EPA-R4-GM-2024-WQM - 2024.9.30.pdf

U.S. EPA GULF OF MEXICO DIVISION

Federal Agency Name: Environmental Protection Agency - Region 4 Funding Opportunity Title: Understanding Water Quality through Monitoring Activities Announcement Type: Initial Notice of Funding Opportunity Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-R4-GM-2024-WQM Assistance Listing: 66.475

KEY DATES: All dates listed below are tentative.

August 6, 2024 A recorded presentation will be posted to provide helpful hints to develop your application. You can find the presentation, Q&A, and the common errors document at the Gulf of Mexico 2024 Funding Opportunities link. If you have a question not included in the Q&A or presentation, please submit questions to GMP-RFP@epa.gov. Q&A will be updated weekly if new questions are received.

EPA will respond to questions through October 25, 2024, but cannot guarantee a response to questions received thereafter.

November 5, 2024 Applications due to the Gulf of Mexico Division at 11:59pm ET January 2025 Anticipated Notification of Selection June 2025 Anticipated Award

Related Funding Opportunities

• EPA-R4-GM-2024-TFW: Trash Free Waters –Micro/ Nanoplastics in the Gulf of Mexico o Approximately $5,000,000 for available for 8 to 12 10 projects

• EPA-R4-GM-2024-FISHER: Fisher-Led Aquatic Trash Prevention and Abatement in Urban and Inland

Disadvantaged Communities o Approximately $3,000,000 available for 5 projects; one in each of the 5 Gulf states

• EPA-R4-GM-2024-TFWASC: Trash Free Waters Art and Slogan Competition o Approximately $3,000,000 available for 5 projects; one in each of the 5 Gulf states https://www.epa.gov/gulfofmexico/us-environmental-protection-agency-gulf-mexico-division-gulf-mexico-2024-funding

Contents

I. APPLICATION INFORMATION

II. AWARD INFORMATION Amounts, Targets, and Number of Projects

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

V. APPLICATION REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

Appendix A. Grants.gov Application Submission Instructions

Appendix B. Helpful Links

Appendix C. Project Narrative Guidance and Budget Table Format

Appendix D. Eligible Coastal County List

I. APPLICATION INFORMATION

I.A. Background and Authority

Gulf of Mexico Division (GMD) is a non-regulatory division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) founded to facilitate collaborative actions to protect, maintain, and restore the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico in ways consistent with the economic well-being of the Region. To carry out its mission, GMD continues to maintain and expand partnerships with state and federal agencies, federally recognized Tribes, local governments and authorities, academia, regional business and industry, agricultural and environmental organizations, and individual citizens and communities. For more information, please see EPA's Work in the Gulf of Mexico..

GMD’s statutory authority to award assistance agreements is the Clean Water Act, §104(b)(3), which authorizes the award of assistance agreements to conduct and promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of pollution as codified in 33 U.S Code 1254(b)(3).

I.B. Scope of Work

The goal of this funding opportunity is to support water quality studies that are useful to stakeholders in decision-making for their community. This funding opportunity is intended to generate applications for water quality monitoring projects in eligible Gulf Coast counties that improve understanding of water quality issues.

Applications must:

• Determine data gaps where water quality monitoring data are limited or lacking (see potential sources below) o How’s my Waterway o Gulf of Mexico Open Data Platform (GOMOD) o Gulf Coast Monitoring and Assessment Portal (CMAP) o Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS)

• Perform water quality monitoring in water bodies in the Gulf Coast Region; examples are:

o Physical assessments (temperature, pH, DO, conductivity, odor, sediment, and turbidity) o Nutrient assessments (nitrogen, phosphorous) o Biological assessments (bacterial, viral, algae/algal indicators, aquatic life) o Chemical assessments (mineral, metals, pesticides)

• Leverage or complement existing or ongoing water quality monitoring efforts o Describe how the data will be utilized and how activities support existing monitoring efforts or plans o Potential monitoring efforts: Federal, state, local, and/or non-governmental organization level o Potential water quality plans: Comprehensive Conservation Management Plans, watershed plans, or data management plans o Ensures data comparability/compatibility among leveraged efforts

