooperative agreements. It requests basic information about your organization and proposed project. To complete the SF-424 form, applicants must provide a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. Applicants can receive a DUNS number at no cost by calling the dedicated toll-free request line at

1-800-627-3867 or by visiting the D&B website at http://www.dnb.com.

3) KEY CONTACTS LIST, EPA Form 5700-54 (Appendix C): Applicants are encouraged to ensure that all information presented on the Key Contacts form is accurate.

Information contained on the Key Contacts form may be used in the event an applicant is contacted for additional information.

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4) WORK PLAN (Template available in Appendix D): The work plan is the most important part of the application package. The work plan describes the project. Work plans that are focused and succinct are stronger than ones that try to address too many issues. The work plan should not exceed ten (10), single-spaced typewritten pages.

Anything over ten (10) pages will not be read by the Review Panel. The pages of the work plan should be letter-size (8 1/2 X 11 inches), single-spaced. It is recommended that applicants use a standard 12-point type with 1-inch margins. There will be no penalty for using a different page size or font type, but it is strongly discouraged. Do not use spiral binding, separation tabs, or plastic covers. The applicant may bind the paperwork with a staple. Do not include videos or DVDs.

Applicants whose projects support community climate resiliency must self-identify in the work plan. The work plan should demonstrate how the proposed project will increase the adaptive capacity and or reduce vulnerability in the affected community.

The following table may be helpful when drafting the work plan.

The 10 page work plan must contain the following components and should be identified by the headings in the exact order as listed below.

I. Project Title and Project Purpose Statement

Provide the following information:

• A title for the project;

• A summary description of the proposed project including the goals the project seeks to achieve;

• Location of where the project will take place (include city, state and zip code);

• Identify the related environmental statute(s) from the list in Section I.C.

• If applicable, identify the project’s community climate resiliency focus II. Environmental, Public Health and Community Climate Resiliency(if applicable) information about the Affected Community Please describe the following:

• The local environmental, public health and climate resiliency issue(s) (if applicable) that the project seeks to address;

• Results achieved from the efforts to address the local environmental, public health and climate resiliency (if applicable) issues(s);

• The characteristics of the affected community;

• How the affected community may be disproportionately impacted by the environmental, public health and community climate resiliency (if applicable) harm(s) and risk(s);

• How the affected community will benefit from the results of the project.

The application must include relevant information such as demographics, geographic location, and community history.

(Continued on Next Page)

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III. Organization’s Historical Connection to the Affected Community

Please describe the following:

• The history of the organization’s involvement with the affected community, including the length of your involvement and how you became involved;

• How the organization has worked with the affected community’s residents and/or organizations to address local environmental, public health issues and community climate resiliency (if applicable);

• How the residents of the affected community are part of the decision-making process;

• How the organizations’ efforts have increased the community’s capacity to address local environmental, public health issues and community climate resiliency (if applicable); and

• How the organization maintains and sustains an ongoing relationship with the affected community’s residents and/or organizations.

IV. Project Description

The Project Description is an opportunity to describe the strategies for addressing local environmental, public health and community climate resiliency issues (if applicable).

Describe how the project will educate and empower the community, project goals, the components of the project, the timeframe to accomplish the proposed activities and the evaluation process for determining success (a timeline and/or milestone chart is strongly suggested). The roles and responsibilities of all key organizations involved in the project should also be included.

The Project Description MUST address the following items:

i) A concise description of the activities the project will undertake during the year to examine and address the environmental and public health issue(s), e.g., training, education/outreach programs, capacity-building efforts, research etc.

• The local environmental, public health and community climate resiliency (if applicable) results the project projects seeks to achieve; and

• How the project will achieve these results. Describe and/or identify activities designed to educate, empower and enable the community to understand the environmental, public health and community climate resiliency (if applicable) issues.

• How the organization’s efforts will increase the community’s capacity to address local environmental, public health and community climate resiliency (if applicable) issues.

• How the project is related to the environmental statutes you identified in your Threshold Eligibility Form (see Section I.C and Appendix A). Please note each project must include activities that are authorized by one of the federal environmental statutes listed in Section I.C.

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ii) A concise description of how the organization and its partner(s) will work together during the year to address the local issue(s).

Please describe the following:

• The role of your partner(s) in addressing the local environmental, public health and community climate resiliency (if applicable) issue(s);

• The nature of the organization(s), and what resources they bring to the partnership;

• How the partner(s) has a vested interest in working with this partnership [other than just getting income], commitments made, and specific activities it will be responsible for;

and

• How the applicant plans to maintain and sustain the partnerships.

