EPA-OP-OEJ-22-01 - EJSG Tribal ARP RFA_Final_3.21.2022.pdf

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

Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ)

TITLE: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM

ACTION: REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA)

TYPE: INITIAL ANNOUCEMENT

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NO.: EPA-OP-OEJ-22-01

ASSISTANCE NO.: 66.604

DATES: ANNOUNCEMENT DATE: March 21, 2022

CLOSING DATE: May 20, 2022

DEADLINE: Application packages must be submitted by May 20, 2022, at 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) through Grants.gov. Applications received after the closing date and time will not be considered for funding.

FUNDING ANNOUCEMENT CONTENTS BY SECTION

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

A – Information on Preparing an EJ Grant Application B – Optional EJSG Itemized Budget Sheet C – Optional Quality Assurance Project Plan Checklist

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. WORK TO BE FUNDED UNDER THIS RFA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working to improve the environment and public health conditions of tribal governments, low-income communities, and communities of color through the advancement of racial equity and environmental justice. This funding announcement supports the priorities detailed in President Biden’s Executive Order 13985 titled Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government and Executive Order 14008 titled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad

$1.6 million of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds are now available to fund EJ Small Grants to federally recognized tribal governments to establish or modify public participation programs where fair treatment and meaningful participation priorities have been impacted by the COVID- 19 pandemic. To be eligible for ARP funding, public participation programs must specifically address activities authorized by section 103(b) of the Clean Air Act (CAA; 42 U.S.C. 7403(b)) and/or section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA; 42 U.S.C. 300j–1). For this single funding announcement, EPA is limiting eligible applicants to federally recognized tribal governments only. Applicants may request up to $100,000. Approximately 16 to 20 EJ Small Grants will be awarded to federally recognized tribal governments nationwide.

Consistent with principles defined under the EPA Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations and the EPA Policy on Environmental Justice for Working with Federally Recognized Tribes and Indigenous Peoples, EPA works with tribes to make decisions and carry out program responsibilities affecting tribal communities and the health and welfare of the populace, consistent with Agency standards and regulations.

EPA relies on tribal government partners for help identifying local environmental values as a cornerstone of EPA administered environmental protection programs. Tribal governments also require capacity to engage tribal members and other people impacted by the Tribe’s environmental management program. This funding announcement includes costs associated with integrating environmental justice principles into tribal environmental protection program operations, including procedures to assure fair treatment and meaningful involvement of tribal members and others living in areas affected by the tribal program. EPA assists federally recognized tribes in building capacity to establish public participation, community involvement, education, and communication systems to engage with tribal members and others living in areas affected by the tribal program and to conduct their own environmental justice analysis.

This Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) opportunity provides funding directly to eligible federally recognized tribal governments for projects that help residents of tribal communities understand, address and participate in local environmental and public health issues.

In general, the EJSG program awards grants that support community-driven projects designed to engage, educate, and empower communities to better understand and address local environmental and public health issues. 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.

B. DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines “environmental justice” as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no one group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal environmental programs and policies.

Meaningful involvement means that: (1) potentially affected community residents have an appropriate opportunity to participate in decisions about a proposed activity that will affect their environment and/or health; (2) the public’s contribution can influence the regulatory agency’s decision; (3) the concerns of all participants involved will be considered in the decision-making process; and (4) the decision-makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected.

C. BACKGROUND

EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) established the Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) 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. To address priorities of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), this single funding opportunity has been limited to federally recognized tribal governments to establish or modify public participation programs where fair treatment and meaningful participation priorities have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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. Long-term, the EJSG program seeks 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. 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 to strengthen their participation in the federal grant application process and build sustainable projects that continue after the award project period.

Tribal Governments and Public Participation: EPA and tribal governments each have a major role in protecting public health and the environment. At the federal level, the EPA enforces federal laws that protect the environment and establishes rules and regulations to enforce those laws. The 1984 EPA Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations1 recognizes tribal governments as the primary government for making decisions and carrying out program responsibilities affecting Indian reservations, their environments, and the health and welfare of the reservation populace. Furthermore, the EPA Policy on Environmental Justice for Working with Federally Recognized Tribes and Indigenous Peoples2 promotes environmental justice principles in tribal environmental protection programs as follows:

The EPA recognizes the right of the tribal governments to self-determination and acknowledges the federal government’s trust responsibility to federally recognized tribes, based on the U.S. Constitution, treaties, statutes, executive orders, and court decisions.