Background: Water bodies in the Gulf Coastal Region such as rivers, bayous, creeks, lakes, estuaries, and streams are used for public water supplies, propagation of fish and wildlife, recreation, industry, agriculture, and navigation. Stormwater runoff can carry trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants to these water https://www.epa.gov/gulfofmexico https://www.epa.gov/gulfofmexico https://www.epa.gov/gulfofmexico https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2021-title33/html/USCODE-2021-title33-chap26-subchapI-sec1254.htm https://mywaterway.epa.gov/ https://gmod-portal-gomalliance.hub.arcgis.com/ https://restorethegulf.gov/cmap https://restorethegulf.gov/cmap bodies and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, polluted runoff can degrade water quality and result in negative consequences to ecosystems and human health. States, territories, and authorized tribes adopt water quality criteria to protect the designated uses of water bodies and to attain fishable/swimmable goals, but data is not always available or comprehensive. See EPA's Water Quality Criteria website for more information. It includes a compilation of national recommended water quality criteria and state specific criteria for the protection of aquatic life and human health in surface water.

Project Design. In addition to the information requested for project design in the project narrative guidance, the applicant must:

• Describe how the applicant will determine where water quality monitoring is needed, any existing data gaps, and how project activities improve understanding of water quality.

• Provide a detailed explanation of the experimental design for water quality monitoring project(s), which includes where sampling will occur and how frequently, the parameters to be determined, and describes methods to be used for identifying water quality contaminants.

• Describe how these activities will be coordinated with or complement existing or ongoing water quality monitoring efforts.

Environmental Results. In addition to the information requested for environmental results in the project narrative guidance, the applicant must include:

Outputs as a result of training, education, monitoring, surveys, demonstrations and other activities authorized by CWA 104(b)(3). These must include:

• Identification and quantification of water quality parameters in eligible water bodies in Gulf Coast Region.

o Examples of water quality parameters that could be demonstrated in monitoring activities include but are not limited to nutrients, metals, biologicals, chemicals, turbidity (and/or total suspended solids), dissolved oxygen, pH, and temperature.

• Report on water quality data use, data uploads, data publications, etc developed from this project.

Outcomes as a result of training, education, monitoring, surveys, demonstrations and other activities authorized by CWA 104(b)(3) must include:

• Water quality and/or understanding of water quality conditions are improved (report number of water segments or water bodies).

• Data are utilized for future water quality improvement projects or programs.

Additional outputs and outcomes accomplished as a result of project activities should also be included.

Outreach and Communication. In addition to the information requested for outreach/communication in the project narrative guidance, the applicant must:

• Describe how project data and information collected or created under this project will be made discoverable by and accessible to the public. Other publicly accessible databases may be used as well, but at the minimum data must be added to the Water Quality Portal, see VIII.B for more information.

• Describe how data obtained from the project will be utilized for future water quality improvements either through development of an actionable plan or how data will be used to support existing water quality plans.

https://www.epa.gov/wqc https://usepa.sharepoint.com/sites/R4-GMD/Shared%20Documents/PROJECT%20MANAGEMENT/Request%20for%20Applications/2024%20MultiProng/1%20-%20RFA%20Development/HYPERLINK#OutreachandCommunication

Partnerships. In addition to the information requested for partnerships in the project narrative guidance, the applicant must:

• Describe how existing and/or anticipated partnerships with state and local governments or other stakeholders and how it will inform the monitoring and/or how they plan to use the data.

Location Eligibility Criteria. All project monitoring activities must be in water bodies (lakes, streams, rivers, estuaries, tributaries) within the eligible coastal counties of the five Gulf states (see Figure 1 and eligible counties in Appendix D).

