EPA R10 P2 2017 SRA RFP FINAL.pdf

FEDERAL AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10, Office of Air and Waste, Pollution

Prevention Program

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE: FY 2017 Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program for Region 10

STATUTORY AUTHORITIES: Clean Air Act, Section 103(b)(3), as amended; Clean Water Act, Section 104(b)(3), as amended; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20, as amended; Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442 (a)(1) and (c), as amended; Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001(a), as amended; and Toxic

Substances Control Act, Section 10, as amended.

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Request for Proposals (RFP)

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER: 66.717

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: EPA-Region10-P2-2017-001

SUBMISSION DATE: Proposals are due no later than Wednesday July 26, 2017, 11:59 Eastern Daylight Time.

Proposals will be date and time stamped. EPA will receive proposals electronically through Grants.gov. Refer to

Section IV for full information on the submission process. Proposals must be submitted on time in-order to be considered for funding.

SUMMARY OF ANNOUNCEMENT

The EPA Region 10 Pollution Prevention Program is announcing a grant competition for Source Reduction

Assistance (SRA) awards. EPA Region 10 anticipates awarding approximately $95,000 in federal grant funding to support SRA agreements. These will be offered as grants and/or cooperative agreements.1 The Region is interested in receiving proposals that offer practical pollution prevention (P2)/source reduction tools, approaches or actions to measurably improve the environmental footprints of businesses, municipal governments, and/or local communities. Proposals that principally support recycling, clean-up, treatment, disposal, and/or energy recovery efforts (e.g., incinerating solid waste to generate electricity) will not be considered for funding. As authorized under the statutory authorities for this grant program, proposals must carry out project activities using one or more of the following methods – surveys, studies, research, investigation, experimentation, education, training, and/or demonstrations. Projects must provide P2 benefits and services in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and/or on Tribal Lands in these four states. Projects must address at least one of the emphasis areas: 1) Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation, 2) Food

Manufacturing and Processing and/or 3) State or Community Approaches to Hazardous Materials Source

Reduction (see Section I.B of this announcement for details).

Eligible applicants include any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto

Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any agency or instrumentally thereof exclusive of local governments (includes public institutions of higher education and hospitals), city or township governments, independent school district governments, state controlled institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations (other than institutions of higher education), private institutions of higher education, community-based grassroots organizations, and federally-recognized tribes and intertribal consortia.

1 All funding estimates are subject to Congressional appropriation.

Table of Contents

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER

SUMMARY OF ANNOUNCEMENT

FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

Section II. Award Information

Section III. Eligibility

Section IV. Proposal and Submission Information

Section V. Proposal Review Information

Section VI. Award Administration Information

Section VII. Agency Contacts

APPENDIX A: P2 Project Examples

APPENDIX B: Guidance for Criterion on Environmental Results and Measurement

APPENDIX C: Project Timeline Samples

APPENDIX D: Itemized Budget Detail Guidance and Sample

FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

Programmatic Description: The EPA Region 10 Pollution Prevention Program is announcing a grant competition for Source Reduction Assistance (SRA) awards. Region 10 anticipates awarding approximately $95,000 in

Federal grant funding to support SRA awards. Awards will be offered as grants and/or cooperative agreements.

We anticipate that projects will take no more than 2 years to complete. Region 10 looks forward to reviewing substantive proposals that adopt new, or expand existing, environmental strategies or solutions that will reduce or eliminate pollution from air, water, and/or land.

A. Program Elements:

1. EPA Statutory Authorities for SRA Awards: SRA grants and cooperative agreements are awarded under the following EPA statutory authorities: Clean Air Act, Section 103(b)(3), as amended;

Clean Water Act, Section 104(b)(3), as amended; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20, as amended; Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442 (a)(1) and (c), as amended; Solid Waste

Disposal Act, Section 8001(a), as amended; and Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10, as amended.

All proposal activities must be applicable under at least one of these statutory authorities.

