EJSG 2019 RFP_amended_12.19.2018.pdf

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

TITLE: Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program

ACTION: Request for Proposals (RFP) Amendment

FUNDING NO: EPA-OP-OEJ-19-01

CFDA: 66.604

DATE: December 19, 2018

SUMMARY: This notice is issued to amend the Environmental Justice Small Grants 2019 Request for Proposals (RFP). This amendment highlights the following change:

1) Date switch for Spanish Pre-application Assistance Call. The date of the Spanish Pre-application Assistance Call has been switched from Wednesday, January 16, 2019 to Wednesday, January 23, 2019. The time of the Spanish call is from 2:00 – 3:30 PM (ET).

The call scheduled for January 16th will now be in English and will be from 4:00 – 5:30 PM

(ET).

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

1) On page 21, Section IV.C.

Date Time (Eastern Standard)

Thursday, December 6, 2018 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, December 13, 2018 (EJSCREEN Tutorial for applicants)

3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019 (en Español) 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Thursday January 31, 2019 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen

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

Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ)

TITLE: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM

ACTION: REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER (FON): EPA-OP-OEJ-19-01

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER: 66.604

DATES: ANNOUNCEMENT DATE: November 19, 2018

CLOSING DATE: February 15, 2019

Translations available: To receive a Spanish translation of this announcement, contact Jacob Burney in the Office of Environmental Justice at (202) 564-2907 or via email at burney.jacob@epa.gov. Please note that proposals must be written in English only. Proposals 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).

DEADLINE: Proposal packages must be submitted through Grants.gov and must be submitted by February 15, 2019 at 11:59 PM (Eastern Time). Proposals received after the closing date and time will not be considered for funding.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program provides funding directly to community-based organizations for projects that help residents of underserved communities understand and address local environmental and public health issues. For purposes of this announcement, the term “underserved community” refers to a community with environmental justice concerns and/or vulnerable populations, including minority, low income, rural, tribal, indigenous, and homeless populations that may be disproportionately impacted by environmental harms and risks. In general, the EJSG program awards grants that support community-driven projects designed to engage, educate, and empower communities to better understand local environmental and public health issues and develop strategies for addressing those issues, building consensus in the community, and setting community priorities. Community-driven projects are projects that include activities where community residents and/or representatives are integrally involved in the thinking behind and execution of those activities. Therefore, applying organizations should have a direct connection to the underserved community impacted by environmental harms and risks.

FUNDING/AWARDS: The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is approximately $1,500,000 for projects related to one of the seven statutes listed in Section I.C.

EPA anticipates awarding approximately five grants per EPA region in amounts of up to $30,000 per award. See Section II of this announcement for more detail.

mailto:burney.jacob@epa.gov

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URBAN WATERS PARTNERSHIP / ADDITIONAL FUNDING: In 2018, EPA’s Environmental Justice and Urban Waters programs partnered on the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement program, with Urban Waters funding two of the ten projects awarded for that opportunity. For this announcement, EPA’s Urban Waters program in the Office of Wetlands Oceans and Watersheds anticipates funding approximately 10 projects that address clean water issues. Urban Waters’ funding will promote continued collaboration between these two EPA programs and further benefit communities disproportionately impacted by environmental and public health issues. The Urban Waters Program seeks to reconnect urban communities, particularly those that are overburdened or economically distressed, with their waterways while encouraging community stewardship. Past projects have focused on expanding the ability of communities to engage in activities that improve water quality in a way that also advances community priorities, provides multiple community benefits, actively engages underserved communities, and fosters partnership.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: For the 2019 opportunity, the EJSG program will consider several “other factors” in addition to the scoring criteria. These “other factors” will only apply when making final funding decisions amongst high-ranking proposals. Eligible applicants may qualify for multiple “other factors” or none. The “other factors” that may be considered are as follows:

• Projects addressing Disaster Resiliency and Emergency Preparedness – due to the increased likelihood of extreme weather events now and in the future and that underserved populations tend to be the most vulnerable and least equipped during such events, EPA will give special consideration to projects that address the needs of communities that have been adversely impacted or are likely to be adversely impacted by natural disasters, including, but not limited to, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes.

• Veterans and Homeless Populations – projects that include the needs of US military veterans and/or homeless populations. To receive credit for this other factor, proposals should explain how the needs of veterans and/or homeless populations will be addressed in the performance of the overall project. Proposals should estimate the number and/or percentage of veterans and homeless people from the target population that the project will benefit.

