EPA-R2LCRD-SMMS-2023-1.pdf

AGENCY: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

TITLE: SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT GRANTS

ACTION: REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA)

RFA NUMBER: EPA-R2LCRD-SMMS-2023-1

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NO.: 66.808

DATES: The closing date and time for the receipt of applications is September 15, 2023, by 11:59 pm, Eastern Time (ET) in order to be considered for funding. Application packages must be submitted electronically to Grants.gov on or before this date and time in order to be considered for funding. See Section III (C)(2) for more details about the deadline and Section IV(B) for submission instructions.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits applications that support the EPA Sustainable Materials Management Program, for the benefit of States or communities within EPA Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and eight Indian Nations). Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources and environmental protection. By looking at a product's entire life cycle, we can find new opportunities to reduce environmental impacts, conserve resources and reduce costs. Specifically, this RFA addresses the following programmatic priorities: Sustainable Management of Food, and Sustainable Packaging.

FUNDING/AWARDS: The total funding for this competitive opportunity shall not exceed $200,000. EPA anticipates awarding between one and four assistance agreements from this announcement, subject to the availability of funds, the quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards.

IMPORTANT DATES:

07/25/23 Issuance of RFA 09/15/23 Application submission deadline (See Section IV.B) 10/13/23 Approximate date for EPA to notify applicants of results 12/15/23 Approximate date of award

CONTENTS BY SECTION:

I. Funding Opportunity Description II. Award Information III. Eligibility Information https://www.grants.gov/

IV. Application and Submission Information V. Application Review Information VI. Award Administration Information VII. Agency Contact

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Background

Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources and environmental protection. By examining how materials are used throughout their life cycle, an SMM approach seeks to:

• Use materials in the most productive way with an emphasis on consuming less;

• Reduce toxic chemicals and environmental impacts throughout the material life cycle;

• Assure we have sufficient resources to meet today’s needs and those of the future.

How our society uses materials is fundamental to our economic and environmental future. Global competition for finite resources will intensify as world population and economies continue to grow. More productive and less impactful use of materials helps our society remain economically competitive, contributes to our prosperity and protects the environment in a resource-constrained future.

U.S. and global consumption of materials increased rapidly during the last century. According to the Annex to the G7 Leaders’ June 8, 2015 Declaration, global raw material use rose during the 20th century at about twice the rate of population growth. For every 1 percent increase in gross domestic product, raw material use has risen by 0.4 percent. This increasing consumption has come at a cost to the environment, including habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, overly stressed fisheries and desertification. Materials management is also associated with an estimated 42 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Failure to find more productive and sustainable ways to extract, use and manage materials, and change the relationship between material consumption and growth, has grave implications for our economy and society.

EPA’s National Program Manager Guidance for the Office of Land and Emergency Management represents the collective thinking of EPA staff and management across the country, and includes stakeholder input from states, industry and nongovernmental organizations. This announcement focuses on the following two strategic priority areas of EPA Region 2 SMM efforts:

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/08/annex-g-7-leaders-declaration https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-08/fy-2023-2024-olem-npg.pdf

1. Sustainable Food Management (SFM) – SFM focusses on reducing food loss and waste and diverting food from the landfill according to EPA’s Food Waste Reduction Hierarchy, found at: https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy. Source Reduction, otherwise known as waste prevention, is at the top of the hierarchy, followed by donation, industrial applications, and composting. This solicitation is open to projects focusing on source reduction strategies; i.e., this RFA solicits applications focused on preventing waste before it is generated. Even after source reduction strategies are applied, there is nearly always some unavoidable food waste. Including food donation and composting as project components to deal with this unavoidable remainder is acceptable, so long as source reduction is the primary focus of the project.

2. Sustainable Packaging – Together, food and packaging/containers account for almost 45% of the materials landfilled in the United States. Common trash from consumer goods comprises the majority of what eventually becomes marine debris, polluting waterways and oceans. Plastics in the aquatic environment are of great concern because of their persistence and effects on the environment, wildlife, and human health. Sustainable packaging projects should focus on developing methods to reduce packaging waste and thereby decrease the quantity of materials directed toward the landfill. Simply increasing recycling rates of packaging waste is not an acceptable focus for this RFA. Fundable projects should strive to create lasting change in the community.