The EPA provides advice and recommendations to federally recognized tribes supporting the integration of environmental justice principles and programs into tribal government programs, policies, and activities, including procedures designed to ensure fair treatment

1 https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-04/documents/indian-policy-84.pdf 2https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/epa-policy-environmental-justice-working-federally-recognized-tribes-and and meaningful involvement of both tribal members and others living in areas affected by the tribal program.

The EPA assists federally recognized tribes in building capacity to establish public participation, community involvement, education, and communication systems to engage with tribal members and others living in areas affected by the tribal program and to conduct their own environmental justice analysis.

Tribal governments may act as co-regulators with EPA or may implement authorized, approved or delegated EPA programs, where applicable3, including those that require public involvement opportunities. Similarly, many tribal governments may administer tribal environmental programs that benefit from public participation in the decision-making process. Environmental functions with community involvement requirements typically include the National Environmental Policy Act, permitting actions, rulemaking, cleanup and redevelopment, and compliance and enforcement activities.

Public participation can be any process that directly engages the public in decision-making and gives full consideration to public input in making that decision. Public participation is a process, not a single event. It consists of a series of activities and actions by a sponsor agency over the full lifespan of a project to both inform the public and obtain input from them. Public participation contributes to better decisions because decision-makers have more complete information – in the form of additional facts, values, and perspectives obtained through public input – to bring to bear on the decision process. Decision-makers can then incorporate the best information and expertise of all stakeholders. Decisions are more implementable and sustainable because the decision considers the needs and interests of all stakeholders including vulnerable and overburdened communities, and stakeholders better understand and are more invested in the outcomes.

Different forms that public participation might take include: (1) informing the public by providing information to help them understand the issues, options, and solutions; (2) consulting with the public to obtain their feedback on alternatives or decisions; (3) involving the public to ensure their concerns are considered throughout the decision process, particularly in the development of decision criteria and options; (4) collaborating with the public to develop decision criteria and alternatives and identify the preferred solution; and (5) empowering the public by placing final decision-making authority in their hands.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many tribal, state, local, and federal government public participation processes have been disrupted by the inability to convene community meetings in public forums. This may be particularly true for tribal governments. According to the Indian Health Services, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected tribal populations across the country. American Indian and Alaska Native populations have infection rates over 3.5 times higher than non-Hispanic whites, are over four times more likely to be hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 and have higher rates of mortality at younger ages than non-Hispanic whites4. Additionally, many tribal communities are in rural locations where access to broadband, technology, and native speakers may be limited. This, combined with the traditional ecological knowledge and communications practices of many tribal communities, creates unique public participation considerations. This funding opportunity is available to Federally recognized tribal

3 https://www.epa.gov/tribal/tribal-assumption-federal-laws-treatment-state-tas 4 https://www.ihs.gov/coronavirus/ governments to establish and or modify public participation programs to address COVID-19 impacts.

For more information on public participation programs, see:

• https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-08/powerpoint-meaningful-public-part-web-final.pdf

• https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/public-participation-guide

• https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-02/documents/ips-final-report.pdf

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 available at the following link: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-small-grants-program#GrantRecipients

All projects considered for funding under this announcement must include a workplan. All workplans should include strategies for: 1) establishing or modifying public participation programs, 2) addressing local environmental and public health issues, 3) educating and empowering the community about environmental issues, and 4) approaches to building consensus and setting community priorities through public participation programs

EJ Grantee Training Workshop - All recipients will be required to attend an EJ Grantee Networking and Training Workshop to be hosted by EPA. Depending on local COVID-19 recommendations, the workshop may be virtual and/or in-person. The national networking workshop is designed to: 1) connect grant recipients, 2) assist recipients with strategic planning for their communities, with particular focus on public participation programs, and 3) provide general project management and federal grant guidance. Additionally, recipients are encouraged, but not required, to participate in the EJ webinar series5 to discuss project results and share lessons learned with other tribal communities.

D. QUALIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL STATUTES

ARP funding is limited to activities authorized by section 103(b) of the Clean Air Act (CAA; 42 U.S.C. 7403(b)) and section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA; 42 U.S.C. 300j–1.

For this reason, in order to be eligible under this announcement, each project must include activities related to at least one of the following federal environmental statutes. Public participation programs may address other environmental programs or a broad spectrum of programs, as long as at least one of the required statutes is included. Any failure to clearly and conclusively identify and cite at least one of the federal statutes in your workplan will 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

5 The EJ webinar series for tribes and indigenous peoples seeks to enhance EJ integration, build capacity, raise awareness of EPA and other federal programs and resources, and provide technical assistance to tribes and indigenous peoples on priority environmental, public health, and other EJ concerns https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-08/powerpoint-meaningful-public-part-web-final.pdf https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-08/powerpoint-meaningful-public-part-web-final.pdf https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/public-participation-guide https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-02/documents/ips-final-report.pdf https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-small-grants-program https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-small-grants-program#GrantRecipients https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-small-grants-program#GrantRecipients https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-tribes-and-indigenous-peoples#:%7E:text=The%20EJ%20webinar%20series%20for,health%2C%20and%20other%20EJ%20concerns.

causes, effects (including health and welfare effects), extent, prevention, and control of air pollution.

2. Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442: 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.

NOTE: EJ grant activities must relate to gathering or transferring information or advancing awareness. Applications should emphasize this “learning” concept, rather than trying to “fix” an environmental problem using a well-established method. Examples of unacceptable grant applications 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 application 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 RFA. If your project uses technologies, methods or approaches that have been used previously in other geographic areas and/or business sectors, then your application must include an explanation as to how your demonstration project is different from such prior projects and is a true demonstration. You must also explain what will be learned from the demonstration project and how information regarding the results of the project will be disseminated to interested stakeholders who may be able to replicate the techniques that have been demonstrated.

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.

E. EPA STRATEGIC PLAN/EXECUTIVE ORDER LINKAGE & ANTICIPATED

OUTPUTS, OUTCOMES & PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

This announcement supports key priorities of the Biden-Harris Administration as detailed in Executive Order 13985 signed by President Biden on January 20, 2021 titled, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, and Executive Order 14008 signed by President Biden on January 27, 2021 titled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. Specifically, the projects selected under this announcement will support the federal government’s efforts to advance racial equity, address health outcome disparities, and support underserved communities.

In addition, 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 assistance agreements to the Agency’s Strategic Plan.

EPA’s Draft Strategic Plan 2022- 2026 is available at https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan. The activities funded under this https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad 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 announcement support Goal 2, Take Decisive Action to Advance Environmental Justice and Civil Rights, Objective 2.1, Promote Environmental Justice and Civil Rights at the Federal, Tribal, State, and Local Levels of the Draft Plan:

EPA’s Draft Strategic Plan 2022 - 2026 Goal 2 (Take Decisive Action to Advance Environmental Justice and Civil Rights); Objective 2.1 (Promote Environmental Justice and Civil Rights at the Federal, Tribal, State, and Local Levels) which states: “Building Community Capacity and Climate Resilience and Maximizing Benefits to Overburdened and Underserved Communities: EPA will increase support for community-led action by providing unprecedented investments and benefits directly to communities with environmental justice concerns and by integrating equity throughout Agency programs.”

Applicants should explain in their application how their project will further the first strategy of Goal 2; Objective 2.1 of the Draft Strategic Plan. (Building Community Capacity and Climate Resilience and Maximizing Benefits to Overburdened and Underserved Communities).

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 an assistance agreement funding period. Examples of some expected outputs from funded project(s) may include the following:

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

The number of resident participants in a survey to identify and prioritize ways to improve the Tribe’s public participation program.

A study into the feasibility of creating a public participation program that addresses lessons learned from COVID-19 impacts to communications.