• Newer EJ Grantees – proposals submitted by eligible organizations that have not received an EJ Grant award (from either the EJSG or EJCPS programs) in the last six years (since 2013). This means that EPA may factor in an applicant’s award history with the EJ Grants program when making final selections among high ranking proposals.

• New Applicants to Urban Waters Program – proposals from eligible organizations that have not received an Urban Waters Small Grant or National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program Grant in the last six years (since 2013). This means that EPA may factor in an applicant’s award history with the Urban Waters program when making final selections among high ranking proposals.

Only proposals focusing on activities eligible under the Clean Water Act, Section https://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters

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104(b)(3) can qualify for this other factor. See page 5 of this announcement for more details.

In proposals, applicants should state which (if any) of the “other factors” apply to their EJSG project and provide details on how those other factors apply. Failure to do so may affect EPA’s ability to consider these other factors during selection decisions. EPA may verify this information prior to selection and consider this information during the evaluation process.

PLEASE NOTE: All eligible organizations are encouraged to apply. Under this announcement, projects not addressing any of the “other factors” listed above and in Section V.C.

are still eligible for award. The special considerations only apply as other factors the selection official may consider in determining selections among high ranking proposals. See Section III for information on eligibility.

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 /Appendices

A – Tips on Preparing an EJ Grant Application B – Blank Logic Model Template C – Logic Model Guide – What each Category Means D – Example Completed Logic Model E – Blank EJSG Detailed Budget Template F – Sample EJSG Detailed Budget G – Quality Assurance Project Plan Questionnaire

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

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

- 4 -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 communities dealing with environmental justice concerns through projects designed to engage, educate, and empower these communities to better understand environmental and public health issues and to identify ways to address these issues at the local level.

EJSG PROGRAM GOALS: The immediate goals of the EJSG program are to support underserved communities through some of the initial steps of understanding, addressing, and developing solutions to local environmental and public health issues. Additionally, the EJSG program is structured to be one of the more accessible federal grant programs, especially for community-based organizations who are unfamiliar with the federal grants process. We strive to support community-based organizations that apply to our EJ grant opportunities, regardless of their ultimate success in receiving a grant, by 1) familiarizing applicants with federal grant application requirements, 2) sharing expectations and responsibilities of managing federal grants, 3) providing constructive feedback and recommendations on ways to strengthen unselected proposals, and 4) helping organizations build sustainability into projects so they continue to grow and develop after the project period is over. To facilitate the achievement of these immediate goals, all applicants who apply to the 2019 opportunity will be added to our EJ Grants Applicant Database. The database will help the EPA EJ program identify and work with additional underserved communities outside the context of grant awards.

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

The EJSG Program has funded a wide range of projects and project types over the years that address local environmental and public health concerns through collaborative partnerships. All proposed projects should include activities designed to engage, educate, and empower communities to understand the local environmental and public health issues and to identify ways to address these issues at the local level. Types of projects the EJSG program has funded in the past include, but are not limited to, the following:

Air Quality & Asthma Water Quality & Sampling Stormwater Issues Green Infrastructure Lead contamination Pesticides and other Toxic Substances Healthy Homes Illegal Dumping Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Resiliency Environmental Job Training Youth Development

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To find the latest information about the EJSG program visit the following link:

https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-small-grants-program

Full Project Summaries of past projects dating back to the year 2000 are also available at the link above.

All projects considered for funding under this announcement must include a work plan. All work plans should include strategies for addressing local environmental and 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 and build project sustainability leading to on-going efforts that address the local environmental justice issue(s).

Regional EJ Grantee Training Workshop - All EJSG recipients will be required to attend an EJ Grantee Networking and Training Workshop to be held at their nearest EPA regional office. Each EPA regional office will schedule and develop the agenda for their own workshop. The networking workshop is designed to: 1) connect current EJ grant recipients with past recipients and community partners, 2) assist all community stakeholders with strategic planning for their communities, and 3) provide general project management and federal grant guidance.

C. QUALIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL STATUTES

The EJSG Program is designed to address multi-statute environmental and/or public health issues.

For this reason, each project 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 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.

https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-small-grants-program

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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 or that include extensive clean-up activities beyond the need for a demonstration/experiment/training 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.

