EPA-R3-CBP-23-08.pdf

OVERVIEW

AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

TITLE: Chesapeake Bay Program Office Fiscal Year 2023 Request for Applications for:

Technical Analysis and Programmatic Evaluation Support to the Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership

ACTION: Request for Applications (RFA)

RFA #: EPA-R3-CBP-23-08

ASSISTANCE LISTING #: 66.466

IMPORTANT DATES

May 9, 2023 Issuance of Request for Applications (RFA) June 23, 2023 Application submission deadline (see Section IV for more information) July 24, 2023 Approximate date for EPA to notify applicants of results August 7, 2023 Approximate date for selected applicant to submit revised federal cooperative agreement application September 22, 2023 Approximate date of award/Project start date

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

II. AWARD INFORMATION

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

APPENDIX A. APPLICATION FORMAT

APPENDIX B. BUDGET GUIDANCE

FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Background

1. About the Chesapeake Bay Program The Chesapeake Bay is North America's largest and most biologically diverse estuary. A resource of extraordinary productivity, it is worthy of the highest levels of protection and restoration. Authorized by Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 117, 33 USC Section 1267, the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is responsible for supporting the Executive Council through a number of actions, including the coordination of federal, state, and local efforts to restore and protect living resources and water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. CWA Section 117 also authorizes EPA to provide assistance grants to support the goals of the program.

The CBP is a unique regional partnership that has led and directed the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay since 1983. Today, the CBP partners include the states of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia; the District of Columbia; the Chesapeake Bay Commission (a tri-state legislative body); and EPA, representing the federal government. The partnership’s work is guided by the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which establishes the plan for collaboration across the Bay’s political boundaries and establishes goals and outcomes for the restoration of the Bay, its tributaries, and the lands that surround them.

2. About the Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership The CBP partnership is guided at the direction of the Chesapeake Executive Council (Executive Council), which, through its leadership, establishes the policy direction for the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay and exerts its leadership to rally public support for the Bay effort and signs directives, agreements, and amendments that set goals and guide policy for Chesapeake Bay restoration. The Executive Council is established by CWA Section 117. To ensure implementation of the Executive Council’s Chesapeake Bay Agreements, the CBP partnership has several committees, teams, workgroups comprised of participating partners.

The Principals' Staff Committee (PSC) acts as the senior policy advisors to the Executive Council, accepting items for their consideration and approval and setting agendas for Executive Council meetings. The PSC translates the restoration vision by setting policy and implementing actions on behalf of the Executive Council. The PSC also provides policy and program direction to the Management Board.

The Management Board provides strategic planning, priority setting, and operational guidance through implementation of a comprehensive, coordinated, accountable implementation strategy for the CBP. It directs and coordinates all of the goal teams and workgroups under it.

The Goal Implementation Teams (GITs) include federal and non-federal experts from throughout the watershed. Thus, academic, federal, and state scientists and experts, advocacy organizations, environmental managers and others become active members of the broad restoration partnership.

As described above, the CBP partners include federal agencies, seven watershed jurisdictions, and many non-federal organizations; however, work funded under this RFA will support the seven watershed jurisdictions and other non-federal partners.

https://www.chesapeakebay.net/what/what-guides-us/watershed-agreement

Pursuant to CWA Section 117(b)(2), 33 USC Section 1267(b)(2), CBPO is the office within EPA charged with providing support to the Council in the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay. The CBPO and CBP, mentioned above, are two distinct entities.

For additional background information on the CBP structure, achievements, and commitments, see the CBP partnership’s website located at http://www.chesapeakebay.net/.

3. The Chesapeake Bay TMDL and WIPs EPA has established the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), a historic and comprehensive “pollution diet” with rigorous accountability measures to initiate sweeping actions to restore clean water to the Chesapeake Bay and the watershed’s streams, creeks and rivers.

The Bay TMDL – the largest ever developed by EPA – identifies the necessary pollution reductions of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment across Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia and sets pollution limits necessary to meet applicable state water quality standards in Chesapeake Bay, its tidal tributaries and embayments. These pollution limits were further divided by jurisdiction and major river basin based on state-of-the-art modeling tools, extensive monitoring data, peer-reviewed science and close interaction with jurisdictional partners.

Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) are plans for how each of the seven Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions (jurisdictions), in partnership with federal and local governments, will achieve their respective Bay TMDL allocations and planning targets. The Phase I WIPs were developed in 2010 by the jurisdictions to inform the 2010 Chesapeake Bay TMDL waste load and load allocations. The Phase II WIPs were developed by the jurisdictions in 2012 followed by Phase III in 2019 to meet nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment planning targets based on updated information generated through the Bay Program partnership’s Phase 6 Chesapeake Bay watershed model. The goal of the Bay TMDL and supporting jurisdictional WIP process is to implement by 2025 all nutrient and sediment pollutant load reduction and prevention measures needed to fully restore water quality in Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers.

4. Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership’s Environmental Models

Models of the Chesapeake Bay’s airshed, watershed, estuary, and living resources have been developed by the partners and linked together over the past 30 years. The CBP partnership’s suite of models assists in understanding the important processes affecting the health of the watershed and the Chesapeake

Bay ecosystem. These modeling tools provide the Chesapeake Bay watershed state and local jurisdictions with an understanding of the effect of various control strategies on pollutant levels and the level of nutrient and sediment load reductions needed to restore the Chesapeake Bay and achieve the states’ water quality standards for dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, underwater bay grasses and water clarity. By quantifying the management actions necessary to restore Chesapeake Bay habitats and the living resources dependent on those habitats, these integrated Bay Program partnership models provide guidance to environmental managers and citizens on where the most cost-effective reductions can be made so that controls are equitable and broadly supported.

Development and application of the next generation of Chesapeake Bay models will require an unprecedented level of direct involvement of a wide array of non-federal CBP partners and stakeholders http://www.chesapeakebay.net/ in each step of the planning, development, calibration, verification, management application, and continued refinement/enhancement. Given that Bay restoration decision-making occurs at a very local scale as a result of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, the jurisdictions’ WIPs, and the greatly expanded level of accountability, the next generation of the partnership’s Chesapeake Bay models must reflect these shifts in scale and accountability. These models must be developed for direct application by state and local jurisdictional partners, academic partners, and stakeholders alike, feeding directly into their respective and unique decision-making processes and supporting adaptive management at all scales.

Through the application of airshed, watershed, estuarine, and living resource modeling activities, the

Bay Program’s state and local jurisdictional partners gain access to information that is used directly in decision making for Chesapeake Bay environmental restoration efforts. Chesapeake Bay environmental models are developed, calibrated, verified, and applied through an expanding cooperative network of state, federal, regional and local agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutional partners. These partnership models help set the pace and direction of Chesapeake Bay restoration by providing information on water quality and biological resource responses to different management actions.

5. Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership’s Monitoring Networks

Undergoing adaptive changes over the past three decades as the partnership’s management needs and requests have significantly evolved over time, the Chesapeake Bay tidal monitoring network now includes: tidal water quality monitoring for 26 parameters at over 150 stations distributed over the 92

Chesapeake Bay tidal segments across Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia;

shallow-water monitoring addressing a select set of segments on a rotational basis; benthic infaunal community monitoring at fixed and random stations across the tidal waters; annual aerial and ground surveys of underwater Bay grasses; decadal records of phytoplankton and zooplankton monitoring; and fisheries independent population monitoring programs and surveys.

Each component of the tidal monitoring network has been designed to support the four Bay jurisdictions’ tidal water Bay section 303(d) listing decision makings, addressing dissolved oxygen, water clarity, underwater bay grasses, and chlorophyll a criteria attainment assessments, and benthic infaunal community-based impairment decisions. The Chesapeake Bay tidal monitoring network is funded, operated, and maintained through a longstanding state-federal-university partnership that produced the fundamental monitoring data supporting Chesapeake Bay TMDL development. This data is also utilized in public reporting on the health of Chesapeake Bay, its tidal tributaries and embayments, and supporting ecosystem; assessment of achieving the Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions’ Chesapeake Bay water quality standards regulations; evaluation of the effectiveness of actions to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution loadings from the surrounding watershed; developing, calibrating, verifying and applying models; and generating and reporting water quality and biological indicators.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed monitoring network is a network of 123 streamflow gauges and water-quality sampling sites operated across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The network is an essential component to reporting, tracking, and modeling stream flow as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment concentrations and loads across the Chesapeake Bay watershed as it provides the only consistent, coordinated monitoring effort across all seven Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed monitoring network is designed to measure the discharge of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads with routine samples collected monthly with additional storm-event samples to obtain a range of discharges and loadings. The seven jurisdictions, the Susquehanna River

Basin Commission, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) all use the same set of standardized CBP protocols that are based on USGS sampling methods and EPA-approved analytical methods.