Under this RFA, EPA Region 2 is soliciting applications which address one or both of the two above-noted goals of our SMM program. Fundable projects must involve research, investigations, experiments, trainings, demonstrations, surveys, public education programs and/or studies that address strategies to reduce food and/or packaging waste, primarily through source reduction. Laboratory research projects will not be funded. Organizations may submit more than one application as long as each one is separately submitted. Projects must benefit States or communities within EPA Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, eight Indian Nations).

B. Scope of Work

As noted above, applications must address at least one of the SMM Strategic areas listed in Section I.A (Sustainable Food Management or Sustainable Packaging). Applications that do not address at least one of the areas will not be reviewed.

Where feasible and appropriate, applicants should include project plans that address Environmental Justice (EJ) concerns in underserved communities and/or climate change impacts.

Applicants should describe in their application narrative how they will address EJ and climate change impacts in the communities of concern. EPA describes EJ as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental, and commercial operations or policies. Meaningful involvement means people have an opportunity to participate in decisions about activities that may affect their environment and/or health; the public's contribution can influence the regulatory agency's decision; community concerns will be considered in the decision-making process; and decision makers will seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected.

For purposes of this competition and the evaluation of applications, “underserved communities” refers to a community with environmental justice concerns and/or vulnerable populations, including minority, low income, tribal and indigenous populations, and other vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, and those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Climate change poses risks to human health, the environment, cultural resources, the economy, and quality of life. These changes are expected to create further challenges to protecting human health, welfare, and the environment. Under this solicitation applicants should address how climate change impacts may be addressed by the projects described. Climate change refers to any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period. In other words, climate change includes major changes in temperature, precipitation, or wind patterns, among others, that occur over several decades or longer.

C. EPA Strategic Plan Linkage & Anticipated Outcomes, Outputs & Performance Measures

EPA’s FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan is available at https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan

The activities to be funded under this announcement support EPA’s FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan.

Awards made under this announcement must support one or more of the following: Goal 1 (Tackle the Climate Crisis), Objective 1.1 (Reduce Emissions that Cause Climate Change); Goal 4 (Ensure Clean and Healthy Air for All Communities), Objective 4.1 (Improve Air Quality and Reduce Localized Pollution and Health Impacts); Goal 5 (Ensure Clean and Safe Water for All Communities), Objective 5.2 (Protect and Restore Water Bodies and Watersheds); Goal 6 (Safeguard and Revitalize Communities) Objective 6.2 (Reduce Waste and Prevent Environmental Contamination). Specifically, the activities to be funded under this announcement will be linked to EPA’s Strategic Plan consistent with EPA’s current priorities for preventing contamination and helping communities to achieve goals. Applicants must explain in their applications how their project will further one or more of these objectives.

EPA also requires that grant applicants adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements (see EPA Order 5700.7A1, Environmental Results under Assistance Agreements). Applicants must include specific statements describing the 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 environmental results of the proposed project in terms of well-defined outputs and, to the maximum extent practicable, well-defined outcomes that will demonstrate how the project will contribute to the priorities described above.

Outputs. The term “output” means an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product related to an environmental goal and objective that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during an assistance agreement funding period. Examples of expected outputs from the project(s) to be funded under this announcement include the following: meetings, conference calls, training sessions, or other measurable efforts towards an environmental goal. Progress reports and a final report will be a required output, as specified in Section VI (C) of this announcement, “Reporting Requirements.” Applicants must describe their outputs and will be evaluated on their clarity and thoroughness.

Outcomes. The term “outcome” means 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. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related, or programmatic in nature, but must be quantitative. They may not necessarily be achievable within an assistance agreement funding period.

Projects to be funded under this announcement are expected to produce at least one, and preferably all, of the following environmental outcomes: reduction in food and/or packaging waste going to the landfill, conservation of natural resources, conservation of energy, reduced costs, improved air and/or water quality, preserved land. Applicants must describe their outcomes and will be evaluated on their clarity and thoroughness.