Eligible Activities - To be eligible for funding, a project must consist of activities that fall within the terms of the above statutory grant authorities. Projects can address multiple statutes and include multiple eligible activities. Most of the statutes above authorize funding for the following activities:

• research

• public education

• demonstration projects

• training

• monitoring

• development

• investigations

• surveys and studies

• experiments

NOTE: EJ grant activities must relate to gathering or transferring information or advancing awareness. Proposals should emphasize this “learning” concept, rather than trying to “fix” an environmental problem using a well-established method. All the eligible activities listed above promote learning and understanding and are acceptable activities. Examples of unacceptable grant proposals involve performing: large-scale clean-ups, treatments, routine recycling services, and major disposal and/or energy recovery projects.

For projects that will support demonstration activities, the project must involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches; where the results of the project will be shared so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or well-established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not a demonstration. The applicant must clearly explain in the proposal how the technologies, methods, or approaches used are new or experimental and how the project otherwise meets the requirements of a demonstration as described in this RFP. If your project uses technologies, methods or approaches that have been used previously in other geographic areas and/or business sectors, then your proposal must include an explanation as to how your demonstration project is different from such prior projects and is a

- 7 -true demonstration. You must also explain what will be learned from the demonstration project. If your project is truly a demonstration and complies with other eligibility factors, then it will be considered for funding. Remember, your project doesn’t have to include demonstration activities.

But if it does, then those activities must comply with the details listed above.

D. EPA STRATEGIC PLAN LINKAGE & ANTICIPATED OUTPUTS, OUTCOMES

& PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

Pursuant to Section 6a of EPA Order 5700.7, “Environmental Results under EPA Assistance Agreements,” (see https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements). EPA must link proposed assistance agreements to the Agency’s Strategic Plan.

EPA’s Strategic Plan 2018 - 2022 is available at https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan The activities to be funded under this announcement are intended to further EPA’s current priorities for:

• EPA’s Strategic Plan 2018 - 2022 Goal 2 (Cooperative Federalism); Objective 2.2 (Increase Transparency and Public Participation) which states that EPA will:

“Listen to and collaborate with impacted stakeholders and provide effective platforms for public participation and meaningful engagement…EPA will meet community needs through public participation and will build community capacity through grants, technical assistance, partnering, and meaningful engagement.”

Applicants should briefly explain in their proposal how their project will further Goal 2; Objective

2.2. (Increase Transparency and Public Participation).

EPA Order 5700.7 also requires that grant applicants adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements. Applicants must include specific statements describing the environmental results of the proposed project in terms of well-defined outputs and, to the maximum extent practicable, well-defined outcomes that will demonstrate how the project will contribute to the goals and objectives described above.

1. Outputs (Evaluation Criteria, Section V.A) 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 or workers who receive specific training to mitigate an environmental/public health hazards (e.g., number of residents trained on safe shellfish harvesting)

• The number of homes assessed for specific environmental/public health hazards

• A survey tool for collecting data from residents for a community assessment of environmental/public health hazards.

• The number of resident participants in a survey to identify and prioritize environmental/public health needs of a community.

https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan

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• The creation of an environmental and/or public health program to achieve and sustain environmental and/or public health improvements (e.g., a community-wide indoor air monitoring program)

2. Outcomes (Evaluation Criteria, Section V.A.) 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. Additionally, outcomes should be organized by expected time period (short-term, intermediate, and long-term). Short-term outcomes refer to changes in knowledge or attitudes and usually occur during the project period. Intermediate outcomes refer to changes in behaviors and actions due to the knowledge acquired and are usually measured within several months after the end of the project. Long-term outcomes refer to changes in conditions and are measured a year or several years after project completion. Short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes are related and build on one another. EPA encourages recipients to identify outcomes wherever possible because they lead to environmental and/or public health improvement more clearly than outputs. Using the previously listed output (creation of a community-wide indoor air monitoring program), here are examples of possible outcomes:

1. Short-term (change in knowledge) - Increase in number of residents that know about indoor asthma triggers (during project)

2. Intermediate (change in behavior) - Increase in number of residents that install and routinely check their home indoor air monitor (6 - 12 months after project)

3. Long-term (change in conditions) – Reduction in asthma rates among community residents (2+ years after project)

3. Performance Measurement Plan (Evaluation Criteria, Section V.A.) Applicants should describe how they plan to track and monitor their project performance and progress throughout the project period. Outputs and outcomes are critical components of an applicant’s overall plan for measuring their project’s performance. An applicant will be evaluated on the quality of their overall performance measurement plan including the proposed outputs, outcomes, and associated timeframes for achieving those results.

Generally, higher quality logic models and performance measurement plans include specific target metrics where possible for both outputs and outcomes. An applicant’s performance measurement plan will help gather insights, will be the mechanism to track 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 an overall performance measurement plan. See Appendices C and D for a sample logic model template.