Figure 1

I.B.1 Subawards If subawardees are identified, the recipient must comply with applicable provisions of 2 CFR Part 200 and the EPA Subaward Policy, including the National Terms and Conditions for subawards. Additional guidance on compliance is available in EPA’s Subaward Frequent Questions.

I.B.2 Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) EPA recognizes that it is important to engage a diverse group of stakeholders 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 not have previously participated in such dialogues to engage in EPA programs. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages all eligible applicants identified in Section III.A., including MSIs, to apply and/or partner 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://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-general-terms-and-conditions-effective-october-1-2023-or-later https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-subaward-frequent-questions 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 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.

6. Native American-Serving Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C § 1059f(b)(2); and

7. Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (AANHs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C § 1059d(b)(2) and (b)(4)).

I.B.3 Federally Recognized Tribes EPA recognizes the importance of the nation-to-nation relationships with Federally Recognized Tribes in the environmental challenges the U.S. faces. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages Federally Recognized Tribes in the Gulf states to apply and/or partner under this opportunity.

I.C. EPA Strategic Plan Linkage, Anticipated Outputs/Outcomes and Performance Measures

Pursuant to Section 6a of EPA Order 5700.7A1, “Environmental Results under EPA Assistance Agreements,” EPA must link proposed assistance agreements with 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.

I.C.1.Linkage to EPA Strategic Plan Funded awards must advance protection and restoration of the Gulf of Mexico watershed in support of the FY2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan. Awards made under this solicitation must support Goal 5: Ensure Clean and Safe Water for All Communities, Objective 5.2: Protect and Restore Waterbodies and Watersheds. Applicants are also encouraged but not required to describe if project activities will also support EPA’s Goal 1: Tackle the Climate Crisis, Objective 1.2: Accelerate Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change Impacts.

I.C.2. Environmental Results 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. See NOFO terms for definitions of outputs and outcomes. See Sections I.B for expected outputs and outcomes in this funding opportunity.

I.C.3. Performance Measures Applicants should describe how they plan to track and monitor their project performance and progress throughout the project period. The applicant should also develop performance measures they expect to achieve through the proposed activities and describe them in their application. These performance measures will help gather insights and will be the mechanism to track progress concerning successful processes and output 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 directly relate to the project outcomes and outputs.

Outputs and outcomes (as defined in Section I.D.) are critical components of an applicant’s overall plan for measuring project performance. The following are questions to consider when developing output and outcome measures of quantitative and qualitative results:

• What are the measurable short-term and long-term results the project will achieve?

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

• Are the projected outputs and outcomes specific and detailed? Are specific target measures included where possible? Are target measures reasonable and achievable within the project period and for the https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1wlIi3j7gtlNq_w-0NKAb2bF2VmY&ie=UTF&msa=0&ll=37.35160769312534%2C-96.17229800000001&z=4 https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-03/documents/epa_order_5700_7a1.pdf https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan funding amount? How will the approach use resources effectively and efficiently?

I.D. NOFO TERMS

The following are defined for the purposes for this NOFO only:

Community means any group of people working on or planning for strengthening community resilience. This can include municipalities, cities, towns, states, specific Gulf of Mexico watershed waters, regional planning commissions, and other groups. Community should be defined within the project by the applicant.

Demonstration Projects 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. The applicant must clearly explain in the proposal how the technologies, methods, or approaches used are new or experimental and how the project otherwise meets the requirements of a demonstration as described in this NOFO. If your project uses technologies, methods or approaches that have been used previously in other geographic areas and/or other situations, then your proposal must include an explanation as to how your demonstration project is different from such prior projects. The applicant must also explain what will be learned from the demonstration project.

Disadvantaged Community refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life such as communities with environmental justice concerns and/or vulnerable populations, including, but not limited to, people of color, low income, rural, tribal, indigenous, and homeless populations that may be disproportionately impacted by environmental harms and risks. More examples are identified in Section 2 of the Biden Administration’s Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities. Disadvantaged communities also include communities that are adversely and disproportionately affected by environmental, climate and human health harms and risks including remote, rural, and urban communities.