B. Scope of Work

This RFA is seeking insightful, expert, and cost-effective applications from eligible applicants to provide technical analysis and programmatic evaluation support of non-federal agencies and organizations that are members of the CBP partnership. While the CBP partnership is comprised of federal and nonfederal agencies and organizations, the activities funded under this RFA shall only support the non-federal partners. The recipient of the cooperative agreement awarded under this RFA may work directly with federal agencies, but the nature of that work will result only in benefits to the non-federal agencies, organizations, partners, and the general public. The non-federal CBP partners will provide programmatic direction to the cooperative agreement recipient through the CBP partnership’s Water Quality GIT and its workgroups, the CBP partnership’s Habitat GIT and its workgroups, the CBP partnership’s Fisheries GIT and its workgroups, the CBP partnership’s Scientific, Technical, Assessment and Reporting (STAR) Team and its workgroups, other CBP partnership’s GITs, and the CBP partnership’s Management Board.

The selected organization will support the CBP mission of expanding and accelerating the implementation of nutrient and sediment load reduction practices and technologies throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed through collection and evaluation of tidal and watershed water quality and living resources monitoring data. This mission also includes:

• Managing the CBP partnership’s jurisdiction-based tidal and watershed water quality and living resources monitoring data network, working directly with federal, state, regional, and local governmental and non-governmental data providers;

• Enhancing multiple-partner, consensus-based environmental decision-making throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed via the analysis of water quality and living resource data trends and supporting the integration of monitoring data with the CBP partnership’s airshed, watershed and estuarine models and other decision support tools;

• Better understanding the past, present, and future responses of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and its watershed to management actions through management, analysis, and interpretation of long-term monitoring network data; and

• Expanding the acquisition, maintenance, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of water quality and living resources monitoring data and information important to the CBP partners.

Applications should be oriented towards further promotion and enhancement of the capacity of environmental professionals working within the partnership-oriented, implementation-focused structure of the Chesapeake Bay Program.

EPA plans to award one six-year cooperative agreement under this RFA. The total estimated funding under this solicitation is approximately $2,100,000 overall, with an estimated $350,000 available for the first year and each year thereafter. There is no guarantee of funding throughout this period or beyond.

To support this activity, the selected organization may request that staff, for matters of efficiency, be located at the U.S. EPA CBPO located in Annapolis, Maryland. Office space, valued at $9,400 per person per year, may be provided by EPA as in-kind assistance under the cooperative agreement, if requested, and is considered matchable funding. The EPA in-kind funding would be in addition to the $2,100,000 referenced above.

If your organization has an interest in this project, has the skills to accomplish the activities described in this Section, and is eligible to receive a federal assistance agreement as described in Section III of this announcement, we encourage you to apply. Each eligible application will be evaluated using the criteria described in Section V. The activities are multi-year projects (up to six years), and the application should have a work plan and budget for the first year and a projected work plan and estimated budget detail for each of the subsequent five years.

Activity 1: Chesapeake Bay Program Water Quality Data Manager Available Funding: $1,092,000 ($182,000 per year for six years)

To support this activity, the selected applicant will provide staff who have significant, in-depth academic and/or professional experience in the acquisition, quality assurance review, management, maintenance, and dissemination of water quality and biological resource monitoring data in support of the CBP partners’ accelerated implementation of the most cost-effective, pollutant-load-reduction-efficient and geographically targeted nutrient, sediment and chemical contaminant reduction actions. Priorities for this activity are set by the CBP’s STAR Team and its workgroups as part of their charge to provide information management, monitoring network design/coordination, and integrated analysis support to the CBP’s GITs, management/policy-setting committees, partners and stakeholders.

The compilation, analysis, and evaluation of tidal and watershed water quality monitoring data are essential to determining progress towards effective implementation efforts in reaching the CBP’s water quality and biological restoration goals. These tidal and watershed water quality and biological resource data are drawn from state, federal and local agencies, academic institutions, regulated entities, and, increasingly, non-governmental organizations across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Direct partnership and public access to water quality and biological resource data stored in an integrated format through a distributed network of servers is critical to supporting state, regional, and local jurisdictions’ and non-governmental organizations’ Chesapeake Bay restoration and protection efforts.