V. Organizational Capacity and Programmatic Capability

Please provide the following information:

• The organizational and administrative systems (e.g., accounting programs) the organization has in place that will be used to appropriately manage, expend, and account for Federal funds;

• How the applicant has successfully managed these projects in the past;

• How the applicant plans to effectively manage and successfully complete this proposed project;

• Organizational experience (or the ability to obtain such experience) to successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project.

• If the applicant has been a recipient of an EPA and/or other Federal grant/cooperative agreement in the last five years, please indicate past performance in meeting reporting requirements (e.g., progress reports, financial status). Please also include the name of the Project Officer overseeing the grant/cooperative agreement and the assistance agreement number associated with the project(s);

If the applicant does not have prior experience in managing federal funds please indicate this in the workplan narrative, you will receive a neutral score in this area. Failure to do so will result in receiving a score of 0 for this element.

VI. Qualifications of the Project Manager (PM)

• The qualifications of the PM as they relate to the project;

• How the PM has ties to the community and/or organization; and

• Past activities that the PM has worked on with the community.

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VII. Past Performance in Reporting on Outputs and Outcomes

Provide the following information:

• A list of any Federal or non-Federal grants or cooperative agreements (not Federal contracts) of similar size, scope, and relevance to the proposed project that you worked on within the past three (3) years (no more than five (5) agreements, preferably EPA agreements). Please include the grant or cooperative agreement number, title of the project, the amount of funding, funding agency or organization, and point-of-contact;

• A description of how you have documented and/or reported on progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes under prior and/or current assistance agreements; and

• If you did not make any progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes, describe whether you have documentation and/or reports satisfactorily explaining why.

If the applicant does not have prior experience in reporting outputs and outcomes please indicate this in the proposal, a neutral score in this area is given. Failure to do so will result in receiving a score of 0 for this element.

VIII. Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) Information

• 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 I to assist you in making this determination). For more information about Quality Assurance Project Plans, please consult the following website http://www.epa.gov/quality/qs-docs/g5-final.pdf.

You are not required to develop a QAPP at this point. You are only being asked to determine whether or not you will need a QAPP should your project be selected for funding. If required, then an approved QAPP must be in place prior to the initiation of project activities.

- 15 -http://www.epa.gov/quality/qs-docs/g5-final.pdf

5) Detailed Budget (Template available in Appendices E and F).

Applicants must include a detailed budget breakdown that demonstrates and itemizes how the funds will be specifically used in terms of personnel, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contractor costs, other cost including any indirect costs.

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.

All EJSG recipients will be required to attend a two-day workshop fall 2015. It is anticipated the workshop will be held at EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The objectives for the workshop are to help recipients with strategic planning and grant management. The workshop will afford numerous opportunities for recipients to network with other EJSG community representatives.

Applicants are expected to include estimated travel and related expenses in the detailed budget.

Restrictions on Use of Federal Funds. All costs incurred under this program must be allowable under 40 CFR 30.27 or 40 CFR 31.22, as applicable, and the applicable Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Cost Circulars: 2 CFR Part 225 (State, local, or Indian tribal governments), 2 CFR Part 230 (non-profit organizations), or 2 CFR Part 220 (Educational institutions). Copies of these circulars can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/. In accordance with applicable law, regulation, and policy, any recipient of funding must agree to comply with restrictions on using assistance funds for unauthorized lobbying, fund-raising, or political activities (i.e., lobbying members of Congress or lobbying for other federal grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts). Funds generally cannot be used to pay for travel by federal agency staff. Proposed project activities must also comply with all state and federal regulations applicable to the project area. The applicant must also review the solicitation for any other programmatic funding restrictions applicable to this program. If awarded funding, the recipient must refer to the terms and conditions of its award for other funding restrictions applicable to its award. It is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure compliance with these requirements.

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

6) Resumes of the Project Manager (PM) and Other Key Personnel. Applicants must attach a resume or curricula vitae (CV) for the PM and other key personnel named on the Key Contacts List.

7) Project Performance Measures (Optional logic model template and example are available in Appendices G and H).

The ability to measure project progress is critical to achieving desired goals. Targeting work toward specific project outcomes can help the recipient manage the project to achieve these

- 16 -http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_default results. Measurement can indicate the effectiveness of the project and whether the efforts are having a positive impact on the community.

In order to determine whether your project has achieved its intended outputs and outcomes, you will need to think about what your data source will be (e.g., people, existing records, observation, etc.) and how you will collect the data (e.g., observing behavior changes, administering pre- and post-tests). You will need to do this for each performance measure you develop.

When developing performance measures, please list and describe the following:

1) Resources/Inputs: Identify which resources, the organization and its partners are putting forward to further the project’s goals. Resources may include but are not limited to staff time, in-kind contributions, monetary contributions, etc.

2) Activities: What activities will the organization and its partners conduct under your work plan?