Diverse refers to including or involving people from a range of backgrounds and expertise.

Output (or deliverable) means an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product related to an environmental goal and objective that will be produced or provided by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable over the term of the grant funding period.

Outcome means the result, effect or consequence that will be that will occur from carrying out a program or activity that is related to an environmental or programmatic goal or objective and are used to gauge a project's performance. Outcomes may be qualitative and environmental, behavioral, health-related, or programmatic in nature, but must also be quantitative. Outcomes may be short-term (changes in learning, knowledge, attitude, skills), intermediate (changes in behavior, practice, or decisions), or long-term (changes in condition of the natural resource).

I.E. Additional Provisions

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 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses 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 Amounts, Targets, and Number of Projects

II.A. Award Amounts

EPA expects to provide approximately $3.75 million for four to six projects. Proposed project periods may be up to three years. The maximum amount of federal funds that will be awarded for any project in this funding opportunity is $750,000.

The actual award amounts and number of projects awarded may differ from the estimated amounts for many reasons including the number of meritorious applications received, agency priorities, and funding availability.

In addition, EPA reserves the right to increase or decrease (including decreasing to zero) the total number and amount of awards under each priority or change the ratio of assistance agreements it awards among the priorities.

Please note, however, that the specified maximum amount of $750,000 that will be awarded for an individual project establishes a per-project limit for the EPA funding; applications seeking EPA funding in excess of that amount will be rejected. In addition, an application for a multi-phase project will be treated as a request for the full amount for all phases. If that combined amount exceeds the specified maximum, the application will be rejected.

II.B. Anticipated Project Start and End Dates

This NOFO instructs applicants to submit certifications and other documentation required for a full and complete funding package so that their projects could, if selected, proceed expeditiously. The estimated project period for awards resulting from this solicitation will begin in Calendar Year 2025. Proposed project periods may be up to three years.

II.C. Funding Type

Successful applicants will be issued a grant or cooperative agreement as appropriate. A cooperative agreement is an assistance agreement that is used when there is substantial federal involvement with the recipient during the performance of an activity or project. 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 CFR 200.317 and 2 CFR 200.318, as appropriate,

• review of proposed procurements; reviewing 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.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-D/subject-group-ECFR45ddd4419ad436d/section-200.317 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-D/subject-group-ECFR45ddd4419ad436d/section-200.318

II.D. Additional Funding Information

Additional Awards: 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 after the original selection decisions.

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

Future Funding: Selection or award of funding under this NOFO is not a guarantee of future funding.

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

Pre-Award Costs: Recipients may incur otherwise eligible and allowable pre-award costs up to 90 days prior to award at their own risk without prior approval from EPA’s award official. Pre-award costs must comply with 2 CFR 200.458 and 2 CFR 1500.9. If EPA determines that the requested pre-award costs comply with the relevant authorities, and that the costs are justified as allocable to the project, then these costs may be included as allowable expenditures at the time that the assistance award document is prepared. However, if for any reason EPA does not fund the application or the amount of the award is less than the applicant anticipated, then EPA is under no obligation to reimburse the applicant for these costs incurred. Applicants incur pre-award costs at their own risk. Costs incurred more than 90 days prior to award require the approval of EPA Region 4’s Award Official.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

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

III.A. Eligible Entities

In accordance with Assistance Listing 66.475, governmental entities, including state agencies, interstate agencies, Indian tribes, local governments, institutions of higher learning, and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply for funding under this NOFO. School districts or high schools designated as one of the eligible entities above are eligible.

An intertribal consortium must meet the definition of eligibility in the Environmental Program Grants for Tribes Final Rule, at 40 CFR 35.504 and be a nonprofit organization as defined in 2 CFR 200.1.

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 incorporation as nonprofit under state or tribal law.