The cooperative agreement recipient will be responsible for managing the CBP partnership’s jurisdiction-based tidal and watershed water quality and biological resource monitoring network databases, maintaining/updating repositories of monitoring programs and network information, and expanding access to and management of nontraditional monitoring program partners’ water quality and biological resource data. The water quality data and programmatic information collected, documented, managed and maintained by the cooperative agreement recipient will serve as the authoritative data and information source for the CBP partnership.

The following are examples of the types of activities that the non-federal CBP partners have indicated they need based on past and recent experiences in determining progress towards effective implementation efforts in reaching the CBP’s water quality and biological resource restoration and protection goals. Applicants are encouraged to consider these examples but to also describe alternative approaches to providing for the compilation, analysis, and evaluation of tidal and watershed water quality and biological resource monitoring data in support of and to inform state, regional, and local decision-making on the implementation of the most cost-effective, pollutant-reduction-load-efficient and geographically targeted nutrient and sediment reduction actions.

Water Quality and Biological Resource Data Management through Data Exchange

• Provides data management support for the CBP partners addressing water quality monitoring data collected through jurisdictions’ monitoring programs and the partnership’s monitoring networks in operation across the entire Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding watershed.

• Maintains the authoritative sets of water quality monitoring data and programmatic information used by the CBP partnership.

• Undertakes data collection, computer entry, quality assurance, and metadata documentation.

• Coordinates the design and implementation of the partnership’s distributed network of watershed, river input and tidal water quality and biological resource databases for Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.

• Provides support in advanced-level programming and processing of water quality and biological resource–related-monitoring databases generated by a multitude of state, regional, and local jurisdictional and academic institutional partners in the tidal and nontidal regions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

• Assists in the design and development of relational databases for data storage, retrieval, and processing by state, regional, and local partners and stakeholders.

• Assembles data for analysis and for publication on the CBP partnership’s websites and updates corresponding documentation of analysis and methods to accompany updates when applicable.

• Works closely with the CBP partners to obtain information required to properly program, process, and document the monitoring database information.

• Develops data-sharing agreements and partnerships required to support tidal and watershed water quality and biological resource data exchanges across and between the seven watershed jurisdictions.

Expanded Access and Management of Non-traditional Monitoring Program Partners’ Data

• Works as part of a team targeting hundreds of non-traditional monitoring program partners for integration into the partnership’s tidal and watershed monitoring networks.

• Identifies non-traditional monitoring program partners—including but not limited to riverkeepers, watershed organizations, citizen monitoring groups, regulated entities (e.g., wastewater treatment owners/operators)—generating water quality and biological resource data of known quality who are willing and ready to incorporate their monitoring efforts into the ever-expanding partnership’s tidal and/or watershed monitoring networks.

• Provides a full menu of data quality assurance protocols, data management system design and support to these non-federal organizations, tailored to their existing capabilities and monitoring infrastructure.

• Works to provide full access to the water quality data and biological resource data routinely generated through these organizations’ monitoring programs utilizing their respective state jurisdiction’s NEIEN node.

Team and Workgroup Support

• Provides technical support in preparation for, and participates in, the meetings of the CBP's Scientific, Technical Assessment and Reporting Team and its workgroups, CBP’s Water Quality GIT and its workgroups as well as other GITs and workgroups as necessary.

Coordination and Communication with Partners, Stakeholders and Public

• Seeks review and input from the CBP partner jurisdictions on all data- and information management-related work.

• Serves as the central point of contact for water quality and biological resource data inquiries and data acquisition requests.

• Responsible for resolving problems and improving procedures for submission, quality assurance, documentation, and distribution of water quality and biological resource data to CBP partner agencies and the public.

• Works to promote the development of distributed, generator-maintained databases linked via Internet web site interfaces.

• Supports development of new, and refinement of existing, partnership indicators to further enhance public communication regarding the status and effectiveness of reducing these sources of pollutants.

• Makes all water quality and biological resource monitoring networks’ databases, information and documentation available on the Web and updates the partnership’s websites as necessary.

Activity 2: Chesapeake Bay Program Habitat and Living Resources Data Manager Available Funding: $1,008,000 ($168,000 per year for six years)

To support this activity, the selected applicant will provide staff who have significant, in-depth academic and/or professional experience in the acquisition, quality assurance review, management, maintenance, and dissemination of biological resource monitoring data in support of making progress toward the CBP partners’ goals regarding the restoration of tidal and nontidal aquatic ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay. Priorities for this activity are set by the CBP’s Habitat Goal Implementation Team, as well as the Scientific, Technical Assessment and Reporting Team and its workgroups as part of their charge to provide information management, monitoring network design/coordination, and integrated analysis support to the CBP’s GITs, management/policy-setting committees, partners and stakeholders.