The following are questions to consider when developing output and outcome measures of quantitative and qualitative results:

i) What are the measurable short term and longer term results the project will achieve?

ii) How does the plan measure progress in achieving the expected results (including output and outcomes) and how will the approach use resources effectively and efficiently?

Performance Measures. The applicant must also develop performance measures they expect to achieve through the proposed activities and describe them in the application. These performance measures will help gather insights and will be the mechanism to track progress concerning successful process and outcome strategies and will provide the basis for developing lessons to inform future recipients. It is expected that the description of performance measures will include the following: A measure of how much solid waste will be diverted from the landfill, and by what strategy. Other performance measures may also be described.

D. Statutory Authority

The statutory authority for this action is the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), Section 8001(a)(5), 42 U.S.C. Section 6981(a)(5) which authorizes grants to public authorities, agencies, and institutions, private agencies and institutions, and individuals (no profit makers) for purposes which include conducting and promoting the coordination and acceleration of, research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, public education programs and studies relating to the reduction of the amount of solid waste and unsalvageable waste materials.

Applications selected for funding under this solicitation must be consistent with the authorized activities above. Demonstrations 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 considered a demonstration project; such activities are not eligible for funding under this announcement. You must specify how your project fits within the above statutory authority.

Minority Serving Institutions

EPA recognizes that it is important to engage all available minds to address the environmental challenges the nation faces. At the same time, EPA seeks to expand the environmental conversation by including members of communities which may have not previously participated in such dialogues to participate in EPA programs. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages all eligible applicants identified in Section III, including minority serving institutions (MSIs), to apply under this opportunity.

For purposes of this solicitation, the following are considered MSIs:

1. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1061(2)). A list of these schools can be found at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

2. Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059c(b)(3) and (d)(1)). A list of these schools can be found at American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities

3. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1101a(a)(5)). A list of these schools can be found at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

4. Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions; (AANAPISIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059g(b)(2)). A list of these schools can be found at Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions; and https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ https://sites.ed.gov/whiaiane/tribes-tcus/tribal-colleges-and-universities/ https://sites.ed.gov/whiaiane/tribes-tcus/tribal-colleges-and-universities/ https://sites.ed.gov/hispanic-initiative/hispanic-serving-institutions-hsis/ https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1XVkOWKMDORm53pvU0L8EPsrJC94&msa=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&z=3&source=embed&ll=40.58644586187277%2C-148.28228249999984

5. Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act of 2008, 20 U.S.C. 1059e(b)(6). A list of these schools can be found at Predominately Black Institutions

E. Additional Provisions For Applicants Incorporated Into The Solicitation Additional provisions that apply to sections III, IV, V, and VI of this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation, can be found at EPA Solicitation Clauses. These provisions are important for applying to this solicitation and applicants must review them when preparing applications for this solicitation. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please contact the EPA point of contact listed in this solicitation (usually in Section VII) to obtain the provisions.

II. Award Information

A. What is the amount of funding available?

The total estimated funding expected to be available for all awards in this competitive opportunity is $200,000. EPA expects to make between 1-3 awards depending upon the quality of applications submitted.

B. Partial Funding Provision

In appropriate circumstances, EPA reserves the right to partially fund applications by funding discrete portions or phases of proposed projects. 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 was evaluated and selected for award, and therefore maintains the integrity of the competition and selection process.

C. How many agreements will EPA award in this competition?

EPA anticipates award of up to four grant agreements under this announcement with a total combined value of up to $200,000, subject to the availability of funds, quality of evaluated applications, and other applicable considerations. EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards under this announcement. Awards may be fully or incrementally funded, as appropriate, based on funding availability, satisfactory performance, and other applicable considerations. EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy and guidance, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections are made. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than 6 months from the date of the original selection.

