EPA-OW-OWOW-21-03.pdf

Federal Agency Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds

Funding Opportunity Title: Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Support of the National Estuary Program Watersheds Grant

Announcement Type: Request for Applications (RFA)

Assistance Listing Number: 66.456

Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-OW-OWOW-21-03

Dates: All applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov as explained further in Section IV. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 P.M. ET, November 15, 2021. Late applications will not be considered for funding. Questions must be submitted in writing via e-mail and must be received by the Agency Contact identified in Section VII before, November 1, 2021.Written responses will be posted on EPA’s website at:

www.epa.gov/nep.

EPA is providing flexibilities to applicants experiencing challenges related to COVID-19. Please see the Flexibilities Available to Organizations Impacted by COVID-19 clause in Section IV of EPA’s Solicitation Clauses.

Note to Applicants: Following the EPA’s evaluation of applications, all applicants will be notified regarding their status. If you name subawardees/subgrantees and/or contractor(s), including individual consultants, as part of your application, pay careful attention to the CONTRACTS AND SUBAWARDS provision found at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses.

SUMMARY

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting applications from eligible applicants for the National Estuary Program (NEP) Watersheds Grant1 to support projects that address urgent, emerging, and challenging issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of estuarine areas. EPA seeks applications that address the priorities established by Congress under Public Law No: 116-337, the Protect and Restore America’s Estuaries Act, including:

• loss of key habitats resulting in significant impacts on fisheries and water quality such as seagrass, mangroves, tidal and freshwater wetlands, forested wetlands, kelp beds, shellfish beds, and coral reefs;

• coastal resilience and extreme weather events including flooding and coastal erosion related to sea level rise, changing precipitation, warmer waters, or salt marsh, seagrass, or wetland degradation or loss and accelerated land loss;

1 For purposes of this solicitation the word “Grant” refers to the award to be made under this solicitation.

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• impacts of nutrients and warmer water temperatures on aquatic life and ecosystems, including low dissolved oxygen conditions in estuarine waters;

• stormwater runoff which not only can erode stream banks but can carry nutrients, sediment, and trash into rivers and streams that flow into estuaries;

• recurring harmful algae blooms;

• unusual or unexplained marine mammal mortalities; and

• proliferation or invasion of species that limit recreational uses, threaten wastewater systems, or cause other ecosystem damage.

Specifically, EPA is soliciting applications from eligible applicants to administer a national competitive subaward grant program to be performed under the agreement awarded under this announcement as further described in Section I. The competitive subaward process to be implemented by the applicant must be on a national scale and recipients must address urgent, emerging, and challenging environmental issues that threaten the ecologic and economic well-being of estuarine areas. Applications should reflect the applicant’s familiarity with the NEP (see www.epa.gov/nep) and the key role EPA-approved Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 320 NEP Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plans (CCMPs) play in addressing those environmental issues. The competitive subaward process described in the application must also demonstrate how it will support estuary protection and restoration subaward projects located entirely within the identified NEP Watersheds Grant geographic areas as defined by the EPA in this RFA. Please see Section III.D for those activities that are not eligible as subaward projects.

Eligible applicants under this announcement include state, interstate, tribal, inter-tribal consortia, and regional water pollution control agencies and entities; state coastal zone management agencies; and other public or nonprofit private agencies, institutions, and organizations2. Applicants must have the ability to work nationally within the defined geographic areas and be capable of undertaking activities that advance the NEP Watershed Grant priorities. Nonprofit private universities and colleges and non-profit institutions of higher education are considered non-profit organizations and are eligible under this announcement. Nonprofit 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 under this announcement.

The total federal amount of funding expected to be available under this announcement is approximately $18,000,000, depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. It is anticipated that one cooperative agreement will be incrementally funded under this announcement with a six-year project

2 Nonprofit organization, as defined by 2 CFR Part 200, means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative or other organization that: (1) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable or similar purposes in the public interest; (2) is not organized primarily for profit; and (3) uses net proceeds to maintain, improve or expand its operations. Note that 2 CFR Part 200 specifically excludes the following types of organizations from the definition of nonprofit organization because they are separately defined in the regulation: (i) institutions of higher education;and (ii) state, local and federally-recognized Indian tribal governments. While not considered to be a nonprofit organization(s) as defined by 2 CFR Part 200, Institutions of Higher Education are, nevertheless, eligible to submit applications under this RFA. For-profit colleges, universities, and trade schools are ineligible.

period. EPA expects that funding for each subaward to be awarded by the recipient of the award under this RFA will range from $200,000 to $500,000 per project. Note: applicants can identify a slightly different range for each subaward as part of their application narrative and explain why they have chosen a different range. The subawards funded under the cooperative agreement are anticipated to have project periods ranging from three to four years and must be completed prior to the end of the cooperative agreement project period.