The following questions are also useful 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?

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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?

3. Are the projected outputs and outcomes specific and detailed? Did I include specific target measures where possible? Are my target measures reasonable and achievable within the project period and for the funding amount?

II. AWARD INFORMATION (back to Contents by Section)

A. FUNDING AVAILABILITY AND PROJECT PERIOD

The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is approximately $1,500,000 for projects related to one of the seven statutes listed in Section I.C. These awards are for one-year projects. Applicants should plan for projects to start September 1, 2019. The EJ Program is providing $1,200,000 of funding with the UW program contributing an additional $300,000.

B. NUMBER OF ANTICIPATED AWARDS

EPA anticipates awarding 50 grants nationwide, with EPA regions receiving at least 4 grants each.

There are 10 EPA regions. Each award will be for up to $30,000.

All awards are subject to the availability of funds, the quality of the proposals submitted, and other applicable considerations.

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

For a listing of EPA’s ten regions and the states for which they are responsible, please see Section VII. 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.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION (back to Contents by Section)

A. Eligible Entities based on CFDA. In accordance with CFDA 66.604, an eligible applicant must be one of the following:

• 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—including Alaska Native Villages; OR

• tribal organizations

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* Applicant non-profit organizations 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 state, territory, commonwealth, or tribe in which the proposed project is located. This means that an applicant’s registered address of record (i.e.

the address designated on their IRS or State-sanctioned documentation) must be in the same state, territory, commonwealth or tribe as the location of the proposed project.

The following entities are INELIGIBLE to receive an award, but we encourage applicants to partner with these organizations, as appropriate (see Contracts and Subawards solicitation clause referenced in Section IV), 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***

* 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. Subawards made to nonprofit organizations that lobby are not allowed.

B. 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.

https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses#contractssubawards

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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 workplan, 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 submit their proposal through Grants.gov because they did not timely or properly register in SAM.gov and Grants.gov will not be considered an acceptable reason to consider a late submission.

DO NOT WAIT! Register in SAM.gov and Grants.gov as soon as possible. Finalizing these registrations could take a month or more. You do not want a late registration to prevent you from being able to properly submit your proposal through Grants.gov.

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. A project workplan must explain how it is tied to the local environmental and/or public health issue in the underserved community. Any failure to clearly and conclusively identify and cite at least one of the federal statutes in your work plan will result in your project not being considered for award.

4. Applicant/Project Location: Applicants must be located within the same state, territory, commonwealth, or tribe in which the proposed project is located. This means that an applicant’s registered address of record (i.e. the address designated on their IRS or State-sanctioned documentation) must be in the same state, territory, commonwealth or tribe as the location of the proposed project.

5. Ineligible activities: Projects must not be used for the following purposes:

- Routine program implementation (e.g. funding of the same program, without changes or advancements, that has existed and been routinely available for multiple consecutive years),

- Implementation of routine environmental protection restoration measures (e.g.

municipal curbside trash service)

- Duplication of work performed under a prior EPA grant, and

- Completion of work which was to have been completed under a prior EPA grant.

http://www.sam.gov/ http://grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ http://grants.gov/

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If a proposal includes tasks or activities determined to be ineligible, then 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. Multiple Proposals: Applicants may submit only one proposal under this solicitation. If an applicant submits more than one, then they will be contacted by EPA prior to the evaluation process to determine which one to withdraw. However, an applicant organization may be a partner on a proposal from another organization.

7. Please note that proposals must be written in English only. Proposals written in languages other than English will not be considered for award.

C. COST-SHARING OR MATCHING FUNDS

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

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

A. CONTENT AND FORM OF PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

All proposals must be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov. Proposals transmitted via postal mail, fax, and/or email will not be considered. Proposals are due Friday, February 15, 2019 at 11:59 PM (ET).

REQUIRED FORMS & DOCUMENTS: The following forms and documents are required.

Failure to include all documents listed below may result in your proposal being rendered ineligible:

1) SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance (part of the Grants.gov application submission process)

2) Proposal Work plan (subject to page limit described below and see optional template in Section IV.A.2) - use “Project Narrative” form in Grants.gov to submit your workplan

3) Itemized Budget Sheet (Appendices E and F)

4) Project Performance Measures / Logic Model (Appendices B, C, & D)

5) Key Contacts List (EPA Form 5700-54) – use “Key Contacts” form in Grants.gov

6) Resumes of the Project Manager (PM) and other key personnel

7) Proof of Non-Profit Status http://www.grants.gov/

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For documents 3, 4, 6, and 7, applicants can submit using the “Other” attachments forms in Grants.gov.