Note: SRA assistance agreements must carry out activities within the terms of EPA’s statutory authorities. The statutes authorize the agency to award grants or cooperative agreements using methods of: research, investigations, experiments, education, training, surveys, studies and/or demonstration of innovative techniques. SRA assistance agreement activities must relate to gathering or transferring information or advancing awareness. Proposals must emphasize this “learning” concept, as opposed to “fixing” an environmental problem using a well-established method. Examples of unacceptable grant proposals involve: recycling, treatment, clean-up, disposal and/or energy recovery projects. In addition, demonstrations of P2 practices must involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, where the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or 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. Section III.B. sets forth the RFP requirements for proposed demonstration projects.

2. How is Pollution Prevention and Source Reduction Defined? Pollution prevention (P2) means

"source reduction," as defined under the Pollution Prevention Act and refers to practices that reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants through increased efficiency in the use of raw materials, energy, water, or other resources; or protection of natural resources using conservation methods. Reducing the amount of pollution produced means less waste to control, treat, or dispose. Less pollution means less hazards posed to public health and the environment. For purposes of this announcement, P2 does not include any practice which alters the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics or the volume of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant through a process or activity which itself is not integral to and necessary to produce a product or the providing of a service. Recycling of discarded materials cannot serve as a basis for SRA grant funding and is more suited to grants awarded by EPA’s Office of

Resource Conservation and Recovery.

3. Examples of P2: General methods for carrying out P2 activities include, but are not limited to:

1) motivating businesses to reconsider their manufacturing, supply-chain, or sale operations and adopt environment-friendly P2 approaches or tools, 2) growing or enhancing state or community-based P2 projects or programs to help area businesses decrease their environmental footprints, 3) providing robust P2 training or partnerships that produce significant P2 outcomes.

4. Expected Environmental Outcomes and Outputs: As directed under EPA’s Environmental

Results Policy Order, 5700.7A1, applicants are required to provide qualitative and quantitative estimates of expected outcomes and outputs of SRA grant project activities and provide a plan for tracking and measuring progress towards achieving these results. Proposals must include a plan to document expected outcomes and results at the facility or entity level. Guidance for Addressing Environmental

Results and Measurement is offered in Appendix B.

Example output measures may include number of: technical assistance visits/assessments; workshops, training and courses conducted; stakeholder groups involved in a process; fact sheets developed and/or distributed; and/or the degree of behavior change among participants.

Outcomes should include the four EPA P2 program measures:

• Reductions in pounds of hazardous material inputs and of hazardous pollutants released to air, water, and land;

• Reductions in greenhouse gas releases (measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent

(MTCO2e);

• Reductions in gallons of water used; and

• Dollars of cost savings associated with reducing hazardous pounds, MTCO2e and water usage.

5. Linkage to EPA’s Strategic Plan: Applicants are required to commit to working towards the five long-term P2 targets provided in the Agency’s FY 2014-2018 Strategic Plan. The P2 Program’s targets are located under Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution, Objective 4.2: Promote

Pollution Prevention.

Strategic measures:

By 2018, reduce 600 million pounds of hazardous materials cumulatively through P2.

By 2018, reduce 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2Eq.) cumulatively through P2.

By 2018, reduce 6.9 billion gallons of water use cumulatively through P2.

By 2018, save $1.3 billion in business, institutional, and government costs cumulatively through

P2 improvements.

By 2018, increase the number of safer chemicals and safer chemical products cumulatively by

1,900.2

2 This strategic goal is recognized by EPA’s Safer Choice Program.

http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-solid-waste-and-emergency-response-oswer#orcr http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-solid-waste-and-emergency-response-oswer#orcr

To view the Plan, click here: EPA's FY 2014-2018 Strategic Plan. Refer to pp. 35-36 and p.72 for information related to P2.

B. Scope of Work and Project Emphasis Areas

Region 10 is interested in receiving proposals that offer practical P2/source reduction tools, approaches, and actions that lead to measurable improvements in the environmental footprints of businesses, municipal governments, and/or local communities. Projects must provide P2 benefits and services in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and/or on Tribal Lands in these four states. We seek proposals for projects that address at least one of these areas:

Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation: Projects that are designed to achieve significant reductions in energy use and /or water consumption through technical assistance to businesses.