The compilation, analysis, and evaluation of habitat and living resource data are essential to determining progress towards effective implementation efforts in reaching the CBP’s habitat and living resource goals. These tidal and nontidal aquatic ecosystem data are drawn from state, federal and local agencies, academic institutions, regulated entities, and, increasingly, non-governmental organizations across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Direct access to, and public dissemination of, authoritative habitat and living resource data are critical to supporting state, regional, and local jurisdictions’ and non-governmental organizations’ Chesapeake Bay restoration and protection efforts.

The cooperative agreement recipient will be responsible for managing the CBP partnership’s jurisdiction-based habitat and living resource monitoring network databases, maintaining/updating repositories of monitoring programs and network information, and expanding access to and management of nontraditional monitoring program partners’ habitat and living resource data. The data and programmatic information collected, documented, managed, and maintained by the cooperative agreement recipient will serve as the authoritative data and information source for the CBP partnership.

The following are examples of the types of activities that the non-federal CBP partners have indicated they need based on past and recent experiences in determining progress towards effective implementation efforts in reaching the CBP’s habitat and living resource restoration and protection goals. Applicants are encouraged to consider these examples but to also describe alternative approaches to providing for the compilation, analysis, and evaluation of tidal and nontidal aquatic ecosystem monitoring data in support of and to inform state, regional, and local decision-making for achievement of CBP habitat and living resource goals.

Living Resource Data Management through Data Exchange

• Provides data management support for the CBP partners addressing living resource monitoring data collected through jurisdictions’ monitoring programs and the partnership’s monitoring networks in operation across the entire Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding watershed.

• Maintains the authoritative sets of living resource monitoring data and programmatic information used by the CBP partnership.

• Undertakes data collection, computer entry, quality assurance, and metadata documentation.

• Coordinates the design and implementation of the partnership’s network of living resource databases for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.

• Provides support in advanced-level programming and processing of habitat and living resource– related-monitoring databases generated by a multitude of state, regional, and local jurisdictional and academic institutional partners in the tidal and nontidal regions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

• Assists in the design and development of relational databases for data storage, retrieval, and processing by state, regional, and local partners and stakeholders.

• Assembles data for analysis and for publication on CBP partnership’s websites and updates corresponding documentation of analysis and methods to accompany updates when applicable.

• Works closely with the CBP partners to obtain information required to properly program, process, and document the monitoring database information.

• Develops data-sharing agreements and partnerships required to support habitat and living resource data exchanges across and between the seven watershed jurisdictions.

Expanded Access and Management of Non-traditional Monitoring Program Partners’ Data

• Works as part of a team targeting hundreds of non-traditional monitoring program partners for integration into the partnership’s habitat and living resource monitoring networks.

• Identifies non-traditional monitoring program partners—including but not limited to riverkeepers, watershed organizations, citizen monitoring groups, regulated entities (e.g., wastewater treatment owners/operators)—generating habitat and living resource data of known quality who are willing and ready to incorporate their monitoring efforts into the ever-expanding partnership’s habitat and living resource monitoring networks.

• Provides a full menu of data quality assurance protocols, data management system design and support to these non-federal organizations, tailored to their existing capabilities and monitoring infrastructure.

• Works to provide full access to the habitat and living resource data routinely generated through these organizations’ monitoring programs utilizing their respective state jurisdiction’s NEIEN node.

Team and Workgroup Support

• Provides technical support in preparation for, and participates in, the meetings of the CBP's Scientific, Technical Assessment and Reporting Team and its workgroups, CBP’s Habitat GIT and its workgroups as well as other GITs and workgroups as necessary.

Coordination and Communication with Partners, Stakeholders and Public

• Seeks review and input from the CBP partner jurisdictions on all data- and information management-related work.

• Serves as the central point of contact for living resource data inquiries and data acquisition requests.

• Responsible for resolving problems and improving procedures for submission, quality assurance, documentation, and distribution of living resource data to CBP partner agencies and the public.

• Works to promote the development of distributed, generator-maintained databases linked via Internet web site interfaces.