It is strongly advised that applicants organize their proposals in the order presented above when submitting through Grants.gov. This will facilitate review and scoring of your proposal. However, applicants will not be penalized if documents are ordered differently. The following is a detailed description of all the required forms and documents:

1) SF-424 APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE: The SF-424 is the official form required for all federal grants and cooperative agreements. This form is a required form when submitting a grant application through www.Grants.gov. The form requests the 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.

2) PROPOSALWORK PLAN (Template available in Section IV.A.2): The work plan is the most important part of the proposal 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.

Under this announcement, applicants must submit a project focused on activities related to at least one Qualified Environmental Statute. Types of eligible activities are those described within the Qualified Environmental Statutes section, as discussed in Section I of this announcement. Applicants should identify the chosen Qualified Environmental Statute in the Summary Page. The work plan, as described below, must not exceed eleven (11), single-spaced typewritten pages and be on letter size pages (8 1/2 X 11 inches). Any pages beyond eleven

(11) pages will not be read by the Review Panel. It is recommended that applicants use a standard font (e.g. Times New Roman, Calibri, and Arial) and a 12-point font size with 1-inch margins. Applicants whose projects are citing one or more “Other Factors” for Special Consideration should list the applicable other factor(s) on their Project Summary Page.

Additional details about how those other factors apply should be included in the most appropriate section(s) of your proposal narrative. EPA intends to verify this information.

Supporting materials, such as resumes and partnership letters, can be submitted as attachments and are not included in the 11-page limit.

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

The 11-page work plan must contain the following components (items 1.0-6.0 below) and should be identified by the headings in the order listed below. Also ensure that the workplan addresses all the evaluation criteria in Section V and any necessary threshold eligibility criteria in Section III:

1.0 PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

a. Project Summary Page – Recommended one-page summary document (does count as part of 11-page workplan limit). Summary includes:

http://www.dnb.com/

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• Project Title

• Project Location (including community/neighborhood(s), city, state, and zip code)

• Applicant Information (name, address, main contact information)

• Environmental Statute(s)

• Project Type(s) -- such as training, monitoring, demonstration, public education

(related to statute identified above)

• List of Other Factors to qualify for Special Considerations – see pages 2 & 3

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

• List of Project Partners (if applicable)

• Project Abstract -- Brief description (250 words or less) of the main objective, activities, and outputs/outcomes of the project, including the specific geographic areas of focus.

• Will you need to develop a QAPP for your project? (see Appendix F)

b. Environmental and Public Health information of the Underserved Community - the applicant will be evaluated on the ability to clearly describe the local environmental justice issue(s) the project proposes to address and the community that is impacted.

Please describe the following:

• Describe and characterize the underserved community directly impacted by disproportionate environmental and/or public health harms and risks and describe how the community is impacted by those harms and risks

• What are the local environmental/public health issue(s) that the project seeks to address? Describe other recent efforts in the community, if any, that have sought to address those issues as well

• What are the local environmental/public health results the project seeks to achieve and how will the underserved community benefit from those results?

* If citing the Natural Disaster and/or Veteran & Homeless populations “other factors” for special consideration, include additional details about how your proposal addresses those factors in this section.

The proposal must include relevant information such as demographics, geographic location, and community history. We encourage the use of EPA’s EJSCREEN tool to characterize and describe your target community. Instructions and resources on how to use EJSCREEN are included at the hyperlink above. For any questions you have about EJSCREEN, please contact Audrie Washington at Washington.Audrie@epa.gov or (312) 886-0669.

c. Organization’s Historical Connection to the Underserved Community - The applicant will be evaluated on the description of the strong connection between their organization and the underserved community as that term is defined in this announcement.

Please describe the following:

mailto:Washington.Audrie@epa.gov

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• The history of the organization’s involvement with the underserved community, including the duration of involvement and circumstances that led to your organization’s involvement

• How the organization has worked with the underserved community’s residents and/or organizations to address local environmental and public health issues currently or in the past and what are some of the results of that work

• Community Driven Participation - How the underserved community’s residents and/or organizations were involved in developing the current project plan and are part of the decision-making process

d. Project Linkages and Partnerships

Please describe the following:

• Briefly describe how the project supports EPA Strategic Plan Goal 2, Objective 2.2 (Increasing Transparency and Public Participation).