Results of a focus group piloting a technology-based approach, including content and reach.

Revised tribal participation program with fair treatment and meaningful participation priorities.

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. Here are examples of possible outcomes:

1. Short-term (change in knowledge) - Increase in number of residents that know about the opportunity for establishing or modifying the Tribe’s public participation program (during project)

2. Intermediate (change in behavior) - Increase opportunities for the community to provide input on the Tribe’s environmental decision-making processes (6 - 12 months after project)

3. Intermediate (change in behavior) – Increase in number of residents participating in the Tribe’s public participation process

4. Long-term (change in conditions) – Improved environment and public health as a result of community engagement in the Tribe’s environmental decision-making processes (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 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.

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?

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?

4. Are the projected outputs and outcomes specific and detailed? Are specific target measures included where possible? Are target measures reasonable and achievable within the project period and for the funding amount?

F. ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS FOR APPLICANTS INCORPORATED INTO THE

ANNOUNCEMENT- Additional provisions that apply to sections III, IV, V, and VI of this announcement and/or awards made under this announcement, can be found at EPA https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses

Announcement Clauses. These provisions are important for applying to this announcement and applicants must review them when preparing applications for this announcement. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please contact the EPA point of contact listed in this announcement (usually in Section VII) to obtain the provisions.

II. AWARD INFORMATION (back to Contents by Section)

A. FUNDING AVAILABILITY AND PROJECT PERIOD

This opportunity includes $1.6 million from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to fund activities specifically under the Clean Air Act, section 103(b)(3) and/or the Safe Drinking Water Act, section 1442(c)(3). The ARP funds in this RFA are made available to address public participation programs for tribal communities where fair treatment and meaningful participation priorities have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. All awards under this RFA are for one-year projects; requests for no-cost extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

B. NUMBER OF ANTICIPATED AWARDS AND START DATES

It is anticipated that grants will be funded under this announcement. EPA anticipates awarding approximately 16 to 20 grants to tribal governments nationwide in amounts of up to $100,000 per award. Applicants should plan for projects to begin on October 1, 2022. All awards are subject to the availability of funds, the quality of the applications submitted, and other applicable considerations.

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

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

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 decisions. Awards may be fully or incrementally funded, as appropriate, based on funding availability, satisfactory performance, and other applicable considerations.

Note - prior to naming a contractor (including consultants) or subrecipient in your application as a “partner”, please carefully review Section IV.d, “Contracts and Subawards” of EPA’s Announcement Clauses that are incorporated by reference in Section VI.B of this announcement.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION (back to Contents by Section)

Note: Additional provisions that apply to this section can be found at EPA Announcement Clauses.

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

A. Eligible Applicants Eligible applicants for this funding opportunity have been limited to the following:

Federally recognized tribal governments.

NOTE - EPA has limited the Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program, Assistance Listing 66.604, competitive grant opportunity to federally recognized tribal governments for this single announcement, FON EPA-OP-OEJ-22-01. This RFA provides funding opportunities to federally recognized tribal governments under the ARP. Future EJSG competitions will be open to the normal range of eligible entities.

The following entities are INELIGIBLE to receive an award, but applicants may partner with these organizations, as appropriate (see Contracts and Subawards announcement clause referenced in Section IV of EPA’s Announcement Clauses), for technical assistance:

• Incorporated non-profit organizations;

• state recognized tribes;

• intertribal consortia;

• US territories;

• Freely Associated States (FAS);

• colleges and universities;

• hospitals;

• for-profit businesses;

• state and local governments and their entities;

• quasi-governmental entities (e.g., water districts, utilities);6

• national organizations and chapters of the aforementioned organizations7;

• non-profit organizations exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code supporting lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; and8

• International organizations and chapters of the aforementioned organizations

• Individuals

6 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.

7 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.

8 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 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations that lobby are not allowed.

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

B. COST-SHARING OR MATCHING FUNDS

No cost-sharing or matching is required as a condition of eligibility under this competition.

C. THRESHOLD ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

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

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

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

In addition, initial applications 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 application 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 application is timely submitted.

2. Applications 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 application 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 and timely submit your application through Grants.gov.

Applicants should confirm receipt of their application with Sarah Frederick, Frederick.Sarah@epa.gov, as soon as possible —failure to do so may result in your application 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 workplan will result in your project not being considered for award.

http://www.sam.gov/ http://grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ http://grants.gov/ mailto:Frederick.Sarah@epa.gov

4. Workplan: All projects considered for funding under this announcement must include a workplan. All workplans should include strategies for: 1) establishing or modifying public participation programs, 2) addressing local environmental and public health issues, 3) educating and empowering the community about environmental issues, and 4) approaches to building consensus and setting community priorities through public participation programs

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

- Construction

- Lobbying

- 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, recycling or community cleanup projects that do not qualify as training or demonstrations)

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

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

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

6. Multiple Applications: Applicants may submit only one application under this announcement. 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 an application from another organization.

7. Please note that applications must be written in English only. Applications written in languages other than English will be deemed ineligible for funding.

8. As detailed in Section I.C, ARP funded awards must be for projects to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID–19 pandemic that identify and address disproportionate environmental or public health harms and risks in minority populations or low-income populations. Specifically, funded projects must establish effective public participation programs that provide fair treatment and meaningful involvement for all people living in tribal communities disproportionately impacted by regulated pollution sources.

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

Note: Additional provisions that apply to this section can be found at EPA Announcement Clauses.

A. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

All applications must be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov. Applications transmitted via postal mail, fax, and/or email will not be considered. Applications are due May 20, 2022, 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 application being rendered ineligible:

1) Standard Grants.gov Application Forms (the Grants.gov system will make you fill out these documents automatically):

Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance Standard Form 424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs

EPA Form 4700-4, Pre-award Compliance Review Report for All Applicants and Recipients Requesting EPA Financial Assistance

EPA Form 5700-54, Key Contacts Form - Applicants are encouraged to ensure that information presented in the Key Contacts form is accurate. Information provided in the Key Contacts form may be used to reach the applicant in the event additional information is required and for notifying the applicant of their selection status.

2) Project Narrative Attachment Form - Use this form to submit your Project Workplan (Applicants are encouraged to use the optional template (i.e., the green section) provided in Section IV.A.2)

3) Other Attachments Form:

i. Itemized Budget Sheet (See optional template in Appendix B)

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

It is strongly advised that applicants organize their applications in the order presented above when submitting through Grants.gov. This will facilitate review and scoring of your application.

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

1) STANDARD GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION FORMS: The SF-424 forms, EPA 4700-4 form and Key Contacts form are all official forms required for all EPA grants and cooperative agreements. These forms are required when submitting any EPA grant application through (http://www.Grants.gov). The forms request basic information about your organization and proposed project. To complete the forms, applicants must provide a SAM-issued Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). Applicants must use their UEI, not their DUNS number, when filling out forms in the package for this funding opportunity. Please see RAIN-2021-G01 for information about EPA's implementation of the upcoming Government-wide transition from DUNS to UEI. Please note that until April 4, 2022, applicant organizations registering for the first time in SAM.gov will need a DUNS number.

2) WORKPLAN (Optional Workplan Template below): The workplan is the most important part of the application package. The workplan describes the project. Workplans http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2021-g01 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, as described in Section I.C. Types of eligible activities are those described within the Qualified Environmental Statutes section, as discussed in Section I.C of this announcement. Applicants should identify the chosen Qualified Environmental Statute in the Summary Page. The workplan, 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. While these guidelines establish the minimum type size requirements, applicants are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in selection of an appropriate font for use in the application. Supporting materials, such as resumes and partnership letters, can be submitted as attachments and are not included in the 11-page limit.

The following optional workplan template may be helpful when drafting the workplan:

Optional Workplan Template The 11-page workplan 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 (this page counts as part of 11-page workplan limit). Include the following information on your summary page:

Project Title Project Location (including community, city, state, and zip code) Applicant Information (name, address, main contact information) Which Environmental Statute(s) your project qualifies for Project Type(s) -- such as planning, process development, training, monitoring, demonstration, public education (related to statute(s) identified above) 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.

