EPA-OAR-IO-25-01.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Applications Due: Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Office of Air and Radiation

National Tribal Air Association Operations

Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-OAR-IO-25-01 i

Contents

1. Basic Information

A. Executive Summary B. Key Information C. Key Dates D. Funding Details E. Agency Contact Information F. Other Funding Considerations

2. Eligibility

A. Eligible Applicants

(1) Other Eligibility Requirements

B. Cost Sharing

3. Program Description

A. Purpose, Priorities, and Activities B. Program Goals and Objectives C. Statutory Authority D. Funding Type

4. Application Contents and Format

A. Application Forms B. Project Narrative Description............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

C. Applicants Using Contractors D. Release Copies of Applications E. Other Program Specific Application Information

5. Submission Requirements and Deadlines

A. Submission Dates and Times B. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM.gov) C. Submission Instructions D. Technical Issues with Submission E. Intergovernmental Review

6. Application Review Information

A. Responsiveness Review B. Review Criteria C. Review and Selection Process

Other Evaluation Factors

D. Risk Review

7. Award Notices

8. Post-Award Requirements and Administration

A. Administrative and National Policy Requirements B. Reporting ii

C. Subaward and Executive Compensation Reporting

9. Other Information

A. Additional Provisions for Applicants

1. Basic Information U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Air and Radiation

National Tribal Air Association Operations https://www.epa.gov/grants/air-grants-and-funding

A. Executive Summary This funding opportunity is seeking applications from eligible entities to support the operations of the National Tribal Air Association (NTAA). It is anticipated that the selected applicant will provide expert air quality regulatory and policy analysis and national coordination to assist Tribes in understanding, participating in and responding to the EPA/OAR’s air quality planning, regulatory, policy, and implementation activities. Such support will strengthen NTAA's delivery on its mission of advancing air quality management policies and programs, consistent with the needs, interests, and unique legal status of Federally recognized American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages.

In 2001, based on input from Tribes, the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation (EPA/OAR) launched a cooperative agreement to enhance Tribal air programs and improve communication between the EPA, federally recognized Tribes, and Alaska Native Villages. The goal was to ensure Tribes are effectively considered and consulted in EPA activities that impact them, strengthening both the EPA/OAR’s Tribal Program and the Tribes’ role in managing air quality as co-regulators under the Clean Air Act. The EPA’s cooperative agreement led to the formation of NTAA. The NTAA provides information, analysis, and national coordination among Tribes on air quality planning, policy, and implementation issues to facilitate their input into those issues and to strengthen Tribal air quality management. Membership in NTAA is open to all Federally recognized Tribes. An executive committee takes the lead on coordinating with the EPA, the grant recipient and member Tribes.

For more information, visit NTAA’s website.

C. Key Dates

October 1, 2025 11:59 pm ET Application Submission Deadline

November 2025 Anticipated Notification of Selection

January 2025 Anticipated Award Notification

B. Key Information Opportunity Number:

EPA-OAR-IO-25-01

Federal Assistance Listing:

66.038

Announcement Type:

Initial

Funding Available:

$1,675,000

Number of Awards:

https://www.epa.gov/grants/air-grants-and-funding https://www.ntaatribalair.org/

D. Funding Details It is anticipated that up to 1 award(s) will be made under this announcement. Awards are expected to be $1,675,000 in total, with an annual allocation of $335,000, depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of applications received, agency priorities, and other applicable considerations. Awards funded under this opportunity are expected to have a 5-year project period.

E. Agency Contact Information Further information, if needed, may be obtained from the EPA contact(s) indicated below.

Technical Contact: Pat Childers: childers.pat@epa.gov

F. Other Funding Considerations If you intend to name a contractor (including an individual consultant) or a subrecipient as a project partner or otherwise in your application, the EPA recommends that you carefully review and comply with the directions contained in the “Contracts and Subawards” clause that can be accessed under the Section I.E. clause for “Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into the Solicitation.”

In addition, the EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards under this announcement.

2. Eligibility A. Eligible Applicants Only these types of organizations may apply. Organization types are consistent with definitions at 2 CFR 200.1:

• States (including the District of Columbia).

• Local governments.

• U.S. territories and possessions.

• Federally recognized Indian Tribes.

• Public and private universities and colleges, hospitals, and laboratories.

• Other Public and private non-profit organizations.