• Describe how the project is related to the qualified environmental statutes identified in your Project Summary. Please note each project must include activities that are authorized by at least one of the federal environmental statutes listed in Section I.C.

• Describe the partnerships identified in your project (if applicable), including:

- Planned roles of each partner listed in your Project Summary, including which project activities each will be responsible for and what resources each partner brings to the partnership

- How each partner has a vested interest in working with this partnership [other than just getting income from a sub-award or contract]

- How the applicant organization plans to maintain and sustain these relationships on into the future

If there are no partnerships associated with your project, please indicate this in your workplan and describe how you will perform the project without partnerships.

However, partnerships are strongly encouraged!!

2.0 Project Activities / Milestone Schedule / Detailed Budget Narrative

a. Project Activities - Clear description of steps the applicant will take to meet the program objectives. Descriptions of the detailed project activities or components and the anticipated products/results associated with each activity.

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b. Milestone Schedule - Clearly articulated milestone schedule, including timeframes and major milestones to complete significant project activities. It is recommended that you insert a table in your proposal narrative to help organize your milestone schedule.

c. Itemized Budget Sheet / Budget Narrative - Clearly explain how EPA funds will be used.

Applicants must itemize costs into the following budget categories: personnel, fringe benefits, contractual costs, travel, equipment, supplies, other direct costs, indirect costs, and total costs. Describe itemized costs in sufficient detail for EPA to determine the reasonableness and allowability of costs for each work plan component/activity.

Applicants are permitted to attach the itemized budget sheet as an “Other Attachment” to their application so the sheet will not count against the 11-page workplan limit.

3.0 Environmental Results – Outputs, Outcomes, Tracking and Sustainability

a. Environmental Results-Outputs/Outcomes (Logic Model) - Applicants will be evaluated on the quality of the expected project outputs and outcomes identified in the proposal for their project. The expected outputs and outcomes should be effective in achieving the Program Objectives listed in Section I, including developing strategies for addressing local environmental and public health issues, educating and empowering the community about those issues, and developing approaches to building consensus and setting community priorities in the underserved community. Applicants are permitted to attach their completed logic models as an “Other Attachment” to their applications so the sheet will not count against the 11-page workplan limit. While not required, including a logic model as part of your proposal package is strongly encouraged.

Applicants may use the logic model template provided in the appendices or use/create one of their own liking. If you choose not to provide a logic model, you must still detail the outputs and outcomes of your project and address how you will measure performance.

b. Performance Measurement Plan – Applicants should describe how they plan to track and monitor their project performance and progress throughout the project period.

Applicants will be evaluated on the extent and quality to which the proposal demonstrates a sound plan for tracking progress towards achieving the expected outputs, outcomes, and associated timeframes for achieving those results.

c. Sustainability Plan and Community Vision – Based on your project planning with the community, describe the vision for how your proposed project fits within the broader range of activities that are ongoing in the community and will help resolve the local environmental and public health issues in the future. Describe how the community plans to utilize the results and momentum of the proposed project to come closer to achieving the community vision. You should include details about current work and initiatives in the community, and how the community has a vested interest in sustaining the project’s momentum on into the future.

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4.0 Programmatic Capability

To be evaluated under this criterion in Section V, applicants must provide information on their:

a. Organizational Experience related to the proposed project and their infrastructure as it relates to their ability to successfully implement the proposed project.

b. Staff Experience / Qualifications of Project Manager (PM) - Provide information that clearly demonstrates that the proposed PM and other staff associated with the project are qualified to perform the project successfully. This will be determined through the description of the following:

- Why the PM and associated staff are qualified to undertake the project;

- Illustrating the PM’s ties/historical connection to the community and the applicant organization. Please include detailed descriptions of any activities that the PM has worked on with the community and/or applicant organization.

c. Expenditure of Awarded Grant Funds - Applicants will be evaluated based on their approach, procedures, and controls for ensuring that awarded grant funds will be expended in a timely and efficient manner and applicants must describe this in the workplan.

5.0 Past Performance

Submit a list of federally and/or non-federally funded assistance agreements (assistance agreements include grants and cooperative agreements but not 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 your organization does not have any relevant or available past performance experience related to federal or non-federal grants, you should state this explicitly in your proposal (e.g. Our organization has no past grants experience.) Including this statement will ensure you receive a neutral score for these factors (a neutral score is half of the total points available in a subset of possible points). However, if you do not provide any response for these items, you may receive a score of 0 for these factors.

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6.0 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.