3) Outputs and Outcomes: Describe the outputs and outcomes that will result from the project (potential outputs and outcomes are listed in Section I. D).

When developing performance measures for all projects, it is also important to consider the following:

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

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

You will also need to think carefully about your data collection process in order to get quality information from your project and to achieve your project’s intended results.

One tool that may be useful in developing output and outcome measures is a “logic model.” A logic model is a visual model that shows the relationship between your work and your desired results. It communicates the performance story of your project, focusing attention on the most important connections between your actions and the results. A logic model can serve as a basic road map for the project, explaining where you are and where you hope to end up.

The following websites provide information on developing a logic model, performance measures, and other tools to measure project outcomes:

EPA Region 10 Web Page with measurement information and tools:

http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/ECOCOMM.NSF/webpage/measuring+environmental+results

University of Wisconsin Extension Service online course on enhancing performance using logic models: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/lmcourse/

8) Proof of Non-profit Status. Applicant organizations claiming non-profit status must include documentation that shows the organization is either a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization as designated by the Internal Revenue Service; OR a non-profit organization recognized by the state, territory, commonwealth or tribe in which it is located. For the latter, documentation must be on official state government letterhead.

- 17 -http://www.uwex.edu/ces/lmcourse/

C. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

All completed applications must be postmarked by USPS, date-stamped by courier service or submitted electronically via www.grants.gov by January 9, 2015 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST). For instructions on submitting applications electronically, please see Section IV. I.

Paper applications should be sent to either one of the addresses below:

Courier/Delivered Address U.S. Postal Service Address

Sheritta W. Taylor

U.S. EPA/Office of Environmental Justice 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Room 2202E Washington, DC 20004

Phone: 202-564-1771 E-mail: oejgrants@epa.gov

Sheritta W. Taylor

U.S. EPA/Office of Environmental Justice Mail Code 2201A Washington, DC 20460

Phone: 202-564-1771 E-mail: oejgrants@epa.gov

Please note, applicants who choose to submit via the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) must submit their application package using USPS overnight or express mail only.

D. PARTNERSHIPS, CONTRACTORS AND SUBAWARDS

The EJSG Program supports the development of collaborative partnerships dedicated to identifying and understanding the multiple local environmental and public health issues in communities, educating communities about the issues, and setting priorities to address the issues. EPA encourages establishing and building collaborative partnerships with other stakeholders who share a desire to address the local environmental and public health issues affecting their community. Establishing partnerships with a wide array of different stakeholders is a necessary component of collaborative problem-solving.

EPA awards funds to one eligible applicant as the recipient even if other eligible applicants are named as partners or co-applicants or members of a coalition or consortium. The recipient is accountable to EPA for the proper expenditure of funds. The following questions and answers provide additional information on Federal regulations governing partnerships, contractors and subaward recipients.

Contracts and Subawards:

a. Can funding be used for the applicant to make subawards, acquire contract services, or fund partnerships?

Funding may be used to provide subgrants or subawards of financial assistance, which includes using subawards or subgrants to fund partnerships, provided the recipient complies with applicable requirements for subawards or subgrants including those contained in 40 CFR Parts 30 or 31, as appropriate. Applicants must compete contracts for services and products, including consultant contracts, and conduct cost and price analyses, to the extent required by the

- 18 -procurement provisions of the regulations at 40 CFR Parts 30 or 31, as appropriate. The regulations also contain limitations on consultant compensation.

Applicants are not required to identify subawardees/subgrantees and/or contractors (including consultants) in their proposal/application. However, if they do, the fact that an applicant selected for award has named a specific subawardee/subgrantee, contractor, or consultant in the proposal/application EPA selects for funding does not relieve the applicant of its obligations to comply with subaward/subgrant and/or competitive procurement requirements as appropriate.

Please note that applicants may not award sole source contracts to consulting, engineering or other firms assisting applicants with the proposal solely based on the firm's role in preparing the proposal/application.

Successful applicants cannot use subgrants or subawards to avoid requirements in EPA grant regulations for competitive procurement by using these instruments to acquire commercial services or products from for-profit organizations to carry out its assistance agreement. The nature of the transaction between the recipient and the subawardee or subgrantee must be consistent with the standards for distinguishing between vendor transactions and subrecipient assistance under Subpart B Section .210 of OMB Circular A-133 , and the definitions of subaward at 40 CFR 30.2(ff) or subgrant at 40 CFR 31.3, as applicable. EPA will not be a party to these transactions. Applicants acquiring commercial goods or services must comply with the competitive procurement standards in 40 CFR Part 30 or 40 CFR Part 31.36 and cannot use a subaward/subgrant as the funding mechanism.

b. How will an applicant's…