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

(1) Other Eligibility Requirements

Applications must meet the following threshold criteria to be considered eligible:

1. Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section 5 of this solicitation or else they will be rejected. Pages in excess of the page limit expressed in Section 4.A. will not be reviewed. Applicants are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in application format, including selecting a legible font type and size for use in the application.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.1

2. Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov as stated in Section 5 of this solicitation (except in the limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically allowed for as explained in Section 5) on or before the application submission deadline published in Section 1.C. of this solicitation. Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section 5 of this solicitation to ensure that their application is submitted in a timely manner. Please note that applicants experiencing technical issues with submitting through Grants.gov should follow the instructions provided in Section 5, which include both the requirement to contact Grants.gov and email a full application to the EPA prior to the deadline.

Applications submitted outside of Grants.gov will be deemed ineligible without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was due to the EPA mishandling or technical problems associated with Grants.gov or SAM.gov. An applicant’s failure to submit their application on time through Grants.gov because they did not timely or properly register in SAM.gov or Grants.gov will not be considered an acceptable reason to consider a submission outside of Grants.gov

3. Applications which request EPA assistance funds in excess of $1,675,000, as specified in Section 1.D. of this Notification of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), are not eligible and will not be reviewed.

Additional provisions that apply to sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation, can be found at EPA Solicitation Clauses. These provisions are important for applying to this solicitation and applicants must review them when preparing applications for this solicitation. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please contact the EPA point of contact listed in Section 1.E. of this solicitation to obtain the provisions.

Please see Section 6 for additional threshold criteria.

B. Cost Sharing Cost sharing is not a requirement to be eligible to apply to this funding opportunity. Please note that only Federal funds should be listed on the SF-424, SF-424A, and Budget Detail.

3. Program Description A. Purpose, Priorities, and Activities This funding opportunity supports the NTAA in assisting Tribes in understanding, participating in and responding to EPA/OAR’s air quality planning, regulatory, policy and implementation activities while respecting and supporting Tribal sovereignty and individual Tribes’ rights to a government-to-government relationship with the federal government.

Applicants must provide a detailed description in their project narrative of how they will perform each of the following tasks and, within each task, address:

1. The role of the applicant;

2. The role of the NTAA member Tribes; and,

3. The role of the NTAA Executive Committee.

Applicants may also propose additional tasks to those listed below:

Task 1: NTAA Executive Committee and Member Support:

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

Provide ongoing administrative, logistical and technical support to the NTAA Executive Committee (EC). The Executive Committee works on behalf of the NTAA members and all Federally recognized Tribes to provide information, analysis, and national coordination on air quality planning, regulatory, policy, and implementation issues. This effort facilitates Tribal input into those issues and strengthens Tribal air quality management. The NTAA Executive Committee convenes as a group at least semi-annually, either virtually or in-person, and represents the organization in regular discussions with the EPA and other partners through additional calls, scheduled as appropriate. The grant recipient will be responsible for providing administrative, logistical, and technical support for the NTAA Executive Committee’s meetings, including but not limited to scheduling, travel arrangements, hotel accommodations, development of meeting materials, and agenda planning in conjunction with EPA and the NTAA EC.

Member Tribes are invited to participate in the semi-annual meetings to comment and receive updates on the NTAA EC and grantee activity and to participate in the annual NTAA meeting. NTAA members are also included with other Federally recognized Tribes in selecting their regional NTAA EC representative. The grantee will be responsible for assisting members with logistical information on how to participate in these activities, as well as providing information on how they can potentially vote for and become an NTAA EC member.

Task 2: Analysis

a. Provide information and expert analysis of the EPA’s air program-related planning, rulemakings, policies, and implementation activities relevant to Tribes on a regular basis.

Such information and analysis should enable clear understanding of such EPA activities and their potential impacts on Tribal governments.

b. Facilitate and encourage Tribal responses to proposed air-related planning, rulemakings, policies and implementation activities This work includes, but is not limited to, compiling Tribal comments on proposed actions and submitting them to the EPA on behalf of Tribes. The selected applicant and NTAA members may serve as a liaison to EPA/OAR senior leadership in presenting Tribal comments, interests and positions, as appropriate, or by supporting the direct participation of Tribal representatives in meetings with the

EPA.