For-profit organizations are not eligible entities for this funding opportunity. Additionally, nonprofit https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRed1f39f9b3d4e72/section-200.458 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRed1f39f9b3d4e72/section-200.458 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-B/chapter-XV/part-1500/subpart-D/subject-group-ECFRafb95c49532a236/section-1500.9 https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses https://sam.gov/fal/ba1197ac85c749c8b85b49260fedb529/view https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200#p-200.1(Institutions%20of%20Higher%20Education%20(IHEs)) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200#p-200.1(Nonprofit%20organization) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-35/subpart-B/subject-group-ECFR7560dab1b022383/section-35.504 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200#p-200.1(Nonprofit%20organization) organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply.

III.B. Eligible Activities

Projects submitted must align with the Clean Water Act 104(b)(3), which authorizes the award of grants to conduct and promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of pollution.

Demonstration projects 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. The applicant must clearly explain in the proposal how the technologies, methods, or approaches used are new or experimental and how the project otherwise meets the requirements of a demonstration as described in this NOFO. If your project uses technologies, methods or approaches that have been used previously in other geographic areas and/or other situations, then your proposal must include an explanation as to how your demonstration project is different from such prior projects. The applicant must also explain what will be learned from the demonstration project.

III.C. Match or Cost-share

There is no cost-sharing or matching requirement as a condition of eligibility under this NOFO.

III.D Ineligible Activities

If an application is submitted that includes any ineligible 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. The following are ineligible activities:

• Projects that do not comply with Clean Water Act Section 104(b)(3), which authorizes the award of assistance agreements to conduct and promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of pollution.

• Actions required to settle a formal enforcement action or included in a court order; or specified as a required mitigation measure under a state, local, or federal permit for a specific project; however, grant funding may be used to enhance or expand such projects beyond minimum requirements for compliance.

• Work involving only routine maintenance of storm water infrastructure and other facilities.

• Projects which fall under the existing planning responsibilities of an individual state or local government (e.g., development of TMDLs or MS4 permits)

• Solely “gray infrastructure” projects (e.g., installation of sewer lines)

• Projects whose sole purpose is to improve federal lands; Any improvements to Federal land must be incidental to the overall purpose of the project and review by EPA legal personnel is required before the activity on Federal land commences.

• Construction activities that are not a part of a demonstration project. This includes, but is not limited to, preliminary planning to determine the economic and engineering feasibility of a facility;

the engineering, architectural, legal, fiscal, and economic investigations and studies; surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, procedures, and other actions necessary to the construction of a facility; the erection, acquisition, alteration, remodeling, improvement, or extension of a facility; and the inspection and supervision of the construction of a facility.

III.E. Threshold Eligibility Criteria

All applications will be reviewed for eligibility and must meet the eligibility requirements described in Sections III. to be considered eligible. Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration because of the threshold eligibility review will be notified within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

1. Substantial Compliance: Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV.B of this announcement or else they will be rejected. Where a page limit is stated for the Project Narrative in Section IV.B with respect to the application, or parts thereof, pages more than the 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. Grant.gov submission: In addition, initial applications must be submitted through Grants.gov as stated in Section IV.A of this announcement (except in the limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically allowed for as explained in Appendix A) on or before the application submission deadline published in Section IV.A of this announcement. Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV and Appendix A of this announcement 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 Appendix A, which include both the requirement to contact Grants.gov and email a full application to EPA prior to the deadline.

3. Application Deadline: Applications submitted after the submission deadline 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. Project Scope: Each application must address the project scope as described in Sec. I.B. or it will not be considered.

5. Project Location: Application activities must take place within the eligible coastal counties of the five Gulf states (see Figure 1 and eligible counties in Appendix D)

6. Funding Request Limit: Applications seeking funding more than $750,000 of EPA funding for an individual project will be rejected. In addition, an application for a multi-phase project will be treated as a request for the full amount for all phases. If that combined amount exceeds the specified maximum, the application will be rejected.

7. Eligible activities: An application must identify how its activities meet the funding authority described in Sec.

III.B. In addition, if an application is submitted that includes any ineligible tasks or activities (see above definitions of applicant eligibility, eligible activities, and ineligible activities), the application will NOT be considered.