Whether you will need to develop a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) for your project (see Appendix C)

b. Environmental and Public Health information of the Community - applicants will be evaluated on their ability to clearly describe the local environmental justice issue(s) the project proposes to address. This should include description of the community that is impacted, the impact of COVID-19 on the Tribe’s public participation programs and how the Tribe will address those COVID-19 impacts through establishment or modification of its public participation program.

Please describe the following:

Describe and characterize the local community (or communities) the Tribe will engage. Describe how the community is disproportionately impacted by environmental and/or public health concerns (i.e., Who is the community comprised of and what are the disproportionate environmental and/or public health issues they experience?).

How has COVID-19 impacted the Tribe’s ability to implement public participation processes and receive input from the affected community on environmental decision-making?

What are the local environmental/public health-related public participation issues that your project seeks to address?

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

NOTE: The application must include relevant information such as demographics, geographic location, and community history. We strongly encourage the use of EPA’s EJSCREEN tool (or other EJ-based mapping tool) to help you characterize and describe your target community. Data from other sources (e.g., studies, census, and third-party reports) should also be included to give a more complete picture of the impacted communities and populations. If scientific data is limited for a particular community, then applicants can include first-person accounts and/or a community’s impressions of the environmental and/or public health issues impacting their communities. Instructions and resources on how to use EJSCREEN (https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen). For any questions you have about EJSCREEN, please contact Tai Lung at Lung.Tai@epa.gov or 202-566-1296.

c. Public Participation Elements – applicants will be evaluated on their ability to clearly describe how the proposed public participation program incorporates successful public participation elements, including:

How is the public participation process designed to meaningfully engage the community? What barriers have been removed to allow all members of the community to engage? Does the community have the background knowledge on the disproportionate environmental and/or public health issues to provide input? If not, describe how that knowledge would be effectively shared. Are cross-cultural formats and exchanges available?

How does the public participation process recognize and incorporate Indigenous Tribal Ecological Knowledge (TEK) if offered by a tribal elder or knowledge holder? Given the sensitivity of some TEK, how would this knowledge be appropriately handled?

Does the public participation include transparency in the process? Are goals, expectations, and limitations of the public participation process clearly articulated?

How will the Tribe institutionalize the process so it continues over time?

How will the Tribe evaluate its public participation program for effectiveness and continued improvement?

d. Project Linkages - applicants will be evaluated on their ability to clearly describe how the proposed public participation program incorporates supports strategies in EPA Draft Strategic Plan Goal 2 and is related to qualified environmental statutes and programs with EPA approval, authorization, or delegation:

https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen mailto:Lung.Tai@epa.gov

Briefly describe how the project supports strategies in EPA Draft Strategic Plan Goal 2, Objective 2.1 (Building Community Capacity and Climate Resilience and Maximizing Benefits to Overburdened and Underserved Communities).

https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan

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 Qualified Environmental statutes listed in Section I.D.

Identify whether the project is related to a program for which EPA has approved, authorized or delegated program administration responsibilities to the Tribe (i.e., treatment as a state (TAS)).

2.0 Project Activities / Milestone Schedule / Detailed Budget Narrative

a. Project Activities – Provide a clear description of the steps the applicant will take to meet the program objectives and execute the project. Provide clear descriptions and details for each project activity or component and the anticipated products/results associated with each activity.

b. Milestone Schedule – Include a clearly articulated/organized milestone schedule, detailing timeframes and major milestones to complete significant project activities. It is recommended that you insert a table in your workplan narrative to help organize your milestone schedule. Your milestone schedule should support and/or supplement the clear descriptions you provide in the Project Activities section.

c. Itemized Budget Sheet - Clearly explain how EPA funds will be used. This document will supplement the budget information you provide in your SF-424A Form.

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 workplan 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 - Applicants will be evaluated on the quality of the expected project outputs and outcomes identified in the application for their project. The expected outputs and outcomes should be effective in achieving the Program Objectives listed in Section I. public participation, community involvement, education, and communication systems to engage with tribal members and others living in areas affected by the tribal program to assure fair treatment and meaningful involvement.

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