Task 3: Communication and Coordination: Applicants must detail how they will support NTAA operations through communication and coordination activities which should include, but are not limited to:

a. Conducting outreach and disseminating information on EPA air program-related planning, regulatory, policy and implementation activities directly to Tribes nationwide on a regular basis, including analysis of Tribal specific issues and impacts, and opportunities to comment on proposed actions. Applications must detail the manner of outreach (e.g., workshops, newsletter, website, regularly scheduled calls, direct mailings, field exercises, etc.).

b. Encouraging and facilitating communication between the NTAA Executive Committee, member Tribes and other Tribes, and the EPA/OAR.

c. Maintaining an updated website designed to foster communication, encourage participation and provide current and updated information on Tribal, NTAA and the EPA/OAR air quality management activities.

d. Preparing and distributing regular analysis of current air quality planning, regulatory, policy and implementation developments to Tribes.

e. Facilitating and supporting Tribal interaction with the national air quality community including Tribes, Tribal consortia and operations committees, states and local governments, regional and national organizations, and others as appropriate, on issues related to the scope of this request, including the federal budget process.

f. Providing information on Tribal needs, interests, concerns and reactions to activities related to air quality planning, regulatory, policy and implementation activities directly to the EPA/OAR and encouraging and supporting the provision of similar types of information directly from Tribes to the EPA/OAR.

Task 4: Annual Conference: Plan, develop, and implement an annual conference bringing together Tribes, the EPA/OAR and other groups as appropriate to further Tribal air quality knowledge and foster interactions and relationships among Tribes that advance air quality management. Applicants must submit suggestions or plans on how to best conduct this activity.

In recent years, this activity has been conducted successfully as a joint conference with the recipients of the American Indian Air Quality Training Program grant at the annual National Tribal Forum on Air Quality (NTFAQ). The EPA/OAR supports continued use of that format as one possible approach if both grant recipients are willing to do so. After the annual conference, the grantee will be expected to follow up with an annual summary of the conference which should include feedback from conference participants, number of invitees, number of attendees, length of conferences (in days), location, and details of the conference activities, lessons learned, and improvement plans for the next annual conference.

Applicants are invited to suggest additional elements to this scope of work that could enhance the objectives of the NTAA, including elements that would provide additional benefits for NTAA members, and increase membership.

Additionally, applicants are required to describe how funding will achieve the EPA’s desired outputs and outcomes in their responses to the criteria in Section 6. Outputs and outcomes specific to each project/task will be identified as deliverables in the negotiated workplan if the application is selected for award. Recipients will be expected to report progress toward the attainment of expected project outputs and outcomes during the project performance period. Outputs and outcomes are defined as follows:

Outputs are environmental activities, efforts, and/or associated work products related to an environmental goal or objective that will be produced or provided over time or by a specified date.

Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during the project period. Examples of outputs:

• Plan, implement, and document X NTAA Executive Committee meetings annually.

• Develop approximately X meeting notes for all scheduled calls and meetings to be posted to the

NTAA website.

• Plan, implement, and document 1 annual conference a year.

• Create X reports per year regarding the success of the national tribal forum on air quality or other similar forums organized through this grant.

• Provide expert analysis of at least X of the EPA/OAR’s planning, regulatory, policy and implementation actions or activities to Tribal governments annually.

• Create X monthly newsletters and X monthly policy calls.

The applicant must detail its methodology to measure outputs, which should include, but are not limited to, the number of formal comment letters received by the EPA/OAR involving Tribal governments; and the number of outreach materials including air planning, regulatory, policy and implementation actions analyzed and provided to Tribal governments.

Outcomes are the result, effect, or consequence that will occur from carrying out the activities under the grant. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related, or programmatic; must be qualitative or quantitative; and may not necessarily be achievable during the project period. The EPA anticipates the outcomes from the projects awarded under this announcement may be an increase in the capacity to produce at least three, and preferably all, of the following environmental outcomes:

• Increased communication about EPA air program-related activities among Indian Tribes.

• Increased awareness and knowledge of Tribes about air quality issues.

• Increased capacity of Tribes to comment on EPA air program-related matters.

• Increased number of Tribes commenting on the EPA air program-related rulemakings, policies and implementation activities.

• Increased number of Tribes engaged in air quality management.

B. Program Goals and Objectives The activities to be funded under this funding announcement support Pillars 1 and 3 of Administrator Zeldin's Five Pillars.

C. Statutory Authority The statutory authority for this action is the Clean Air Act, §103(b)(3), (CAA), Public Law 95-95, 42 USC 7403 which authorizes the award of grants to conduct, and promote the coordination and acceleration of, research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, surveys, and studies related to the causes, effects, (including health and welfare effects), extent, prevention, and control of air pollution. Tribal governments have both CAA authority over lands within their jurisdiction and discretion to address air pollution under the CAA. Supporting their involvement is directly related to the CAA authority described in this section.

D. Funding Type It is anticipated that cooperative agreements will be funded under this funding opportunity.

Cooperative agreements provide for substantial involvement between the EPA Project Officer and the selected applicant(s) in the performance of the work supported. Although the EPA will negotiate precise terms and conditions relating to substantial involvement as part of the award process, the anticipated substantial federal involvement for these projects may include:

• Close monitoring of the successful applicant’s performance to verify the results proposed by the applicant.