8. The application will NOT be considered unless it includes each of the following:

• Anticipated Environmental Results

• Budget Table https://grants.gov/ https://grants.gov/ https://grants.gov/ https://sam.gov/

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

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

IV.A. Requirement to Submit Through Grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures

Complete application packages must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on November 5, 2024. Please see the complete instructions for submitting applications via Grants.gov and the limited exception procedures in Appendix A of this announcement.

IV.B Content of Application Submission

Unless otherwise stated, the application package must include the following materials:

1. Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance: Complete the form. Include applicant (organization) name, address, contact person, phone number, fax, and e-mail address. This form also requires a registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov), and a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number. See Appendix A for more information. The contact individual provided in Block 8.f. should be different than the Authorized Representative listed in Block 21.

2. SF-424A, Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs: Complete the form. Provide overall budget information. The total amount of federal funding requested for the project period should be shown on line 5(e) and on line 6(k) of SF-424A. If indirect costs are included, the amount of indirect costs should be entered on line 6(j). The indirect cost rate (i.e., a percentage), the base (e.g., personnel costs and fringe benefits), and the amount should also be indicated on line 22.

3. EPA Form 5700-54, EPA Key Contacts Form: Complete the form. A minimum of two individuals

(contacts) should be identified. Please be sure the contacts on this form are consistent with all other forms, as applicable.

4. EPA Form 4700-4, Pre-Award Compliance Review Report: See Tips for Completing EPA Form 4700-4 for guidance on completing this form.

5. Project Narrative Attachment Form – Prepared as described in Appendix C: Includes the Summary

Information Page; Workplan; Detailed Budget Narrative; and Maps. The project narrative must explicitly describe how the proposed project meets the threshold eligibility criteria in Section III.E., the requirements of Section I.B, and address the evaluation criteria set forth in Section V.A. The project narrative cannot exceed a maximum of 12, single-spaced typewritten pages, including the summary page, workplan, and detailed budget narrative. Excess pages will not be reviewed. The project narrative must substantially comply with the specific instructions, format and content as defined in Appendix C or it will be rejected.

6. Other Attachments Form – Budget Table. A fillable template for the budget table is available for download with the NOFO on grants.gov and at the Gulf of Mexico 2024 Funding Opportunities link.

Prepare as described in the budget table section of the announcement. Applicants are strongly https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses https://www.epa.gov/grants/tips-completing-epa-form-4700-4 http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.epa.gov/gulfofmexico/us-environmental-protection-agency-gulf-mexico-division-gulf-mexico-2024-funding encouraged to use the budget table template. This file should be submitted using the “Other Attachments Form” in Grants.gov and may be uploaded as an excel file.

7. Other Attachments Form - Resumes or curriculum vitae of Principal Investigators and critical staff. Use the “Other Attachments Form” to attach a copy of the resume or curriculum vitae of principal investigators and critical staff for the proposed project. Such documentation should outline the education, work history, and knowledge/expertise of the individual(s) that relate to managing the proposed project. Please consolidate all resumes into one file and include the word “resume” in the filename.

8. Other Attachments Form – Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, if applicable. Use if indirect costs other than the 15% de minimis are included in the project budget. Use the “Other Attachments Form” to attach a copy of your organization’s Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, if applicable. See Application Preparation and Submission Instructions below for more details. Please include the words “cost agreement” in the filename. Please see EPA's Indirect Cost Policy for Recipients of EPA Assistance Agreements for more information about indirect cost rate requirements.

9. Other Attachments Form (if applicable)– Support Letters. Use the “Other Attachments Form” to attach relevant letters from partners, collaborators or communities in support of the project. Please consolidate all support letters into one file and include the word “Letters of support” or “LOS” in the file name.

Communications: See EPA Solicitation Clauses for general provisions regarding communications with applicants.

A recorded presentation with helpful hints to develop your application, a Q&A and common errors document can be found at the Gulf of Mexico 2024 Funding Opportunities link. Any questions you have after reading the Q&A and the common errors document should be submitted to gmp-rfp@epa.gov. EPA will update the Q&A weekly with responses to questions received through September 27, 2024, but cannot guarantee that it will respond to questions received thereafter.

Documents 1 through 5 listed under Application Materials above should appear in the “Mandatory Documents” box on the Grants.gov Grant Application Package page.

For documents 1 through 4, click on the appropriate form and then click “Open Form” below the box. The fields that must be completed will be highlighted in yellow. Optional fields and completed fields will be displayed in white. If you enter an invalid response or incomplete information in a field, you will receive an error message.

When you have finished filling out each form, click “Save.” When you return to the electronic Grant Application Package page, click on the form you just completed, and then click on the box that says, “Move Form to Submission List.” This action will move the document over to the box that says, “Mandatory Completed Documents for Submission.”

For document 5, you will need to attach electronic files. Prepare your narrative proposal as described above and in Appendix C and save the documents to your computer as a PDF file. When you are ready to attach your proposal to the application package, click on “Project Narrative Attachment Form,” and open the form. Click “Add Mandatory Project Narrative File,” and then attach your proposal (previously saved to your computer) using the browse window that appears. You may then click “View Mandatory Project Narrative File” to view it.

Enter a brief descriptive title of your project in the space beside “Mandatory Project Narrative File Filename;”

the filename should be no more than 40 characters long. If there are other attachments to submit to https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2018-g02-r https://www.epa.gov/grants/rain-2018-g02-r mailto:gmp-rfp@epa.gov.

accompany your proposal, you may click “Add Optional Project Narrative File” and proceed as before. When you have finished attaching the necessary documents, click “Close Form.” When you return to the “Grant Application Package” page, select the “Project Narrative Attachment Form” and click “Move Form to Submission List.” The form should now appear in the box that says, “Mandatory Completed Documents for Submission.”

Other Attachments: Documents 6 through 9 are submitted using the Other Attachments form. You must submit document 6 – Budget Table and document 7 - Resumes or curriculum vitae of Principal Investigators and critical staff. You are required to submit document 8 – Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement – if you have included any indirect costs in your proposed budget. You are required to submit document 9 – Support Letters – to demonstrate evidence of the partnership. To attach documents 6 - 9, use the “Other Attachments Form”. After attaching the documents, please remember to highlight the “Other Attachments Form” and click “Move Form to Submission List” Please submit each document from 6 through 9 as a separate file.

V. APPLICATION REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

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

Application Review: Applications meeting the threshold eligibility criteria in Sec. III.E will be evaluated based on the criteria set forth below. Applicants should explicitly address these criteria as part of their application package submittal and should follow the Project Narrative Format in Appendix C. If not, applicants risk the possibility of information being left out, overlooked, or not fully comprehended by the reviewers when the project is scored. Each application will be rated under a points system, with a total of 140 points possible.

Applicants will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which they address the criteria; the failure to provide applicable information in the application may affect the score assigned for a criterion.

V.A. Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on the completeness and strength to which the project narrative demonstrates the applicant’s ability to:

Project Design

(35 points)

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

A. Describe the proposed project approach, rationale and plans for project execution (30 points).

B. Describe how the project meets the GMD’s Statutory Authority AND how the results will support: FY 2022-26 EPA Strategic Plan Goal 5: Ensure Clean and Safe Water for All Communities, Objective 5.2: Protect and Restore Waterbodies and Watersheds (5 points).

Applicants should refer to Project Design in the Project Narrative Format for information to include.

Environmental Results:

Outputs and Outcomes

Applications will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to which it demonstrates anticipated results (outputs and outcomes), including but not limited to those identified in Secs. I.B. This will include evaluating whether they described specific outputs and outcomes, including target numbers. Points will be deducted if no quantitative targets are identified.

(30 points) Applicants should refer to Environmental Results in the Project Narrative Format for information to include.

Milestone Schedule

(10 points)

Applications will be evaluated based on the extent and quality to which they provide a clearly articulated milestone schedule for project activities, tasks, and deliverables. The table should include reporting to EPA (quarterly and final) and be organized by year and quarter.

Outreach and Communication

(15 points)

Applications will be evaluated on the extent and quality to which the application includes information about how they will disseminate project-related information to stakeholders and communities as specified in I.B.

Applicants should refer to Outreach/Communication in the Project Narrative Format for information to include.

Partnerships

(15 points)

Applications will be evaluated based on the extent and quality to which they provide a plan to work with appropriate partners to effectively and efficiently complete the proposed project as specified in I.B.

*Applicants that do not plan on collaborating with other groups will be evaluated based on the extent to which they demonstrate how they will be able to effectively perform and complete the project without such collaboration.*

Letters of Support must be included for partners with substantial involvement and/or if project success is based on partner involvement/subaward.

Applicants should refer to Partnerships in the Project Narrative Format for information to include.

Past Performance and Programmatic Capability

(10 points)

Under this criterion, applicants will be evaluated based on their ability to successfully complete and manage the proposed project considering their:

(i) past performance in successfully completing and managing assistance agreements identified in response to Section 6 of Appendix C and

(ii) history of meeting the reporting requirements under the assistance agreements identified in response to Section 6 of Appendix C, including whether the applicant submitted acceptable final technical reports under those agreements and the extent to which the applicant adequately and timely reported on their progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes. If such progress was not being made, whether the applicant adequately reported why not.

(iii) organizational experience and plan for timely and successfully achieving objectives of the proposed project, and

(iv) staff expertise/qualifications, staff knowledge and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project. Supporting documentation (e.g., resumes, curricula vitae for key staff) should be included as part of your application package and can be referred to in this section.

Note: In evaluating applicants under i and ii of this criterion, the Agency will consider the information provided by the applicant and may also consider relevant information from other sources including agency files and prior/current grantors (e.g., to verify and/or supplement the information supplied by the applicant). If the applicant does not have any relevant or available past performance or past reporting information, please indicate this in the application and the application will receive a neutral score (2.5 points) for these subfactors. If the applicant does not provide any response for these items, the application will receive a score of 0 for these factors.

Timely Expenditure of Award

(5 points)

Applicants will be evaluated based on their approach, procedures, and controls for ensuring that awarded funds will be expended in a timely and efficient manner.

Budget

(20 points)

Applications will be evaluated based on the reasonableness, necessity and allowability (of costs) of the proposed budget for the level of work proposed and for the expected benefits to be achieved. This section will be evaluated based on two items: 1) budget table and 2) budget narrative (located within the project workplan). The budget table should be easy to understand and link the expenses to the tasks and deliverables from the project workplan.

The budget narrative should be used to provide a description of costs not easily understandable in the budget table.

V.B. Review and Selection Process

Applications will first be evaluated against the threshold factors listed in III.E. Only eligible applications meeting threshold criteria will advance and be evaluated by review panels, composed of federal agency staff, using the criteria listed in V.A. Review panels will rank the applications based on the criteria in V.A. and develop preliminary recommendations for funding to the Selection Official(s). Information pertaining to proposed recommendations may be shared with appropriate governmental departments or agencies before selections are made to determine whether potential selections (a) are expected to be funded by another funding source or (b) could be affected by permitting or regulatory issues.

V.C. Other Factors

Final funding decisions will be made by a Selection Official. In making the final funding decisions, the selection official will consider the review panel rankings and recommendations and may also consider the following factors: any duplicate funding issues; the amount of the organization’s unliquidated obligations on previous GMD grants; program priorities; funding availability; appropriate balances of geographic and jurisdictional distribution of projects; and organizational diversity in terms of applicant type selected to receive awards (e.g., local government, state agency, Indian Tribe, college and university, other not for profit entity) in order to help ensure a broad representation of entity types receiving awards to promote program effectiveness.

Any final selections out of rank order must be documented and justified based on the factors listed above.