• Supports development of new, and refinement of existing, partnership indicators to further enhance public communication regarding the status and effectiveness of reducing these sources of pollutants.

• Makes all habitat and living resource monitoring networks’ databases, information and documentation available on the Web and updates the partnership’s websites as necessary.

C. EPA Strategic Plan Linkage & Anticipated Outcomes and Outputs

Pursuant to Section 6a of EPA Order 5700.7A1, “Environmental Results under EPA Assistance Agreements,” EPA must link proposed assistance agreements to the Agency’s Strategic Plan. EPA also requires that grant applicants and recipients adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements (see EPA Order 5700.7A1, Environmental Results under Assistance Agreements, accessible at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements).

1. Linkage to EPA’s Strategic Plan The activities to be funded under this solicitation support the FY 2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan. Awards made under this solicitation will support Goal 5: Ensure Clean and Safe Water for All Communities, Objective 5.2 Protect and Restore Waterbodies and Watersheds of the Strategic Plan.

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

2. 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 potential outputs under the Scope of Work of this announcement may include but are not limited to the following:

https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-03/documents/epa_order_5700_7a1.pdf

• Support the WQGIT, Habitat GIT, STAR and other technical and management/policy CBP groups as needed.

• Maintenance of the authoritative databases of water quality and living resource monitoring data used to support and inform state, regional, and local partners on progress in reaching CBP’s water quality and living resource restoration goals.

• Documented quality assurance, database design, and data processing procedures for providers of monitoring data, including non-traditional monitoring programs.

• Work to provide full access to the water quality and living resource data routinely generated by these organizations’ monitoring programs utilizing their respective state jurisdiction’s NEIEN node.

• Advanced level programming and data analysis tools used to develop and routinely produce indicators used in reporting progress.

• Assembled data for analysis and publication on CBP partnership’s websites with updated corresponding analysis and methods documentation to accompany indicator updates, when applicable.

Progress reports and a final report will also be required outputs for all activities, as specified in Section VI.C., Reporting, of this announcement.

3. 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 qualitative and environmental, behavioral, health-related, or programmatic in nature but must also be quantitative. They may not necessarily be achievable within an assistance agreement funding period. Examples of potential outcomes under the Scope of Work of this announcement may include but are not limited to the following:

• Reduced nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment delivered to tidal Bay waters appropriate to respond to future climate change and other water quality challenges to achieve Bay water quality standards.

• Amount of habitat restored as represented by achievement of the Chesapeake living resource-based water quality standards and water quality standards of other tidal Chesapeake TMDLs and assessments.

• Increased knowledge and strategies to improve local economic, human health, and environmental goals through a restored Chesapeake Bay.

• Improved knowledge about Chesapeake Bay critical load of nutrients for improved ecosystem health and future climate change scenarios through achievement of water quality standards in all Chesapeake tributaries

• Improved CBP decision-making and leadership in responding to climate change conditions and other future water quality challenges.

D. Authorizing Statutes and Regulations

This grant is made pursuant to CWA Section 117(d), 33 U.S.C. Section 1267(d), which authorizes EPA to issue grants and cooperative agreements for the purposes of protecting and restoring the Chesapeake

Bay's ecosystem. This project is subject to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Uniform Grants Guidance (2 C.F.R. Part 200) and EPA-specific provisions of the Uniform Grants Guidance (2 C.F.R.

Part 1500).

E. 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

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.

F. 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. Funding Amount and Expected Number of Awards

The total estimated federal funding under this solicitation is approximately $2,100,000 for one cooperative agreement. Funding will be awarded incrementally in the amount of $350,000 per year for six years depending on funding availability, satisfactory performance, Agency priorities, and other applicable considerations.

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=40.58644586187275%2C-148.28228249999984 https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1XVkOWKMDORm53pvU0L8EPsrJC94&msa=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&z=3&source=embed&ll=40.58644586187275%2C-148.28228249999984 https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1wlIi3j7gtlNq_w-0NKAb2bF2VmY&ie=UTF&msa=0&ll=37.35160769312532%2C-96.17229800000001&z=4 https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses

To support this activity, the selected applicant may request that staff, for matters of efficiency, be located at the U.S. EPA CBPO located in Annapolis, Maryland. Office space may be provided by EPA as in-kind assistance under the cooperative agreement, if requested. Until amended, the EPA in-kind amount is $9,400 per person per year, which is in addition to the $2,100,000. Applicants requesting in-kind assistance must include in-kind funding in the calculation of the cost share for this opportunity (see Appendix A).

EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no award under this announcement or award less than the estimated funding amounts above. EPA makes no commitment of annual funding amounts for any fiscal year(s), as funds may be limited based on these 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 selection is made. Any additional selection for awards will be made no later than six months after the original selection decision.

B. Award Type

EPA has determined that a cooperative agreement is the appropriate funding vehicle for this project.

Cooperative agreements are used under circumstances where substantial involvement is anticipated between EPA and the recipient during performance of the Activities. EPA awards cooperative agreements for those projects in which it expects to have substantial interaction with the recipient throughout the performance of the project. EPA will negotiate the precise terms and conditions of “substantial involvement” as part of the award process. Federal involvement may include close monitoring of the recipient’s performance; collaboration during the performance of the scope of work in accordance with 2 C.F.R. 200.317 and 2 C.F.R. 200.318, as appropriate; review of proposed procurements; review of qualifications of key personnel; and/or review and comment on the content of printed or electronic publications prepared. EPA does not have the authority to select employees or contractors employed by the recipient. The final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient.

For this project, federal involvement would typically be in the form of participation with other CBP partners and stakeholders in an advisory capacity to the grantee. The participation is expected to include involvement through the Modeling Workgroup, various CBP GITs, and related committees and workgroups (on which EPA also participates to ensure that all the recommendations for technical work support the CBP partners). All work conducted is to support the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Agreement and the Chesapeake TMDL.

C. Partial Funding

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 a project, it will do so in a manner that does not prejudice the applicant or affect the basis upon which the application or portion thereof was evaluated and selected for award and therefore maintains the integrity of the competition and selection process.

D. Expected Project Period

The expected project period for the cooperative agreement is six years, with funding provided on an annual basis. No commitment of funding can be made beyond the first year. The expected start date for the award resulting from this RFA is September 22, 2023.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

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

A. Eligible Applicants

Under CWA Section 117(d), funds are available for technical and general assistance grants to nonprofit organizations, State, tribal (federally recognized) and local governments, colleges, universities, and interstate agencies. For-profit organizations are not eligible to submit applications in response to this

RFA.

B. Cost-Share or Matching Requirements

Pursuant to CWA Section 117(d)(2)(A), 33 U.S.C. Section 1267(d)(2)(A), the agency shall determine the cost-share requirements for awards. The Assistance Listing Number, 66.466, states that assistance agreement applicants must commit to a cost-share ranging from 5 to 50 percent of total eligible project costs as determined at the sole discretion of EPA. For this RFA, EPA has determined that an applicant must provide a minimum of 5 percent of the total cost of the project as the non-federal cost-share.

Cost-share may be in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. Involvement from foundations, watershed groups, private sector, eligible governmental, as well as non-conventional partners can help with the match. The match must be met by eligible and allowable costs and is subject to the match provisions in grant regulations. Applications that do not demonstrate how the five percent match will be met will be rejected.

C. Threshold Eligibility Criteria

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 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 solicitation or else they will be rejected. However, where a page limit is expressed in Section IV with respect to the application, or parts thereof, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed. Applicants are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in application format, including selecting a legible font type and size for use in the application.

2. In addition, initial applications must be submitted through Grants.gov as stated in Section IV of this solicitation (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 solicitation. 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 submission 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.

4. Applications must be for projects linked to the strategic goal outlined in Section I.C.1.

5. For an application to be considered eligible for funding, project-related work included in the application must take place within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which includes portions of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, and all of the District of Columbia.

6. Applications must show how they will meet the five percent cost-share requirement of Section III.B. Applications that fail to meet the minimum five percent cost-share requirement will be rejected. (See Appendix A for additional information regarding the budget narrative and formula for calculating cost share.)

7. Applications requesting funding over the maximum funding available listed in Section II will be rejected.

8. 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.

9. Applications must clearly address both activities detailed in Section I.B.

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. How to Obtain an Application Package

Applicants can download individual grant application forms from the application package available in the Workspace associated with this opportunity on Grants.gov.

B. Submission Process

1. Requirement to Submit Through Grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures

Applicants must apply electronically through Grants.gov under this funding opportunity based on the Grants.gov instructions in this announcement. If your organization has no access to the internet or https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ 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 3. Technical Issues with Submission below.

2. Submission Instructions

a. 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:…