• Collaboration during performance of the scope of work.

• In accordance with 2 CFR 200.317 and 2 CFR 200.318, review of proposed procurement;

• approving qualifications of key personnel; and

• review and comment on reports prepared under the cooperative agreement (the final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient).

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-administrator-lee-zeldin-announces-epas-powering-great-american-comeback https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-administrator-lee-zeldin-announces-epas-powering-great-american-comeback https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.317 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.318

The EPA does not have the authority to select employees or contractors employed by the recipient. The final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient.

4. Application Contents and Format A. Application Forms The following forms and documents are required under this announcement:

Mandatory Documents:

1. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)

2. Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424A)

3. EPA Key Contacts Form 5700-54

4. EPA Form 4700-4 Preaward Compliance Review Report

5. Project Narrative Attachment Form: use this to submit your Project Narrative

Optional Documents (not included in the 20-page limit. Use Optional Attachment Form to submit):

6. Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement.

7. Biographical Sketch. Provide resumes or curriculum vitae for any key personnel.

8. Support Letters. These should indicate how the supporting organization will assist in the project.

9. Approval Letter. If applicable, approval letter to use alternate means to submit initial application.

B. Project Narrative Description The project narrative must substantially comply with the instructions, format, and content described below. It must also address the evaluation criteria in Section 6.B. of the NOFO. You may receive a score of 0 for any evaluation factor that your application does not address.

The project narrative, including the cover page, workplan, and budget table and detail, must not exceed a maximum of 20 single-spaced typewritten pages. Pages in excess of the 20-page limit will not be reviewed.

Supporting materials, that include the negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, project team biographies and resumes, support letters, and approval letter (if applicable) can be submitted as attachments and are not included in the 20-page limit. Supporting materials should be submitted using the Optional Attachments form.

Note: Any other submitted attachments that address any of the evaluation criteria in Section 6.B. will be considered part of the project narrative and will not be reviewed if in excess of the 20-page limit.

Applicants are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in application format, including selecting a legible font type and size for use in the application. Applicants should ensure that their project narratives are written clearly using understandable terms. Doing so will help ensure that the evaluation team members understand the purpose, outputs, and outcomes of the proposed project.

Applicants are not required, but are highly encouraged, to use the project narrative, including cover page, format below:

I. Cover Page:

The cover page should not exceed one page. The cover page should include the following information:

• Project Title: One descriptive sentence only

• Project Location: List the primary location(s) where the benefits of the project will be realized.

• Applicant Information o Applicant organization o Address o Primary contact name, phone number, and e-mail address o Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number

• Budget Summary: Include the total EPA funding amount requested. As noted in Section 1 of the NOFO, while each application can request up to the full funding amount of $1,675,000 the total amount of requested funding needs to be commensurate with the applicant’s proposed activities.

• Project Period: Provide beginning and ending dates.

• Short Project Description: Briefly describe your project in one to three sentences only, especially noting the expected outputs and outcomes.

II. Workplan:

Applicants must ensure that the workplan addresses the evaluation criteria in Section 6.B. of the NOFO.

Applicants should use the section and subsection numbers and headings below which correspond with the evaluation criteria in Section 6.B. of the NOFO. The workplan should be written clearly using understandable terms.

Section 1- Project Summary and Approach (40 total possible points from Section 6.B. of the NOFO) This section should contain a detailed project description of the following information:

a. Overall Project (20 possible points) Provide a detailed project summary and description of the proposed activities to be undertaken, consistent with Section 3.B. of the NOFO. Include details of every activity for which the applicant is seeking funding. This section should include details about how the activities will meet the goal of the program.

Applications should only include information in Section 1.a. of their workplan that will not be covered by another section of their workplan.

b. Project Significance (10 possible points) Describe the extent of the environmental problem the proposed project will address. Provide details of how the proposed project will address these problems.

c. Anticipated Public Benefits (10 possible points) Qualitatively describe the anticipated public benefits from the proposed project. Note that the expected outputs and outcomes will be included in Section 2 – Environmental Results.

Section 2 - Environmental Results—Outcomes, Outputs and Performance Measures (25 total possible points from Section 6.B. of the NOFO)

a. Expected Project Outputs and Outcomes (10 possible points)

Identify the expected quantitative and qualitative outcomes and outputs of the project as defined in Section 3.B. of the NOFO. Specific outputs and outcomes should be provided and may include short- and longer-term activities. In addition to a narrative discussion of the outputs and outcomes, the applicant is encouraged to include a table such as the following:

Example of Outputs and Outcomes Table

Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes Outputs Outcomes

b. Performance Measures and Plan (8 possible points) Applicants should describe the proposed performance measures, which will be the mechanism to track, measure, and report progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes.