EPA Region 2 reserves the right to distribute awards using a geographic criterion. If EPA Region 2 receives multiple high-scoring applications from different parts of the Region (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, eight Indian Nations) and, in the event https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1wlIi3j7gtlNq_w-0NKAb2bF2VmY&ie=UTF&msa=0&ll=37.35160769312532%2C-96.17229800000001&z=4 multiple awards are being made, EPA Region 2 has a preference for making awards distributed across the different parts of the Region. All applications will be reviewed, scored and ranked by score. If applications have very similar scores, EPA Region 2 may pass over a closely ranked applicant in order to ensure geographic distribution of the grant awards.

D. What is the project period for awards resulting from this solicitation?

The estimated project period for the award(s) resulting from this solicitation will begin in January 2024. Proposed project periods will be one year.

E. Funding Type

The funding for the selected project will be in the form of a grant. A grant is an assistance agreement in which the EPA is not substantially involved in carrying out the project.

III. Eligibility Information Note: Additional provisions that apply to this section can be found at EPA Solicitation Clauses.

A. Eligible Entities

Consistent with CFDA No. 66.808, the following entities are eligible to compete under this solicitation: States, local, Tribal, interstate, and intrastate government agencies and instrumentalities, and non-profit organizations that are not 501(c)(4) organizations that lobby, including non-profit educational institutions and non-profit hospitals. Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible.

Consistent with the definition of Nonprofit organization at 2 CFR § 200.1, the term nonprofit organization means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization that is operated mainly for scientific, educational, service, charitable, or similar purpose in the public interest and is not organized primarily for profit; and uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the operation of the organization. The term includes tax-exempt nonprofit neighborhood and labor organizations. Note that 2 CFR 200.1 specifically excludes Institutions of Higher Education from the definition of non-profit organization because they are separately defined in the regulation.

While not considered to be a non-profit organization(s) as redefined by 2 CFR 200.1, public or nonprofit Institutions of Higher Education are, nevertheless, eligible to submit applications under this RFA. Hospitals operated by state, tribal, or local governments or that meet the definition of nonprofit at 2 CFR 200.1 are also eligible to apply as nonprofits or as instrumentalities of the unit of government depending on the applicable law. For-profit colleges, universities, trade schools, and hospitals are ineligible.

Nonprofit organizations that are not exempt from taxation under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code must submit other forms of documentation of nonprofit status; such as certificates of https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses incorporation as nonprofit under state or tribal law. Nonprofit organizations exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that lobby are not eligible for EPA funding as provided in the Lobbying Disclosure Act, 2 U.S.C. 1611.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

This competition does not require matching funds or cost sharing.

C. Threshold Eligibility Criteria

These are requirements that if not met by the time of application submission will result in elimination of the application from consideration for funding. Only applications from eligible entities (see above) that meet all of these criteria will be evaluated against the ranking factors in Section V of this 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. Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or else they will be rejected.

Where a page limit is expressed in Section IV with respect to the narrative proposal, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed. Applicants are advised that reasonability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in application format, including selecting a legible font type and size for use in the application.

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

Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV of this solicitation to ensure that their application is timely submitted. Please note that applicants experiencing technical issues with submitting through Grants.gov should follow the instructions provided in Section IV, which include both the requirement to contact Grants.gov and email a full application to EPA prior to the deadline.

3. Applications submitted outside of Grants.gov will be deemed ineligible without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was due to EPA mishandling or technical problems associated with Grants.gov or SAM.gov. An applicant’s failure to timely submit their 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 submission outside of Grants.gov. Applicants should confirm receipt of their application with Dale Carpenter, carpenter.dale@epa.gov, as https://www.grants.gov/ https://usepa-my.sharepoint.com/personal/guilfoil_michelle_epa_gov/Documents/Michelle's%20Assignments/NOFO%20Review/EPA-R2LCRD-SMMS-2023-1/Grants.gov https://usepa-my.sharepoint.com/personal/guilfoil_michelle_epa_gov/Documents/Michelle's%20Assignments/NOFO%20Review/EPA-R2LCRD-SMMS-2023-1/SAM.gov https://usepa-my.sharepoint.com/personal/guilfoil_michelle_epa_gov/Documents/Michelle's%20Assignments/NOFO%20Review/EPA-R2LCRD-SMMS-2023-1/Grants.gov https://usepa-my.sharepoint.com/personal/guilfoil_michelle_epa_gov/Documents/Michelle's%20Assignments/NOFO%20Review/EPA-R2LCRD-SMMS-2023-1/SAM.gov https://usepa-my.sharepoint.com/personal/guilfoil_michelle_epa_gov/Documents/Michelle's%20Assignments/NOFO%20Review/EPA-R2LCRD-SMMS-2023-1/Grants.gov soon as possible after the submission deadline—failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

4. The applicant must be an eligible entity as described in Section III.A above.

5. Applications must support current administration priorities as described in Section I.C. of this solicitation.

6. All applications must specify and promote one or both of the Sustainable Materials Management program priorities described in Section I.A, that is, either Sustainable Food Management, Sustainable Packaging, or both. In addition, applications must support the top of the waste management hierarchy, that is, source reduction. Other strategies may be supported as well but if source reduction is not fundamental to the project, the project will be rejected.

7. All applications submitted under this solicitation must conduct or promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, public education programs and studies relating to the reduction of the amount of solid waste and unsalvageable waste materials as described in Section I of this announcement. Laboratory research projects will not be funded.

8. Projects that are demonstrations 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 considered a demonstration project.

9. 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. State clearly how your project fits within the statutory authority provided in Section I.D.

10. Applications must be for projects that benefit states or communities within EPA Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and eight Indian Nations).

All applications will be reviewed for eligibility and must meet the eligibility requirements described in Sections III. A., B., and C. to be considered eligible. 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.

Encouraging Minority Serving Institutions to Compete

EPA recognizes that scientific, technical, engineering and mathematical (STEM) competence is essential to the Nation's future well-being in terms of national security and competitive economic advantage. For instance, the health and vitality of the economy is predicated, in part, on the availability of an adequate supply of scientists, technicians, engineers and mathematicians, to develop innovative technologies and solutions. In other words, this country must engage all available minds to address the challenges it faces. Minorities, women, and persons with disabilities historically have been under-represented in the STEM fields. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages all eligible applicants including, women, minorities, and persons with disabilities to apply.

Coalition Coverage

Groups of two or more eligible applicants may choose to form a coalition and submit a single application under this RFA; however, one entity must be responsible for the grant. Coalitions must identify which eligible organization will be the recipient of the grant and which eligible organization(s) will be subrecipients of the recipient (the “pass-through entity”). Subawards must be consistent with the definition of that term in 2 CFR 200.1 and comply with EPA’s Subaward Policy.

The pass-through entity that administers the grant and subawards will be accountable to EPA for proper expenditure of the funds and reporting and will be the point of contact for the coalition. As provided in 2 CFR 200.332, subrecipients are accountable to the pass-through entity for proper use of EPA funding.

For-profit organizations are not eligible for subawards under this grant program but may receive procurement contracts. Any contracts for services or products funded with EPA financial assistance must be awarded under the competitive procurement procedures of 2 CFR Part 200 and/or 2 CFR Part 1500, as applicable. The regulations at 2 CFR 1500.10 contain limitations on the extent to which EPA funds may be used to compensate individual consultants. Refer to the Best Practice Guide for Procuring Services, Supplies, and Equipment Under EPA Assistance Agreements for guidance on competitive procurement requirements and consultant compensation. Do not name a procurement contractor (including a consultant) as a “partner” or otherwise in your application unless the contractor has been selected in compliance with competitive procurement requirements.

IV. Application and Submission Information

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

https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://www.epa.gov/grants/best-practice-guide-procuring-services-supplies-and-equipment-under-epa-assistance https://www.epa.gov/grants/best-practice-guide-procuring-services-supplies-and-equipment-under-epa-assistance

a. Requirements 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 c. Technical Issues with Submission below.

b. Submission Instructions

1. SAM.gov (System for Award Management) Registration Instructions:

Organizations applying to this funding opportunity must have an active SAM.gov registration. If you have never done business with the Federal Government, you will need to register your organization in SAM.gov. If you do not have a SAM.gov account, then you will create an account using login.gov (1) to complete your SAM.gov registration. SAM.gov registration is FREE. The process for entity registrations includes obtaining Unique Entity ID (UEI), a 12-character alphanumeric ID assigned an entity by SAM.gov, and requires assertions, representations and certifications, and other information about your organization. Please review the Entity Registration Checklist for details on this process.

If you have done business with the Federal Government previously, you can check your entity status using your government issued UEI to determine if your registration is active. SAM.gov requires you renew your registration every 365 days to keep it active.

Please note that SAM.gov registration is different than obtaining a UEI only. Obtaining an UEI only validates your organization's legal business name and address. Please review the Frequently Asked Question on the difference for additional details.

Organizations should ensure that their SAM.gov registration includes a current e-Business (EBiz) point of contact name and email address. The EBiz point of contact is critical for Grants.gov Registration and system functionality.

Contact the Federal Service Desk for help with your SAM.gov account, to resolve technical issues or chat with a help desk agent: (866) 606-8220. The Federal Service desk hours of operation are Monday - Friday 8am - 8pm ET.

2. Grants.gov Registration Instructions Once your SAM.gov account is active, you must register in Grants.gov. Grants.gov will electronically receive your organization information, such as e-Business (EBiz) point of contact email address and UEI. Organizations applying to this funding opportunity must have an active Grants.gov registration. Grants.gov registration is FREE. If you have never applied for a federal https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.epa.gov/grants/exceptions-grantsgov-submission-requirement https://login.gov/ https://intranet.epa.gov/ogd/competition/compet/grants_gov_instructions_open_or_simplified_on_after_june_2022.htm#1 https://www.fsd.gov/sys_attachment.do?sys_id=51a2fa061b0bcd500ca4a97ae54bcb18 https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0051214&sys_kb_id=dd40f4ef1b9641d0937fa64ce54bcb7a&spa=1 https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp grant before, please review the Grants.gov Applicant Registration instructions. As part of the Grants.gov registration process, the EBiz point of contact is the only person that can affiliate and assign applicant roles to members of an organization. In addition, at least one person must be assigned as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR). Only person(s) with the AOR role can submit applications in Grants.gov. Please review the Intro to Grants.gov-Understanding User Roles and Learning Workspace - User Roles and Workspace Actions for details on this important process.

Please note that this process can take a month or more for new registrants. 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 application submission deadline.

Contact Grants.gov for assistance at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov to resolve technical issues with Grants.gov. 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. The Grants.gov Support Center is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week, excluding federal holidays.

3. Application Submission Process To begin the application process under this grant announcement, go to Grants.gov and click the red "Apply" button at the top of the view grant opportunity page associated with this opportunity.

The electronic submission of your application to this funding opportunity must be made by an official representative of your organization who is registered with Grants.gov and is authorized to sign applications for Federal financial assistance. If the submit button is grayed out, it may be because you do not have the appropriate role to submit in your organization. Contact your organization's EBiz point of contact or contact Grants.gov for assistance at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov

Applicants need to ensure that the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) who submits the application through Grants.gov and whose UEI is listed on the application is an AOR for the applicant listed on the application. Additionally, the UEI listed on the application must be registered to the applicant organization's SAM.gov account. If not, the application may be deemed ineligible.

4. Application Submission Deadline Your organization's AOR must submit your complete application package electronically to EPA through Grants.gov no later than September 15, 2023 at 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.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/registration.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLxg5Tu3qHA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLxg5Tu3qHA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsPRj4ILn7Y https://gditshared.servicenowservices.com/hhs_grants mailto:support@grants.gov https://www.grants.gov/ https://gditshared.servicenowservices.com/hhs_grants mailto:support@grants.gov

Applications submitted through Grants.gov will be time and date stamped electronically. Please note that successful submission of your application through Grants.gov does not necessarily mean your application is eligible for award. Any application submitted after the application deadline time and date deadline will be deemed ineligible and not be considered.

c. Technical Issues with Submission

If applicants experience technical issues during the submission of an application that they are unable to resolve, follow these procedures before the application deadline date:

1. Contact Grants.gov Support Center before September 15, 2023;

2. Document the Grants.gov ticket/case number.

3. Send an email with EPA-R2LCRD-SMMS-2023-1 in the subject line to Dale Carpenter at carpenter.dale@epa.gov before September 15, 2023 at 11:59 PM and must include the following:

a. Grants.gov ticket/case number(s)

b. Description of the issue

c. The entire application package in PDF format.

Without this information, EPA may not be able to consider applications submitted outside of Grants.gov. Any application submitted after the application deadline time and date deadline will be deemed ineligible and not be considered.

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

EPA will make decisions concerning acceptance of each application submitted outside of Grants.gov on a case-by-case basis. EPA will only consider accepting applications that were unable to submit through Grants.gov 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 prior to the application submission deadline date because they did not properly or timely register in SAM.gov or Grants.gov is not an acceptable reason to justify acceptance of an application outside of Grants.gov.

d. Application Materials

The following forms and documents are required under this announcement:

Mandatory Documents https://www.sam.gov/SAM/

1. Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance. Please note that the organizational Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number must be included on the SF-424.

Organizations may obtain a UEI at no cost through www.sam.gov.

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

3. EPA Key Contacts Form 5700-54

4. EPA Form 4700-4 Preaward Compliance Review Report

5. Narrative Proposal. Follow the guidance in Section IV.D and clearly describe how the proposed project meets the threshold eligibility criteria (Section III.C) and the evaluation criteria (Section V). The Narrative Proposal must be submitted in the format described in Section IV.D.1.

6. Budget Table and Narrative. (See IV.D. for more information.)

Optional Documents:

Other attachments, if applicable.

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) within 30 days of the application deadline, please contact Dale Carpenter at 212-637-4110 or Carpenter.Dale@epa.gov.

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

D. Content of Application Submission

The following documents are required for all application packages. In addition to the mandatory documents listed in Section IV.C, all applications must contain a “Narrative Proposal,” and a “Budget Table and Narrative.” The “Narrative Proposal,” a maximum of 10 pages in length, must explicitly describe the applicant’s proposed project and specifically address each of the evaluation criteria disclosed in Section V.A Evaluation Criteria, and the threshold eligibility criteria in Section

III.C.

1. Narrative Proposal. Narrative proposals must be concise, well organized, and not exceed 10 typed, single-line spaced, 8 1/2 x 11” pages, which includes the one-page Summary Information Page. The font shall not be smaller than 10 points. The “Summary Information Page” page, item “a” below, is included in this page limit. The Narrative Proposal must provide the information detailed in this section and include responses to all Section III.C, Threshold Criteria; Section V.A, Evaluation Criteria; as well as the information identified in Section I, Funding Opportunity Description. Detailed information about your proposed project must be provided. Do not include discussions of broad principles that are not specific to the proposed work or project covered by your application. Responses to evaluation criteria should include the criterion number and title but need not restate the https://usepa-my.sharepoint.com/personal/guilfoil_michelle_epa_gov/Documents/Michelle's%20Assignments/NOFO%20Review/EPA-R2LCRD-SMMS-2023-1/www.sam.gov entire text of the criterion. Sufficient detail must be provided to allow for an evaluation of the merits of the proposal. Vague descriptions, redundancy, and failure to address each of the evaluation criteria will result in a lower ranking.

The Narrative Proposal must substantially conform to the following outline and content:

a. The Summary Information Page (maximum of one-page single spaced) must include:

i. Project Title.

ii. Applicant Name. Identify the name of the organization submitting the application.

iii. UEI Number. List the organization’s UEI number.

iv. Project Summary. Briefly describe the project in one to four sentences.

v. Contact Information. Include name, title, address, email address, phone number.

You can list both a primary and an administrative contact.

vi. Total Project Cost. Specify total cost of the project. Identify funding from other sources, including leveraging or in-kind resources.

vii. Funding Requested. Specify the amount you are requesting from EPA.

viii. Project Period. Provide estimated beginning and ending dates.

b. The Narrative Proposal Work Plan should provide the information below on how the applicant will implement and conduct its project and discuss how the proposal addresses each of the evaluation criteria in Section V of this announcement. The Narrative Proposal Work Plan must include:

1. PROJECT SUMMARY/APPROACH: The narrative proposal should include a well-conceived and plausible strategy for mitigating the environmental concerns outlined in Section I, Part A (Background), and should address the following:

a. A Plausible Plan of Action that Meets a Clear and Pressing Need. The workplan should describe a project that focuses on source reduction. The project is important, needed, realistic and achievable.

b. Well Organized and Defined. The workplan should be broken out into thoroughly described tasks and should describe how each task clearly leads to the achievement of the stated goals of the project.

c. Outcomes, Outputs and Performance Measures sets out the applicant’s plan for tracking and measuring its progress toward achieving the expected project outputs and outcomes.

Identify performance measures and how they will be used to help track and measure the applicant’s progress. See Section C for definitions and examples of outcomes, outputs and performance measures.

d. Environmental Justice and Underserved Communities Emphasis:

Applications will be evaluated based on the extent to which they demonstrate how the project will address the disproportionate and adverse (see below) human health, environmental, climate-related, and other cumulative impacts, as well as the accompanying economic challenges of such impacts, resulting from industrial, governmental, commercial and/or other actions that have affected and/or currently affect the underserved communities described in Section I of the solicitation. As part of this evaluation, applications will be evaluated based on: how the project benefits the underserved communities including those that have experienced a lack of resources or other impediments to addressing the impacts identified above that affect their community and;

the extent to which the project addresses engagement with these communities, especially local residents in these communities who will be affected by the project, to ensure their meaningful participation with respect to the design, project planning, and performance of the project.

e. Environmental, Climate, and/or Human Health Concern: Applications will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which the applicant demonstrates how and why their project will help protect human health and the environment, and help communities and ecosystems become more sustainable and resilient to the effects of climate change.

2. PROGRAMMATIC CAPABILITY AND PAST PERFORMANCE: Submit a list of federally or non-federally funded assistance agreements (assistance agreements include grants and cooperative agreements but not contracts) that your organization performed within the last three years (no more than 5 agreements, and preferably EPA agreements). Under this criterion, applicants will be evaluated based on their ability to successfully complete and manage the proposed project taking into consideration their:

a. Past Performance in successfully completing and managing the previously completed assistance agreements identified in the narrative proposal*;

b. Staff Expertise and Qualifications: Staff knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project. CVs and resumes, related articles, may be submitted outside of the 10-page maximum for the narrative application.

*Note that for applicants who have not had previous federal assistance agreements, clear indication of this fact will result in half credit, that is a neutral score of points, for subcriterion a. If the issue is not addressed, zero points will be given.

3. PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY: The Agency will evaluate the sustainability of the project as defined by:

a. Amplification of Results: The quality and extent to which the narrative describes a plan and commitment to widely share best practices and products developed during the grant (e.g., toolkits, assessment checklists, training modules, videos, case studies, outreach materials), and sharing lessons learned from the grant (e.g., insights, challenges, successes, recommendations).

b. Replicability: The quality and extent to which the narrative describes how the applicant’s project proposal can be replicated by other organizations and/or communities.

c. Optional Identified Support for the Project, including letters of support by affected stakeholders and leveraged funded partnerships, if applicable. Be aware that if the workplan shows a reliance upon leveraged funds, these funds must be broken down in the budget as well as requested EPA funds. The applicant may wish to discuss here any alignment with state and/or local mandates, policy, and/or community priority should be mentioned.

Attachments. The following mandatory (except optional letters of support) documents shall be included as attachments to the narrative proposal. These documents will not count as part of the 10-page limit and do not have an individual page limitation. Attachments beyond the required attachments below will not be considered. Please provide a list of all attachments to the application.

Detailed Budget Narrative. Include a detailed budget narrative which clearly explains how funds will be used. The successful applicant’s budget narrative should identify: (1) specific tasks for which EPA funding will be used; (2) the costs associated with each task; (3) the costs that the applicant or other…