The subaward projects must be completed in sufficient time to allow the recipient, to, for example, aggregate results and ensure that subawardees have been reimbursed for eligible incurred costs.

EPA requires the applicant to provide a minimum 25% match of the total Federal request which must be met by the end of the project period (see Section III.B for information on the minimum non-federal cost share/match requirement).

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. BACKGROUND

Due to rapid population growth and a changing climate, NEP estuaries and their watersheds face a host of challenges, among them industrial and municipal wastewater discharges, stormwater and polluted runoff from urban and agricultural areas, releases from septic systems, the physical alteration or loss of habitats, changes in species distribution in response to climate change and warming waters, and coastal flooding and shoreline erosion from storm surge and sea level rise.

These urgent, emerging, and challenging issues cause declines in water quality, living resources, their habitats, and overall ecosystem health. Impacts can include contamination of fish, shellfish, and sediments; marine mammal mortalities; closed beaches and shellfish beds;aquatic dead zones, fish die offs, and toxic algal blooms; spread of invasive species;

andloss or degradation of important habitats. They can also have significant economic and socio-economic impacts. For example, sea level rise, storm surge, and coastal flooding can disproportionately affect poor and underserved coastal communities that are especially at risk because they are already experiencing other environmental health burdens.

All of these challenges affect our quality of life and local economies that depend on healthy coastal habitats and waters. Protecting and restoring ecosystem functions and services is essential to manage the stress caused by these urgent, emerging, and challenging issues. More holistically addressing the sources of these pollutants is also critical to prevent further impacts and degradation.

B. NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM WATERSHEDS GRANT GOALS AND

OBJECTIVES

The goal of the CWA Section 320(g) NEP Watersheds grant is to address urgent, emerging, and challenging environmental issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of estuarine areas by implementing actions in EPA-approved CWA Section 320 NEP CCMPs (www.epa.gov/nep). The NEP Watersheds grant can demonstrate measurable results toward that goal by supporting competitive subaward projects that:

• implement Priority Actions identified in one of the 28 EPA-approved NEP CCMPs (www.epa.gov/nep);

• demonstrate on-the-ground or tangible quantifiable improvements to conditions of estuarine waters and the health of habitats and living resources completely within the geographic areas definedby this RFA;

• provide results of monitoring and assessment that generate new understanding of systems under stress in these geographic areas defined by this RFA;

• achieve advances in new approaches, practices, methods, or techniques for preventing and addressing threats to estuaries, especially adapting and bolstering resilience to the impacts of climate change in the geographic areas defined by this RFA;

• demonstrate the establishment or improvement of sustainable local capacity particularly in underrepresented communities to prevent and address urgent, emerging, and challenging issues that affect the geographic areas defined in this RFA; and

• demonstrate partnerships and include diverse representation on project teams that address urgent, emerging, and challenging environmental issues within the geographic areas as defined by this RFA.

In their applications for this RFA, applicants should demonstrate their ability, and describe an approach, for serving as an organization to manage the NEP Watersheds award.

Specifically, as part of their project approach in the project narrative portion of the application, applicants should demonstrate their ability to:

• administer a national competitive subaward grant, including: preparing, issuing, and managing a subaward competitive solicitation responsive to priorities of the NEP Watersheds award; establishing review criteria and expert panels for evaluating and selecting subawards; and overseeing and monitoring multiple subawards to support the urgent, emerging, and challenging environmental issues and priorities that threaten estuarine areas as described in Section I.A and Section I.B of this announcement, and ensuring compliance by subawardees with all quality assurance, financial, and reporting requirements;

• ensure subawardees carry out Priority Actions in at least one of the 28 EPA-approved CCMPs;

• ensure subaward projects will occur entirely within the study area boundaries of a NEP as identified in the EPA-approved CCMP and as defined in this RFA;

• provide technical support to subawardees to help ensure the quality of project data and environmental results, and QAPPs submitted by subawardees meet EPA requirements,

• transfer results from the subaward projects to other subawardees and EPA through an annual webinar;

• qualitatively and quantitatively measure, track, and report the outputs and outcomes of the environmental results of the NEP Watersheds Grant projects accomplished through the competitive subawards; and

• capturing the data and results, and documenting lessons learned from the subaward projects including any new successful methods, approaches, techniques, or practices to improve estuarine waters, their habitats, and living resources, and sharing that information with EPA and other coastal managers.

The competitive subaward process proposed by the applicant must be on a national scale and recipients must address urgent, emerging, and challenging environmental issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of estuarine areas. Applications should reflect the applicant’s familiarity with the NEP (see www.epa.gov/nep) and the key role EPA-approved CWA Section 320 NEP CCMPs) play in addressing the relevant environmental issues. The competitive subaward process described in the application should also demonstrate how it will support estuary protection and restoration subaward projects located entirely within the geographic areas as defined by the EPA in this RFA.

The geographic areas are the study area boundaries of each National Estuary Program as identified in the EPA-approved CCMP. Those areas can be found by going to www.epa.gov/nep. Subaward projects must occur entirely within the boundary of these identified geographic areas in order to be eligible to be considered for subaward funding. A high-resolution map of these eligible areas can be found by going to www.epa.gov/nep.

Existing CCMPs are also available at www.epa.gov/nep. Applicants also need to address all the evaluation criteria in Section V in their applications.

As stated above, this RFA is for an applicant who would receive a direct award from EPA and would provide competitive subawards to other eligible subaward entities on anational basis. The description of eligible applicants for both a direct award, and the subsequent competitive subawards is provided below in Section III. A.

C. EPA STRATEGIC PLAN LINKAGES AND ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES,

OUTPUTS, AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Funding provided under this announcement supports the following goal and objective of EPA’s Strategic plan for FY 2018 – FY 2022: Goal 1- A Cleaner, Healthier Environment:

Deliver a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for all Americans and future generations by carrying out the Agency’s core mission; Objective 1.2 - Provide for Clean and Safe Water: Ensure waters are clean through improved water infrastructure and, in partnership with states and tribes, sustainably manage programs to support drinking water, aquatic ecosystems, and recreational, economic, and subsistence activities. Information on the EPA Strategic Plan is available at www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan.

All applications must demonstrate the linkage to the Strategic Plan and 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 demonstrate how the project will contribute to the overall goal of restoring and protecting ecosystems. Additional information regarding EPA’s Strategic Plan and discussion of environmental results can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements.

Outputs Environmental outputs (or deliverables) refer to an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product related to an environmental goal or 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 project period.

Examples of anticipated environmental outputs from the assistance agreement awarded http://www.epa.gov/nep https://www.epa.gov/nep https://www.epa.gov/nep http://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan 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 under this announcement may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• the number of projects that address urgent, emerging, and challenging issues that threaten ecological and economic well-being in geographic areas as defined by this RFA funded through subawards;

• the number of projects that remove or modify physical barriers that would prevent natural transition of salt marsh habitat;

• the development and verification of subawardee tracking (reporting) systems that include the ability to monitor progress and to upload reports;

• the number of new partnerships formed or existing partnerships strengthened that contribute to the ecological and economic well-being of the estuarine areas as defined by this RFA;

• the number of pounds of nitrogen or sediment discharge avoided;

• the number of acres, linear miles or feet of habitat created, re-established, rehabilitated, or enhanced funded through subaward projects;

• the number pounds of floatable debris reduced or prevented from entering the estuary;

• pollutant (e.g., nutrients and sediment) load reductions in estuarine waters as defined by this RFA; and

• the number of lessons learned captured from the subaward projects.

Outcomes Environmental outcomes are the result, effect, or consequence that will occur from carrying out an environmental program or activity that is related to an environmental or programmatic goal or objective, and are used as a way to gauge a project’s performance and take the form of output and outcome measures. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related or programmatic in nature. Outcomes must be quantitative and may not necessarily be achieved within an assistance agreement funding period. Outcomes may be short term (changes in learning, knowledge, attitude, skills), intermediate (changes in behavior, practice, or decisions), or long-term (changes in condition of the natural resource).

Examples of anticipated environmental outcomes from the cooperative agreement to be awarded under this announcement may include, but are not limited to, the following within the defined estuarine areas:

• a change made to regulations, codes, and/or ordinances to promote estuarine watershed-based protection and restoration;

• an increased capacity among state and local governments and underserved communities to address urgent, emerging, and challenging estuarine issues;

• an improvement in the function of estuarine, near-shore, wetland, and upland habitat communities;

• an increase in the quality of habitat that was impaired by non-native invasive species;

• an implementation of innovative watershed-based nutrient reduction strategies;

• the creation of a pathway or improvement of a pathway for coastal wetlands for landwardmigration in response to sea level rise; and

• a change in behavior of community members that results in improvedconditions in estuarine waters or bolsters resilience to climate change.

Additional information regarding the EPA’s discussion of environmental results in termsof “outputs” and “outcomes” can be found at: www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1- epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements.

D. STATUTORY AUTHORITY

The statutory authority for the assistance agreement to be awarded under this announcement is section 320(g)(4) of the Clean Water Act (FWPCA § 320(g)(4); 33 U.S.C. § 1330(g)(4)). Section 320(g)(4) authorizes issuance of competitive assistance agreements to address urgent, emerging, and challenging issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of estuarine areas.

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AMOUNT OF FUNDING

EPA anticipates awarding one cooperative agreement under this announcement. The total federal amount of funding expected to be available under this announcement is approximately $18,000,000 depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. The successful applicant should provide EPA with a negotiated, six-year work plan covering six distinct one-year periods of performance.

Subawards awarded under the cooperative agreement are anticipated to have project periods ranging from three to four years. The subawards need to be completed in sufficient time for the recipient to, for example, aggregate results and ensure that subawardees have been reimbursed for eligible incurred costs. EPA expects funding for each subaward will range from $200,000 to $500,000. Note: Applicants can identify a slightly different range for each subaward as part of their project narrative and explain why they have chosen a different range.

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

EPA reserves the right to make no awards under this announcement. In addition, EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy, if additional funding becomes available. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than six months after the original selection decisions.

B. TYPE OF FUNDING

It is anticipated that one cooperative agreement will be funded under this announcement. The grantee will make the final subaward selections and administer the subawards. Whenthe cooperative agreement is awarded, EPA will have substantial involvement with the project workplan and budget. Although EPA will negotiate precise terms and conditions relating to substantial involvement as part of the award process, the anticipated substantial EPA involvement for the project selected may include:

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1. Close monitoring of the recipient’s performance to verify the results proposed by the applicant;

2. Collaboration during the performance of the scope of work and budget;

3. In accordance with the applicable regulations at 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart D (200.317 through 200.326), as appropriate, review of proposed procurements;

4. Review of qualifications of key personnel (EPA does not have authority to select or remove employees or contractors employed by the recipient);

5. Review and comment on content of tasks/deliverables and reports prepared under the cooperative agreement (the final decision of the content of reports rests with the recipient);

6. Review of evaluation criteria and in selecting subawardees (the final decision on theevaluation criteria rests with the recipient);

7. Review the subaward competitive solicitation and may provide comments to ensure consistency with the applicant's scope of work (the recipient isresponsible for the content of, and all final decisions regarding, the subaward competitive solicitation including the disposition of any EPA comments on the subaward competitive solicitation);

8. Participation in the review process for selection of subawardees (themajority of the selection panel members must be non-federal members);

9. Review and approval of the substantive terms of subawards to verify compliancewith federal requirements (the final decision on the selection of subawardees rests with the recipient); and

10. Provide access for the recipient to EPA scientific expertise, sampling protocols, publicly available data, and other forms of technical assistance, should the request be made by the recipient and EPA have available personnel

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

Under Assistance Listing 66.456, eligible applicants under this announcement are state, interstate,tribal, inter-tribal consortia, and regional water pollution control agencies and entities,state coastal zone management agencies, other public or nonprofit private agencies3, institutions, and organizations, who can select, award, and manage subaward projects within the defined geographic boundaries of the NEP Watershed Program.

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 under this announcement.

3 Non-profit organization, as defined by 2 CFR Part 200, means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative or other organization that: (1) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable or similar purposes in the public interest; (2) is not organized primarily for profit; and (3) uses its net proceeds to maintain, improve and/or expand its operations. Note that 2 CFR Part 200 specifically excludes the following types of organizations from the definition of non-profit organization because they are separately defined in the regulation: (i) institutions of higher education;and (ii) state, local and federally-recognized Indian tribal governments. While not considered to be a non-profit organization(s) as defined by 2 CFR Part 200, Institutions of Higher Education are, nevertheless, eligible to submit applications under this RFA. For-profit colleges, universities, and trade schools are ineligible.

Nonprofit organizations may be asked to provide documentation that they meet the definition of a nonprofit organization in 2 CFR § 200.70. Interstate agencies may be asked to provide a citation to the statutory authority, which establishes their status.

The term “interstate agency” is defined in CWA section 502 as “an agency of two or more states established by or pursuant to an agreement or compact approved by the Congress, or any other agency of two or more states, having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the control of pollution as determined and approved by the Administrator.” (Administrator refers to the head of the EPA.)

Tribes must be federally-recognized, although “Treatment as a state” status is not required.

Intertribal consortia must meet the requirements of 40 C.F.R. §35.504 (a) and (c) (eCFR

— Code of Federal Regulations). This section states that an intertribal consortium is eligible to receive grants only if the consortium demonstrates that all members of the consortium meet the eligibility requirements for the grant and authorize the consortium to apply for and receive assistance. An intertribal consortium must submitto EPA adequate documentation of: (1) the existence of the partnership between Indian tribal governments, and (2) authorization of the consortium by all its members to apply for and receive the grant(s) for which the consortium has applied.

Eligible entities for the competitive subawards issued by the successful applicant include state, interstate, tribal, inter-tribal consortia and regional water pollution control agencies and entities, state coastal zone management agencies, interstate agencies, other public or nonprofit private agencies and institutions. For the purposes of this announcement, EPA has determined that for-profit entities are ineligible for the competitive subaward program. EPA award officials will disapprove the costs of proposed subaward work to 501(c)(4) organizations identified in asubaward application, or workplan changes requiring prior approval, if the work involves lobbying activities or would otherwise violate the principles of EPA’s subaward policy.

B. COST SHARING/MATCH REQUIREMENTS

All applicants must demonstrate in their application submission how a minimum non-federal cost share/match of 25 percent of the total federal funding provided will be met. Cost shares/matches can be in the form of cash or can come from in-kind contributions, such as the use of volunteers and/or donated time, equipment, expertise, etc., subject to the regulations governing matching fund requirements described in 2 CFR Parts 200 and1500, as applicable. In-kind contributions often include salaries or other verifiable costs, and this value must be carefully documented. In the case of salaries, applicants may use either minimum wage or fair market value. The cost share/match must be for allowable project costs. Cost share/matching funds are considered grant funds and are included in the total award amount and should be used for the reasonable and necessary expenses ofcarrying out the work plan. All grant funds are subject to federal audit. Any restrictions on the use of grant funds (examples of restrictions are outlined in Section III.D of this announcement) also apply to the use of cost share/matching funds. Other federal grants may not be used as cost shares/matches without specific statutory authority. Applicants that do not demonstrate how they will meet the minimum cost share/match requirement in their application submission will not be considered for funding.

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The minimum match is determined by dividing the total federal funds requested by four.To calculate the minimum match under this RFA, divide the total federal request by four using the following formula: Total Federal Funds Requested ($) divided by four (4) = minimum cost share/match. For example, if the total federal funds requested are $18,000,000 the applicant must beable to provide $4,500,000 in cash or in-kind contributions as cost share/match.

C. THRESHOLD ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

These are requirements which if not met by the time of application submission will result in elimination of the application from consideration for funding. Only applications that meet all of these criteria will be evaluated against the ranking factors in Section V of the announcement. 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. An applicant must meet the eligibility requirements in Section III.A of this announcement at the time of application submission, or else they will be rejected.

2. An applicant must demonstrate that it can meet the cost share/match requirements in

Section III.B of this announcement at the time of application submission.

3. Applications must address how the applicant will establish and manage a competitive subaward program on a national scale that addresses urgent, emerging, and challenging environmental issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of estuarine areas.

4. Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in this announcement or they will be rejected. Where a page limit is expressed in Section IV.C.2 with respect to the Project Narrative, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed. Section IV.C.2 establishes a 12-page, single-spaced Project Narrative page limit that includes the cover page.

5. Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov, as specified in Section IV of this announcement (except in the limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically permitted 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 ofthis announcement to ensure that their application is timely submitted.

6. 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 attributable to Grants.gov or relevant SAM.gov system issues. An applicant’s failure to timely submit its application through Grants.gov because they did not timely or properly register in SAM.gov or Grants.gov will not be considered an acceptable reason to consider a late submission.Applicants should confirm receipt of their application via email with Connie Cahanap at nep- rfa@epa.gov as soon as possible after the submission deadline – failure to do so mayresult in your application not being reviewed.

7. 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.

D. INELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

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Ineligible activities funded under this award include, but are not limited to, the following:

• research, studies, and educational programs;

• outreach and public awareness activities are not eligible as stand-alone projects but may be part of a larger on-the-ground implementation project;

• application tasks that are or might be required by a previous or pending permit (e.g., CWA Section 404 permit, CWA Section 402 permit, CWA Section 401 certification)or federal, state, tribal, or local government regulatory requirement(s);

• funds implementing individual mitigation projects, mitigation banks, in-lieu-fee mitigation programs, intervention with federal regulatory proceedings, supplemental environmental projects or projects associated with a violation or legal settlement;

• purchase of vehicles, boats, motor homes, or office furniture valued at $5,000 or more;

• purchase of land or real estate;

• lease of a vehicle(s) may be permitted, but is contingent on justification of need inthe project narrative;

• conduct social surveys, focus groups, or questionnaires;

• funds supporting political advocacy, fundraising, lobbying, or litigation;

• funds supporting any event or portion of an event where alcohol is served, purchased, or otherwise available even if grant funds are not used to purchase the alcohol; and

• projects performed outside of the specified eligible geographic areas, which are the study area boundaries of each NEP. Please see epa.gov/nep for a map of these locations.

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. HOW TO OBTAIN AN APPLICATION PACKAGE

Applicants must use the application package associated with this opportunity on Grants.gov.

Please see Section IV.B. Form of Application Submission for additional information.

B. FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

a. Requirement to Submit Through Grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures Applicants must apply electronically through Grants.gov under this funding opportunity based on the grants.gov instructions in this announcement. If your organization has no access to the internet or access is very limited, you may request an exception for the remainder of this calendar year by following the procedures outlined here. Please note that your request must be received at least 15 calendar days before the application due date to allow enough time to negotiate alternative submission methods. Issues with submissions with respect to this opportunity only are addressed in Section IVB. c. Technical Issues with Submission below.

b. Submission Instructions The electronic submission of your application must be made by an official representative of your institution who is registered with Grants.gov and is authorized to sign applications for Federal assistance. For more information on the registration requirements that must be completed in order to submit an application through grants.gov, go to Grants.gov and click on "Applicants" on the top of the page and then go to the "Get Registered" link on the page. If your organization is not currently registered with Grants.gov, please encourage your office to designate an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) and ask that individual to begin the registration https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.epa.gov/grants/exceptions-grantsgov-submission-requirement https://www.grants.gov/ process as soon as possible. Please note that the registration process also requires that your organization have a DUNS number and a current registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) and the process of obtaining both could take a month or more. Applicants must ensure that all registration requirements are met in order to apply for this opportunity through grants.gov and should ensure that all such requirements have been met well in advance of the submission deadline. Registration on Grants.gov, SAM.gov, and DUNS for a number assignment is FREE. Please see RAIN-2021-G01 for information about EPA's implementation of the upcoming Government-wide transition from DUNS to Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).

Applicants need to ensure that the AOR who submits the application through Grants.gov and whose DUNS is listed on the application is an AOR for the applicant listed on the application.

Additionally, the DUNS listed on the application must be registered to the applicant organization's SAM account. If not, the application may be deemed ineligible.

To begin the application process under this grant announcement, go to Grants.gov and click on "Applicants" on the top of the page and then "Apply for Grants" from the dropdown menu and then follow the instructions accordingly. Please note: To apply through Grants.gov, you must use Adobe Reader software and download the compatible Adobe Reader version. For more information about Adobe Reader, to verify compatibility, or to download the free software, please visit Adobe Reader Compatibility Information on Grants.gov

You may also be able to access the application package for this announcement by searching for the opportunity on Grants.gov. Go to Grants.gov and then click on "Search Grants" at the top of the page and enter the Funding Opportunity Number, EPA-OW-OWOW-21-03, or the Assistance Listing number that applies to the announcement (66.456), in the appropriate field and click the Search button.

Please Note: All applications must be submitted through Grants.gov using the "Workspace" feature. Information on the Workspace feature can be found at the Grants.gov Workspace Overview Page.

Application Submission Deadline: Your organization's AOR must submit your complete application package electronically to EPA through Grants.gov no later than November 15, 2021 11:59 PM ET. Please allow for enough time to successfully submit your application and allow for unexpected errors that may require you to resubmit.

Please submit all of the application materials described below using the Grants.gov application package accessed using the instructions above.

Application Materials The following forms and documents are required under this announcement:Mandatory

Documents:

a) Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)

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

c) EPA Key Contacts Form 5700-54

d) EPA Form 4700-4 – Preaward Compliance Review Report

e) Project Narrative (Project Narrative Attachment Form) prepared as described in https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2021-g01 https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html

Section IV of the announcement

Optional Documents:

f) Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, if applicable (Use Other Attachments Form)

g) Biographical sketches of major project managers, support staff members, or other major project participants for the proposed projects (Use Other Attachments Form found in the Optional Documents section)

h) Letters of Support, if applicable (Use Other Attachment Form)

Applications submitted through Grants.gov will be time and date stamped electronically. If you have not received a confirmation of receipt from EPA (not from grants.gov) within30 days of the application deadline, please contact Connie Cahanap at 202-566-1382.

Failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

c. Technical Issues with Submission

1. Once the application package has been completed, the “Submit” button should be enabled. If the “Submit” button is not active, please call Grants.gov for assistance at 1- 800-518-4726. Applicants who are outside the U.S. at the time of submittal and arenot able to access the toll-free number may reach a Grants.gov representative by calling 606-545-5035. Applicants should save the completed application package with two different file names before providing it to the AOR to avoid having to re- create the package should submission problems be experienced. Otherwise, a revised application needs to be submitted.

2. Submitting the application. The application package must be transferred to Grants.gov by an AOR. The AOR should close all other software before attempting tosubmit the application package. Click the “submit” button of the application package.Your Internet browser will launch and a sign-in page will appear. Note: Minor problems are not uncommon with transfers to Grants.gov. It is essential to allowsufficient time to ensure that your application is submitted to Grants.gov BEFORE the due date identified in Section IV of the solicitation. The Grants.gov support desk operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except Federal Holidays.

A successful transfer will end with an on-screen acknowledgement. For documentation purposes, print or screen capture this acknowledgement. If a submission problem occurs, reboot the computer – turning the power off may be necessary – and re-attempt the submission.

Note: Grants.gov issues a “case number” upon a request for assistance.

3. Transmission Difficulties. If transmission difficulties that result in a late transmission,no transmission, or rejection of the transmitted application are experienced, and following the above instructions do not resolve the problem so that the application is submitted to Grants.gov by the deadline date and time, follow the guidance below. The Agency will make a decision concerning acceptance of each late submission on acase-by-case basis.

All emails, as described below, are to be sent to Connie Cahanap at nep-rfa@epa.gov with the Funding Opportunity Number (FON) in the subject line. If you are unable to https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ email, contact Connie Cahanap at 202-566-1382. Be aware that EPA will only consider accepting applications that were unable to transmit due to Grants.gov or relevant SAM.gov system issues or for unforeseen exigent circumstances, such as extreme weather interfering with internet access. Failure of an applicant to submit timely because they did not properly or timely register in SAM.gov or Grants.gov is not an acceptable reason to justify acceptance of a late submittal.

a. If you are experiencing problems resulting in an inability to upload the applicationto

Grants.gov, it is essential to call Grants.gov, for assistance at 1-800-518-4726 before the application deadline. Applicants who are outside the U.S. at the time ofsubmittal and are not able to access the toll-free number may reach a Grants.gov representative by calling 606-545-5035. Be sure to obtain a case number from Grants.gov. If the problems stem from unforeseen exigent circumstances unrelated to Grants.gov, such as extreme weather interfering with internet access, contact Connie Cahanap at 202- 566-1382.

b. Unsuccessful transfer of the application package: If a successful transfer of the application cannot be accomplished even with assistance from Grants.gov due to electronic submission system issues or unforeseen exigent circumstances, and you have already attempted to resolve the issue by contacting Grants.gov, send an email message to Connie Cahanap at nep-rfa@epa.gov prior to the application deadline.

The email message must document the problem and include the Grants.gov case number as well as the entire application in PDF format as an attachment.

c. Grants.gov rejection of the application package: If a notification is received from

Grants.gov stating that the application has been rejected for reasons other than late submittal and it is too late to reapply, promptly send an email to Connie Cahanap at nep-rfa@epa.gov with the FON in the subject line within one businessday of the closing date of this solicitation. The email should include any materialsprovided by Grants.gov and attach the entire application in PDF format.

Please note that successful submission through Grants.gov or via email does not necessarily mean your application is eligible for award.

C. CONTENT OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

Applicants should read the following section very carefully and address all requirements. A complete application package must include the following documents described below.

1. Application Materials

Mandatory Documents:

a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424), Complete the form and have it signed. There are no attachments. Please note that the organizational Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number must be included on the SF-424. Organizations may obtain a DUNS number at https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ mailto:nep-rfa@epa.gov no cost by calling the toll-free DUNS number request line at 1-866-705-5711 or by visiting the web site at www.dnb.com.

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

Complete the form. There are no attachments. The total amount of federal funding requested for the project period should be shown on line 5(e) and on line 6(k) of SF- 424A. The total amount of non-federal cost share/match should be shown on line 5 (f) and in Section C of the SF-424A. If indirect costs are included, the amount of indirect costs should be entered on line 6(j), and the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement must be submitted as part of the application submission. The indirect cost rate (i.e., a percentage), the base (personnel costs and fringe benefits), and the total amount of indirect cost should also be indicated on line 22. In Section B: Budget Categories column (1) should be filled out for federal funds, column (2) should be filled out for non-federal cost-share/match, and column (5) should be filled out for total project cost (federal funds and non-federal cost share/match).

c. EPA Key Contacts Form 5700-54.

Complete the form. Attach additional forms as needed.

d. EPA Form 4700-4, Pre-Award Compliance Review Report.

Complete the form. There are no attachments.

e. Project Narrative.

See Section IV.C.2 (Project Narrative) for details on specific information that must be included. When developing the Project Narrative, applicants should refer to Section I.B of the announcement.

Optional Documents:

f. Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (Use Other Attachments Form)

Complete this form if indirect costs are included in the proposed project budget. You must submit a copy of your organization’s Indirect Cost Rate Agreement as part of the application package if your proposed project budget includes indirect costs.

g. Biographical Sketches (Use Other Attachments Form found in Optional Documents section) Submit a biographical sketch of each major project manager, support staff member, or other major project participant.

h. Letters of Support. (Use Other Attachments Form) Applicants may provide up to 10 letters of support from potential recipients of technical assistance to demonstrate that the applicant’s proposed approach is responsive to the potential recipients’ needs. To ensure that the Agency can efficiently evaluate these letters of support, EPA will only consider letters that are included with the application itself. Letters of support (up to 10 maximum) do not count against the 12-page limit on the Project Narrative.

2. Project Narrative Note: The Project Narrative must include sections A-E below. The Project Narrative is limited to no more than twelve (12) typewritten single-spaced 8.5 x 11 -inch pages (a page is https://www.dnb.com/ one side of paper) (except for documents specifically excluded from the page limit as noted below). Pages should be consecutively numbered for ease of reading. It is recommended that applicants use a standard 12-point type with 1-inch margins. While these guidelines establish the minimum type size recommended, applicants are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in selection of anappropriate font for use in the project narrative. Additional pages beyond the 12 -page limit will not be considered.

Supporting materials (such as letters of support from potential partners and annotated resumes) are not included within the page limit for the project narrative. Any documentation pertaining to Quality Assurance/Quality Controland Invasive Species Control is also not included in the page limit for the project narrative.

The Project Narrative must be typewritten and must include the information listed below in items A-E and address the evaluation criteria in Section V. If a particular item is not applicable, clearly state this in the Project Narrative.

A. Cover Page (included in the 12-page limit) including:

a. Project title;

b. Name of applicant;

c. List of all potential partners…