Applicants should describe their plan for tracking and measuring progress toward achieving the expected project outputs and outcomes and how the results of the project will be evaluated, as described in Section 3.B.

c. Timeline and Milestones (7 possible points) Applicants should include a detailed timeline for the project including milestones for specific tasks, such as bidding, procurement, installation, and reports, along with estimated dates.

Applicants should also include scheduled time for quarterly and final technical report preparation in their project timeline.

Section 3 - Programmatic Capability and Past Performance (20 total possible points from Section 6.B.

of the NOFO)

a. Past Performance (10 possible points) Submit a list of up to three federally-funded assistance agreements that the applicant is performing or has performed within the last three years. Assistance agreements include federal grants and cooperative agreements but not federal contracts. These agreements should be awards directly to the applicant. For each of the agreements, include:

• Project title

• Assistance agreement number

• Federal funding agency and assistance listing number

• Brief description of the agreement – no more than two sentences

Include a discussion of whether, and if so how, the applicant was able to successfully complete and manage the listed agreements.

b. Reporting Requirements (5 possible points)

For each of the assistance agreements listed, the applicant should describe their history of meeting the reporting requirements under the agreement(s). This should include: whether the applicant submitted acceptable final technical reports under those agreements; the extent to which the applicant adequately and timely reported on its progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes under those agreements and if progress was not being made, whether the applicant adequately reported why not.

Note: In evaluating applicants under the past performance factors in Section 6.B. of the NOFO, the EPA will consider the information provided by the applicant and may also consider relevant information from other sources, including information from EPA files and from current/prior grantors (e.g., to verify and/or supplement the information provided by the applicant). If you do not have any relevant or available past performance or past reporting information, please indicate this in the application and you will receive a neutral score for these factors, which is half of the total points available for these sub-criteria in Section 6.B. of the NOFO. If the applicant does not provide any response for these items, a score of 0 for these factors will be received.

c. Staff Expertise (5 possible points) Include information on the applicant’s organization, including a description of the staff’s knowledge, expertise, qualifications, and resources and/or the ability to obtain them, to successfully achieve the proposed project’s goals. Biographical sketches, including resumes or curriculum vitae for key staff, managers and any other key personnel can be included as an optional project team biography attachment, as listed in Section 4.A. of the NOFO; the Optional Attachment does not count towards the 20-page limit of the project narrative.

Section 4 - Budget (15 total possible points from Section 6.B. of the NOFO)

This section of the project narrative is a detailed description of the budget found in the SF-424A and must include a discussion of the applicant’s approach to ensuring proper management of grant/cooperative agreement funds, a detailed budget narrative, as well as the itemized budget table below. An applicant’s budget table and budget narrative must account for both federal funds and any non-federal voluntary cost share, if applicable (cost share is not required under this NOFO). Selected applicant(s) will need to submit a copy of their current indirect cost rate that has been negotiated with a federal cognizant agency prior to award. Additional guidance for developing the applicant’s budget is available in RAIN-2019-G02, “Interim General Budget Development Guidance for Applicants and Recipients of EPA Financial Assistance.”

a. Reasonableness of Costs (5 possible points) The EPA will evaluate the reasonableness of the applicant’s budget based on the applicant’s narrative description of the budget and detailed breakout of requested funding for each work component or task. Provide a detailed description of every itemized cost, including how every cost relates to the project narrative and specific emission reduction activities. Instructions for what to include in the Budget Detail are described below.

b. Budget Detail (5 possible points) The applicant should provide a detailed breakout by funding type included in the proper budget category for each activity requesting funds.

Applicants should provide a detailed breakout by funding type included in the proper budget category for each activity requesting funds. Applicants should use the instructions, budget object https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2019-g02 https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2019-g02 class descriptions, and example table below to complete the detailed budget section of the project narrative. The budget detail and the budget table should be included in the project narrative and count towards the maximum 20-page limit. Additional budget documents, excluding the SF-424 and SF-424A forms, or project narratives pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed, as listed in Section 4.A. of the NOFO. Applicants should include applicable rows of costs for each budget category in their budget table to accurately reflect the proposed project budget. Applicants must itemize costs related to personnel, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, installation or labor supplies, contractual costs, other direct costs (i.e., subawards, participant support costs), indirect costs, and total costs. If providing a voluntary cost share, the budget detail must clearly specify the amount of federal funding and the cost share amount for each category.