Food Manufacturing and Processing: Projects that support P2 practices in food manufacturing and processing and achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and/or hazardous materials generation and use.

State or Community Approaches to Hazardous Materials Source Reduction: P2 projects which support state or community-based approaches to hazardous materials source reduction activities that result in reduced generation and use of hazardous materials.3

Projects may support existing P2 technical assistance programs, provide direct P2 source reduction assistance, and/or support specific P2 technical assistance programs such as Lean/Green projects, E3 projects, and/or Green

Chemistry/Alternatives Assessments. Projects that support the replication of successful P2 projects and efforts are encouraged. Projects which provide broad geographic coverage of Region 10 states and Tribal lands are encouraged and preferred.

3 The term community defined under this emphasis area draws from the Agency’s cross-agency strategy action plan on communities. For more information, click on: http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-12/documents/fy16-communities-action-plan.pdf.

http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-09/documents/epa_strategic_plan_fy14-18.pdf

Section II. Award Information

A. Number of Expected Awards and Funding Amounts: SRA awards will be issued in the form of grants and/or cooperative agreements. If a cooperative agreement is awarded, the degree of involvement will be determined by the Region. Region 10 will have approximately $95,000 in total award funding. It is anticipated that awards will be issued in the range of approximately $25,000 to $95,000. It is anticipated that the Region will issue between one and two awards. Region 10 anticipates final funding decisions will be made 60 days after the post date of this announcement. Consistent with Agency policy, Region 10 reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than six (6) months from the date of the original selections. Region 10 also reserves the right to reject all proposals and issue no awards under this announcement, or issue fewer awards than anticipated.

B. Funding Types: SRA grants will be issued in the form of grants and/or cooperative agreements under the statutory authorities noted in Section I.B.1.

Grants: An award of financial assistance by the federal government to an eligible recipient in the form of money, property or in-kind assistance (in lieu of money) by the federal government to an eligible recipient. The term does not include: technical assistance from federal employees or contractors or other assistance in the form of revenue sharing, loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, insurance, or direct appropriations. Also, the term does not include assistance, such as a fellowship or another lump sum award, which the recipient is not required to account for. The Region will not be substantially involved in the performance of grants.

Cooperative agreements: These types of agreements permit substantial involvement between the EPA Regional

Project Officer and the selected applicants in the performance of the work supported. Although EPA will negotiate precise terms and conditions relating to substantial involvement as part of the award process. If a cooperative agreement is awarded EPA will have substantial technical interaction with the grant recipient. EPA will:

• Review and approve project phases;

• Review proposed work of sub-grantees and contractors collaborating with the recipient;

• Review and approve proposed procurements in accordance with 2 CFR 200.317 and 2 CFR

200.318;

• Monitor the operation of the projects;

• Approve qualifications of key personnel; (EPA will not select employees or contractors employed by the award recipient);

• Closely monitor the recipient's performance;

• Approve any proposed changes to the work plan and/or budget; and

• Review and comment on tasks or deliverables and reports or publications prepared under the cooperative agreement. (The final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient).

C. Partial Funding: In appropriate circumstances, Region 10 may partially fund proposals by funding discrete activities, portions, or phases of a proposal. Partially funded proposals will be done in a manner that will not prejudice any applicant or affect the basis upon which a proposal or a portion thereof will be evaluated or selected for an award and therefore maintain the integrity of the competition, evaluation and selection process.

Section III. Eligibility

A. Eligible Applicants. Eligible applicants include any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the

Northern Mariana Islands, and any agency or instrumentally thereof exclusive of local governments (includes public institutions of higher education and hospitals), city or township governments, independent school district governments, state controlled institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations (other than institutions of higher education), private institutions of higher education, community-based grassroots organizations, and federally-recognized tribes and intertribal consortia. Individuals, private business/entrepreneurs, and 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 for funding under this announcement.

B. Cost Sharing and Matching Requirements: SRA grant recipients, as required by the P2 Program, must provide at least a 5 percent match of the total allowable project cost. For example, the federal government will provide 95 percent of the total allowable project cost and the recipient will provide the remaining 5 percent.

Cost sharing and matching contributions may include dollars, in-kind goods and services (such as volunteered time, photocopying and printing services, etc.) and/or third party contributions consistent with 2 CFR 200.306.

In the budget, the use of the matching funds must be documented. Note: The match requirement may be applied at the time of award or at specified intervals during the project period. The grant applicant must document in the budget the type of match to be applied and how it will be used. The grant project officer in the

Region will monitor the grant recipient’s compliance. If the match requirement is not met or is not applied at specified intervals during the project period, federal funding will cease and the recipient may be subject to an enforcement action, whereby EPA may, for example, disallow costs.4

C. Threshold Eligibility Requirements: Proposals must meet the threshold eligibility requirements provided below at the time of submission to be considered for funding. 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.

Proposals must include the following items to be eligible for review under Section V.

1. Proposals must address one or more of the P2 Project emphasis areas (Section I.B);

2. Proposals must include projects that provide P2 benefits and services in one or more of the EPA Region

10 geographic areas which includes Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and/or on Tribal Lands in these four states.

3. Proposals must be from an eligible applicant as defined in Section III.A and the funding period must be as specified in Section II.A;

4 For additional information on cost share and matching requirements, refer to 2 CFR 200.306

4. SRA assistance agreements must carry out activities within the terms of EPA’s statutory authorities. The statutes authorize the agency to award grants or cooperative agreements using methods of: research, investigations, experiments, education, training, surveys, studies and/or demonstration of innovative techniques. SRA assistance agreement activities must relate to gathering or transferring information or advancing awareness. Proposals must emphasize this “learning” concept, as opposed to “fixing” an environmental problem using a well-established method.

5. For projects that will support demonstration activity, the project must involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, where the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not a demonstration. The applicant must clearly explain in the proposal how the P2 technologies, methods, or approaches used are new or experimental and how the project otherwise meets the requirements of a demonstration as described in this RFP. If your project uses technologies, methods or approaches that have been used previously in other geographic areas and/or business sectors, then your proposal must include an explanation as to how your demonstration project is different from such prior projects and is a true demonstration. The applicant must also explain what will be learned in the industry from the demonstration project. If your project is truly a demonstration and complies with other eligibility factors, then it will be considered for funding.

6. Proposals that principally support recycling, clean-up, treatment, disposal and/or energy recovery efforts (e.g., incinerating solid waste to generate electricity) will not be considered for funding.

7. Proposal packages must substantially comply with the submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement to be considered for funding or else they will be rejected.

However, pages in excess of the page limit in Section IV.C.3 will not be reviewed.

8. In addition, initial proposals must be submitted through Grants.gov as stated in Section IV of this announcement (except in the limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically allowed for as explained in Section IV) on or before the proposal submission deadline published in

Section IV of this announcement. Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in

Section IV of this announcement to ensure that their proposal is timely submitted.

9. Proposals submitted after the submission deadline will be considered late and deemed ineligible without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was late due to EPA mishandling or because of technical problems associated with Grants.gov or relevant SAM.gov system issues. An applicant’s failure to timely submit their proposal 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 inform Robert Drake (drake.robert@epa.gov, 206.553.4803) as soon as possible after grants.gov confirms the receipt of their proposal. This courtesy notice will help ensure that the proposal was properly submitted in the system.

https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ mailto:drake.robert@epa.gov

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

11. All proposed activities must be applicable under at least one of these Statutory authorities: Clean Air

Act, Section 103(b)(3), as amended; Clean Water Act, Section 104(b)(3), as amended; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20, as amended; Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442 (a)(1) and (c), as amended; Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001(a), as amended; and Toxic Substances

Control Act, Section 10, as amended.

Section IV. Proposal and Submission Information

A. Submission Deadline: Proposals are due no later than Wednesday July 26, 2017,11:59 Eastern Daylight

Time (EDT). Proposals will be date and time stamped. EPA will receive proposals electronically through

Grants.gov. Refer to Section IV for full information on the submission process. Proposals must be submitted on time in-order to be considered for funding.

B. Requirement to Submit Proposals through Grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures: Applicants, except as noted below, must apply for SRA grant funding electronically through Grants.gov based on the

Grants.gov instructions in this announcement. If an applicant does not have the technical capability to apply electronically through Grants.gov because of: 1) limited or 2) no Internet access which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials to Grants.gov, the applicant must send an email to

OGDWaivers@epa.gov or send a letter to the address offered below at least 15 calendar days prior to the submission deadline under this announcement to request approval to submit their application materials through an alternate method.

Mailing Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Barbara Perkins USEPA Headquarters William Jefferson Clinton Building 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Mail Code: 3903R Washington, DC 20004

Courier Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Barbara Perkins Ronald Reagan Building 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Rm # 51267 Washington, DC 20460

In the request, the applicant must include the following information:

Funding Opportunity Number (FON) – EPA-Region10-P2-2017-001;

Organization’s Name and DUNS Number;

Organization’s Contact Information (email address and phone number); and

Explanation of why the applicant lacks the technical capability to apply electronically through Grants.gov because of: 1) limited Internet access or 2) no Internet access, which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials through Grants.gov.

EPA will respond and only consider an alternate submission exception request based on the two reasons stated.

All other requests will be denied. If an alternate submission method is approved, the applicant will receive documentation of the approval and further instructions on how to apply under this announcement. The applicant will be required to submit the documentation of approval with any initial application submitted under the alternative method. In addition, any submittal through an alternative method must comply with all applicable requirements and deadlines under this announcement including the submission deadline and requirements regarding proposal content and page limits (note: the documentation of approval of an alternate submission method will not count toward page limits).

If an alternate submission exception is granted, it is valid for submissions to EPA for the remainder of the entire calendar year in which the exception was approved and can be used to justify alternative submission methods for application submissions made through December 31 of the calendar year in which the exception was approved (e.g., if the exception was approved on March 1, 2016, it is valid for any competitive or non-competitive application submission to EPA through December 31, 2016). Applicants need only request an exception once in a calendar year and all exceptions will expire on December 31 of that calendar year.

Applicants must request a new exception from required electronic submission through Grants.gov for submissions for any succeeding calendar year. For example, if there is a competitive opportunity issued on

December 1, 2016 with a submission deadline of January 15, 2017, the applicant would need a new exception to submit through alternative methods beginning January 1, 2017.

Note: The process described in this section is only for requesting alternate submission methods. All other inquiries about this announcement must be directed to the Regional contact listed in Section VII. Queries or requests submitted to the email address identified above for reasons other than to request an alternate submission method will not be acknowledged or answered.

C. Grants.gov 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 to apply through grants.gov, go to http://www.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 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 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 number assignment is FREE.

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

Additionally, the DUNS number 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, go to Grants.gov and click on “Applicants” on the top of the page and then

“Apply for Grants” from the drop-down menu and then follow the instructions.

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 Software Compatibility.

You may also be able to access the SRA grant proposal package by searching for the funding 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-Region10-P2-2017-001, or the CFDA number – CFDA 66.717, in the appropriate field and click the Search button.

Application Submission Deadline: Your organization’s AOR must submit your complete application package electronically to EPA through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) no later than Wednesday July 26, 2017, 11:59

Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Please allow enough time to successfully submit your application. Early submittal is encouraged to allow for unexpected errors that may require you to resubmit.

Applicants are to submit all proposal materials described below using the Grants.gov application package download and using the instructions above. For additional instructions on completing and submitting the package, click on the “Show Instructions” tab. The materials numbered 1 – 4 below are to be submitted with the proposal to receive funding consideration.

Note: Only the Proposal (item #3) will count toward the 11 single-sided page limit (Section IV.C.4). Please load materials using the instructions provided on Grants.gov.

1. Application for Federal Assistance Form (Standard Form (SF)-424): When filling out this form, applicants must provide a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number.

Applicants can receive a DUNS number, at no cost, by calling the toll-free DUNS Number request line at

1-866-705-5711, or visiting the D&B website: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform.

2. Key Contacts Form (5700-54): Please identify key personnel who will file and manage the paperwork, fund activities and direct the proposal.

3. Proposal. Submit using the project narrative attachment form in grants.gov.: The proposal must include a cover page and address all the evaluation criteria in Section V (see Section V for details and the items listed below) and relevant eligibility criteria in Section III. The proposal must also address the requirements in Section I.B. The proposal is subject to a 11-page limit-excess pages will not be reviewed.

Cover Page will include:

a. Grant Name and Funding Opportunity Number;

b. Title of proposal;

c. Short description of proposal;

d. Total funding of project and Requested funding of project;

e. Contact information (i.e., name of applicant, name of organization, mailing address, phone number, fax number, and email address); and

f. System for Award Management Registration Date (refer to Section IV.F).

g. Applicant’s DUNS number (see point 2 below for more information).

Evaluation criteria (see Section V for more information)

a. Programmatic Capability and Past Performance- Submit a list of federally funded assistance agreements (assistance agreements include Federal grants and cooperative agreements but not Federal contracts) similar in size, scope and relevance to the proposed project that your organization performed within the last three years (no more than 5 agreements, and preferably EPA agreements) and describe (i) whether, and how, you were able to successfully complete and manage those agreements and (ii) your history of meeting the reporting requirements under those agreements including whether you adequately and timely reported on your progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes of those agreements

(and if not, explain why not) and whether you submitted acceptable final technical reports under the agreements. In evaluating applicants under these factors in Section

V, EPA will consider the information provided by the applicant and may also consider relevant information from other sources, including information from EPA files and from current/prior grantors (e.g., to verify and/or supplement the information provided by the applicant). If you do not have any relevant or available past performance or past reporting information, please indicate this in the proposal and you will receive a neutral score for these factors (a neutral score is half of the total points available in a subset of possible points). If you do not provide any response for these items, you may receive a score of 0 for these factors.

In addition, provide information on your organizational experience and plan for timely and successfully achieving the objectives of the proposed project, and your staff expertise/qualifications, staff knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project.

b. Project Strategy and Technical Assistance / Training Approaches.

c. Environmental and Human Health Concerns.

d. Environmental Results and Measurements.

e. Partnerships

f. Transferability

g. Timeline

h. Budget

4. Letters of Support: Letters of Support are to describe the service(s) the grant partner(s) will provide to help carry out and enhance the project activity- use the other attachments form in grants.gov to submit.

D. 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 are not 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 or a revised application needs to be submitted.

2. Submitting the application. The application package must be transferred to Grants.gov by an

AOR (see Section 4.C for information about an AOR). The AOR should close all other software before attempting to submit 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 allow sufficient time to ensure that your application is submitted to Grants.gov BEFORE the due date identified in Section IV of this announcement. The Grants.gov support desk operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except Federal Holidays. A successful transfer will end with an onscreen acknowledgement. For documentation purposes, print or screen capture the 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 does not resolve the problem to ensure the application is submitted to Grants.gov by the deadline date and time, follow the guidance below.

The Agency will decide concerning acceptance of each late submission on a case-by-case basis. All emails, as described below, are to be sent to Robert Drake (drake.robert@epa.gov) with the Funding

Opportunity Number (FON) in the subject line. If you are unable to send an email, contact Robert Drake at 206-553-4803. Be aware that EPA will only consider applications that were unable to transmit due to

Grants.gov or relevant www.Sam.gov system issues or for unforeseen exigent circumstances, such as extreme weather interfering with Internet access. Failure of an applicant to submit a proposal in a timely manner 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 application to

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 of submittal 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 Robert Drake at 206- 553-4803.

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, email Robert Drake

(drake.robert@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 promptly email, Robert Drake (drake.robert@epa.gov) with the FON in the subject line within 1

(one) business day of the closing date of this announcement. The email should include any materials provided by Grants.gov and attach the entire application in PDF format.

F. Additional Solicitation Clauses Pertaining to Proposals and Submission Information Additional provisions that apply to this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation, including but not limited to those related to confidential business information, contracts and sub awards under grants, and proposal assistance and communications, can be found at EPA Solicitation Clauses (https://www.epa.goov/grants/epa-solicitations-clauses). These, and the other provisions that can be found at the website link, are important, and applicants must review them when preparing proposals for this solicitation. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please communicate with the EPA contact listed in this solicitation to obtain the provisions.

http://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses https://www.epa.goov/grants/epa-solicitations-clauses

Section V. Proposal Review Information Only eligible applicants with proposals that meet the threshold eligibility criteria in Section III of this announcement will be reviewed based upon the evaluation criterion provided below. Each proposal will be rated using the points-scale system offered below. The maximum number of total points possible is 100 points.

Evaluation Criteria

Description Points

Programmatic Capability and

Past Performance*

12 points

Applicants will be evaluated based on their ability to successfully complete and manage the proposed project considering the applicant’s:

a) Past performance in successfully completing and managing the assistance agreements identified in response to Section IV of the announcement.

b) History of meeting the reporting requirements under the assistance agreements identified in response to Section IV of the announcement including whether the applicant submitted acceptable final technical reports under those agreements and the extent to which the applicant adequately and timely reported on their progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes under those agreements and if such progress was not being made whether the applicant adequately reported why not.

c) Organizational experience and plan for timely and successfully achieving the objectives of the proposed project,

d) Staff expertise/qualifications, staff knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project.

* Note: In evaluating applicants under items a) and b) of this criterion, the Agency will consider the information provided by the applicant and may also consider relevant information from other sources including agency files and prior/current grantors (e.g., to verify and/or supplement the information supplied by the applicant). If you do not have any relevant or available past performance or past reporting information, please indicate this in the proposal and you will receive a neutral score for these sub factors (items a and b above-a neutral score is half of the total points available in a subset of possible points). If you do not provide any response for these items, you may receive a score of 0 for these factors.

Project Strategy & Technical Assistance/

Training Approaches

22 points

Proposals will be evaluated based on the extent and quality to which applicants:

a) Describe staff roles and responsibilities for carrying out the project strategy under one or more of the P2 project emphasis areas identified in Section I.B. 8

b) Describe a well-conceived strategy for using P2 to conduct surveys, studies, research, investigation, experimentation, education, training and/or demonstrations involving P2 practices to achieve anticipated results associated with the project.

Description should describe the geographic coverage of the project. Projects that reach a larger group or area of participation are preferred.

Environmental/

Human Health

Concerns

14 points

Proposals will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which applicants describe significant environmental and/or human health concerns that the project is designed to address, and identify how these relate to Region 10.

Environmental

Results and

Measurement

Proposals will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which:

a) Applicants provide qualitative and quantitative estimates of expected outcomes and outputs 6

20 points b) Applicants provide a plan for tracking and measuring their progress toward achieving the expected project outputs and outcomes including those identified in section 1.A.4 of this RFP.

Specifically, for expected environmental outcomes, the plan should address how the applicant will document results at the facility or entity level and tie them to the activities carried out.

Refer to Appendix B.*

Partnerships

8 points

Proposals will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which applicants describe a plan for engaging partners with respect to the design and performance of the project and obtaining support from project partners to more effectively perform the project and build long-term capacity to continue the project. Applicants that do not plan on partnering with other groups in the performance of the project will be evaluated based on the extent to which they demonstrate how they will be able to effectively perform and complete the project without such partnership.

Transferability

12 points

Proposals will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which:

a) Applicants describe a plan for how project deliverables (e.g., toolkits, assessment checklists, training modules, newsletters, smart phone apps, etc.), approaches, and lessons learned (e.g., insights, challenges, successes, recommendations, etc.) will be packaged and/or promoted to engage other entities that access the material during and after the grant period. Other entities may involve States, Tribes, technical assistance providers, businesses, communities, nonprofit organizations, etc.

b) Applicants explain how partners or other stakeholders, or the applicant itself if there are no partners, will deploy project results during and after the grant period. 6

Timeline

6 points

Proposals will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which applicants set forth a reasonable time schedule for executing tasks associated with the project. The timeline should include a breakout of project tasks, anticipated dates (from start to completion of each task), milestone markers, and a brief explanation for achieving project goals and objectives by the end of the project. The goals should reference technical assistance and/or training and environmental data collection activities. Refer to Appendix D.

Budget 6 points

Proposals will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which applicants describe and show a budget plan that includes:

estimated costs for each project task and category (e.g., labor, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contractors, other direct costs and indirect costs). Applicants should itemize the costs associated under each project and should identify activities (and corresponding estimated costs) covered by the match requirement. Examples are presented in Appendix D.

B. Review and Selection Process:

1. Eligible proposals will be reviewed by a Region 10 review panel. The review panel will be composed of P2 program staff and may include staff from other EPA programs. Evaluations will be based on the evaluation criteria and point scoring noted in Section V and a ranking list and selection recommendations will be provided to the Region 10 selection official for the final funding decisions.

2. Final Funding Decision: The Region 10 Selection Official (Director of the Office of Air and Waste) will make the final funding decisions based on evaluation rankings and preliminary recommendations of the review panel. In making final funding decisions, the Selection Official may also consider geographic diversity of awards. Once final decisions have been made, funding recommendations will be forwarded to EPA’s Award Official. Region 10 anticipates final funding decisions will be made before September 30, 2017.

Additional Provisions Incorporated by Reference

Additional provisions that apply to this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation including the clause on Reporting and Use of Information Concerning Recipient Integrity and Performance can be found on the EPA Solicitation Clauses page (https://www.epa.goov/grants/epa-solicitations-clauses).

These, and the other provisions that can be found at the website link, are important, and applicants must review them when preparing proposals for this solicitation. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please communicate with the EPA contact listed in this solicitation to obtain the provisions.

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

Section VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notification: EPA anticipates notification to successful applicants will be made via telephone or electronic or postal mail by August 31, 2017. The notification will be sent to the original signer of the proposal or the project contact listed in the proposal. This notification, which informs the applicant that its proposal has been selected and is being recommended for award, is not an authorization to begin work. The official notification of an award will be made by September 30, 2017. Applicants are cautioned that only a grants officer is authorized to bind the Government to the expenditure of funds; selection does not guarantee an award will be made. For example, statutory authorization, funding or other issues discovered during the award process may affect the ability of EPA to make an award to an applicant. The award notice, signed by an EPA grants officer, is the authorizing document and will be provided through electronic or postal mail. The successful applicant may need to prepare and submit additional documents and forms (e.g., work plan), which must be approved by EPA, before the grant can officially be awarded. The time between notification of selection and award of a grant can take up to 90 days or longer.

B. Submission Requirements:

1. Federal Requirements: If an applicant’s proposal shows merit for federal funding, the applicant will be contacted by the Region and instructed to submit required application forms. All application forms must be filled out in their entirety, prior to being considered for an award (refer to 2 CFR Part 200, as applicable). Successful applicants will be required to certify that they have not been debarred or suspended from participation in federal assistance awards in accordance with 2 CFR Part 108.

C. Administrative Requirements:

1. Award Management: Awards will be managed by Region 10.

2. Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC): Certain quality assurance and/or quality control (QA/QC) and peer review requirements are applicable to the collection of environmental data.

Environmental data are any measurements or information that describe environmental processes, location, or conditions; ecological or health effects and consequences; or the performance of environmental technology.