• Personnel - List all staff positions by title. Give annual salary, percentage of time assigned to the project, and total cost for the budget period. This category includes only direct costs for the salaries of those individuals who will perform work directly for the project (i.e., paid employees of the applicant organization as reflected in payroll tax records). If the applicant organization is including staff time (or other in-kind services) as a cost-share, this should be included as Personnel costs. Personnel costs do not include: (1) costs for services of contractors (including individual consultants), which are included in the “Contractual” category; (2) costs for employees of subrecipients under subawards or non-employee program participants (e.g., interns or volunteers), which are included in the “Other” category; or (3) effort that is not directly in support of the proposed project, which may be covered by the organization’s negotiated indirect cost rate. The budget detail must identify the personnel category type by Full Time Equivalent (FTE), including percentage of FTE for part-time employees, number of personnel proposed for each category, and the estimated funding amounts.

• Fringe Benefits - Identify the percentage used, the basis for its computation, and the types of benefits included. Fringe benefits are allowances and services provided by employers to their employees as compensation in addition to regular salaries and wages. Fringe benefits may include, but are not limited to the cost of leave, employee insurance, pensions and unemployment benefit plans. If the applicant’s fringe rate does not include the cost of leave, and the applicant intends to charge leave to the agreement, it must provide supplemental information describing its proposed method(s) for determining and equitably distributing these costs.

• Travel - Specify the mileage, per diem, estimated number of trips in-state and out-of-state, number of travelers, and other costs for each type of travel. Travel may be integral to the purpose of the proposed project (e.g., inspections); related to proposed project activities (e.g., attendance at meetings); or to a technical training or workshop that supports effective implementation of the project activities. Only include travel costs for employees in the travel category. Travel costs do not include: (1) costs for travel of contractors (including consultants), which are included in the “Contractual” category; (2) travel costs for employees of subrecipients under subawards and non-employee program participants (e.g., trainees), which are included in the “Other” category. Further, travel does not include bus rentals for group trips, which would be covered under the contractual category. Finally, if the applicant intends to use any funds for travel outside the United States, it must be specifically identified. All proposed foreign travel must be approved by the EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs prior to being taken.

• Equipment - Identify each item to be purchased which has an estimated acquisition cost of $10,000 or more per unit and a useful life of more than one year. Equipment also includes accessories necessary to make the equipment operational. Equipment does not include: (1) equipment planned to be leased/rented, including lease/purchase agreement; or (2) equipment service or maintenance contracts that are not included in the purchase price for the equipment. These types of proposed costs should be included in the “Other” category.

Items with a unit cost of less than $10,000 should be categorized as supplies, pursuant to 2 CFR 200.1, “Equipment.” The budget detail must include an itemized listing of all equipment proposed under the project. If installation costs are included in the equipment costs, labor expenses shall be itemized with the detailed number of hours charged and the hourly wage.

If the applicant has written procurement procedures that define a threshold for equipment costs that is lower than $10,000, then that threshold takes precedence.

• Supplies - “Supplies” means all tangible personal property other than “equipment.” The budget detail should identify categories of supplies to be procured (e.g., laboratory supplies or office supplies). Non-tangible goods and services associated with supplies, such as printing service, photocopy services, and rental costs should be included in the “Other” category.

• Contractual - Identify each proposed contract and specify its purpose and estimated cost.

Contractual services (including consultant services) are those services to be carried out by an individual or organization, other than the applicant, in the form of a procurement relationship. The EPA’s Subaward Policy for EPA Assistance Agreement Recipients has detailed guidance available for differentiating between contractors and subrecipients.

Leased or rented goods (equipment or supplies) should be included in the “Other” category.

The EPA does not require applicants to identify specific contractors. The applicant should list the proposed contract activities along with a brief description of the anticipated scope of work or services to be provided, proposed duration, and proposed procurement method (competitive or non-competitive), if known. Any proposed non-competed/sole-source contracts in excess of $3,500 must include a justification. Note that it is unlikely that the EPA will accept proposed sole source contracts for goods and services (e.g., consulting) that are widely available in the commercial market. Refer to the EPA’s Best Practice Guide for Procuring Services, Supplies, and Equipment Under EPA Assistance Agreements for the EPA’s policies on competitive procurements and encouraging the use of small and disadvantaged business enterprises.

• Other - List each item in sufficient detail for the EPA to determine the reasonableness and allowability of its cost. This category should include only those types of direct costs that do not fit in any of the other budget categories. Examples of costs that may be in this category are: insurance; rental/lease of equipment or supplies; equipment service or maintenance contracts; printing or photocopying; participant support costs such as non-employee training stipends and travel; and subaward costs. Applicants should describe the items included in the “Other” category and include the estimated amount of participant support costs in a separate line item. Additional information about participant support costs is contained in RAIN-2018-G05, “EPA Guidance on Participant Support Costs.”

o Subawards (e.g., subgrants) and participant support costs are a distinct type of cost https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-A/subject-group-ECFR2a6a0087862fd2c/section-200.1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-A/subject-group-ECFR2a6a0087862fd2c/section-200.1 https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://www.epa.gov/grants/best-practice-guide-procuring-services-supplies-and-equipment-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/grants/best-practice-guide-procuring-services-supplies-and-equipment-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2018-g05 under this category. The term “subaward” means an award of financial assistance (money or property) by any legal agreement made by the recipient to an eligible subrecipient even if the agreement is referred to as a contract. “Other” does not include procurement purchases, technical assistance in the form of services instead of money, or other assistance in the form of revenue sharing, loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, insurance, or direct appropriations. Subcontracts are not subawards and belong in the contractual category. Applicants must provide the aggregate amount they propose to issue as subaward work as a separate line item in the “Other” category, and a description of the types of activities to be supported. Refer to the EPA’s Subaward Policy for EPA Assistance Agreement Recipients for additional guidance.

• Indirect Charges - If indirect charges are budgeted, indicate the approved rate and base.

Indirect costs are those incurred by the grantee for a common or joint purpose that benefit more than one cost objective or project and are not readily assignable to specific cost objectives or projects as a direct cost. Examples of Indirect Cost Rate calculations are shown below:

o Personnel (Indirect Rate x Personnel = Indirect Costs) o Personnel and Fringe (Indirect Rate x Personnel & Fringe = Indirect Costs) o Total Direct Costs (Indirect Rate x Total direct costs = Indirect Costs) o Direct Costs, less distorting or other factors such as contracts and equipment

(Indirect Rate x (total direct cost – distorting factors) = Indirect Costs) Additional indirect cost guidance is available in RAIN-2018-G02-R, “Indirect Cost Guidance for Recipients of EPA Assistance Agreements.”

Example Budget Table (Required, part of the 20-page limit)

Line Item & Itemized Cost

EPA Annual Funding1 (include each years’ funding if costs will vary per year)

(1) Project Director $77,000

(2) Program Coordinator $57,000

TOTAL PERSONNEL $134,000

20% of Salary and Wages x Total Personnel

- Retirement, Health Benefits, FICA, SUI 20% (134,000)

TOTAL FRINGE BENEFITS $26,800

Mileage for PM: 25 miles/wk @ $.17/mi x 208 wks $884 Mileage for Staff: 50 mi/wk @ $.17/mi x 208 wks $1,768 Staff travel to meeting/events $7,400

TOTAL TRAVEL $10,052

N/A $0

1 EPA Funding amount must be included on the SF-424 in Section 18.a and SF-424A in: cell 5(e) under Section A –

Budget Summary; and Column (1) under Section B – Budget Categories.

https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2018-g02 https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2018-g02

Line Item & Itemized Cost

EPA Annual Funding1 (include each years’ funding if costs will vary per year)

TOTAL EQUIPMENT $0

Outreach Materials and Supplies for Training $7,000

TOTAL SUPPLIES $7,000

Support Services Contract $50,000

TOTAL CONTRACTUAL $50,000

Travel support for Tribal participants (participant support costs) $87,000

TOTAL OTHER

$87,000

Federal Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate = 15% (Federal Indirect Cost Rate x Personnel = Indirect Costs)

$20,100

TOTAL INDIRECT $20,100

TOTAL FUNDING $334,952

TOTAL PROJECT COST2 (total funding x 5 years) $1,674,760

Note on Management Fees: When formulating budgets for applications, applicants must not include management fees or similar charges in excess of the direct costs and indirect costs at the rate approved by the applicant’s cognizant federal audit agency, or at the rate provided for by the terms of the agreement negotiated with the EPA. The term "management fees or similar charges" refers to expenses added to the direct costs in order to accumulate and reserve funds for ongoing business expenses, unforeseen liabilities, or for other similar costs that are not allowable under EPA assistance agreements. Management fees or similar charges cannot be used to improve or expand the project funded under this agreement, except to the extent authorized as a direct cost of carrying out the work plan.

c. Timely Expenditure of Grant Funds (5 possible points) Applicants should describe their approach, procedures, and controls for ensuring that awarded grant funds will be expended in a timely and efficient manner.

Section 5 - Attachments (As listed in Section 4.A. of the NOFO; this information does not count towards the project narrative 20-page limit):

Project Team Biographies: Optional. Provide resumes or curriculum vitae for key staff, managers, and any other key personnel. If submitted, this should be referenced under Section 3.C. of the workplan.

Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement: Optional. The applicant will be required to submit this agreement if their application is selected for funding.

2 Total Project Cost must be included on the SF-424 in Section 18.g and SF-424A in: cell 5(g) under Section A –

Budget Summary; and column (5), Row k under Section B – Budget Categories.

Partnership Letters: If applicable, letters of support that demonstrate strong, long-term involvement throughout the project from a variety of project partners are encouraged. Letters should specifically indicate how project partners and supporting organizations will participate in or directly assist in the design and performance of the project, or how obtaining support from project partners will allow the applicant to more effectively perform the project. Letters should be addressed to the applicant organization and included as attachments to the application. Please do not ask partners to submit letters directly to the EPA.

C. Applicants Using Contractors Applicants must compete contracts for services and products, including consultant contracts, and conduct cost and price analyses, to the extent required by the procurement provisions of the regulations at 2 CFR Part 200.

Do not name a procurement contractor (including a consultant) as a “partner” or otherwise in your application unless the contractor has been selected in compliance with competitive procurement requirements. If an applicant selected for award has named a specific subrecipient, contractor, or consultant in the application, it does not relieve the applicant of its obligations to comply with subaward and/or competitive procurement requirements.

The EPA will not consider the qualifications, experience, and expertise of named subrecipients and/or named contractor(s) during the application evaluation process unless the applicant provides documentation that it has complied with these requirements.

For additional guidance, applicants should review EPA’s Best Practice Guide for Procuring Services, Supplies, and Equipment Under EPA Assistance Agreements, EPA’s Subaward Policy, and EPA’s Subaward Policy Frequent Questions. The EPA expects recipients of funding to comply with competitive procurement contracting requirements in 2 CFR Parts 200 and 1500, as well as the requirements in 2 CFR Part 200.321 and 40 CFR Part 33 Subpart C.

D. Release Copies of Applications Copies of applications submitted under this NOFO may be made publicly available on https://www.epa.gov/grants/air-grants-and-funding/ for approximately 10 years after selections are made.

Applicants should:

• clearly indicate which portion(s) of the application are confidential, privileged, or sensitive information, or

• state ‘n/a’ or ‘not applicable’ if the application does not have confidential, privileged, or sensitive information;

• not include trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is confidential or privileged, or sensitive information that would invade another individual’s personal privacy (e.g., an individual’s salary, personal email addresses, etc.);

• be aware that if such information is included, it will be treated in accordance with 40 CFR § 2.203.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200/subject-group-ECFR45ddd4419ad436d https://www.epa.gov/grants/best-practice-guide-procuring-services-supplies-and-equipment-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/grants/best-practice-guide-procuring-services-supplies-and-equipment-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-04/epa_subaward_policy_frequent_questions.pdf https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-04/epa_subaward_policy_frequent_questions.pdf https://www.epa.gov/grants/air-grants-and-funding/

E. Other Program Specific Application Information Ineligible Costs or Activities and Other Considerations

Any of the following may lead to a portion or all of the application not being reviewed:

1. Ineligible Costs or Activities. If an application is submitted that has ineligible items, tasks, or activities, that portion of the application will not be reviewed and will be ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent to which it affects the application, render the entire application ineligible for funding. Activities must meet the following requirements from Section 3.B. to be eligible for funding:

a. Be consistent with the activities described in Section 3, as well as the EPA’s Strategic Plan, and the Statutory authority.

b. Meet the requirements of 2 CFR 200.403 Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs.

2. Other Considerations: Where a page limit is expressed in Section 4.A. with respect to the project narrative, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed. The page limit of the project narrative is 20 pages.

Partial Funding

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

5. Submission Requirements and Deadlines

A. Submission Dates and Times

October 1, 2025 11:59 pm ET Application Submission Deadline

Grants.gov creates a date and time record when it receives the application. If you submit the same application more than once, we will accept the last on-time submission.

B. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM.gov)

SAM.gov You must have an active account with SAM.gov. SAM.gov will provide a UEI for your organization, which is required to apply for grants using Grants.gov. To register, go to SAM.gov Entity Registration and click Get Started. From the same page, you can also click on the Entity Registration Checklist for the information you will need to register. Make sure you are current with SAM.gov and UEI requirements before applying for the award.

SAM.gov registration can take several weeks. Begin that process today.

Grants.gov You must also have an active account with Grants.gov. You can see step-by-step instructions at the Grants.gov Quick Start Guide for Applicants.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRea20080eff2ea53/section-200.403 https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration…